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This question was posed by a hair loss sufferer seeking hair loss help on our hair restoration forum and answered by Dr. William Lindsey of Reston, VA who is one of our recommended hair restoration physicians. His professional answer is below.

This question is for hair transplant doctors and their representatives. I would be most grateful for expert medical opinions. I’ve been researching female eyebrow transplants for quite a while and would like to proceed but feel I have received mixed messages.

• Please tell me whether it is possible to achieve a natural, pretty result augmenting existing eyebrows.
• What is the most acute angle possible without compromising hair growth?
• How likely is the possibility of losing native hairs permanently?
• How satisfied have women with existing eyebrows been with the outcome of eyebrow transplant surgery? (I know people without any eyebrows are more likely to be happy.)
• I know the frequency of this hair restoration procedure is increasing but are people thrilled with the natural results the way they are with scalp hair replacement.

I very much appreciate any insight you can provide based upon your experience.

I am a facial plastic surgeon, fellowship trained, previously on faculty at 2 teaching universities, and I have done many eyelid, eyebrow, forehead, and face procedures along with hair which has become my focus. And do you know how many eyebrow transplant cases that I have seen? One. And that was a result of trauma. Now if you have an area disfigured by trauma, then a face doctor like me would be important to get the area prepared for the best outcome from a transplant, and since I can do follicular unit extraction (FUE), I probably can do the entire procedure well.

If you happen to be blessed with as much body hair as a hairy back gorilla, you might be wondering whether or not body hair can be used and transplanted on your balding scalp.  The concept of body hair transplant surgery has been around for some time, but does it really work?  Will body hair grow like scalp hair when re-transplanted?  Will you experience any hair growth?

Dr. Robert True, an elite member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians offers an analysis and presentation of this topic and the types of body donor hair characteristics that are most viable to use for hair replacement surgery.  You are encouraged to contribute your thoughts.  See also this hair loss forum thread and read other and contribute your opinion or experience with body hair transplant procedures.

Bill - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog

Technorati Tags: balding, hair transplant, hair growth, donor hair, hair replacement, body hair transplant

Is it possible to transplant hair on areas of my forehead where there has never been any hair growth from birth?   I am very unhappy with my big forehead and want to minimize its appearance.

Yes, this is possible.  Whether or not hair transplant surgery is right for you to lower the hairline to reduce the appearance of the size of your forehead however, is another story.  This will depend on a number of things including your age and whether or not you are currently experiencing or might in the future any hair loss.  I encourage you to consult with one of our Coalition Hair Transplant Surgeons who have proven to be some of the best in the industry to see if this type of procedure is right for you.

Bill - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog

Technorati Tags: transplant hair, hair growth, hair transplant, hair loss

Is it true that, when transplanted to balding areas of the scalp, that body hair can grow like “head hair”?

Body hair transplant (BHT) surgery does exist and may be a viable surgical option for a select group of patients however; it is often overhyped and there is a lack of compelling evidence that BHT is consistent in quality results for all hair loss patients.  I have heard and seen cases of patients shoveling out tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars with very little if any hair growth, while some repair patients have experienced a significant cosmetically pleasing result.

In my opinion, it is better to consider scalp hair restoration surgery via follicular unit transplantation (FUT) in the hands of a skilled physician which has been proven to highly effective. Follicular unit extraction (FUE) in my opinion has a long way to go to show that all hair loss patients are FUE candidates but some hair transplant clinics seem to be doing some quality work in this area as well.

Bill - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog

Technorati Tags: balding, Body hair transplant, BHT, hair loss, hair growth, hair restoration, FUT, FUE, hair transplant

These questions were posed directly to Dr. Ken Siporin of Beverly Hills, CA who is one of our recommended hair restoration physicians by a hair loss sufferer seeking hair replacement surgery as a means to regrow hair.  His professional answer is below.

I too have lost half of my transplanted hair of 3 years and continue to lose hair daily.  All are from the bang area.  You mentioned that you have been down that road too Dr. Siporin.  I have 2 questions:  1) What did you do for your case? 2) What are the options to fix my balding scalp now showing through?  I am very upset to see more hair fall out around the hairline.  The rest of the scalp is fine.  I had a forehead reduction 5 years ago.  A fine line was cut and a strip of skin was removed and then stitched.  I had 2 hair transplant surgeries 2 years apart and are about half an inch to an inch from the stitch line.  The grafts too initially but slowly are falling out.  What are my options to fill in the hairline / bang area?  Please tell me your opinion on future options to regain hair in any yway.  Thank you!

I used electrolysis to shape my eyebrows. Now I wish to regrow new hairs to achieve the natural look I’ve destroyed. Any help for this situation?

If my understanding is correct, electrolysis when performed on hair and done correctly, will permanently remove it which means that your eyebrows most likely will not grow back.  However, some hair restoration physicians specialize in eyebrow transplantation and repair which might be worth considering.  The method of eyebrow hair transplantation involves the surgical removal of hair from other parts of your body (in most cases, hair from the sides and back of the scalp) and an insertion of them into tiny incisions made in your eyebrow area while carefully managing the direction and angle of the hair so it grows in naturally. 

