Dr. Cole is one of the most highly respected hair transplant doctor in our forum and is commonly reported to be honest and straight forward with his comments. The following is Dr. Cole's opinions on body hair transplantation.

"One of the most exciting advancements to the field of hair restoration surgery is the use of body hair. Dr. Ray Woods and Dr. Angela Campbell were the first to show that body hair can assume a character more like that of scalp hair when move to the scalp. This makes sense. Jung Chul Kim, MD and his team of researchers in Taegu, Korea showed that when scalp hair is moved to the leg or other extremity, the hair will not grow as fast or as long. They did not always note a change in hair diameter. Therefore, it makes sense that hair from an extremity might grow longer when transferred to the scalp.

One of the problems we encounter is that hair from body parts has a different curl or wave than typical scalp hair. Also it might be finer or coarser than scalp hair. We are also worried about the sebaceous glands and the sweat glands from the donor sources. For instance the sweat glands in the ears produce a wax like substance while the glands in the pubic area produce a different type of secretion. Sweat glands are not associated with hairs, but they are microscopic and not seen on typical dissection even with a dissecting surgery microscope up to 45X. therefore, it is possible that some of the sweat glands might be transplanted to the scalp. Then the question arises of whether they will maintain their same secretory function. Some feel the odor form the under arm might be transplanted to the scalp. The truth is that we do not know about this, but feel that odor may not be a problem. We have a considerable amount of research left to do so bear with us as we work out the details.

Currently, Ray Woods and Angela Campbell are the world’s foremost experts in the field of body hair transplantation. We are working with body hair, but we consider our efforts in this area in the beginning stages.

One of the things I’ve found about body hair is that it exist the skin at a very acute angle, but it does not rest beneath the skin at this acute angle. Since the source of each hair is deeper in the subcutaneous fat, we must assume that the hair begins its journey externally at a less acute angle and then turns more acutely just before exiting the skin surface.

Enclosed is a photo comparing a back hair to the scalp hair. Both were removed using FIT. You will notice the back hair is coarser and has a large sebaceous gland. The scalp hair rests deeper in the dermis and the sebaceous glands are not as well delineated following FIT extraction.

Also notice that we often employ a suturing technique to body hair in an effort to minimize the scar.

John P. Cole, MD
75 14th St.
Suite 3260
Atlanta, GA 30308
Cell 540 520 9999
Global 011306944627050
Office 800 368 4247
======================
www.forhair.com