Does Body Hair Transplantation Cost More?

Dear Doc,

I have a burning question regarding hair transplant if hairs can be harvasted from areas of the head that are deemed to be sufficent can the same be done from other areas of the body i.e arms, legs etc. I understand the hairs are gentially different, growth rate etc but in principle could it be done and retrospectifcally will it cost more then harvesting hair from the head?

Have you ever undertaken or known dr to undertake this procedure? outcomes?

Thanks doc

Body hair transplants are not generally considered accepted treatment for balding. It is considered more on the experimental side. As for costs, it really depends on the doctor. As body hair transplantation is done with follicular unit extraction (FUE), costs are likely higher than a traditional strip surgery using scalp hair anyway. That is moot though, as I don’t believe anyone should have this done if your scalp donor hair is usable. So while technically, body hair transplantation is possible (and is done), I personally do not believe it is viable for the reasons you are familiar with. I’ve written about it before.

As for outcomes…. I’ve seen some complete failures of body hair transplantation and even more poor, unnatural looking results from using body hair to transplant to the scalp. One particular patient I recall spent about $11,000 with a doctor who claimed to be an expert. The surgery was a failure and the patient was none too pleased, as one might expect (see story here). I’ve yet to see a natural looking body hair transplant that appeared anywhere near the quality of using scalp hair from the donor area.