Dr Bicer’s Consultant
Valued member
For decades Body Hair (BH) has complemented scalp hair restoration. Especially when the scalp donor hair is weak or depleted and blending BH helps to increase the hair coverage and look of fullness. This is certainly the case when treating high Norwood hair loss patterns.
However, using body hair is not a given, the hair characteristics must have a close match to the scalp hair to ensure a natural blend. If not, there will be a marked visible difference between the two hair types. Even when the characteristics are close, blending body hair with scalp hair helps camouflage any differences. Common body hair donor areas are the beard and chest, although the legs, and back are potential donors.
One significant difference to the hair types is the hair growth phase (anagen phase) and a good reason body/beard hair works best as a “filler.” Beard hair stays in the anagen phase from months to a couple of years, much shorter than scalp hair. Scalp hair stays in the anagen phase, the active growth period, for anywhere from 2 to 8 years. Around 90% of scalp hair stays in the anagen phase whereas beard hair is lower, around 70%.
An interesting difference between scalp and body hair is the relationship with Dihydrotestosterone (DHT). While DHT promotes hair growth on the body, it however, causes thinning and loss on the scalp when there is a genetic disposition to male pattern hair loss. When using DHT blockers, body hair can shed, this is usually temporary, during the initial months of treatment, sometimes called “finasteride shedding". This happens because the DHT blockers stop the conversion of testosterone to DHT, which can affect weaker hairs. Although it´s possible the weaker hairs are replaced with stronger body hair growth.
When placing hair into scar tissue it´s commonly accepted that the growth rate can vary compared to placing into virgin skin, regardless of when using scalp or body hair. As a result, placing a lower hair density helps reduce the risk of poor yield as it will reduce compromising the cardiovascular system. Although, beard hair is often thicker and more robust compared to scalp hair. Using beard hair will cover a larger area and potentially need a lower hair density to help reduce the look or camouflage the scarring.
Dr Ozlem Bicer is experienced in body hair when it is right to do so. “If all physiological requirements are met, then follicular units can be removed directly from different parts of the body …...The doctor’s experience is important with BHT because the hair on the body is different from the hair on the head. The experience of the team at BHT is important because the direction and texture of hair are different. Therefore, the same scalp should be mixed with the hair evenly.”
However, using body hair is not a given, the hair characteristics must have a close match to the scalp hair to ensure a natural blend. If not, there will be a marked visible difference between the two hair types. Even when the characteristics are close, blending body hair with scalp hair helps camouflage any differences. Common body hair donor areas are the beard and chest, although the legs, and back are potential donors.
One significant difference to the hair types is the hair growth phase (anagen phase) and a good reason body/beard hair works best as a “filler.” Beard hair stays in the anagen phase from months to a couple of years, much shorter than scalp hair. Scalp hair stays in the anagen phase, the active growth period, for anywhere from 2 to 8 years. Around 90% of scalp hair stays in the anagen phase whereas beard hair is lower, around 70%.
An interesting difference between scalp and body hair is the relationship with Dihydrotestosterone (DHT). While DHT promotes hair growth on the body, it however, causes thinning and loss on the scalp when there is a genetic disposition to male pattern hair loss. When using DHT blockers, body hair can shed, this is usually temporary, during the initial months of treatment, sometimes called “finasteride shedding". This happens because the DHT blockers stop the conversion of testosterone to DHT, which can affect weaker hairs. Although it´s possible the weaker hairs are replaced with stronger body hair growth.
When placing hair into scar tissue it´s commonly accepted that the growth rate can vary compared to placing into virgin skin, regardless of when using scalp or body hair. As a result, placing a lower hair density helps reduce the risk of poor yield as it will reduce compromising the cardiovascular system. Although, beard hair is often thicker and more robust compared to scalp hair. Using beard hair will cover a larger area and potentially need a lower hair density to help reduce the look or camouflage the scarring.
Dr Ozlem Bicer is experienced in body hair when it is right to do so. “If all physiological requirements are met, then follicular units can be removed directly from different parts of the body …...The doctor’s experience is important with BHT because the hair on the body is different from the hair on the head. The experience of the team at BHT is important because the direction and texture of hair are different. Therefore, the same scalp should be mixed with the hair evenly.”
