Body hair suitability.

[topcat]

It becomes very hard sometimes to just sit by and read some repair patient’s story where he is completely scarred up and now believes he is making the right choice for repair because he missed some history or failed to speak to the right people. I mean it's really very hard for me personally to stomach. But sometimes all one can do is sit by while they are mislead by a few nefarious characters only to be attacked by that same group when it all goes wrong after maximum funds have been extracted from the patient and he has fully recovered from his drug induced stupor.

Of course most in the industry know who some of these operatives are but what most prospective patients do not understand is that it is not as simple as someone just being able to state it beforehand. They need to figure it out on their own most of the time and if they don’t it becomes their problem to deal with.

[John P. Cole, MD]

I think we all want a success story so we keep looking for another doctor when the math does not work out. In other words, if you have maximal hair loss and minimal donor area, you keep looking. Then other times, you get bad results or unnatural results to you keep looking. This is more common. Good docs can put all the lipstick they can on a pig, but sometimes it's still a pig. Then again, really good docs can change a pig into a princess. Other docs can take a beauty queen and make her a pig. Still others can promise you the moon, yet make something worse than a pig. The difference is up to you to figure out. You have to figure out the pig makers and the pig savers and butchers, and the liars.

I'm very disappointed by what I've heard about SMP in Italy. Don't waste your time. I'm not saying SMP is not worth your time. The results just seem to be variable. Also, some of the docs that went o Milan to learn SMP were highly disappointed. Depth seems to be key. Docs say the you often have to repeat the process to get the optimal result. In Milan, they have kept docs waiting for days only to see nothing. Be careful should you go to Milan.

[topcat]

My first picture of leg hair is around 40-42 and the second picture is very recent at 50

In my opinion just from observation I would say most men tend to lose leg hair as they age.

[whatsgoingon]

so beard hair/chest hair do not lose their thickness over time for the majority of people?

and regarding the leg hair pic posted, my leg hair seems to be close to double the thickness. So I dunno, leg hair would cosmetically be good I suppose. But only after the wait of time.

Just a quick question, how old are you around the time of the faded hairy legs?

[John P. Cole, MD]

I agree, Topcat. Leg hair is often lost with maturity in many individuals. It is easy to harvest. It leaves no real evidence that it was harvested even with a 1.0 mm punch. the problem is, that it can fall out over time. That's a major concern. Chest hair is more enduring, but again, it does not always grow as well as we would like. some of the people with the thickest patch of chest hair had poor growth. I have no idea why.

[topcat]

Below I have posted my leg hair over approximately an 8 year period but could be closer to 10 don’t remember the exact date and I don’t have the original pictures handy at the moment. The leg hair in my case has thinned drastically while the chest hair is as strong or stronger than ever. The issue with chest hair in my opinion is that the procedure has to be really small as I have seen way too much extensive scarring from large sessions……..very scary. I think leg hair is a complete waste of time and money and is not in the best interest of the patient in most cases.

[35YrsAfter]

do you know why it lost thickness?

As far as I know, there are theories why certain body hair loses caliber when transplanted to the scalp, but there isn't anything solid everyone agrees on. Follicle regeneration is moving forward slowly but another consideration is one of developing a method of modifying body hair so that it essentially "transforms" into hair that has characteristics closely resembling scalp hair. This would solve a lot of men's donor supply issues.

Today, as mentioned before, next to scalp hair, beard hair is best. Next to beard hair is chest hair and stomach hair. At this time these alternative hair sources work best for scar repair although beard hair is excellent for adding density to the crown. Dr. Cole generally avoids using beard hair and other body hair when there is adequate scalp donor hair available.

[whatsgoingon]

do you know why it lost thickness?

[35YrsAfter]

I read that body hair once transplanted normally goes away after some time. Is that just general or a certain type. I also read that leg hair isn't that suitable, like the 2nd to last hair you'd want to get. Is that just in general since most male have radically different hair from head to legs?

