Body Hair Transplant

The body hair transplant is the procedure in which body hairs (beard, chest, etc) are taken for transplant to the scalp. This is done by scarless FUE technique as a day care procedure. A person having a high grade of baldness, such as class 7, may not have enough donor hairs at the back and side of the scalp (only 12500 hairs out of the permanent 25000 may be transplanted). So the BHT is the only option for hair restoration for such cases. Now, with the advancement in technique and better tools, the follicular unit extraction method can utilize the body hairs as a donor site for transplant to the scalp area. The best candidates for BHT procedure are patients with abundant hair in such regions as the chin, chest, back, or legs. Donor sites in Body hair transplant: Beard, Chest, Legs, Pubic areas, Under arms (axilla), Back. The procedure is done under local anesthesia, and some oral sedative tablets are given to reduce the anxiety. The chosen donor area is given ring block anesthesia, and tumescent solution is injected with very fine needles to facilitate the extraction of the grafts. The punch used for extraction is specially customized for body hair extraction. The number of session and duration of the procedure depends on the graft requirement. The technique used is Automated FUE, in which, with the help of a punch, the roots are taken out, without any cuts or stitches. The beard hair is the most robust out of other body hairs in growth rate and shaft thickness. The body hairs are usually single hair graft and there angle of exist is different from the scalp hair. The roots are fine, thin, and there is a lot of soft tissue beneath without any bony support as compared to scalp hairs. The procedure is of long duration, and in a day, limited grafts can be extracted. It requires special attention and skill to extract the intact and well-supported tissue graft from the body donor’s hair. Shaving of the chest and abdomen hair 5 days before the procedure. Shaving of beard hairs 2 days before the procedure. During the procedure, the anagen hairs would have grown to adequate length for extraction. The anagen follicles are identified in enlarged view by surgical loupe to see the hair shaft in the epidermis beyond the entry point of the hair.

Aftercare in BHT

Local antibiotic ointment is applied over the extraction site. Dressing is done and is removed the next day; thereafter, a daily bath can be taken, and the prescribed ointment is applied. Antibiotics and analgesics are prescribed for 5 days. Prevent direct sun exposure and Sunscreen agent to be applied for 7 days. The donor site usually heals within a week.

RESULT

The final full-grown hair growth will take around 6 to 9 months.

Advantages of BHT

Grade 7 baldness when limited scalp donors are available.
When enough scalp donor hairs are not available due to a previous procedure.
DHT resistant of body hairs.
Coverage of the crown region by adding density to the existing sparse hairs.
Large availability of donor area.
FUT scar repair.
Can be done for Eyebrow transplant.
Can be used in combination with FUE hair transplant to add density.
The most common use of body hair as a donor site is when the traditional donor scalp hair supply is exhausted. The BHT can be used to feather out hair line, making it more natural by cherry picking thin and soft body hairs, esp. in people with strong and coarse scalp hairs. For camouflage, the widened strip scars of the already depleted donor area, where taking further hairs from the scalp either by strip or FUE is not a viable option. Body hair is an excellent filler to increase the density for use in between the thin density of scalp hair. Body hair can be used for eyebrow transplant as they are almost similar in terms of lighter color, thinner diameter, and slower growth as compared to scalp hair. Donor recharging or Donor add-on density of the scalp area by BHT, especially in cases. When the scalp donor area is very thin.

Limitation of BHT Procedure

Slightly different nature of the hair than the ones growing on the scalp.
The necessity to anesthetize the extensive donor area
Long and tedious procedure due to the different exit angles of hair.
The body hairs are placed in bulky soft tissue without any bony support as compared to scalp hairs; therefore, they take more time to extract.
Body hairs are thin and mostly single hair grafts, and also take more time to grow
Slow procedure and very tiring for the surgeon, not only due to awkward positioning, but also due to the acute angulation of more superficially placed follicles.
The follicles are often in the more bulky soft tissue with less bony support. Some of the Body Hairs are not strong shafted to facilitate easy extraction.
Hypopigmentation or hyperpigmentation at the donor site.
Less yield in terms of the number of hairs.
Body hair often has a much lower diameter than the hair on your head. Body hairs often grow alone, so this generally means single hair grafts. Body hair takes longer to grow.
Although body hair tends to grow a little when implanted in the scalp, it will never achieve the length of a normal hair.