Hair transplant: body hair history

  1. A patient with serious strip scars to the donor and extensive frontal hairline scarring from strip ht implantation requested help.

The donor was decimated.

I said nothing could be done because the donor was wiped out.

It was a hot day and the patient wore a hawain shirt. He also had to wear a bandana permanently in public to hide the scarring.

I noted , as he left , that thick tufts of chest hair was bursting out around his neck , and I thought , as he was leaving, “if only I could use that”.

I watched through my window as he stood on the street and waited for a cab. He was very upset and without hope.

I then suddenly realised…“why not…some hair…ANY HAIR… is better than scar”

I ran out onto the street, grabbed him by the chest hair, and stated " I will use this…"

He stared at me for a long long time. He thought I was crazy, but I explained.

" IF BODY HAIR IS KEPT SHORT, NO ONE WILL TELL !!"

From that time until 2002, I told every body hair patient that keeping it short is MANDATORY" , otherwise it may stand out and look different to the longer pre existing hair.

But in 2002, JUSTIN rang and said how happy he was. I said "its just a shame you can’t have long hair"
He replied, “I do have long hair…all of it”

I exclaimed that it was impossible. Body hair would “stand out if allowed to grow normally, and it would be shorter”

I immediately visited Justin and saw for myself.

NOTE. The body hair looked 100% natural . No one on earth would pick it as far as color, texture, and shape.

But most incrediby , it was 5 inches long…after a hair cut.

I called TIMETESTED, and he had a similar experience, and within weeks, he flew to Sydney for more work and videos/photos

In late 2002, TIMETESTED appeared in person in NEW YORK for a seminar and met many people.

I rang every other body hair patient from around the world and told them to “GROW IT OUT” .

I am on the record over many years but will again state the results.

When transplanted to the head, if done correctly, body hair APPEARS NATURAL BUT LENGTH INCREASE is variable and proportional to where it came from.

Likewise, how much density it provides is also dependent upon where it came from and its original status i.e shaft diameter, color etc.

HAIRSITE, please put up a link to "what you see is what you get’

And that is why I have been warning people not to be sucked into leg hair mega sessions. Transection and destruction rates are horrific…and cleverly concealed. And the results, from what I have seen, are little more than bum fluff
But the publicity generated far outweighs the deception, which is forgotten as months go by .

Finally , like FsUE , BODY HAIR IS PRONE TO TRANSECTION, and takes many years to master.

Within its natural capacity, body hair is a godsend, and has saved many people.

BODY HAIR, does not fail.

Opporunistic hamfisted doctors and their teams of jabbing technicians are the failure

Dr Ray Woods

» 1999. A patient with serious strip scars to the donor and extensive frontal
» hairline scarring from strip ht implantation requested help.
»
» The donor was decimated.
»
» I said nothing could be done because the donor was wiped out.
»
» It was a hot day and the patient wore a hawain shirt. He also had to wear
» a bandana permanently in public to hide the scarring.
»
» I noted , as he left , that thick tufts of chest hair was bursting out
» around his neck , and I thought , as he was leaving, “if only I could use
» that”.
»
»
» I watched through my window as he stood on the street and waited for a
» cab. He was very upset and without hope.
»
» I then suddenly realised…“why not…some hair…ANY HAIR… is better than
» scar”
»
» I ran out onto the street, grabbed him by the chest hair, and stated " I
» will use this…"
»
» He stared at me for a long long time. He thought I was crazy, but I
» explained.
»
» " IF BODY HAIR IS KEPT SHORT, NO ONE WILL TELL !!"
»
» From that time until 2002, I told every body hair patient that keeping it
» short is MANDATORY" , otherwise it may stand out and look different to the
» longer pre existing hair.
»
» But in 2002, JUSTIN rang and said how happy he was. I said “its just a
» shame you can’t have long hair”
» He replied, “I do have long hair…all of it”
»
» I exclaimed that it was impossible. Body hair would “stand out if allowed
» to grow normally, and it would be shorter”
»
» I immediately visited Justin and saw for myself.
»
» NOTE. The body hair looked 100% natural . No one on earth would pick it as
» far as color, texture, and shape.
»
» But most incrediby , it was 5 inches long…after a hair cut.
»
» I called TIMETESTED, and he had a similar experience, and within weeks, he
» flew to Sydney for more work and videos/photos
»
» In late 2002, TIMETESTED appeared in person in NEW YORK for a seminar and
» met many people.
»
» I rang every other body hair patient from around the world and told them
» to “GROW IT OUT” .
»
» I am on the record over many years but will again state the results.
»
» When transplanted to the head, if done correctly, body hair APPEARS
» NATURAL BUT LENGTH INCREASE is variable and proportional to where it came
» from.
»
» Likewise, how much density it provides is also dependent upon where it
» came from and its original status i.e shaft diameter, color etc.
»
» HAIRSITE, please put up a link to "what you see is what you get’
»
» And that is why I have been warning people not to be sucked into leg hair
» mega sessions. Transection and destruction rates are horrific…and
» cleverly concealed. And the results, from what I have seen, are little
» more than bum fluff
» But the publicity generated far outweighs the deception, which is
» forgotten as months go by .
»
» Finally , like FsUE , BODY HAIR IS PRONE TO TRANSECTION, and takes many
» years to master.
»
» Within its natural capacity, body hair is a godsend, and has saved many
» people.
»
» BODY HAIR, does not fail.
»
» Opporunistic hamfisted doctors and their teams of jabbing technicians are
» the failure
»
» Dr Ray Woods

