Physician Answered Q & As

Body Hair Transplants – Is This Really Possible?

Six years years ago I had two hair transplants that did not go well. I was referred to my hair transplant surgeon by my Dermatologist here in New York, so I thought that I was making an informed decision. After seeing some of the results on your website I can see that I made a big mistake. The doctor transplanted a total of 900 hair grafts to the front portion of my scalp. It looked OK when I had more hair but now that I’ve lost so much more hair the plugs look very bad. People are always looking at my hair line when I speak to them, it’s made me very self conscious. I read on the internet that they are now doing body hair transplants. This would be perfect for me since I have way too much chest and back hair. I thought perhaps I could kill two birds with one stone my moving my unwanted body hair to my head where I need it. Is this really possible? And does the transplanted hair look like head hair when it grows in?

Yes, there are people on the internet claiming to perform body hair transplants, but the sad truth is that to date not a single clinic has posted cosmetically consistent results. Not one.

I have challenged every high profile body hair clinic to show just 10 before/after photos of their body hair transplant patients whom they’ve “bilked”, I mean “billed” tens of thousands of dollars, and to date NOT one has done so. Telling, isn’t it?

Each of these clinics has purported to have performed “hundreds” of such procedures, and yet they won’t even prove to us that they can even attain even a 5% success ratio by simply posting some photos. That isn’t just pitiful, it’s a silent confession of guilt.

Here is a photo of a patient who spent $10,000 on body hair transplantation to his crown with a high profile clinic in Australia by THE most experienced doctor in the FUE field:

I’m not sure why body hair transplantation has been such a failure. It may simply be that the body hair follicle is just not as resilient as the scalp hair follicle. Or, it may be that the body hair follicle is injured since it usually takes far more effort to remove than a scalp hair. What I DO know, is that even after the dozens and dozens of body hair transplants I performed (for free) is that the yields are below 30%. And the hair that does grow looks like pubic hair since the natural kink of body hair is not only maintained, but amplified as well.

Of course a few nice results have been posted on the internet, but they are the exceptions, not the rule. Furthermore, the validity of these cases were unverifiable and no consistent repeat of such results were ever posted. At best, body hair transplantation is hit or miss, with a much greater emphasis on “MISS”.

It’s unfortunate that you are in the situation you’re in, but there is help. Go to a reputable HT doctor and he may be able to help you by removing the old grafts, or simply filling in around them. We use the latter technique with success all the time. Here is an example of a patient who also went to a New York hair transplant doctor and had plugs put in near the hairline just like you. After a few years he lost his front hair revealing the pluggy nature of his obsolete transplant. We performed one dense pack procedure on him and 14 months later he looked much better.

Body hair transplantation is in the same league as other hair regrowth schemes like herbal shampoos designed to “unclog” follicles, magnet therapy to “re-align” your aura, and laser beams to “re-energize” your dying hair cells. All bunk.

Do your research and meet with a qualified and experienced HT doctor. There are plenty of them out there now and you can check the list of them at the AHLA website to find one in your area.

Don’t be taken, be educated.


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The International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons is a consumer organization that selectively screens skilled and ethical hair transplant surgeons. The IAHRS does not offer an open membership policy to doctors practicing hair transplatation, and is the only group that recognizes that all surgeons are not equal in their skill and technique. Its elite membership seeks to represent the best in the discipline, the true leaders in the field of surgical hair restoration.