Body hair for transplant? Which type is best?*

[thinkingaboutit]

I haven't read all the replies to the thread. However, I assume you would only want to consider using body hair if you ran out of donor hair from your head, correct? I would also assume your level of baldness is very high or you have extremely low levels of donor hair to want to even consider getting donor hair from body.

I am curious, is it possible for another person, another human being to donate you grafts? I realise that the hair type could be slightly different. Let's just assume you are similar hair type, could it cause any other issues, like your system rejecting it because it's from someone else's body? I don't know the correct terms to use, as I am no science expert and have very limited knowledge on this, but I wanted to know if scientists or hair experts have looked at getting grafts from other human beings who would be willing to donate their grafts, and if it works?

I assume if science can move body parts like liver, kidneys etc from one human being to another, then hair may also be a possibility? I would love to hair some replies on this?

[gallovolador]

As far as I know and to make a long story short: it is not feasible to transplant hair grafts from one human to another, something that has been multiple times studied.

This might be the reason why body hair transplant does not work half of times: because body does not recognized body hairs like own hairs but like strange objects and they are rejected. It might be that those individuals whose body hair is very different from scalp hair are then bad candidates for BHT. And this might be the same reason why beard hair is more predictable because it is head hair and due to proximity not so different to scalp hair.

I also want to relaunch two questions:
Why this limitation of 36 graft per sq cm, already mentioned in some other post ?, why does scalp may be poisoned when dense body hair packing is done?. Any guessed reason for this?.
What is the waiting time for body hairs and beard hairs to break the skin after shedding post surgery?, is there any difference observed with scalp hair in the "waiting game"?.

Well, many thanks in advance to all of you for reading and replying. It is very important to get clear conclusions about the last resource nowadays for those with limited donor scalp hairs, and we are many.

[35YrsAfter]

I wonder how he got this conclusion of maximum 36 body hair grafts per sq cm. I guess it is coming from his observation and experience.

My head played a part in zeroing in on the realities of body hair growth. I participated in one of Dr. Cole's studies where leg hair was transplanted in 1cm squares at varying densities to evaluate growth. The area where the grafts were placed was slick bald, so it was easy to see and evaluate the growth. The 1cm square of low density placement initially grew the best. The dense packed 1cm square grew absolutely nothing! I can still see after 6 years the hair growing in the area of low density placement, but it is cosmetically insignificant because the hair caliber decreased over time.

- Chuck at doctor Cole's office.

[gillenator]

I have yet to see a decent result from using leg hair irrespective of the proximity of graft placement.

Definitely want to do test sessions no matter where the BH donor zone is located below the neck.

[ukcali]

I am planning on having a body hair test done when I get my hair transplant. I was thinking of doing either chest or arms? Anybody have any thoughts? Is chest normally quite successful? What about arms? Never hear much about arm hair.

I was also taking maybe leg hair to soften my hairline as I know Dr Umar does this but I'm thing I'm probably just wasting my time & would be better to just use normal singled hair grafts? I just thought that I cold maybe lower my hairline slightly more if I used leg hair that was all

[John P. Cole, MD]

I've seen plenty of good responses to leg and thigh hair. I simply have seen plenty of poor yields as well. This is one example. I still consider head hair first. Beard hair second. Then other sources of body hair. When chest hair grows, it is probably a better source than leg hair.

[John P. Cole, MD]

i've used arm hair to soften temple points and the hair line.

[John P. Cole, MD]

I built this temple point with arm hair. I soften the hairline with leg hair.

[ukcali]

Thanks Dr Cole! Those results look pretty good but I understand your point abut the pure uncertainty with body hair.

For my test patch what's your advice about which area/s to use? I was thinking chest? But is leg or arm worth considering.

Thanks again for your help!

[John P. Cole, MD]

The really funky thing about body hair is that you never what source is going to grow best on an individual. In some people, leg hair grows best. In others it's abdomen. In others it's back, while in others it's chest. If you do the test, pick a source or perhaps two sources in different areas and try them. Oh, I forgot, in many none of them works well. Good luck.

