WHAT IS BODY HAIR TRANSPLANT (BHT)

Donor areas used for FUE Hair Transplant include the Back and Sides of patient’s head. If these donor area has low density, then a another widely accepted way to harvest grafts is extraction from the patient’s BEARED (from under the chin or the neck area called as shadow area. We don't take grafts from the beared at the cheeks).

Body Hair Transplant has revolutionized the field of hair transplantation where hair from different parts of the body, other than scalp, can be used for transplantation.

Dr. Vikas Gawri is professionally trained and certified to do Body Hair Transplant from Abdomen, Chest, Pubic areas, etc.

There are a large number of patients for whom surgeons can use body hair as a source of several thousand grafts. This large sized donor areas can be used for extraction of follicles in order to achieve packed hair density, such results would not be possible otherwise for patients who have no or very little donor hair on the back and sides of their heads.

All the body hairs are removed from the selected donor area using the FUE technique only.

Who are the candidates for body hair transplant?

The patients who are interested in getting treatment for their bald scalp with FUE technique but have got insufficient hair in the donor area. They are incompatible for a normal hair transplant. There might be many reasons behind not having enough hair at donor site . It can be due to:-

- excessive hair loss due to genetic reasons, or

- It could be the result of previous hair transplants.

How is the suitability for ‘Body Hair Transplant’ or assessed?

Dr. Vikas Gawri works diligently to assess the following in patients eligible for BHT:

- The total size of the donor area from where follicles need to be extracted.

- The existing length of the body hair

- It is important to assess the hair density which must be above 40 follicular units per square centimeter.

- There should be a certain level of similarity between the body and head hair

- The number of follicular units may have up to one or two hair follicles.

What is the difference between a BHT-FUE and a conservative FUE?

Follicular units are taken from the body are typically different to hair which are extracted from the sides and back of head. In most of the cases, the FUs taken from the head consist of one, two , three or four hair. On the other hand, the Follicular Unit taken from the body mostly have one hair, at times they may have two. This refers to the fact that in order to obtain the expected looking hair density, the BHT requires nearly double the implants. Due to this reason, BHT (body hair transplant) technique is used to improve the density of head hair.

There is different growth cycle for body hair as compared to the scalp hair. The changes over the growth of the cycle have not yet been scientifically proved.

Key factors that play a role in success of Body Hair Transplant

- The direction of growth of the follicular units

- The depth of the hair follicle under the patient’s skin

- The texture, thickness, and structure of the hairs (it could be curly, wavy, or straight)

- Optimal implantation of these hair follicles that takes into account the direction of growth as well as the arrangement of the grafts.

- The correct method of extraction used for donor hairs that concentrates on damaging the minimum grafts as possible.

- The storage of these grafts needs to be error free.

Limitations of Body Hair Transplant (BHT)

As a technique, so far, body hair transplantation has not been a subject of as much research as compared to that into the FUE and FUT methods. This is the reason why BHT should be seen as the last-resort method for improving the hair density results in a particular situation.

Our experience with BHT has revealed a survival rate of 75% to 80%. This survival rate might seem lesser than the conventional HT technique but for many patients, who have less scalp donor areas, it is the only option. Patients who wish to undergo BHT should be aware of the fact that there are no guarantees offered for hundred percent of implants taking roots.

It is also important to note that body hair which get transplanted can change their structure after the transplantation. In majority of the cases, they become straighter and longer, interestingly adapting somewhat to the structure of hair on the head.

Those who wish to undergo body hair transplant treatment need to be aware of the fact that this form of treatment is considered as last-resort attempt.