Ive seen some results from BHT that grew quite well in terms of length but it could never compare to how long scalp grafts could grow.

Thank you for your post Dr. Woods!:slight_smile: One of the best references made here was the reference to opportunistic clinics… LOL you are absolutely right!:smiley:

Excellent story BTW.

» Thank you for your post Dr. Woods!:slight_smile: One of the best references made here
» was the reference to opportunistic clinics… LOL you are absolutely
» right!:smiley:
»
» Excellent story BTW.

He didn’t say opportunistic clinics…he said “Opporunistic hamfisted doctors and their teams of jabbing technicians are the failure”. I’m not a paid translator, but I believe that translates to “the best doctors in the world” in indigenous aboriginal Australian dialect. :smiley:

Certainly, we all thank Dr Woods for his vision and pioneering spirit!! Personally, I think Dr Woods is being a bit harsh with that statement. Some people aren’t loaded up with hearty chest hair and body hair and have to use what they have got. Setting realistic expectations is the key.

I also remember Dr Woods not wanting to go anywhere near beard hair, yet he needed to utilize it recently to affect positive change for a repair patient (in scars). It really is a community that is building upon one another’s successes. I know it is a business and some of the statements are made for that very reason (even if they are indeed heartfelt). A healthy/friendly/cooperative competition is what drives progress in all aspects of technical society.

LOL:-D

My subject line says it all doesn’t it?

Coles’ density study showed me all I needed to see. Same man, same body hair. 30 grafts per centimeter grew the most hair-----with many times the yield of the higher grafts/per cm squares.

I say, if one is going to go the body hair route, get 30 grafts per centimeter-----------------use rogaine and wait for at least one year, then schedule another low density session------perhaps only 15-20 grafts per centimeter, and wait another year.

Take tons of pictures and see if the extra grafts added a requisite amount of density. If they only improve things a tiny tiny bit, then whats left of the head donor hair might be called for to add more density. But hopefully, the body hairs will see more yield this way.

If a guy runs out and gets 8000 BHT grafts fairly tightly packed, and only 10% grow, he will be out alot of money with a very dissatisfying result. If he tries to fill in a bald spot with 1000 grafts and gets high yield, he may look a little thinnish for a time, but he can add to it later.

What Cole found, was that 60 hairs per cm grew almost nothing at all. There has got to be a reason for this specific to body hair. As HAIRTECH will tell you, head hair can be put in 60 hairs per cm with pretty good yield.

Body hair HAS INDEED proven it can lengthen though. Justin proved that years ago. Hell, a couple of guys on this board have shown lengthened body hair up top (cant remember their names offhand). Like Ive said before, A MIX of the two might give the best yield one can achieve. Perhaps 30 head hair units and 30 BHT units might give a man maximum coverage with acceptable density up top, while still giving good enough density on the sides so that no one suspects he’s had a hair transplant. If kept short,…guy might be able to pull that off positively sweetly.

I want everyone who wants hair to get it, whatever the approach.

Multiple low density sessions may work in some… and to date we don’t know if it works in any one individual. What makes body hair so specialized clinically as to be denote a low density pass? Nothing. or am I wrong? Maybe. Am I right? Maybe. No one one knows definitively. And how did we arrive at this conclusion? Transplanting many patients at a high density that resulted in failure? Or just guessing? No one knows… (BTW my arguement and post herein is for thought provoking only… not to disparage anyone clinic or physician) What needs to happen is true research across multiple patients with control groups. More than 1, 3, or even 10 patients.

Even then can we find predictability with low density multiple surgeries? Can we assume that low density eqautes to great results? I don’t know. You don’t know… I don’t know if Dr. Woods knows(no dis-respect… just never heard him say something about that) It is going to take more research IMO… like every single procedure in medicine and especially science methodology approach that has led to procedures that lead to life saving and/or cosmetically significant results.

