Can you get "fake" hair implanted?

[hairlossnewbie]

After taking accutane several years ago, my hair thinned considerably and I do believe it's led to mpb (male pattern balding). It's not extremely obvious right now, but I would like to correct this before it gets to the point where it will be completely obvious that I have a giant receding hairline.

 

I've seen plenty of pictures of hair transplants and I:

1. Don't want a big scar on the back of my head

2. Don't want thin hair on the back of my head also

3. Want to be able to have the doc add as many "grafts" of hair as possible.

 

I will likely have the same hairstyle for the rest of my life, so one would think it would be possible to have "fake" hair implanted.

 

Is this possible?

 

Thanks

[hairlossnewbie]

After taking accutane several years ago, my hair thinned considerably and I do believe it's led to mpb (male pattern balding). It's not extremely obvious right now, but I would like to correct this before it gets to the point where it will be completely obvious that I have a giant receding hairline.

 

I've seen plenty of pictures of hair transplants and I:

1. Don't want a big scar on the back of my head

2. Don't want thin hair on the back of my head also

3. Want to be able to have the doc add as many "grafts" of hair as possible.

 

I will likely have the same hairstyle for the rest of my life, so one would think it would be possible to have "fake" hair implanted.

 

Is this possible?

 

Thanks

[scooping around]

Just get some fake hair off a wig and then superglue it to wherever you need it.

What kind of question was that?

[hairlossnewbie]

Thanks for the ridiculously crappy answer.

 

What do you mean, what kind of question is that?

 

I wanted to know if it was possible to basically surgically implant "fake" hair that appears completely "real" instead of removing hair from behind my head and transplanting that.

 

Apparently this is not the place to expect serious answers.

 

Did you not understand what I was asking, or are you just being an ass because you can?

[Dr. Michael Beehner]

Dear "Hairlossnewbie,"

It IS possible to implant artificial hairs surgically into the scalp and have them remain there, but it is not legal to do so in the United States. This is done in Italy, Japan, and Australia that I know of and I'm sure in a few other countries. Incidentally, these are not hairs cut off of someone's head, but rather are chemically manufactured out of a material that is designed to provoke the least possible tissue reaction and still look like and feel like human hair. The problem is that each year you have to have another thousand or two replaced that work their way out, and, most important of all, there is what we call in surgery a "fibrosis" reaction to the artificial hairs being implanted, that is, an inflammatory hardening and often redness coloration in the area the artificial hairs are implanted into the scalp.

A doctor in Australia that I greatly respect who has done quite a few of these, states that this method should only be used for those men who desperately want something looking like hair on their head and don't want a hairpiece and who are absolutely out of donor hair or don't have it in the first place.

In general, if you are a young male, which you sound like you are, and your desire is to have a head of hair that is exactly of the density and square area as when you were 15, this is almost certainly not going to be possible if you already have the typical early signs of male pattern baldness. Until you are willing to be satisfied with something less than that full head of hair, you should hold off making any permanent decisions, take medication to hold off hair loss, and continue to learn all you can. I should add that your impression of hair transplantation is a little pessimistic compared with the results, both in the donor and the recipient area, that most good hair surgeons are able to accomplish. Your comment that you don't want "thin hair on the back of my head" indicates to me that you should hold off on a transplant at this time if your age is young. Best wishes.

Mike Beehner, M.D.

[Bill - Seemiller]

hairlossnewbie,

 

Dr. Beehner gave you an excellent answer. Though it is surgically possible, there are great risks and IMO it is highly unethical.

 

Scoopingaround,

 

There is no such thing as a bad question. We are all hair loss sufferers seeking the "best" method to restore our hair. Try to be empathetic as you usually are.

 

Bill

[scooping around]

Billero, I'm sure you've seen my posts before, and I've always tried to be helpful and respectful to others, as you stated that we're all in the same boat. I apologize, for what I posted in the previous post of this thread. I do not, however take back my thoughts on the logic of implanting fake hair. The previous poster did not want any surgery to cut open his scalp, and using his own hair, but rather cut open the scalp to put in something "fake"? Other than surgically implanting the "fake" hair into the scalp, I don't see any other way of making it stick, which is why I sarcastically mentioned using super glue.

