Hair Transplantation – Page 38

October 17, 2011

Transplanting Beard Hair to the Scalp? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello doctor

What do you think about transplanting beard hair to the scalp ?

a ) Does it worth the cost ? Is it a measure of last resort or a reasonable addition to achieve better coverage and thickness ?
b ) How many hair can you get from a beard to transplant ?
c )Is there a significant risk of little dot scars to the face ?
d ) Is it true that although beard grafts are mostly single haired , those hairs are 3 – 4 times thicker than scalp hair ?

Appreciate your time

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At NHI, we do not perform beard hair transplants to the scalp unless the donor supply is depleted. We therefore do not endorse this treatment. Another way to put it is, we do not recommend surgery that we would not want done on ourselves. I realize there are other doctors and clinics that advertise and transplant beard hair to the scalp, but results we have seen have been mixed (some good, some bad).

You must remember beard hair texture and growth is completely different than scalp hair, so there is a potential for mismatch. There is also a chance of some sort of scarring to the face. ALL surgery or cut on the skin will produce some form of a scar. Even the best FUE will produce a scar if you look close enough. Most people will never see the FUE scars, because they’re in the back of the scalp, but FUE to the face and beard area will stand out if you shave.

The cost of the surgery and its benefits are something only you can assess based on your expectations. The number of hairs and the quality of beard hair is dependent on your beard hair characteristics. Everyone is different and there is no universal answer.

October 14, 2011

Hair Loss InformationRepairing Old Plugs Placed Too Low at the Hairline (with Photos) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

To many people that aren’t familiar with the advances made in hair restoration, “hair plugs” are still the norm. There’s nothing pluggy looking about today’s hair transplant procedures, but those bulky hair plugs of yesteryear were easy to point out and looked incredibly unnatural. I saw a patient that had an unusual placement of these old plugs and was looking to correct it.

This patient first came in about a year and a half ago with a large bald area and old-style transplant plugs that were placed far too low on the right side of his hairline. I suggested that he fill in the frontal area, and he also wanted additional grafts placed into his balding crown. A total of 1919 grafts were transplanted.

You’ll notice that the achieved result shown below is an uneven, but fuller looking hairline (we were limited to what could be done because of the placement of his old plugs). He recently came in to see me again lower the frontal hairline and I agreed to lower the left side a little to balance it out. I remembered how much he hated the plugs on his right side when we first met, and now we succeeded in managing the plugs with styling and camouflage. While that 2nd procedure hasn’t happened yet to even out the hairline, I’m glad he was so happy with the results thus far from the repair and he’s allowed me to share the photos here.

Before photo on left / After photo on right. Click to enlarge.

October 13, 2011

I Don’t Have a Stable Donor Area – So is Beard Hair a Possibility for Transplantation? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dear Dr. Rassman,

Thank you for your informative blog.
I was wondering I have seen many posts in which you recommend against using body hair for transplants but a few months back a reader asked about using beard hair as donor hair, and I got the impression that you thought this was a reasonable option. I have been told by a doctor that i don’t have a stable donor area would beard hair be a possible alternative? maybe in combination with S.M.P. ?

Also how would this work? Would the patient need to keep a beard forever to cover the scar? Anyway thanks for your time.

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We do not generally recommend beard hair as a donor supply for transplanting to the scalp unless the donor supply in the back of the head is badly depleted. I realize there are doctors who specialize or advertise in these type of procedures, but it is something we do not recommend. What is making your donor area unstable? Do you have alopecia areata?

SMP is also a procedure that is very uniquely specialized to an individual, and I couldn’t say one way or another if it would be right for you without an exam. Or are you suggesting to use SMP on your face? I’m confused…

October 13, 2011

My Blood Pressure Went Up After My Hair Transplant – Are My Grafts Going to Suffer? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I’ve never had blood pressure before, but about 4 weeks after my mega-session it shot up (mostly 144/90 range) along with a light elevation in blood sugar (110 avg.). This all coincided with a family move to the other coast and switching jobs. This went on for about a month before things died down again. Do you think I injured my grafts? Also, would it be deterimental to take just a few (5 or less) Inederol/Propanal to help with calming down during this period?

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I do not believe high blood pressure should impact hair growth or a hair transplant. Please follow up with your doctor and get your blood pressure under control.

October 10, 2011

Transplanting an Eroding Hairline – Balding Blog

Hello Dr. Rassman

In one of your latest replies you suggested that transplanting grafts just to thicken the regions close to hair line is not advisable as it can damage existing original hairs. Also you said you have applied this to some actors. Didn’t their existing hairs get damaged as you said? Could you supply us some further information?

There are judgments that are made based upon experience. If a hairline is eroded or eroding and the person is on finasteride (Propecia), I would treat the hairline that has hair present in it, provided that the patient understands the nature of progressive hair loss. In the young man, the erosion of the hairline is just the beginning of the balding process, so keeping a fuller hairline with transplants and following the loss as it goes back is not unreasonable.

What I avoid is someone who has miniaturization in and behind the hairline, but the hairline is still normal. Getting to know the patient has a lot to do with what I do and I tend to be more conservative than most doctors are protecting the patient from unnecessary surgery.

