Body hair for transplant? Which type is best?*

[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.

[pidda]

By far beard hair is the best for growth and looks great. Using a .9mm punch or a 1.0mm leave acceptable scars under the chin. We have been able to get an extra 1,000 grafts from a fairly dense beard. I use beard hair as filler, never on the hairline or temples. Beard hair growth is very predictable.

That seems like a huge punch size for beard grafts.

[pidda]

Hair transplantation is a surgical technique that moves individual hair follicles from a part of the body called the 'donor site' to bald or balding part of the body known as the 'recipient site'.

when a large punch is used in the donor area in the scalp excessively, it will create an overharvested look pretty fast compared to a combination of different sized manual punches. Using only a large punch would create an unaesthetically pleasing donor shaving closer to the skin and make scars more visible. Many doctors have no problem with transecting with smaller punches, granted it depends on the size of the graft. Hair transplantation is hair transplantation no matter how you look at it, but the ability to camouflage with FUE is a nice tradeoff. It is important to choose wisely how you go about it no matter where the grafts are taken out including the beard and body hair because the idea is to not make the extraction too visible. Regardless, it depends on the healing characteristics and hair characteristics to find which tool is best.

[yogeshjoshi]

There are many types of hair transplant methods which are helpful for the bald person, talking about body hair for transplant is also a good technique which is known as Body Hair Transplant (BHT) method. The BHT method is very popular method and the best hair transplant in Indore.

[vinnytr]

Dr Cole , could you please confirm beard hair can be taken from the lower part of the neck / the area around Adam`s apple as well ?

[GNX]

the WHY is because its in the Telogen phase much longer. beard hair is closer to head hair as far as growth stages go but the remaining body hair other then pubic and underarm hair are different and stay in the telogen phase far longer.

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.