Category: Hair Transplantation

This is in response to Why Don’t More Men Get Their Hair Back? —

I believe that for many it is also the fact that the coverage and density you get from a hair transplant is not considered sufficient.

If you look at photos/videos of men having hair transplants, the density is at times not great – i.e. very much see through.

If density + coverage was good (cloning?!), then I believe alot more men would go and get it done even though the price would be fairly high.

The amount of hair that is generally needed to give a man the coverage he wants/needs is upwards of 25% of his original density. As each man is different, the coverage of a single hair (one out of many) reflects:

1. The thickness of the hair shaft (coarse hair has up to 5 times the coverage of fine hair)
2. The color contrast between hair and skin color (white/blond hair and light skin does better than black hair and light skin)

… so the hair requirements must be tailored to the particular patient. At our Open House events held each month, there are often 2 patients who stop by with black hair/white skin and a medium hair weight, and their results are spectacular. Sports news personality Steve Hartman had it done in one session and he does not have a see-through look, probably because his hair character is very good and wavy.

Generally, I tell patients to visit an Open House event so that questions such as those that you raised can be answered by meeting patients who have already had the procedure done. You are correct, of course, that people with fine hair may not get the fullness (density) they want and need, but such issues are best raised with the transplant surgeon.

Dear Doc,

I have a burning question regarding hair transplant if hairs can be harvasted from areas of the head that are deemed to be sufficent can the same be done from other areas of the body i.e arms, legs etc. I understand the hairs are gentially different, growth rate etc but in principle could it be done and retrospectifcally will it cost more then harvesting hair from the head?

Have you ever undertaken or known dr to undertake this procedure? outcomes?

Thanks doc

Body hair transplants are not generally considered accepted treatment for balding. It is considered more on the experimental side. As for costs, it really depends on the doctor. As body hair transplantation is done with follicular unit extraction (FUE), costs are likely higher than a traditional strip surgery using scalp hair anyway. That is moot though, as I don’t believe anyone should have this done if your scalp donor hair is usable. So while technically, body hair transplantation is possible (and is done), I personally do not believe it is viable for the reasons you are familiar with. I’ve written about it before.

As for outcomes…. I’ve seen some complete failures of body hair transplantation and even more poor, unnatural looking results from using body hair to transplant to the scalp. One particular patient I recall spent about $11,000 with a doctor who claimed to be an expert. The surgery was a failure and the patient was none too pleased, as one might expect (see story here). I’ve yet to see a natural looking body hair transplant that appeared anywhere near the quality of using scalp hair from the donor area.

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In your experience as a medical professional have you ever seen an insurance company pay for a hair restoration as a preventive measure to certain skin cancers & not view it as simply cosmetic? Im very fair skinned & had a small piece of skin removed from my face today & am now waiting for the biopsy results. Thank you for your time & have a great day.

Insurance companies do not pay for cosmetic hair transplants that treat genetic balding, but insurance companies have paid for hair transplants for men and women with hair loss from accidents (burns/scarring).

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