From time to time, I see a person with a Norwood Class 2 pattern that received 3000+ grafts in the frontal hairline. As a Class 2 patient, unless the hairline is eroded I do not usually transplant these patients… but if I do, just a few hundred grafts usually work. To give these patient 3000+ grafts means that the doctor is money hungry, pushing aside ethics to get as much of the patient’s cash as possible.

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October 7, 2011

I’ve Had 8 Transplants Over 20 Years and Can Still See My Scalp Under Harsh Light – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello there,
I hope you can help me please? I am 51 yrs old and over the last 20 years have had about 8 hair transplants, the last one being a FUE procedure in London approx one year ago. I have an average height hairline which had around 1400 grafts to thicken the frontal area.

Under normal light my hair (which is quite short and brushed back) does not appear thin, but under sunlight and house lights I can see through virtually the whole top. I have a good crown and temple peaks which have not receded at all.

My Q’s are – could the hair be taken from my temple peaks and from the front hairline to move it approx one half inch back on my head then place all these hairs on the top to thicken that area further?

Also, could a small area, say half a centimetre be taken from around the bottom rear of my hairline extending over my ears, with a view to putting these hairs on the top of my head too ?

Thankyou for any reply you send me. Regards

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That seems like awfully too many hair transplant surgeries. Added to that, if you are still considering having more surgeries it sends a huge red flag. I read your requests and it seems a bit too drastic, but also note that I do not know your history or even know your ultimate expectations (as 8 surgeries in the past did not fulfill them), so I am just speaking in generalities based on your one email.

Perhaps you are trying to set a goal you will never achieve or had surgeons that never developed a Master Plan for you? Again, this is a generalization and I really cannot answer your question in detail without a private consultation. You may have many options once you are evaluated, such as Scalp MicroPigmentation to increase the appearance of fullness (see example) if you are running out of donor hair to harvest.

We do not harvest hair from 1/2 centimeter around the bottom of the ear and hairlines.

October 6, 2011

Bumps in Donor Area After FUE – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I had a FUE operation of 3650 grafts exactly six weeks ago to my frontal hairline NW2. I recently, last 5 days, have about ten bumps like pimples in the DONOR area? what is going on?

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Norwood 2 If you were really only with a Norwood Class 2 pattern balding, why would you have 3650 grafts transplanted? This just does not make any sense to me.

Two things come to mind that could explain the bumps you’re seeing — 1) When transected hairs in a graft are placed, they can act as a foreign body. 2) There may also be folliculitis at the recipient sites.

If there is a folliculitis, the treatment should be incision and drainage of the bumps, a culture of what comes out of the wound and the use of antibiotics. Once the culture has grown out, the organisms will be identified and tested against the medication that the doctor will give you. That will tell him if his guess is the correct diagnosis.

For transected hairs, there may be a different course. As much as I would like to help you, I think that you will be best served to go back to your doctor.

October 5, 2011

16 Months After My 3rd Transplant, I Only See Baby Fine Hair – Balding Blog

Hello Doctor,
I have had three hair transplants totaling to about 5,400 grafts. I am about 16 months into my third transplant that i had in March 2010. I have observed that i still see baby like fine hair, as they seem when transplanted hair start to grow, still in some of my transplanted areas of the scalp. And i don’t think these are my miniaturized native hair as alot of them are grafts of two, three or single.

I am not sure if this is happening because i have had that many surgeries and there is lack of blood circulation for the hair to grow properly or the grafts were not transplanted properly by my doctor. I tried talk to my doctor about it, but he kept saying that they are probably my native hair. I am not sure what i can do to confirm this.

I generally want to see the patient 8 months after the procedure to get an idea what it looks like. By that time, I usually see 80+% of the growth that was transplanted. I wouldn’t expect to see blood supply problems.

Since you’re already 16 months in and not fully satisfied, then you should get another opinion from a doctor (in person exam). Hopefully you have detailed before photos to compare to your hair now.

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October 4, 2011

Wolff-Parkinson White Syndrome and Hair Transplants – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi, thank you for providing your blog as a source of information. I’m a 40 y.o. male and recently had an appointment for a transplant to correct some mild thinning in the frontal and temple area… approximately 800 grafts. I was literally minutes from the procedure when the doctor learned that I was diagnosed with Wolf Parkinson White syndrome as a teen and informed me that he would not continue with the transplant. From a providers perspective, is this the consensus of the industry as a whole or are there still transplant options available to me? Thanks in advance

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There is no contraindication to an outpatient surgery (such as a hair transplant procedure) for patients with WPW. Moreover, if you were diagnosed with WPW in your teenage years, I would assume you have had it treated with ablation. If you were not treated with ablation, I would think you should be followed by a cardiologist.

October 4, 2011

Hair Loss InformationTransplanting a Tight Scalp? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

For somebody with a tight scalp is a FUE procedure really the only hair transplant option?

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If you have a tight scalp, you can “work” your scalp with an exercise program for 30 minutes per day for 3 months. Most people will succeed in getting more laxity with these exercises. We made a video of this here.