Special areas in Hair Transplantation

Besides hair transplantation for baldness, there are certain Hair Transplant donor area on our body. Here we discuss some of these areas including, beard, mustache, eyebrow & crown. We also go over how hair loss differs for women differs from hair loss in men & how we tackle the treatment.

Hair Transplant Donor Area: Beard

Beard hair is next only to scalp hair in quality and hence can serve as a donor when scalp hair is not available. Hairs are harvested from the beard on the under surface of the jaw (upper part of neck).

However, fair-skinned patients are better suitable for this method as white dots are more visible in dark-skinned patients.

Hair can be harvested from the beard or the body including chest and pubic region. This is usually done when there aren’t enough grafts in the scalp to cover the required area. Typically in mega sessions requiring 5000 grafts or more.

We are often asked, why not take body hair instead of scalp hair. This is tempting because the donor site is completely hidden, and many people have plenty of hair in these regions. However, this is not advisable for the following reasons:

This hair is inferior. Compared to the scalp, body hair does not grow as long, and it is thinner. So the impact is less as the result depends on thickness and length.

It is more difficult to harvest. More anesthesia is needed. As these areas are larger. Often the anesthesia isn’t enough and the procedure might be uncomfortable.

Body hair occurs as single hair units. This means more hairs need to be taken.

For e.g. 1000 scalp hair units are equal to about 2200 body hairs as scalp hair has 1/2/3 or even 4 hair units with an average of 2.2 hairs per unit. This means that a patient has to get 2200 body hair units to get 2200 hairs- so he pays for 2200 units- almost double that of scalp hairs.

Our publication on the same:

Venkataram Mysore Body Hair Transplantation: Case Report of Successful Outcome; J Cutan Aesthetic Surg. 2013 Apr-Jun; 6(2): 113–116.

Usually, the chest is chosen as the donor.

Eyebrow, mustache & beard transplant

Many people are unhappy with the shape or length and thickness of their eyebrow, mustache or beard and would like to alter it cosmetically. This can be done easily with FUE method and usually doesn’t require many grafts. However, this area has its own challenges:

1. The area is very mobile, implanting is more difficult than the scalp.
2. The orientation of hairs is very important.
3. Single hair units are essential

For this reason, it is important that these areas are grafted by an experienced person.

Transplantation over a scar

Often many patients have scars due to reasons such as trauma, burns involving hair-bearing regions, including the scalp. This can very well be covered with transplantation. However few things need to be remembered:

1. This scar tissue is tougher, implanting is more difficult.
2. This area has a poorer blood supply than other parts of the body. It is important to space grafts properly.
3. Multiple sessions may be needed.

Crown or Vertex Transplantation

Crown transplantation is a specialized area that needs its own discussion. Often patients are very concerned about this area since they cannot see it themselves and get affected when people comment on it. It is often possible that a person may be more concerned about a small area of vertex thinning than a large area of frontal baldness!

In general transplantation, this region is more challenging and differs from frontal hair transplantation in several ways.

The area is circular whereas the frontal area is triangular; It is a larger area than the frontal recession, this needs more grafts as compared to the front.

The hairs all go in different directions, like spokes of a wheel; for this reason, the effect of grafted hairs do not build up like they do in the front. This again means that more grafts are needed than the front. Also, there is more skill needed to make the holes and implant due to these different directions.

When the vertex area expands, it does so in all directions. This means that if transplantation is done before hair loss is stabilised, you can end up with a central area of transplanted hair surrounded by a ring of baldness.

For these reasons, it is important not to rush into transplantation for this region.

Our advice on Vertex Transplantation

Do not rush into vertex transplantation, consider it properly and only after medical treatment. Medical treatment is very important for this area. Often it is not fully bald, and some miniature hairs are present which can be activated.

Do not compromise the frontal region for the vertex. The frontal region should take priority as this is what people identify you by. We are very experienced in vertex transplants and will guide you on the best treatment.

Hair Transplant in Women

Hair transplant for women can be influenced by many factors. We have to first understand the causes of hair loss, to fully understand the causes of hair loss to optimize a treatment plan. Hair Transplant in women has several special features.

In women, there are multiple causes of hair loss. These also need to be investigated and treated in addition to transplantation. Hence, transplantation can only cover part of the problem. This is why medical treatment with drugs and PRP is always tried first. Underlying hormonal problems need to be treated if any.

A woman never becomes completely bald – In women, hair loss is more diffused and widespread – so the area which is cosmetically significant can be transplanted.

This means that perfect and complete coverage is not possible. What is possible is only a cosmetic improvement in the front, depending on the hairstyle of the person. Often women want very high density which may not be possible – hence a realistic expectation is important.

Women have long hairs and do not accept trimming of hairs. Hence, transplantation should be done amidst these hairs. This is more time-consuming. Since women want the hair to be long, results take almost 1½ years, to grow to the required length.

Both FUT and FUE can be used to harvest hairs. Transplantation in women is a challenging area – We have done hundreds of such transplantation and have large experience in the procedure.

Check out the results of our hair transplant patients.