[35YrsAfter]

The really funky thing about body hair is that you never what source is going to grow best on an individual. In some people, leg hair grows best. In others it's abdomen. In others it's back, while in others it's chest. If you do the test, pick a source or perhaps two sources in different areas and try them. Oh, I forgot, in many none of them works well. Good luck.

Leg hair grew best on my hairline but faded in my crown area. I think it works well to soften a hairline that's too strong. When I consulted with Dr. Cole about repairing my 4mm punch scars and grafts years ago, a "plug redistribution" was recommended. I decided instead to go with grafting around the plugs. It worked well enough that I can barely see any evidence of the legacy surgery that caused people to stare at my hairline. For me, body hair was not good at adding much density. It has helped in hiding a pluggy look and hiding scars.

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office
forhair.com
Cole Hair Transplant
1045 Powers Place
Alpharetta, Georgia 30009
Phone 678-566-1011
email 35YrsAfter at chuck@forhair.com
Please feel free to call or email me with any questions. Ask for Chuck

[John P. Cole, MD]

good point. sometimes body hair grows great and solves a huge problem that you have. other times it does not grow at all. then other times, it grows well for awhile, but fades with time. Propecia is known to decrease body hair in some people.

[gillenator]

good point. sometimes body hair grows great and solves a huge problem that you have. other times it does not grow at all. then other times, it grows well for awhile, but fades with time. Propecia is known to decrease body hair in some people.

I wonder how many men who had BH done in the past were on Propecia or taking another form of low dose finasteride.

So if a man is taking finasteride and wants BH done, should he come off of the med before surgery? Yet at some point he would have to resume taking it or he would lose any benefit made in the scalp.

[John P. Cole, MD]

That's a great question. DHT does a couple of things. One is that it causes hair loss in susceptible men to a variable degree beginning at puberty. Another is that it stimulates body hair growth at puberty. When you block DHT, one would not assume that body hair, which is already growing, would succumb to DHT blockage. At least that is what we initially thought. Then, with body hair and finasteride we began to hear of a loss of body hair about 10 years ago. Now, I've treated all kinds of guys with body hair and told them not to stop their Propecia or finasteride or avodart. I think we have seen very few who had a loss of body hair on these medications. Still, we have seen some that lost body hair. So….it becomes a double edge sword for a few. I think the risk for body hair loss is small as is the loss of sex drive with a DHT blocker. Still, it only matters when you are the guy with the negative consequence.

Every patient asks me the same question. Doctor what do you suggest? I always want them to have the best result with no complication. What I ultimately suggest is the medications and procedures that accomplish their goals with the highest degree of probability. If someone cannot accomplish their goal without body hair plus limiting progressive hair loss with DHT blockers, i'll recommend both. Then if they begin to loose hair body hair and perhaps scalp hair and loose sexual drive, we recommend they consider dropping the DHT blocker so that they can have the most possible hair at a young age when it matters most.If their scalp hair thickens, their body hair does not decrease, and they have no side effects, of course we would recommend that they continue DHT blockers. Both are degrees of extreme. In between is what happens to the majority of the bell curve. One must individualize treatment.

the main thing is to recognize that DHT blockers can reduce sexual drive, etc., but it can also reduce body hair. The impact can be significant in some. Of course, i've not seen DHT blockers reduce beard hair yet.

[gillenator]

DHT blockers can indeed be a double-edged sword so as you stated Dr. Cole, overall treatment plans need to be individualized. And I imagine that you may in some cases adjust the dosage of finasteride when side-effects become apparent. Most of the men that I have conversed with want to immediately stop taking the drug when experiencing sexual side-effects.

Interesting point regarding the resistance of beard hair and possibly is congruent with all facial hair.

Thank you for this ongoing clinical feedback Dr. Cole because as much as we hair loss sufferers may want things to be exact and perfect, life is a road traveled in many different directions, some more uncertain than others.