[the B spot]

Dr. Beehner is detailing what could happen and his answer is perfect.

 

I would like to add that some of the pics I have seen that showed the reaction and rejection of the fake hair were horrid.

 

Anything foreign to the body is "bad" and your body acts to destroy it.

 

This is not a real option until there is no other option. Even then, a weave or a system would probably be better.

 

Good Luck in your search,

Jason

[hairlossnewbie]

Thank you for the answers everyone. If you don't mind, could I ask you a couple more?

 

I am 28 years old. Have had a pretty thick head of hair until about age 25 when I began taking accutane, as mentioned above. This, I honestly believe, started mpb and an overall thinning of my hair. The thinning I am not concerned about, but the receding of the temple area is starting to really bother me.

 

I'll be honest, the receding likely isn't nearly as much as almost all of the people's "before" pictures that I have seen online. But I am certain that given 5+ years it will be VERY noticable.

 

With that said, here are the questions. I apologize if they sound ignorant, as I know very little about this subject.

 

1. Is it possible to take hair from the donor area without a long scar from one side of the back of the head to the other? (the thought of staples in my head, and a noticable scar across the back of my head scares me) Bill, I don't know how you've managed to go through all of that.

 

2. You mentioned that having the thickness of hair that I had at age 15 was not possible, which I can completely understand and that is not really my overall goal. What I would like is to have a strong hairline up front. Is that possible without a noticable trace of a hair transplant from the back of my head?

 

3. Dr. Mike, you mentioned taking medication to hold off on the hair loss. I've thought about taking propecia, but my wife and I want to have atleast 2 more children. We had out 1st about 6 months ago, so wouldn't try to have our next for several more years. By the time we're done, it will likely be 5+ years from now. I have heard by reading online that propecia causes low sperm counts. I don't want this to hinder our ability to have children, so I'm also scared to take propecia. Is this a legitimate fear?

 

4. Random question... and likely pretty ignorant. I've seen/heard a lot of talk about actors Ben Affleck and Matthew Mcconaughey either getting hair transplants or hair pieces or something. Why is it possible that they can have thick heads of hair, when it appeared pretty obvious that they were, at one time, going bald? (I know this question seems very immature, but I ask because I wonder if results like that are actually possible)

 

Thank you very much for the help everyone.

[Ryan32]

Originally posted by Mike Beehner, M.D.:

Dear "Hairlossnewbie,"

It IS possible to implant artificial hairs surgically into the scalp and have them remain there, but it is not legal to do so in the United States. This is done in Italy, Japan, and Australia that I know of and I'm sure in a few other countries. Incidentally, these are not hairs cut off of someone's head, but rather are chemically manufactured out of a material that is designed to provoke the least possible tissue reaction and still look like and feel like human hair. The problem is that each year you have to have another thousand or two replaced that work their way out, and, most important of all, there is what we call in surgery a "fibrosis" reaction to the artificial hairs being implanted, that is, an inflammatory hardening and often redness coloration in the area the artificial hairs are implanted into the scalp.

A doctor in Australia that I greatly respect who has done quite a few of these, states that this method should only be used for those men who desperately want something looking like hair on their head and don't want a hairpiece and who are absolutely out of donor hair or don't have it in the first place.

In general, if you are a young male, which you sound like you are, and your desire is to have a head of hair that is exactly of the density and square area as when you were 15, this is almost certainly not going to be possible if you already have the typical early signs of male pattern baldness. Until you are willing to be satisfied with something less than that full head of hair, you should hold off making any permanent decisions, take medication to hold off hair loss, and continue to learn all you can. I should add that your impression of hair transplantation is a little pessimistic compared with the results, both in the donor and the recipient area, that most good hair surgeons are able to accomplish. Your comment that you don't want "thin hair on the back of my head" indicates to me that you should hold off on a transplant at this time if your age is young. Best wishes.

Mike Beehner, M.D.

 

 

i have heard of this. From what I remember the results look beyond terrible. The damage that this casues is unreal. It is unethical!!!!