For example:

I. The Question… What makes BHT grow in all patients?
A. Technique.
B. BHT characteristics and donor area.
C. Recipient density.
D. Patient’s medical history.
E. Patient’s past surgical history, i.e HT history.
F. Miscellaneous issues.
II. Hypothesis and plan
A. Designated areas of extractions.
B. Designated areas of recipient(slick bald and without scalp)
C. Sliding scale of densities…(10/20/30/40/50/60/70cm2)
D. Photography and hair counts or 1/2/3/4+ years
III. Research grant and proposal
A. Hire a grant writer for 30K/yr
B. Approach multiple government and private entities.
IV. Research voluteers for double blind study
A. Paid voluteers
V. Actual Research
A. Techniques disclosed to the public.(This is morally right in medicine)
B. Proper documentation by credible source.
VI. One year results, two year, final results.
VII. Conclusion.

The PROBLEM will be solved! the donor area will be extended… or not if the research proves nothing. We need action though… no more guessing.

Then and only then do we have a legitamate resolution of the BHT delimma. But what do we do about the path so many clinics have taken to date? Not pointing fingers. But what about the BHT paid by patients for a “guessing” research already been going on for the past 5 years? Oh you mean the research paid by patients? Oh and what about the poor results, no results, or results that grew and died? I think there should be resolution there also.

Excellent post by Dr woods. Its commendable that he took the bold step of trying BHT, which is the only hope for some patients.
But like someone said… criticizing other clinics I think is bit too harsh. From a patient point of view there are still many unknown factors in BHT growth. So it could be said BHT atleast is still partly in experimental stage. So more the clinics the better it is.

» From a patient point of view there are still many unknown factors
» in BHT growth. So it could be said BHT atleast is still partly in
» experimental stage. So more the clinics the better it is.

You are correct. The study Cole did was an excellent example of what would work best on that particular patient. Maybe it is that way for everyone. I don’t know. Then you can have someone like Heliboy who has had megasessions and been very successful in getting above average yield/growth.

BHT at this time can be somewhat of a crap shoot. There is no question it grows. To what degree is the biggest question. Patients should go into this knowing there is some degree of risk with the procedure. Even when patients say they have realistic expectations, they usually are hoping to be the poster boy for BHT.

The more clinics particpating and sharing patient results are helping to determine better protocol.

For those who are critical, don’t do it. Nobody is holding a gun to your head. Sit back and take it all in for a while as the results (good and bad) are continuing to come in. Then you can make a decision as to whether or not there is a cosmetically significant enough benefit to participate or just not worth it (and that is okay).

I walked into the building for work this morning behind a skin bald NW6 with the thick wreath and the contrast between the bald area and hair bearing area just incredible. I was thinking to myself, that would be me (except his hair is gray and mine is very dark). My hair is thin and still see through, but I prefer my current situation over this guy.

Very good posts by all folks. No fighting… just a general consensus by all! I am going to save this one for my journal… Thanks Dr. Woods and all.

» Very good posts by all folks. No fighting… just a general consensus by
» all! I am going to save this one for my journal… Thanks Dr. Woods and
» all.

Good posts except that there is really no new invention since BHT and hair multiplication is many years away. We are caught in twilight years right now. Hair transplant is better than what it used to be but still it is not the ideal solution for most people. Hair multiplication sounds perfect but it is still years away.

I always had the ability to harvest beard hair but I suspected that it would be way too unnatural for the reciepeint area.

Several years ago, “programmer” had beard hair placed in the frontal hairline and vertex via strip. He then travelled half way around the world so we could remove it.

My suspicions were right. Beard hair, when placed in thin or balding areas, looks and feels unnatural.

I always found alternatives. But when there was absolutely no alternative, I used it for scar repair in the donor.

I still state unequivically that pubic and armpit harvesting is medically irresponsible.

Very few here are aware of what was going on in the early 1990’s.

I tried the old “lets work together and make the world a better place” .

But strip was king and NOTHING was going to derail this easy money gravy train. We are taking a multi multi milion dollar business

The reality of establishment power and greed was quite a shock, and they stopped at nothing to put me , and my "declaration of patient rights " out of business…I AM GOING BACK ABOUT 12 YEARS.

So please, don’t be naive. Patients wanting the best HT are prepared to travel to the ends of the earth.

It is a globally competetive business.

And therfore, every single HT doctor on this planet will tell you that they are “best in the world”.

