Dr Ray Woods Technique - World\'s First Body Hair Transplant

Hair Transplant
1

“Roman” is the world’s first Body Hair Transplant patient. BHT was invented and developed by Dr Ray Woods of The Woods Technique Sydney, Australia. The patient received 8000 single follicular grafts (FsUE).

In 1998, 1000 donor head hair were transplanted to this Norwood 6 patient. At the time Dr Ray Woods removed a few back hair but this was in the experimental stage, and only numbered a few successful grafts.

More experimentation occurred during 1999 with other patients and in January 2000 this patient returned for donor head hair, chest and back hair transplantation.

He kept his hair shaved and wanted the process confidential and opted to return every few years for ‘Top Ups’ so that friends and family wouldn’t know and he kept his head shaved.

After not seeing him for several years he returned to Australia for a visit and for the first time I saw him with long hair. Please note his frontal hairline is all chest hair.

He received 2000 donor head hair, 1500 beard hair and 4,500 chest/abdomen and back hair. Total 8000 Single Follicular Units (FsUE).

2

Pretty good result with just single follicular units, I have to say. I also like the pretty natural hairline you created. Furthermore - and that’s really, really interesting:

It seems that most (if not all) body hairs were rather “transformed” to scalp hair concerning length, characteristics in general etc - at least it seems so, and at least in this case.

Anyway, well done, Dr. Woods! Really interesting video, really interesting result …

3

Thanks for showing, it’s good to know that all the grafts are holding up nicely after 10 years.

4

Yes thanks for showing this long term result. Very natural looking hairline!

5

» Yes thanks for showing this long term result. Very natural looking
» hairline!

Not bad at all and for once body hair transplant doesn’t look like a bad combover, I wonder if the body hair get more natural and soft as they age?

6

“I wonder if the body hair get more natural and soft as they age?” I think it depends where the bh is taken from. Example back and chest hair on the patient I saw ( timetested) some years ago looked very natural after around 5000 bh blended with some head hair.

7

» Pretty good result with just single follicular units, I have to say. I also
» like the pretty natural hairline you created. Furthermore - and that’s
» really, really interesting:
»
» It seems that most (if not all) body hairs were rather “transformed” to
» scalp hair concerning length, characteristics in general etc - at least it
» seems so, and at least in this case.
»
» Anyway, well done, Dr. Woods! Really interesting video, really interesting
» result …

Oops, what a shame - wrong terminology!
I meant Single Follicular Grafts (or simply “single follicles” ), of course.

btw - I just watched the video again - unchanged, very interesting case.

8

Very impressive, is this patient on propecia all these years?

9

» Very impressive, is this patient on propecia all these years?

The patient has never taken any hair medication

To clarify the term FSUE, or FsUE, it means FOLLICULAR “SINGLE” UNIT EXTRACTION

Back in the early 1990s when I was developing all this, many doctors were still using large mechanical punches, up to 10mm diameter. This is what I witnessed with Dr Barry White in 1989, and it was considered worlds best practice, until strip took over.

So the idea was to extract follicular units, but they had to be “single”, and this made it a microsurgical procedure.

I found an old newspaper ad from 1995 where I used the term, and Hairsite has a copy as a historical note.

I used other terms in 2000 such as MDFR , which meant micro direct follicular relocation, but it all got too confusing and we stuck with FUE and FsUE, which are commonly used and re invented

The other interesting thing is when did non donor really be used. It is a fact that in the early days many patients turned up because their donors were wiped out and terribly scarred and FsUE was the only option, and in many cases, only the NAPE was usable.

Now when the nape was exhausted, in many cases, while the patients head was turned to the side, often I would “drift” from the lower edge of the nape and remove follicles from around and just below the angle of the jaw, and sometimes over the anterior mastoid region.

I didn’t call it beard, but technically, it was. I considered it an extention of the nape when I was desperate for follicles.
Another case was in 1996 when I took leg hair and reconstructed a female eyebrow. But that is in a different category and I didn’t pursue it further.

So this patient has the honour, closely followed by a guy called HTVETERAN, or htveteran who posted in 2000

Dr Ray Woods

10

» To clarify the term FSUE, or FsUE, it means FOLLICULAR “SINGLE” UNIT
» EXTRACTION
»
» Back in the early 1990s when I was developing all this, many doctors were
» still using large mechanical punches, up to 10mm diameter. This is what I
» witnessed with Dr Barry White in 1989, and it was considered worlds best
» practice, until strip took over.
»
» So the idea was to extract follicular units, but they had to be “single”,
» and this made it a microsurgical procedure.

As far as I know, the “follicular unit” (FU), as a “term”, was initially introduced to medical literature in 1984 by Dr. John Headington and was then discovered/investigated/described again by Dr. Bobby Limmer in 1988 and was finally published in 1994 by Limmer.

So, in the early 90’s, at the beginning of your “FUE” work respectively, does it mean that you already knew during this time that human scalp hair follicles grow closely together in little groups of 1-4 hairs?

11

» I found an old newspaper ad from 1995 where I used the term, and Hairsite
» has a copy as a historical note.
»
» I used other terms in 2000 such as MDFR , which meant micro direct
» follicular relocation, but it all got too confusing and we stuck with FUE
» and FsUE, which are commonly used and re invented …

btw - here it is …

Actually, a “Single Unit” can be everthing:

  • a skin graft with 20 hair follicles (=appendages) in it;
  • a skin graft with 1 hair follicle (=appendage) in it;
  • a skin graft with X follicles (=appendages) in it;
  • etc

“Hair Follicle single unit” does not inescapably mean “1-3 hairs grouped closely together”. You can also remove “a group” of 1-3 hair follicles, whereby 1 or 2 follicles of this “group” doesn’t -in reality- even belong to the real (natural) “FOLLICULAR UNIT”.

