This Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles patient had undergone several past hair restoration surgeries, attempting to turn the tides on his male pattern baldness. At the time they were widely used, these procedures which included punch graft excision and flap surgery were considered to be state of the art techniques. But now these methods are regarded as needlessly invasive, ineffective and outdated. The type of long-term results which are likely to be achieved from these approaches is evident in this patient. With virtually no head hair left, his only hope of regaining a normal looking coverage was to undergo a Dr.UGraft™ body hair transplant for repairing a donor depleted scalp.
Body Hair Transplantation results – BHT – FUE hair transplantation
To consult Dr Umar, click: http://www.dermhairclinic.com/free-online-consultation-hair-restoration-los-angeles/In this example, Dr Sanusi Umar uses Body hair…
Hair Restoration With 10,000 Grafts-Before Photos
In punch graft excision, large-diameter punches, between 3 and 6mm are used to remove circular grafts of scalp tissue containing numerous hair follicles. These not only create unnatural looking, pluggy clusters, but also leave very large, obvious empty, pale-colored dots in the donor area, often referred to as black and decker punch scars. Here is a photo of the patient shown before his Dr.UGraft ™ repair procedure performed by Dr. Umar with a stippled pattern of punch graft scarring shown on his scalp.
Flap surgery is another procedure considered to be outdated within the field of modern hair restoration. It is intended to create an instant hairline by excising a narrow ribbon of skin from the sides of the scalp where hair is still growing plentifully. The end of this narrow section (i.e. the flap) still remains intact to preserve its blood supply.
The outermost region of the hairline affected by recession is removed through excision as a linear area to be replaced by the flap from the side of the head.
Here is a photo showing the hairline scar created by flap surgery on the same patient.
Here is another photo shown before the patient’s body hair transplant for repairing a depleted donor scalp. This image also depicts the donor regions affected by punch graft excisions, along with continued hair loss in the crown as well as a strip scar from a previous FUSS (Follicular Unit Strip Surgery) operation.
This patient’s previous hair restoration attempts all ended in failure. His donor grafts did not survive long term, leaving him with continued signs of hair loss. With hardly any hair to provide coverage, his scalp was marked by egregious and highly visible scarring. He required a body hair transplant for impossible repair since he no longer had sufficient supplies of head hair to improve his ravaged condition.
Dr.UGraft™ Body Hair Transplant For Repairing A Depleted Donor Scalp – Procedure Photos:
Repurposing body hair as hair transplant grafts requires the use of more specialized punches compared to the general FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) devices used for harvesting head hair. Conventional punches have a basic, straight cylindrical configuration. Furthermore, their inner lining is smooth. While these characteristics are sufficient for extracting head hair, they pose serious problems when harvesting body hair.
Hair that grows on body surfaces tends to emerge from the skin at very small, sharp angles. Below the skin, the hair bends and changes direction. These factors make it difficult for a hair transplant practitioner to accurately pinpoint the exact location of the follicular unit. They rely heavily on the visible part of the hair, above the skin, in order to align their punch. However, following this trajectory will not account for the change in direction of the hair, below the surface, or the actual position of the follicle. Therefore, when the punch is pushed downward into the skin along this direction, it is likely to slice through the graft.
Dr. Umar, the inventor of Dr.UGraft™ devices has re-imagined the design of typical FUE punches to include highly advanced features engineered to overcome these issues. His Dr.UPunch i ™ is designed with patented texturing on both the inner and outer surfaces of the punch. This solves the limitations of a smooth inner lining by enabling the device to actually grip the tissue surrounding the follicular graft unit. The texturing along with the rotation of the rotary punch creates a unique dynamic as the graft is pulled upward, separating it from its anchoring attachments as it is being scored.
With this capability, the angle of the visible hair does not matter as the punch maintains its hold on the tissue and automatically guides itself down to the follicle in order to safely extract it.
Thus, the Dr.UPunch i ™ solves the issue of variances in hair angles. Due to this ability, it serves as a dependable tool for harvesting large quantities of head hair.
Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles Patient Undergoes Hair Restoration With 10,000 Grafts
For this patient’s procedure, Dr. Umar harvested a donor pool entirely of non-head hair, consisting of 10,000 grafts. 2000 were derived from the beard area. And 8000 grafts were sourced from the abdomen, chest, arms, legs and thighs.
Besides being able to address the challenge of body hair angulation, the Dr.UPunch ™ is also built with other highly intelligent features that work together to prevent common forms of graft damage. These include graft torsion and twisting, air drying and mechanical injuries due to punch misalignments. This overall system of technology features is, therefore, able to produce healthier, better quality grafts capable of thriving long term to produce the coverage that patients depend on.
