Remove "all" beard hair?

[Approach]

Via video consultation, Dr. Pittella said he can restore my NW 7 head.  He seemed confident.  There is a caveat though.  He said, although my donor area is poor, he estimates he can remove up to a few thousand grafts from the back of head.  As well, he will need to remove nearly every beard hair on my face & neck.  (He can leave enough hair to grow a goatee.)  Specifically, my question is:  If "you" were in a situation like mine, would "you" proceed or not? and *Why?   Thank you!  

 

 

Edited April 7 by Approach

[shiba1985]

10 minutes ago, Approach said:

Via video consultation, Dr. Pittella said he can restore my NW 7 head.  He seemed confident.  There is a caveat though.  He said, although my donor area is poor, he estimates he can remove up to a few thousand grafts from the back of head.  As well, he will need to remove nearly every beard hair on my face & neck.  (He can leave enough hair to grow a goatee.)  Specifically, my question is:  If "you" were in a situation like mine, would "you" proceed or not? and *Why?   Thank you!  

 

 

ask him to see example of a patient he has done this for. if that look is acceptable for you compared to balding then go for it

[mr_peanutbutter]

maybe id wait a year to see if verteporfin turns out well

[Shadman]

@Approach I think if it is Dr. Pittella I'd definitely proceed, because I've seen some great results in higher Norwood cases with poor donor.

[Berba11]

If I were in your situation - factoring in your age - I'd genuinely save myself the hassle and money. As I've said before, maybe what I'd do is look to have grafts placed into the FUT scars so that their visibility is reduced and you can wear a tighter buzz cut all over and move on with life. I'd also maybe look to have some of the old transplanted hairs punched out if they didn't quite look right buzzed down or they were bothersome in some way.

It really comes down to your propensity for risk; you'll be spending a lot of money on something that may end up disappointing you. This is a risk calculation that all HT patients make, but often their starting point is superior to yours, which mitigates some of that risk.

If anyone can get you at least somewhat close to where you want to be, it's Dr Pittella. You'd be in the best hands possible. Nevertheless, there's only so much that anyone can do in cases like yours so there is still more risk than usual. Would I want to take that risk on? I don't think so personally.

[Approach]

2 minutes ago, Berba11 said:

If I were in your situation - factoring in your age - I'd genuinely save myself the hassle and money. As I've said before, maybe what I'd do is look to have grafts placed into the FUT scars so that their visibility is reduced and you can wear a tighter buzz cut all over and move on with life. I'd also maybe look to have some of the old transplanted hairs punched out if they didn't quite look right buzzed down or they were bothersome in some way.

It really comes down to your propensity for risk; you'll be spending a lot of money on something that may end up disappointing you. This is a risk calculation that all HT patients make, but often their starting point is superior to yours, which mitigates some of that risk.

If anyone can get you at least somewhat close to where you want to be, it's Dr Pittella. You'd be in the best hands possible. Nevertheless, there's only so much that anyone can do in cases like yours so there is still more risk than usual. Would I want to take that risk on? I don't think so personally.

Thanks for your well-thought-out opinion.  It makes sense. I esp recognize your point about my "starting point" is not ideal / risk.  Thank again.

[Sparky]

I shave my beard hair off all the time and it means nothing to me, but it I had the option to put it all onto my head, I would say yes as it would make a huge difference to me as I don't care about it being on my face. I actually have a friend who has f-all on his face but has an amazing NW0 head of hair at 49 years of age. I would prefer his head hair to my quite thick beard hair 100%

[AB2000]

2 hours ago, shiba1985 said:

ask him to see example of a patient he has done this for. if that look is acceptable for you compared to balding then go for it

There is an easier way. Just search for the several posts on this forum showing his work for norwood 7's which are shown in great detail.

[AB2000]

2 hours ago, Approach said:

Specifically, my question is:  If "you" were in a situation like mine, would "you" proceed or not? and *Why?   Thank you!  

PIttella has the track record to show that he won't waste your beard grafts.  They would be put to maximum use, as their growth phase most closely matches that of head hair. As someone who has had a high Norwood and used a lot of beard hair, I much prefer having them on my scalp and looking less bald. Growing out a beard does nothing for me. And I am not paralyzed with fear that someone is going to grab my face with their hand and peer closely and see tiny dots where the beard growth used to grow out. Many men on here have their priorities wrong.

