Body hair for transplant? Which type is best?*

[ukcali]

Just been thinking about body hair. I know it has it's own problems/limitations but obviously can be used as a filler essentially. Even if just to provide better density.*

What I was wondering is what's the best hair to use? Beard hair seems popular and so does chest hair. I was just wondering what the next best thing is. I have heard of leg hair being used but only nice. Why? Is not that effective? I noticed I have quite a few "triple hairs" (like 3 seperate hair follicles grouped together) on my legs which I thought in theory would be good for density no? just thinking out loud not necessarily planning on using them.*

As always just asking loads of questions! Thanks everyone *

[gillenator]

As you stated, BH is still controversial to date and should always be approached with prior test sessions for any donor site being considered. Is your scalp donor depleted?

To date, BH taken from the chest and face (beard grafts) show the most promising donor sources regarding yield. You are correct in that leg hair cases are far and few between. And to my knowledge, Dr. Umar has the most experience using other regions of the body including leg and arms.

The issues beyond yield are visual compatibility of the BH characteristics compared to the recipient area scalp hair. IMHO, the best approach is when it is mixed into existing hair like the crown which is considered a lower visual impact area than the frontal zone.

Another issue is duration of the growth phase with BH and especially when it is relocated to another area. IMHO, leg hair has been unpredictable at best in both yield and growth phase duration.

We do continue to see more repair patients and those with limited or tapped out donors to consider BH. I for one am anxiously awaiting for more beard cases and chest hair cases to evaluate.

So best wishes to you my friend and remember to insist on doing BH test procedures to see if acceptable results manifest before investing large sums of your hard earned money into it.

[Shan]

pubic hair

[ITNEVERRAINS]

Right now unless you are doing major repair, beard grafts are the only logical non head graft to consider.

[ukcali]

Thanks everyone who replied. I have had a ht yet but I'm just trying to plan a head for the future. I will inevitably run out of sonar hair so may well need some elemnat of body hair.

As you stated, BH is still controversial to date and should always be approached with prior test sessions for any donor site being considered. Is your scalp donor depleted?

To date, BH taken from the chest and face (beard grafts) show the most promising donor sources regarding yield. You are correct in that leg hair cases are far and few between. And to my knowledge, Dr. Umar has the most experience using other regions of the body including leg and arms.

The issues beyond yield are visual compatibility of the BH characteristics compared to the recipient area scalp hair. IMHO, the best approach is when it is mixed into existing hair like the crown which is considered a lower visual impact area than the frontal zone.

Another issue is duration of the growth phase with BH and especially when it is relocated to another area. IMHO, leg hair has been unpredictable at best in both yield and growth phase duration.

We do continue to see more repair patients and those with limited or tapped out donors to consider BH. I for one am anxiously awaiting for more beard cases and chest hair cases to evaluate.

So best wishes to you my friend and remember to insist on doing BH test procedures to see if acceptable results manifest before investing large sums of your hard earned money into it.

Thanks for your detailed reply. It's much appreciated. Would you mind running through all the potential issues of but for me. So far apart from the yield I have heard that body hair grows at a slower rate. Is that right? Imwas thinking if you had say 2000 grafts. Could you add in another 1000 body hair grafts to use for dense packing? Just to thicken things up?

Thanks

[ukcali]

Right now unless you are doing major repair, beard grafts are the only logical non head graft to consider.

Can I ask why? Is it just the low potential yields or is it the look of it? I was thinking if it as mixed in with normal hair simply to thicken things up.

[ITNEVERRAINS]

The success rate of survival is best with beard hair, and when blended/used for repair, gives the best looking results.

Hopefully we have come to the point where the repairs we see guys like Umar make with only beard/body are no longer. IMO its an absolute last resort and does not resemble head hair follicles

[35YrsAfter]

Thanks everyone who replied. I have had a ht yet but I'm just trying to plan a head for the future. I will inevitably run out of sonar hair so may well need some elemnat of body hair.



Thanks for your detailed reply. It's much appreciated. Would you mind running through all the potential issues of but for me. So far apart from the yield I have heard that body hair grows at a slower rate. Is that right? Imwas thinking if you had say 2000 grafts. Could you add in another 1000 body hair grafts to use for dense packing? Just to thicken things up?

Thanks

Here are links to resources for information related to body hair studies. Body hair should NEVER be dense packed. The other day, Dr. Cole mentioned that half the time body hair grows and for the patients in which it grows, approximately half are satisfied with the result. I personally participated in several body hair studies conducted by Dr. Cole. I can tell you first hand that in my case dense packed body hair returned a yield of 0 growth. Chest and stomach hair is the best and Dr. Cole is getting up to 90% yield with beard hair. Chest and stomach hair should only be used when there is no other option. Body hair grew well in my scars and on my hairline.

35YrsAfter works at Dr. Cole's office

[gillenator]

ukcali,

I would never consider using BH for dense-packing into any area. Mixing it in with scalp hair is one thing, dense-packing it is another. I have never seen any results that I would even call marginally good both in yield and appearance (characteristics).

The growth cycles of BH are varying and quite unique to the scalp. Why? No one seems to know and why it is still in a "try and see what happens" stage.