Like for instance, I have fairly thick leg hair. It looks like some of the hair transplants from NW7 to NW1 diffuse you'd see. I'd easily see a yield of 20,000-30,000 hairs from both legs. So please help me understand why body hair/leg hair is seemingly considered fringe. (not many offer it, and lots of people scoff at it)

Leg hair sometimes grows on the scalp and when it does grow, it commonly loses caliber over a few years time. That was the case with me. I can still see where it was placed but there is no longer any cosmetic benefit. This is the result of a study conducted by Dr. Cole several years ago.

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office
Cole Hair Transplant Atlanta
Phone 678-566-1011

[whatsgoingon]

I read that body hair once transplanted normally goes away after some time. Is that just general or a certain type. I also read that leg hair isn't that suitable, like the 2nd to last hair you'd want to get. Is that just in general since most male have radically different hair from head to legs?

Like for instance, I have fairly thick leg hair. It looks like some of the hair transplants from NW7 to NW1 diffuse you'd see. I'd easily see a yield of 20,000-30,000 hairs from both legs. So please help me understand why body hair/leg hair is seemingly considered fringe. (not many offer it, and lots of people scoff at it)

[wylie]

Yea, I could do another pass of FUE, but I think the most effective treatment is a combination of both. I would like to try SMP but don't want to spend more money on it than I would FUE. Flying to Italy solely for this is out of the question, and every U.S. clinic specializing in this seems shady and does not pass the smell test. Rassman and I believe his assistant in LA are doing this and I've read mixed reviews, and Shapiro in MN. is just getting started, although I don't know if he is even the one doing it. I don't feel like being a guinea pig for someone to learn on, thanks but no thanks. I guess it will be a few years until someone competent emerges.

[northeastguy]

The area under the chin and the neck show zero signs of any beard being extracted, this seems to be the No. 1 concern is what does the extraction sites look like? Well, all I can say is the fairer your complexion, the less chance you have of any beard extraction sites being visible. If you are white I don't think you will ever have anything to worry about, can't speak to those of other races.

I had 500 more extracted Sept. 9th and placed along the part line up top, so that will fill in more behind the front half, which is largely complete.

If you ever research SMP for scar repair and find out who is doing a good job and can be trusted in this industry, be sure to share it with the rest of us. I would like to try this on my numerous strip scars in back. 700 beard grafts helped but it needs more than that, I think SMP can work if done right.

Thanks wylie.... this helps. I am doing a test patch next month. if all goes well, i'll do a larger session in the winter.

Would you be able to do another pass of FUE into the scars? I do research SMP all the time and currently the only clinic I would trust would be beauty medical in Milan. Plus its temporary. my goal however is to not even need SMP once i'm done. Time will tell.

[wylie]

The area under the chin and the neck show zero signs of any beard being extracted, this seems to be the No. 1 concern is what does the extraction sites look like? Well, all I can say is the fairer your complexion, the less chance you have of any beard extraction sites being visible. If you are white I don't think you will ever have anything to worry about, can't speak to those of other races.

I had 500 more extracted Sept. 9th and placed along the part line up top, so that will fill in more behind the front half, which is largely complete.

If you ever research SMP for scar repair and find out who is doing a good job and can be trusted in this industry, be sure to share it with the rest of us. I would like to try this on my numerous strip scars in back. 700 beard grafts helped but it needs more than that, I think SMP can work if done right.

[northeastguy]

Wylie keep us updated and it's nice to see your keeping up with your plan... Hopefully to pay off soon.
How does the donor area where the beard grafts were taken from look?

[wylie]

Nape hair is not permanent, at least in my case
10 years ago I had a lot of nape hair, not anymore


some Drs use beard for hairline and some use body hair without mixing it with head hair...should be criminal offence

Nape hair is not your first choice, but admittedly some people, like myself, were out of options. People like myself will gladly take that gamble, and my remaining nape hair is going strong.

When choosing any doctor who utilizes non scalp sources, experience counts. The consumer should choose someone who knows what they're doing. Dr. Umar is not the first doctor I chose to start my repair, so I still was screwing up before I finally got things right.

I see beard hair like I see SMP, it opens up a whole new market for posers and charlatans and makes potential repairs both more effective than before, yet also more hazardous that things can go very wrong.