[youngsuccess]

Hey hairlossnebwie,

 

I will try to scratch the surface of your first question:

 

1. Is it possible to take hair from the donor area without a long scar from one side of the back of the head to the other? (the thought of staples in my head, and a noticable scar across the back of my head scares me) Bill, I don't know how you've managed to go through all of that.

 

Yes: Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE), the removal of grafts one by one, can accomplish this; however, some people argue that this method method may not always be the better option. Thinning out the donor area is sometimes a concern of patients, and there also is a small degree of scarring associated with FUE (little dots), although in many cases people opt for this over one consistent scar (the smiley face). The healing time is also less after FUE. I think FUE is normally recommended to patients who want smaller sessions.

 

Some people will argue that the "trichophic closure" technique can produce a more cosmetically appealing scar after relatively smaller sessions. Look at the last 3 links under the "My Journal" section of this page created by Dr. True which gives some examples:

 

http://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/home-page.asp?WebID=114

 

The healing of the donor area presented here after strip surgery is quite remarkable. I would have to guess that the strip was relatively small though to be this undetectable buzzed down this far.

 

The bottom line IMO is that if you think that you may want or NEED to shave your head one day, FUE currently is the way to go. But, most people can camaflouge strip scarring entirely if the hair is worn above a #2/#3 clipper. FUE is also more expensive, but that shouldn't be the main reason not to choose it. If you ever consider FUE you may want to talk to Dr. Feller.

[calvinmd]

If the strip-scar is not tolerable to you then you're left with FUE-style transplant work. It often doesn't have the graft-survival rates quite as high as a strip-surgery, but it's been steadily improving for several years now. It's very expensive because of the added time & effort though. Typically double the price of an equivalent strip-HT. Right now FUE work is really not even equal to a strip-HT in a lot of ways, but the whopper issue of the scarring is where it shines.

 

 

 

Think of a doctor using a big needle, putting the hole of the needle over a hair on the back of your head, and poking out that little bit of skin in the needle's tip that produces the hair. Then he sticks that bit of skin into the front for a transplant.

 

FUE work isn't exactly 100% like this description, but you get the idea. The doc basically pokes out random hairs all over the back/sides of your head with special tools to "thin" the whole area a little bit rather than remove it all from one big strip of harvested skin.

 

 

The tools are generally extracting 0.7-0.9mm bits of skin. With a good doc and decent healing, you'll end up with a big field of 1-mm sized "dots" of faint scar tissue at the worst. If you later shaved your whole head with an electric beard razor and then let it grow out for about a day's worth of new stubble, then it would usually be undetectable.

 

FUE is definitely still a scarring procedure. (And it has been argued that FUE work is at least as extensive as a strip-HTs in total area because most of the strip'd skin is being removed in the process.) But the FUE scars are visually easier to hide with shorter haircuts, and there's never the large open wound like with strip-HT work.

 

 

-------------------------------------------------

[hairlossnewbie]

Thanks for the answers to the first question. I think I'm getting more of a grasp on this now.

 

With the FUE surgery, isn't there a concern that a much greater percentage of donor hairs is "killed/lost" during the transplant?

[Bill - Seemiller]

scooping around,

 

I know your aim is to help people which is why I said "Try to be empathetic as you usually are". I understand you were joking with the super glue comment - but newbies may not. No harm no foul.

 

Hairlossnewbie,

 

You've gotten some excellent feedback from many of our veteran members.

 

To answer your latest question...

 

In the hands of an elite physician, successful growth yield is almost as high or as high as the yield of Strip. There is certainly a greater risk of transection which is why a follicular unit should never be extracted by "brute force". An elite and ethical physician will do everything to minimize transection and maximize growth.

 

To learn more about Strip Vs FUE, click here.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[hairlossnewbie]

Are there any recommendations you guys could give on finding these "ethical" surgeons?

 

For those that have gotten hair transplants, are there any tips etc. you could give me to ensure I don't make a BIG mistake and end up using a bad doctor, only to regret my decision later?

 

Thanks so much.

