In cases with a large bald area such as Norwood 5-7, the number of hair follicles on scalp may not be sufficient to transplant all surface area of the bald spot and restore preexisting hair. In this case, after creating a natural front hairline by making the person’s own hair follicles harvested from scalp donor in the first session, in the second and third sessions, hair follicles can be transferred from body hair (such as beard, chest hair, genital area, arms, legs) with the FUE technique. Thus, the hair density can be increased on recipient area and/or restore rest of area that is remained untransplanted/bare in 2th-3th operations that will be planned at least 6 months after first one.
The hair follicles taken from the beard heal very good and leave almost no scar on the face, but a pinpoint punch insertion scar can remain in the chest donor area. The important thing is to create a future plan in hair restoration by talking to an experienced surgeon in order to decide together how much area can be closed in one session, how many sessions need to restore all bald area and from where and how many grafts can be taken in those consequtive operations.
A realistic and satisfying hair transplant cannot be done using only body hair. In other words, a complete hair transplant cannot be performed using only body hair, because sufficient density and quality cannot be provided for large areas. The first choice donor area in hair transplantation should always be scalp. All hairs on the body have a unique life cycle, anagen phase duration, thickness, curl, color, fineness, etc. and all these are different from each other. Generally, body hair life cycle is shorter than scalp hair. Beard hair is similar to scalp hair in thickness and life cycle. Body hair, when transplanted on recipient scalp area, can grow similar to the original scalp hair of the patient by slightly changing their characteristic features, life cycle durations and structural features, that is, by imitating the scalp hair.