Hair transplants are quickly becoming a popular solution to many hair loss and balding issues in men and women across the world. It is also a component of reconstruction for patients that have suffered burn injuries to the head and scalp.
As technology advances and people become more focused on their aging appearance, hair transplants provide a solution to the once embarrassing and awkward issues of hair loss.
The tools and techniques to perform hair transplants are becoming more sophisticated by the day.
That means better, faster, easier hair transplants for the surgeons and their patients.
One recent report looked at how men today are starting to turn to the hair on their chest as the donor location for the hair transplant.
Traditionally, hair follicles are taken from a donor location on the scalp (typically the back and sides of the scalp where follicles are not sensitive to hormonal injury).
For some men, that area may not have enough hair to be the donor for a series of hair transplants. In this situation, doctors have started using a mix of scalp hair and hair follicles from a donor location on the chest.
Hair from other parts of the body, like the chest, is different in feel and texture. This makes it impossible to do a full head hair transplant using just donor hair from these other locations. However, by combining body hair with some of the scalp donor hair, desirable results have been achieved. Obviously, this is not an ideal situation, but in a case where all sources of traditional donor hair have been exhausted, it can help create a satisfactory result.
Using non-traditional donor hair opens up a new realm of possibilities for men once turned away from the chance at having a hair transplant. It is particularly promising for those that have suffered burn injuries to the head and scalp limiting traditional areas of the scalp as a source of donor follicles.