Posted: November 25, 2013
The technique of Follicular Unit Extraction, or FUE, and the art and science behind the Neograft technology allows Dr Brown to not only extract hair from the back of the head, but also allows follicular units to be taken from the legs, arms, stomach, chest, back and armpits. This is called Body Hair Transpantation, or BHT.
As I see more and more patients who have had previous unsuccessful and un-satisfying results from other physicians using the strip technique, I am finding the amount and degree of donor hair diminished on the back of the head. In these cases I am able to harvest additional hair from other parts of the body to supplement what can be found on the head.
The follicalar units taken from the body are anatomically different to hairs taken from the head as most units consist of a single hair while multiple hairs are seen from FUE from the head. Also the consistency is different though over time the new hair does take on some of the characteristics of the native hair around it.
There are Several drawbacks that patients need to be aware of when BHT is chosen. Though the success rate with Neograft is much higher than seen with other procedures including the strip technque, and approaches 90-95 percent survival and regrowth of the new hair, BHT survival is significantly decreased to be roughly 75%. To minimize this loss we take every precaution to reimplant these grafts quickly after extraction. In addition, small circular scars from where the grafts were removed can be visible over the donor area as there is much less hair on the arms, legs, etc to hide them as seen on the scalp. The good news is that I am able to use a very small punch, .8mm or less so the resultant scar should be as minimal as possible.
Because of these limitations, I consider the BHT procedure to be a last resort to harvest more hair and to intermix with existing hairs to increase the density and quality of the hair transplant. I have found Neograft to be a valuable tool in achieving these goals.