First thread...leg hair transplant?

[hopingforhair88]

Hey everyone,

I have floated over many forums as my hair has been thinning since I was 18 but this one seems to be the most helpful so I decided to register and start asking some questions. This is my first post and I already know it is going to be a fairly long one and apologies if it turns into a rant, I'll try to keep it as tidy as possible My question is actually in the last 2 paragraphs.

I'm now 24 and my hair is noticeably thinner and also receding. Like everyone on here I have gone through the various stages of anger, sadness, annoyance whatever you want to class it as but through all of this I have accepted it is happening and if it bothers me I need to do something about it.

Back when I was 20 I tried *******15 which helped a bit but was so sticky and greasy i ruined my hair. I buzz cut it but since 20ish I have suffered from seborrehic dermatitis - at least thats what I think it is - and it has made my hair loss worse. I say I THINK it is seb derm because nobody seems to know what it is. One doctor thought it was straight eczema, then psoriasis and then seb derm seemed to fit it really.

My scalp can get greasy and apparently I am allergic to something in the grease that causes my body to create patches of thicker skin on the top of my scalp. I know this sounds nasty and thats because it is. If I had good hair then I could cover my head in olive oil, leave it one for a couple of hours and then peel the patches off. However, as I am lucky enough to be going bald whenever I peel these patches off a notable amount of hair comes with it leaving my scalp patchy from both the skin being peeled and the hair being removed which is great So instead I just suffer in silence, occasionally peeling off what I can but I find myself staring in the mirror assessing the situation constantly...this is probably the biggest reason why I need to sort my hair- the time I waste looking at it and basically feeling sorry for myself is unforgiveable but I can't seem to stop myself.

Anyway, receding, thinning, greasy, patchy (but eczema is exclusive to the top of my head and not the rest of my body which is something I am grateful for) and generally hoping for a miracle is my current situation.

I bought some propecia pills from a pharmacy website and they are the generic ones that many people use but I honestly didn't see any difference. The only change I noticed was that my nipple got more puffy (and this has stayed with me today as a constant reminder) so I'm pretty scared to try that again.

Turns out I'm destined to be one of those guys who has no hair on his head but lots of it on his body- my legs especially- and this is where my question comes in. I have read a bit about BHT but it always seems so vague, no real success stories but I figured if there are any then I'm going to find them here. If there is a surgeon out there who can do BHTs then thats what I'm looking for as the hair on my legs would be perfect for my head. Each follicle has 2-3 hairs each so there would be more than enough donor hair and also it would get rid of some of the hair on my legs which would be an added bonus! The hair is as thick as the hair on my head, if not thicker, and also as I buzz cut my hair the length or growth rate doesn't bother me!

I think I'd use some head hair to fill in the hairline a bit but behind that I'm happy to use body hair if possible. My hair has always been quite thin (another trait of the guy destined to go bald early) but I guess in this case it could be an advantage as I wouldn't need so much in order for it to look fairly natural?

What do you guys think? Am I dreaming here? Its been banging on my mind for weeks and I think I have just been putting it off but an answer is what I need really...be gentle

Thanks all, apologies for the rant but I already feel a bit better as I don't talk to anyone about this stuff.


HFH

[gillenator]

The only guy that I read about using leg hair as a donor source was a patient in Southern California and right off hand, I cannot remember his name but he used to post alot in these forums when he was getting work done, several yaers ago. I do not see him posting anymore though...

His leg hair was used on his hairline too and states he got a good yield from it. He had real coarse texture and dark hair with a nice wave.

He works in the entertainment industry, film I think.

[VictimOfDHT]

Sorry that you're going through this. I'm not exactly as bad as you but I've always had severe dandruff (or psoriasis or whatever the hell I have) that never goes away but sometimes it's a little better than others. Anyway, yes I think it is possible to use body hair on the head. I've seen it here before but I can't remember the name of the doctor. I think he's in LA though. It was a repair job and the guy didn't have enough donor hair on his head, so the doctor used body hair (maybe chest and legs) and he did a really good job for the patient. It was a video clip explaining the whole thing and showing videos of before and after. Try to search it.

[didi]

why dont you take a look at hasci.com, if dean saunders can do it you can too.

[gillenator]

Ski,

You are absolutely correct. It was indeed SofarSoGood. And he states he had numerous past procedures although I think he has stated they were small procedures.

[hopingforhair88]

Guys,

Thank you very much for your replies. I can't believe I wrote this back in 2012 but I think I just needed to vent as I hadn't given it much more thought...until now

Basically I'm definitely looking to get a hair transplant this year but am seeing if I can get a decent one in the UK/Europe instead of traveling to the USA for it. Honestly, it looks like I may need to make the journey though as Dr Umar seems to be the lead in the BHT field.

didi- I'm very intrigued by the HSI link you posted, I really didn't think this was an option or even possible! I'll be reading more into this.

Anyway, just wanted to say thanks for the support and apologies for not replying but it really did help me after writing it, it was like a big load off of my mind.