[shiba1985]

17 minutes ago, Sparky said:

I shave my beard hair off all the time and it means nothing to me, but it I had the option to put it all onto my head, I would say yes as it would make a huge difference to me as I don't care about it being on my face. I actually have a friend who has f-all on his face but has an amazing NW0 head of hair at 49 years of age. I would prefer his head hair to my quite thick beard hair 100%

 

the fallacy in your argument is that beard hair on scalp will become and look as natural as scalp hair. IT DOESNT . if it did the solution for advanced baldness in all cases would be very easy. It is only an option for people that are willing to accept that beard hair on scalp will never look completely natural, but it will look good enough or better than baldness. All of those are very subjective opinions

[Gatsby]

@Approach in all honesty only you can answer that question. Dr Pittella has shown at least one case here or on instagram (or both) of a patient recently who used almost all of his beard for surgery. I would ask Dr Pittella to show you any other results like this that he has (if he has)l. If he doesn’t then follow this patient’s results. Are you willing to accept the permanent results if they are outside of your expectations? I’ve had over 8k beard grafts used in my results. I’ve also had over 7k scalp grafts to blend it. I went ahead with my surgery to hide previous scars from the age of 18. If I didn’t have the scars I wouldn’t have gone ahead with my surgery/ies. The scars affected me more as I got older more than hair loss. I would have just buzzed my head and saved a ton of money. Whichever way you decide I wish you all the best. 

[Slickster76]

I have a question here about beard transplant related scarring. If Pitella used all of your beard hair, are you left with a ton of tiny pock marked scars on your face? I am usually clean shaven, and prefer it...but would I look like I used to have a lot of bad acne? My skin leans more toward an olive tone (Italian/German)...not pale...so I'm not sure if that help or hurts for a beard transplant.

Any thoughts?

[Fox243]

4 hours ago, Approach said:

Via video consultation, Dr. Pittella said he can restore my NW 7 head.  He seemed confident.  There is a caveat though.  He said, although my donor area is poor, he estimates he can remove up to a few thousand grafts from the back of head.  As well, he will need to remove nearly every beard hair on my face & neck.  (He can leave enough hair to grow a goatee.)  Specifically, my question is:  If "you" were in a situation like mine, would "you" proceed or not? and *Why?   Thank you!  

 

 

It also depends how much you want hair. If you're generally fine with a balding look, then probably not worth the hassle. But if having hair is something that would make your life better, then it's probably worth considering. I do think that Dr. Pittella would be the best for your case.

[Ajamilo]

I think it should be a mix between beard hairs and donor hairs to make it look natural and good.  You can look at Gatsby and karl (from Eugenix I think). Your donor are really weak so he will mostly use beard hair. Idk I would have continued with the shaving and the bald look. You look good with it

[Gatsby]

If you buzzed this right down and added SMP it would look really good in my humble opinion. 👌

[mr_peanutbutter]

monitor this result 

 

https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/72142-dr-pitella-impossible-hair-transplant/

[StillAlive]

Johnny Depp has actually used all of his beard hair in his HT's. 

Purely anecdotal but if you look at photos from his 20's, he has a strong beard/five o' clock shadow and these days he barely has a pencil thin goatee outline.

Apart from that, our colleagues have covered the subject in great detail. 

[OleBaldy]

13 hours ago, Approach said:

Via video consultation, Dr. Pittella said he can restore my NW 7 head.  He seemed confident.  There is a caveat though.  He said, although my donor area is poor, he estimates he can remove up to a few thousand grafts from the back of head.  As well, he will need to remove nearly every beard hair on my face & neck.  (He can leave enough hair to grow a goatee.)  Specifically, my question is:  If "you" were in a situation like mine, would "you" proceed or not? and *Why?   Thank you!  

 

 

If you are here then you really want something done for your hair loss as we all do. This doctor has had some amazing results with high Norwoods and I doubt he would do anything to damage that reputation if he did not think he could do an outstanding job! Beard or hair I think you already know the answer to that. Take my beard take my chest hair, phone a friend and take all of theirs too! Trust your Doctor especially one with this reputation to do a great job.

Edited April 8 by OleBaldy
misspelled word

[SuperHans]

Honestly, for me at least, being able to grow a beard is more important than having a full head of hair.

As you get older a beard hides a multitude of sins, it's like makeup/contouring, for men!

What's your body hair sitch? (I don't want to see it) but is that a viable option? 

Personally, I wouldn't do it.... But if you're going to go for it, Dr P is probably the best in the known universe to take on this kind of case! 

Good luck!

[Melvin- Admin]

Personally, I wouldn’t do it. It depends, if you always shave and never wear your beard, then I guess you wouldn’t miss it. But I would not exchange my beard for hair on my head.

Also, the hair on your head will look like beard hair. There’s less blending with scalp hair. Beard hair works best when mixed with at least 70% scalp hair. Out of 10,000 grafts, only 3,000 from beard looks best. This will make it so the beard hair is almost undetectable.

[Bucky O Hair]

4 hours ago, SuperHans said:

Honestly, for me at least, being able to grow a beard is more important than having a full head of hair.

As you get older a beard hides a multitude of sins, it's like makeup/contouring, for men!

 

This is true.

As I get older, I notice that I look a lot better with beards than without.  I personally wouldn't use up all of my beard grafts for my head.

On the other hand...you can probably get rid of all the "neck hairs" lol.   Nobody cares about neck beard hair, and I have to shave my neck hairs off all the time when growing a beard. 

If Pittella offers a solution where he can create a hairline for you that you can trim down to very short level (to blend well with the existing hairs on your head) BUT without using up any of your face hair (and using only beard hair), then I would look into what he says for that.