Like anything other surgery, there are risks and limitations that should be considered, so in your research and consultations with various physicians, be sure to learn everything you can about eyebrow transplants and then decide whether or not they are right for you.

A few eyebrow surgeons that come to mind off the top of my head and are definitely worth considering are Dr. Epstein of FL and NY and Dr. Keller of IL, both of which are recommended on the Hair Transplant Network.

I hope this helps get you started in your research.

Bill - aka Falceros
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog

Transplanting hair from the body to the balding scalp, typically referred to as Body Hair Transplantation or BHT for short, has become a subject of intense interest to many hair transplant patients (especially those who are endowed with the body hair of hairy back gorilla).

Some hair transplant physicians have been experimenting with and studying the viability of such body to scalp hair transplants, including Coalition member Dr. Bob True in New York City.

Dr. True made an excellent presentation on this subject at the recent annual ISHRS (International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery) meeting in San Diego this October. He was kind enough to provide me with his presentation so that I could share highlights of his findings on our community.

View the photos from this body hair transplant presentation.

According to Dr. True, there are up to 5 million hair follicles on the body. The follicles vary widely in hair character and behavior with the hairs on the torso generally most similar to scalp hair. Some races have very little torso hair. It is rare for a woman of any race to have much torso hair.

He finds that there is a wide variance among men who do have torso hair and that for men torso hair increases to the sixth decade of life.

Hair loss sufferers seeking real hair loss help often come to our hair restoration forum asking questions about hair restoration methods that might work best for them.  This hair restoration forum member asked whether or not a synthetic hair transplant is a viable option.  This insightful answer was posted by well respected hair restoration discussion forum member “BeHappy”.

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Synthetic hair transplants are illegal in the USA because of the problems and complaints synthetic hair transplant patients were making as a result of having it done.  I looked into doing this as one of my hair restoration options because it was still being done then.  It was banned shortly after I was considering it.  The hair transplant doctor would attach hair (could be real or fake) to tiny aluminum (or or something similar such as plastic) tips, sort of like putting a small piece of metal around the end of the hair and crimping the metal so the hair stays on it. Then they make the slits in the recipient area and put the synthetic or real hair grafts in so the metal ends are in your scalp. After a few days the healing of the holes they made will grow around and over the metal tips, so they can’t come out.

This article was written by Dr. William Rassman, one of our well respected Coalition Hair Restoration Physicians.  Dr. Rassman has given me permission to post this article on our Hair Loss Q&A Blog in order to help educate fellow hair loss sufferers.  The original article can be found here.

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Lasers in Surgery and Medicine, Volume 19, Number 2, 1996, Pages 233-235

There has been a recent surge of interest in “laser hair transplantation” that has paralleled the increased use of lasers for a wide variety of cosmetic surgical procedures. Lasers generate great enthusiasm on the part of both physician and patient, but this has sometimes exceeded the actual value of the laser as a surgical tool. An obvious example has been the use of the CO2 laser as a nonselective, destructive modality to remove tattoos which left scarring and a cosmetic deformity worse than the tattoo itself. This has been subsequently replaced by pulsed lasers with specific pigment absorption (such as the Nd:YAG, Ruby, and Alexandrite lasers) operating on the principle of selective photothermolysis that truly offers benefit in the treatment of these lesions. Super- and ultra-pulsed CO2 lasers are now being used to replace “cold steel” in generating hair transplant sites. However, before we rush to use lasers in hair restoration surgery, we should first apply logic and reason to this application, and then proceed cautiously with carefully controlled studies so our patients will only benefit from its use. The following discussion will address various aspects of current laser technology in the specific context of the most recent advances in hair transplantation techniques. The intent will be to challenge the theoretical basis for the use of existing lasers, to question some dubious claims regarding their benefits, and to suggest future areas of laser research.

I’ve been reading a lot about body hair transplant.  This would be perfect for me since I have a lot of body hair.  How does it work?  Is it effective?

Body Hair Transplant (BHT) has become a subject of interest for many people, especially those with a lot of body hair!

This procedure is very similar to Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE), but instead of isolating scalp hairs - body hairs are extracted with a surgical instrument and are then transplanted into balding areas of the scalp.

The concept of BHT is fascinating to me to be honest.  The problem to date however, is that there isn’t a lot of public information on it.

Many hair transplant BHT patients have posted their preoperative and immediately postoperative pictures on our hair restoration discussion forum.  However, as much gusto as they had to post in the beginning, very few BHT patients follow through with posting their final results online.  

Despite the hype of BHT, it is still highly experimental in my opinion.   Many first-rate hair transplant doctors won’t perform the surgery or those who do typically offer it at a discount price.   Out of the BHT patients I’ve seen follow through to the end with their online posting - I’ve only seen one case where growth yield seemed pretty high while many other results seemed sparse at best. 

However, I believe Body Hair Transplant is not without hope.