Commentary on Body Hair Transplant by Follicular Unit Extraction: My Experience With 122 Patients

In a commentary on a paper detailing the experience with body hair transplant using Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) in 122 patients over 6 years, James E. Vogel, MD, FACS, highlights the limited annual use of body hair as a donor source in hair transplant practices, with only about 20 patients per year. Vogel notes the remarkable absence of complications in the series and emphasizes the importance of managing patient expectations, especially given the technical challenges and fragility of non-beard body hair. The commentary also points out that the patient satisfaction data may be misleading since most patients had a mix of donor hair sources, with beard and scalp hair being the most common and preferred due to their quality. The labor intensity and economic considerations of body hair transplantation are discussed, as well as the potential for body hair to be a valuable donor source for patients with depleted occipital donor areas. Technical aspects such as donor site selection, preoperative use of minoxidil, and the author's specialized rotary punch system for FUE are mentioned, though the latter's necessity is questioned. The article's shortcomings include a lack of data on the longevity of body hair transplants and the survival and growth rates of body hair grafts compared to traditional sources. The commentary concludes that body hair is a safe and effective donor source, offering an additional option for hair restoration surgeons and benefiting patients with limited traditional scalp donor hair.