12

A follicular unit is a discrete clearly defined bundle of follicles which normally has 1 to 4 bulbs within it. Sometimes there can be 5 or more but this is less common

Most people have 1 to 4 in that discrete bundle.

Look at your arm. You will see a single hair emerging from a discrete pore, and next to it there may be 2 or three hairs emerging from another pore.
These are naturually occurring follicular units .

And I am very familiar with Dr Bob Limmer’s work.

He was the first to advocate that discrete individual FOLLICULAR UNITS containing 1 to 4 hair should be dissected from the excised strip of flesh using a stereoscopic microscope.

As far as I was concerned he was the best and MOST ADVANCED HT DOCTOR IN THE WORLD and the only one to understand the microsurgical nature of this process

I called Dr Limmer in late 93, and on a few occassions in 94 sharing my ideas with him.

He was a very nice guy, and listened politely but didn’t think my ideas and technique were practical or viable. When in 1995 I began achieving even better and more consistent results I called him again, but he told me that strip was the only reliable approach .

He sent me a letter in 1995 (which I still have) reiterating his opinion and wished me luck. That was the last contact

Although I didn’t agree with strip surgery, I thought Dr Limmer should be congratulated and acknowledged for his FOLLICULAR UNIT microsurgical approach to graft dissection under the stereoscope

There was a prominent group of doctors who tried to hijack Limmers work and claim it for themselves. They even tried to do it to me. If anyone comes across these guys beating their chests on places like wikipaedia claiming credit, please be aware of the facts .

Dr Ray Woods

I

13

Hi Dr. Woods . Yes I remember when you showed me Dr. Limmers letter some 10 years ago.

14

» » Very impressive, is this patient on propecia all these years?
»
» The patient has never taken any hair medication

Dr. Woods why didn’t you advise him to go on meds such as propecia and minox so that he can hold onto his hair longer?

15

» » » Very impressive, is this patient on propecia all these years?
» »
» » The patient has never taken any hair medication
»
» Dr. Woods why didn’t you advise him to go on meds such as propecia and
» minox so that he can hold onto his hair longer?

Because the only terminal hair he had was transplanted in 1998. The rest was vellous . Look at the video carefully .

Secondly, he didn’t want to mess with his male hormone, Dihydrotestosterone, which pharmaceutical companies tell you is not neccessary…yeah, right
And in his case it is of dubious value anyway.

And as far as topical applications, I had no objection, but he wasn’t interested. And he was right. He was far too gone anyway

Taking bucket loads of this stuff in an attempt to muscularize some scattered "bum fluff’ is a waste of time, unless you are happy with a furry appearance. The real beneficiaries are those making and selling it

Dr Ray Woods

16

» » » » Very impressive, is this patient on propecia all these years?
» » »
» » » The patient has never taken any hair medication
» »
» » Dr. Woods why didn’t you advise him to go on meds such as propecia and
» » minox so that he can hold onto his hair longer?
»
»
» Because the only terminal hair he had was transplanted in 1998. The rest
» was vellous . Look at the video carefully .
»
» Secondly, he didn’t want to mess with his male hormone,
» Dihydrotestosterone, which pharmaceutical companies tell you is not
» neccessary…yeah, right
» And in his case it is of dubious value anyway.
»
» And as far as topical applications, I had no objection, but he wasn’t
» interested. And he was right. He was far too gone anyway
»
» Taking bucket loads of this stuff in an attempt to muscularize some
» scattered "bum fluff’ is a waste of time, unless you are happy with a furry
» appearance. The real beneficiaries are those making and selling it
»
» Dr Ray Woods

Propecia works very well for me, although I agree with you I am indeed worried about long term side effects. It is a tough call; if I were to spend tens of thousands on a hair transplant, I don’t want to lose the new hair after a few years, so even if Propecia may come with undesirable side effects I think I will continue to take it. A hair transplant is a big investment and using Propecia is like buying insurance for my hair.

17

What I like about this one is that 1). It is truly Time Tested and 2) No person would know it is Body Hair. That in itself is remarkable considering that the caliber of body hair is usually thinner than scalp hair. It is nice to see a natural result that has lasted through the years. I do think that the hair improves over time also and the true results are better after a few years.

18

» What I like about this one is that 1). It is truly Time Tested and 2) No
» person would know it is Body Hair. That in itself is remarkable
» considering that the caliber of body hair is usually thinner than scalp
» hair. It is nice to see a natural result that has lasted through the
» years. I do think that the hair improves over time also and the true
» results are better after a few years.

I wonder if it is possible that after a few years body hair starts to acquire stem cells from scalp hair and slowly evolve to look and feel more like scalp hair over time.

19

I believe body hair responds better to minox than scalp hair does, have you noticed good results with minox on patients who have had BHT?

20

I agree with the comments on Propecia. To think that your body does not need a part or does not produce something for a purpose is foolish. And just because a disease cannot be easily traced back to something you did 20-30 years beforehand it’s foolish not to believe it can’t happen. You are better off with a hair transplant that is planned around less hair if that is the case while putting your physical health first.

Very natural result.