[ukcali]

Thanks again guys for your help it's all very much appreciated

Regarding the dense packing, why is it not good to do it with body hair?

I should point out what I meant was, You know how's its often mentioned people car have approx 90 hairs per cm2 but in transplant terms apparently approx 45 hairs per cm2 will give the illusion of full density. Well what I was suggesting was could you use say 30 scalp hairs and maybe 10-15 body hairs? whether it be beard or other areas.

Thanks again guys. The reason I'm asking so many questions about bht is because I've gt a decent amount of body hair (I shave/wax a lot of it) and have been looking it to getting it lasered off. So I thought if I could have used some of it for my scal (even if it was a tiny bit) then it would have been useful.

[gillenator]

ukcali,

What I meant by dense packing BH was using only BH for the donor, and no scalp donor with it.

Sure, the blend of roughly 25% BH with scalp donor is a better ratio and approach because even if the yield from the BH is poor, you should still see gains and coverage from the scalp donor.

One of the drawbacks is distinguishing which regrown hairs were from scalp donor and which are from the body. Obviously with blending approximately 25% of the grafts coming from the body and 75% from the scalp, identifying the regrown BH will be very difficult.

Some docs use tattoo ink dots to define and mark a small specific recipient area in which only BH grafts would be placed to measure yield and monitor growth periods but do not blend any scalp grafts with it. And the idea is not to dense pack that small area. It is done to measure yield from the BH grafts.

And if you have that much BH, it's certainly worth trying it but try to stay with the more promising donor areas like the chest or beard.

Best wishes to you in your journey my friend.

[John P. Cole, MD]

Oh goodness, here we go again with body hair.

Around the turn of this century body hair hit the chart. Let me briefly review the history and results.

In 2002, Ray Woods had reported on successful body hair transplants. By 2003 I was moving hair from the chest, abdomen, back, under arms, pubic area and legs. My first few cases were enormous successes. Then trouble hit. Some results were not so good. Then i began to study variables to achieve success with BHT (body hair transplants). Anagen hairs grow better than telogen hairs, but telogen hairs grow. Dense packing with BHT results in less growth. Optimal densities with BHT of less than 36 grafts per sq cm produce a better survival rate. Dense packing a combination of BHT and scalp hair can impair the survival rate of BOTH. Don't do it.

With BHT about 25% of the cases result in noticeable hair growth. The rest get cosmetically insignificant growth. BHT can result in a rescue for those with scars and larger grafts, but it may not. Then again, good yields can sometimes fade over time especially with leg hair so be prepared for this.

Head hair is king. The next best is beard. We began moving beard hair around 2007. The first thing we noted was how fast beard hair extractions healed. The second was how high the yield was on a consistent basis (about 60%). Then we noted that beard hair produce a better cosmetic result than a higher number of other sources of body hair. Beard is second best.

What is the problem with beard hair? It is very coarse and curly, wavy, kinky. Some don't like it.

Here is what i recommend. Do a trial of bear and see how you like the healing and the growth. if you don't like it, try something else. Here is the other problem with other sources. White dots or hypopigmentation. At least 50% of chest and abdomen harvests get white dots. White dots are very uncommon on the legs and more common on the back, though not anything near as common as chest and abdomen. Pubic and axilla hair area hard to harvest.

Like I said hair is king. Use it fist. when you run dry or if you have very bad scarring due to strips of scalp reductions, or flaps, you may need to try BHT. Do a small session of 500 grafts and see how you respond. if the response is good, do more. If not, stop. If you like the appearance, do more. If not, stop.

That's the summary. I can expound if you like as I've done in the millions of body hair grafts. I am the prevailing expert on BHT as i'm the guy they ask to speak about BHT or write the chapter on BHT. A summary is adequate simply because they work in some and if they work you are happy. In some they simply don't work. Beard is the exception as it consistently grows, but you may not like the appearance of the grafts.

The one caveat I have not mentioned is that BHT seems to grow better with Acell and PRP.

[topcat]

I have found through my own observations and experiences that my beard and body hair procedure healed and grew much faster using superior nutrition when compared to what I have seen with Acell and PRP. My knowledge in the area of nutrition I would be very comfortable in saying is vastly superior when compared to most doctors so I don’t necessarily fault the medical profession as in most cases they only know what they have been taught and rarely question it so it sometimes makes them very limited.

So far I am very pleased with my own result and it has made all the difference.

[35YrsAfter]

In my opinion, more and more people are waking up to the reality of the importance of good nutrition. Several years ago, I had high blood pressure, actinic keratosis, venous reflux, and severe neck pain. These health issues disappeared after I changed my diet. I credit my wife for modifying my family's eating habits. We now eat only organic fruits and vegetables, grass-fed beef from a reputable farm, drink non-fluoridated water and avoid GMO like the plague just to name a few changes we've made. That said, I have personally witnessed benefits from PRP and ACell while working at Dr. Cole's.

-35YrsAfter works at Dr. Cole's office

[topcat]

Yes 35 years I’m sure you have seen but I have not. I have only heard about it for several years now. Presenting substantial proof to back up claims is very simple to do. Of course double blind placebo would be nice to avoid research bias but whatever you got please feel free to post it.