[Bill - Seemiller]

hairlossnewbie,

 

One of the purposes of this community is to recommend physicians that have proven to be the best in the industry.

 

Our coalition physicians for example must continually meet a high level of standards in order to remain a member.

 

Additionally, Pat Hennessy, the Publisher of our community will visit these clinics to ensure they are performing the latest techniques and yielding optimal results.

 

Clicking on the links above should hopefully give you more insight into this matter.

 

Keep in mind also that there are both recommended and coalition memberships. The difference between the two can be found here.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[scooping around]

hairlossnewbie:

I'm the same age as you, and have been on Propecia for over a year, I can tell you the most of the side effects known caused by Propecia only affect about 2% of people on it. I understand that you're thinking about having children, but you can always stop taking the pills about 6 months before, although you might see more hair loss when you go off of it. Why don't you post a picture of your hairline, so we can get a better idea of your NW level, and amount of graft needed. If you don't want to take any pills, you can always use Rogaine foam in the thinning area, but you'd have to apply it twice a day, and for the rest of your life. If you search around for member's pictures that shows the scar after a year post op, you really can't see the scar if you wear the hair on the back longer than 1/4 inch. If you're talking about having a HT of less than 1000 grafts, I can't imagine the doctor making that long of a cut on the back. I've had 2000 grafts done, and the scar was pretty much from ear to ear, but even at 3 months post op now, you can't see the scar at all, and the hair on the back is only 1 inch long. In the hands of a expert surgeon, the entire transplant is pretty much completly undetectable after about 1 month post op for nearly everyone. If you're thinking about getting a HT, I'd suggest you read the threads regarding prep work for the HT for the fastest healing and least detectable results. After that first month post op, you're just sailing home.

[Ryan32]

Originally posted by youngsuccess:

Hey hairlossnebwie,

 

I will try to scratch the surface of your first question:

 

1. Is it possible to take hair from the donor area without a long scar from one side of the back of the head to the other? (the thought of staples in my head, and a noticable scar across the back of my head scares me) Bill, I don't know how you've managed to go through all of that.

 

Yes: Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE), the removal of grafts one by one, can accomplish this; however, some people argue that this method method may not always be the better option. Thinning out the donor area is sometimes a concern of patients, and there also is a small degree of scarring associated with FUE (little dots), although in many cases people opt for this over one consistent scar (the smiley face). The healing time is also less after FUE. I think FUE is normally recommended to patients who want smaller sessions.

 

Some people will argue that the "trichophic closure" technique can produce a more cosmetically appealing scar after relatively smaller sessions. Look at the last 3 links under the "My Journal" section of this page created by Dr. True which gives some examples:

 

http://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/home-page.asp?WebID=114

 

The healing of the donor area presented here after strip surgery is quite remarkable. I would have to guess that the strip was relatively small though to be this undetectable buzzed down this far.

 

The bottom line IMO is that if you think that you may want or NEED to shave your head one day, FUE currently is the way to go. But, most people can camaflouge strip scarring entirely if the hair is worn above a #2/#3 clipper. FUE is also more expensive, but that shouldn't be the main reason not to choose it. If you ever consider FUE you may want to talk to Dr. Feller.

 

 

 

I can also say that i have had two HT's And while yes the scar issue can become an issue, i do not regret it today. I wear my hair very very short. I do understand though that most people would not want the scar to show at all. That i uderstand. However at the same time though almost everyone will not associate the scar with an HT. In regrds to FUE, if i could turn back anything i would have gone with FUE. But it would not have been possible anyways do the cost.

[youngsuccess]

However at the same time though almost everyone will not associate the scar with an HT.

 

I tend to agree with you. I think that if a hair transplant patient does not obsess over his donor scar, then it's likely that nobody else is going to dwell on it either. Some guys sport shaved heads for a while right after their hair transplants and just say "f it" about the scar in the back and embrace it. I commend this attitude. Because the scars associated with today's more refined procedures don't make people look unattractive; it's just that it is evidence of the transplant, which is embarrassing. The scars themselves normally are not all that dramatic, even ones that are more visible when shaved down. We just don't want to be found out.