Also, another thing is that...I would also assume that you would get at least some visible facial scarring if you removed all your facial grafts (for which you would no longer be able to cover up by growing a beard).  So there's that risk there, even with the best of surgeons.  

 

[Approach]

On 4/8/2024 at 8:39 AM, Melvin- Admin said:

Personally, I wouldn’t do it. It depends, if you always shave and never wear your beard, then I guess you wouldn’t miss it. But I would not exchange my beard for hair on my head.

Also, the hair on your head will look like beard hair. There’s less blending with scalp hair. Beard hair works best when mixed with at least 70% scalp hair. Out of 10,000 grafts, only 3,000 from beard looks best. This will make it so the beard hair is almost undetectable.

Good point.  (My total grafts would be 10,000+)  (He said he would do his best to mix in the beard hair appropriately.)   Dr. P said to plan on removing a couple thousand grafts from back of my head.  However, he said he really wants to aim for closer to 5.000 grafts.  With that being said, this is nowhere close to the 70/30 rule you mentioned.  Sometimes it's confusing because:  Advice from knowledgeable guys like yourself makes sense.  So, why would a doctor push the envelope so far?  I think he's an awesome doctor, and I enjoyed talking to him.  But, I anticipated he would give me a yes/no answer.  Instead, he said:   If "you" (patient) wants a HT, then I'll perform it to the best of my abilities.  I asked him a few times:  But, do "you" (an expert surgeon) recommend I do it, based on your experiences, etc?  In the end, he said a 3rd procedure to fine-tune things and fill in any remaining areas would be the likely case.  So, in conclusion, I do believe that physically, Dr. P can get a full head of hair (especially because of a 3rd procedure - maybe even mixed with body hair). But, one good thing is:  he seemed confident I would be pleased.  He showed me pictures of other patients' he did like my case. *(PS - he said some guys are willing to do anything to get hair on top of heard - even if it's mostly beard hair/body hair as he has noticed improvements in self-esteem, etc.    Ughh, I wish I could pull this off with scalp hair only!

Edited April 11 by Approach

[mr_peanutbutter]

5 hours ago, Approach said:

Good point.  (My total grafts would be 10,000+)  (He said he would do his best to mix in the beard hair appropriately.)   Dr. P said to plan on removing a couple thousand grafts from back of my head.  However, he said he really wants to aim for closer to 5.000 grafts.  With that being said, this is nowhere close to the 70/30 rule you mentioned.  Sometimes it's confusing because:  Advice from knowledgeable guys like yourself makes sense.  So, why would a doctor push the envelope so far?  I think he's an awesome doctor, and I enjoyed talking to him.  But, I anticipated he would give me a yes/no answer.  Instead, he said:   If "you" (patient) wants a HT, then I'll perform it to the best of my abilities.  I asked him a few times:  But, do "you" (an expert surgeon) recommend I do it, based on your experiences, etc?  (Other doctors tend to give me a yes/no answer.)  In the end, he said a 3rd procedure to fine-tune things and fill in any remaining areas would be the likely case.  So, in conclusion, I do believe that physically, Dr. P can get a full head of hair (especially because of a 3rd procedure - maybe even mixed with body hair).  But, I wish more topics were discussed like 70/30, etc.  But, one good thing is:  he seemed confident I would be pleased.  He showed me pictures of other patients' he did like my case. *(PS - he said some guys are willing to do anything to get hair on top of heard - even if it's mostly beard hair/body hair as he has noticed improvements in self-esteem, etc.  In my case, I likely will not move forward because -- even with a full head of hair -- I may be too self conscious that so many beard hair grafts (without being mixed in with enough scalp hairs) may be noticeable -- perhaps I'm wrong.   Ughh, I wish I could pull this off with scalp hair only!

cant he use beard grafts from below the jawline + bodyhair such as chest or arm?

 

i remember dr bisanga had a patient from malta where they worked with a lot if hair from that region if im not mistaken @Raphael84

 

might be worth to consult with dr bisanga

[Approach]

Thank you.  Fyi, Doctor P wants to use up all remaining donor hair.  (He said best case is 5,000 grafts.)  Then, he wants to take beard hair (on my face and under jaw line. (It's reasonable considering my poor donor area.) Estimated total grafts after surgery would be 10,0000 to 12,0000.  I sensed by our conversation that he isn't a big fan of body hair.  It's a last resort for him.  He explained that the growth cycle is different, etc.

Edited April 11 by Approach

[Fox243]

29 minutes ago, Approach said:

Thank you.  Fyi, Doctor P wants to use up all remaining donor hair.  (He said best case is 5,000 grafts.)  Then, he wants to take literally all my beard hair (on my face AND under jaw line.  Estimated total grafts after surgery would be 10,0000 to 12,0000.  I sensed by our conversation that he isn't a big fan of body hair.  It's a last resort for him.  He explained that the growth cycle is different, etc.

Yes, he is right. Beard hair >>> body hair.