Attaining the necessary quantity of grafts comprised of one aspect of this patient’s procedure. The insertion phase was also a necessary component. This part of the surgery is concerned with using the donor graft supply to replicate natural patterns of hair growth. To achieve this, Dr. Umar carefully studied the patient’s pre-existing hair to determine the correct angles, directions, and orientations of the newly transplanted hair. He then created graft insertion slits which reflected these details.
Here is a photo of the patient’s hairline right after his procedure, after the grafts were inserted into the recipient area slits.
Not only does the Dr.UPunch ™ consider safer extractions for sharply angled body hair, but it is also deliberately built to form smaller, specially shaped wound cavities. These configurations make it possible for the skin to heal without noticeable signs of redness or scarring. Below is a photo of the patient shown on the day of his procedure, right after his donor extractions on the abdomen, arms, legs and thighs.
Dr.UGraft Body Hair Transplant For Impossible Repair – Before and After Photos of Manhattan Beach, Los Angeles Patient
Without the ability to harvest body hair, this patient would have had to spend the rest of his life with the scars and poor coverage left by his previous hair restoration surgeries. By just six months after his surgery, life-changing cosmetic improvements started to become apparent as the body donor hair grafts showed excellent signs of growth. Here are before and after photos illustrating these changes on different regions of the patient’s head at this point.
Body Follicles Repair Flap Surgery Hairline Scar
This patient initially thought that a flap surgery was the answer for his hairline recession. However, the procedure left a permanent linear scar on his forehead. And in the long term, the overall results did not benefit the patient in any way. Additionally, the outcome of this operation was severely undermined by continued hair loss, failed growth and scarring from past surgeries.
Dr. Umar selected softer hair from the patient’s abdomen and chest to create a natural looking hairline and temples, covering the flap surgery hairline scar. Beard hair helped to supply much of the needed volume in this area and on other areas of the head.
Non-Head Hair Follicles Repair Punch Graft Hair Restoration Scars
The dotted, stippled appearance on top of the patient’s head was the result of punch graft excisions. Body hair grafts made it finally possible to conceal this scarring, helping the patient achieve greater levels of confidence and peace of mind through a more normal looking coverage.
Body Hair Grafts For Covering Strip Scarring and Crown Hair Loss
Crown hair loss, scarring from strip surgery, and punch excisions also benefitted from this patient’s hair restoration with 10,000 grafts of follicles from the body. Dr. Umar succeeded at recreating the crown whorl by relying on cues provided by the existing hair remaining on the scalp. Here is a close-up view of this reconstructed area, with continued improvements expected past the six-month point, when these photos were taken. Whereas the patient started his procedure with a bald crown, at just six months, he now has the appearance of natural looking thinning in this area.
At the 9-12 month point, continued growth and even better coverage are expected to take place.
Whereas head hair usually takes 12-18 months to fully manifest, the results of a body hair transplantation surgery usually become optimal at just nine months following the procedure, according to Dr. Umar. Continued improvements have been known to develop for up to two years.
Although this patient’s procedure is considered large volume, requiring the use of 10,000 grafts, he continues to be left with an ample supply for future needs, should he decide to improve
his density.
Video: Dr.UGraft™ Body Hair Transplant For Impossible Repair
In this video, Dr. Umar shares more details about this patient’s body hair transplant surgery. The patient described his procedure as “fantastic,” exceeding his expectations. He explained, “I was initially looking for improvement. This was the best I could have possibly imagined.”
To consult with Dr. Umar for free online, click the button below:
Frequently Asked Questions – Dr.UGraft™ Body Hair Transplant For Repairing A Depleted Donor Scalp
After a Dr.UGraft™ body hair transplant, is it possible for donor hair from areas like the beard, abdomen, and chest to develop new characteristics such as color and texture? Or will this hair continue to display the same traits as before?
Hair follicles will continue to hold the same DNA codes as in their original location. For a body hair transplant, hair from areas like the torso, chest, and beard will continue to behave and appear as they did before. However, it is possible for DNA sequences to change due to new environmental factors. In some patient cases, it is possible for body donor hair to take on more similar textures as head hair. But these instances are usually the exceptions.
If I have enough head hair left, can these grafts be used for my Dr.UGraft™ hair transplant repair? Or is it necessary to use body hair grafts for my donor supply?
When enough quantities of head hair are available, grafts from the scalp are prioritized. However, if additional quantities are needed, then the head hair will be combined with hair follicle grafts from other sources. The decision to use head hair alone or to combine these grafts with body hair will depend on the number of donor hair grafts needed to produce your desired end coverage.
Have more questions for Dr. U? Ask them by clicking the button below.
FURTHER READING
Read more about body hair transplant surgery and FUE donor wound healing