Oh yeah, unfortunately I've still got the skin problem but I'm looking into ways to handle it. Once I have some progress I'll be sure to update it on a new thread.

Thanks again!

[35YrsAfter]

Hey everyone,

I have floated over many forums as my hair has been thinning since I was 18 but this one seems to be the most helpful so I decided to register and start asking some questions. This is my first post and I already know it is going to be a fairly long one and apologies if it turns into a rant, I'll try to keep it as tidy as possible My question is actually in the last 2 paragraphs.

I'm now 24 and my hair is noticeably thinner and also receding. Like everyone on here I have gone through the various stages of anger, sadness, annoyance whatever you want to class it as but through all of this I have accepted it is happening and if it bothers me I need to do something about it.

Back when I was 20 I tried *******15 which helped a bit but was so sticky and greasy i ruined my hair. I buzz cut it but since 20ish I have suffered from seborrehic dermatitis - at least thats what I think it is - and it has made my hair loss worse. I say I THINK it is seb derm because nobody seems to know what it is. One doctor thought it was straight eczema, then psoriasis and then seb derm seemed to fit it really.

My scalp can get greasy and apparently I am allergic to something in the grease that causes my body to create patches of thicker skin on the top of my scalp. I know this sounds nasty and thats because it is. If I had good hair then I could cover my head in olive oil, leave it one for a couple of hours and then peel the patches off. However, as I am lucky enough to be going bald whenever I peel these patches off a notable amount of hair comes with it leaving my scalp patchy from both the skin being peeled and the hair being removed which is great So instead I just suffer in silence, occasionally peeling off what I can but I find myself staring in the mirror assessing the situation constantly...this is probably the biggest reason why I need to sort my hair- the time I waste looking at it and basically feeling sorry for myself is unforgiveable but I can't seem to stop myself.

Anyway, receding, thinning, greasy, patchy (but eczema is exclusive to the top of my head and not the rest of my body which is something I am grateful for) and generally hoping for a miracle is my current situation.

I bought some propecia pills from a pharmacy website and they are the generic ones that many people use but I honestly didn't see any difference. The only change I noticed was that my nipple got more puffy (and this has stayed with me today as a constant reminder) so I'm pretty scared to try that again.

Turns out I'm destined to be one of those guys who has no hair on his head but lots of it on his body- my legs especially- and this is where my question comes in. I have read a bit about BHT but it always seems so vague, no real success stories but I figured if there are any then I'm going to find them here. If there is a surgeon out there who can do BHTs then thats what I'm looking for as the hair on my legs would be perfect for my head. Each follicle has 2-3 hairs each so there would be more than enough donor hair and also it would get rid of some of the hair on my legs which would be an added bonus! The hair is as thick as the hair on my head, if not thicker, and also as I buzz cut my hair the length or growth rate doesn't bother me!

I think I'd use some head hair to fill in the hairline a bit but behind that I'm happy to use body hair if possible. My hair has always been quite thin (another trait of the guy destined to go bald early) but I guess in this case it could be an advantage as I wouldn't need so much in order for it to look fairly natural?

What do you guys think? Am I dreaming here? Its been banging on my mind for weeks and I think I have just been putting it off but an answer is what I need really...be gentle

Thanks all, apologies for the rant but I already feel a bit better as I don't talk to anyone about this stuff.


HFH

Back in the days of body hair studies, Dr. Cole used leg hair on my scalp to determine growth longevity and the effect placement density has upon yield. The low density region grew hair and the high density region grew nothing. Here is the overview of non-scalp hair used in hair transplants:

Next to scalp hair, beard hair taken below the jawline is best. Yield without ACell is about 60%. With ACell it's about 90%. Beard hair grows long like scalp hair (take note of ZZ Top). It can often be twice the caliber of scalp hair. Coverage math= twice the caliber= four times the coverage.

Next to beard hair is chest hair. With chest hair, half the time it grows and out of who gets growth, about half of those men are satisfied with the results because there was some cosmetic benefit.

Leg hair has worked for some. For me, the leg hair grafts miniaturized over time. I can still see some of the hair but it does not provide a cosmetic benefit.

If you have beard hair or chest hair to spare, forget about leg hair.


35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office
Cole Hair Transplant
1070 Powers Place
Alpharetta, Georgia 30009
Phone 678-566-1011
The contents of my posts are my opinions and not medical advice

[topcat]

My beard hair with BHR and without the use of Acell was 100% in my opinion.

[topcat]

Chuck I guess what I don’t understand about your comment is that a good number of European clinics are achieving what appears to be 100% yield with their beard hair extractions yet you seem to have a 40% failure rate without the use of Acell………………….how do you explain this?

[hopingforhair88]

Thanks for the reply, I was also considering chest hair but was unsure (and still am) about the scarring that can come from this. I don't really want small scars on my chest if I can avoid it and I was thinking scars on legs would be less noticeable. I'll look into A-cell as I remember when I first looked at it a few years ago it seemed to have been brushed aside as not having much more effect considering the extra cost. If thats changed then great news!