Can Body Hair be Used in Hair Transplants?

Hair transplants have been evolving for many decades and have improved tremendously over this period. The newer techniques have allowed better results than ever before. However, one limiting factor has always been the amount of grafts that are available at the donor sites. Some recent developments have been made in this regard. We shall discuss both traditional and novel donor sites for hair transplant.

Traditional Donor Areas

The traditional donor sites include the back and the sides of the head. The hair in these areas are immune from the ill effects of Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and therefore do not go through loss after a transplant.

Possible Body Hair Donor Areas

Some hair transplant surgeons are experimenting with body hair for transplanting purposes. Body hair too are free from ill effects of DHT. Generally hair are taken from legs, beard and chest. These can be used on the scalp. The follicles from the leg are generally used in the frontal areas due to their light appearance while beard hair can be used in the back areas to build volume. The best part is that these offer a much greater number of hair follicles in comparison with the traditional donor sites. Even up to 10000 grafts can be had through these novel donor areas in a single session. Extraction of the body hair can be done via Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) method. A strip method for follicles collection cannot be done in this case.

The Downside

The one downside with this method is that the hair from the different parts of the body have a different texture and they may appear different from the normal hair on the scalp. This can be corrected over a period of time as the hair settle in their new location and are styled like normal hair.

Current Usage

Currently the technique is used by only a handful of transplant surgeons. However, with encouraging results, it is quite likely that more surgeons will take this option in future. The best part about this novel method is that it allows greater number of grafts and can reduce the amount of surgeries needed to cover the same area. It can also help people with extensive hair loss to have greater volume of hair after a hair transplant due to the large supply of the grafts.

Free Consultation

For more information about hair transplants or if you plan on getting one, feel free to visit us at Hair Transplant Dubai Clinic. A free online consultation can be had by simply filling in the form given below.