Now, THAT CREATES A PROBLEM. We all can’t be best in the world. So , someone is lying.

And hence there starts the massive marketing campaigns and empty promises guarded by disclaimers and clever lawyers.

The cosmetic surgery business is a viciously competetive, backstabbing, intellectual property thieving business.

All congeniality is purely superficial. Everyone one is trying to leap frog their rival, and some will use every dirty political photoshop trick in the business to do it.

All you need to do , dear HT reader/consumer, is …

have a nice day

Dr Ray Woods

To all the experts here, I know that body hair is not the same as head hair. However, I think it’s unnatural only when we try to grow body hair long. So what if we get BHT and just cut the hair real short, wouldn’t that make body hair look more natural that way?

Dr. Woods, you are so right… and just being a tech I have seen the dark side of the industry and I must say it is disappointing!

Why is the use of pubic and underarm hair irresponsible? Can you elaborate, thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts.

This was posted by Dr. Woods a while ago about web zone harvesting:

"The groin/pubic perineal, and armpit are crease areas where the skin reflects upon itself. These are the skin “wet zones”. It needs to be this way otherwise dry skin would constantly rub against dry skin causing severe discomfort, abrasion, rash, and infection. In these “wet zones”, nature has devised a complex system of unique and specialized glands attached to the follicular units. Secretions lubricate and protect the skin, but the full function of the apocrine gland system to this day is not fully understood. In hot weather and exercise etc. moisture would accumulate and, because air circulation and drainage is limited in these “crease” areas there would be “water logging” of the skin.

Tinea, yeast, fungal and bacterial infections would become a major factor. But, incredibly it is not usually a problem. However, In our clinical experience, problems do occur primarily when there is interference in the nature of the “wet zone”.
People who excessively shave, wax , overuse antiperspirants or have surgical procedures in these areas are at increased risk of these infections and boils.

Apocrine glands are unique to these areas. They are a tubular structure extending from the deep subcutaneous layer and are intimately connected around the follicle. The “milky” secretions drain into the follicle near the epidermis. We believe their existence to be crucial to the normal function of these special “wet areas”.

In 1998, we looked at the issue and made a benefit–risk analysis. Attempting to remove armpit hair would result in very high transection rates. That means a lot of holes but very few hair. It would be very easy to wipe out entirely ALL armpit hair in one session. This would achieve one, maybe two hundred hair. Maybe less. Then of course there is the issue of odor coming out of the patient’s scalp. To overcome this one would need to get rid of the apocrine glands. Our early experimental work involved the high power dissection of follicles. What we found out then and what we know now is that it is almost impossible to remove the sebaceous gland entirely and attempts to do so render the follicle terminally damaged. We drew the conclusion that apocrine gland removal would most likely have similar problems. This means the yield could be even less

Anyone who has had chest hair transplants knows that a temporary but common side effect is ingrown hair. If a boil occurs, it is no major problem. Just squeeze it, and it should drain. However, a boil in the armpit is much more tender, and infection can spread much more easily into the lymph nodes. Sweating makes things worse and cannot be avoided. We believe side effects and complications would be worse.

Whether you believe in GOD or evolution, neither makes “silly mistakes” and went to a great deal of trouble giving us specialized glands or hormones that we don’t need, or for no reason. Eventually, we find out.

So, rather than resorting to “wet zone” harvesting , our position is to treat each and every body (and head) hair as precious and irreplaceable. Every hair that is transected is gone forever and those who have been scarred and disfigured CANNOT afford unnecessary wastage. The doctor must go by the rule “if in doubt, DON’T!!”

As far as beard hair is concerned, we recently spent several days removing beard hair transplanted to a patients head. It looked, and felt like barbed wire and made this man’s life a misery. Again, BEWARE.

It is our belief that the hair transplant industry despite creating so many “experts” has caused more disfigurement, more suffering, agony, humiliation , negligence, blatantly stupid mistakes and deception than any other discipline in the history of medicine. And we want no part of it.

THE DECLARATION OF PATIENT RIGHTS STAYS . There will be no compromise.

Dr Woods and Dr Campbell"

Thanks David, I appreciate you taking time to find and post that.

» This was posted by Dr. Woods a while ago about web zone harvesting:
»
»
» “The groin/pubic perineal, and armpit are crease areas where the skin
» reflects upon itself. These are the skin “wet zones”. It needs to be this
» way otherwise dry skin would constantly rub against dry skin causing
» severe discomfort, abrasion, rash, and infection. In these “wet zones”,
» nature has devised a complex system of unique and specialized glands
» attached to the follicular units. Secretions lubricate and protect the
» skin, but the full function of the apocrine gland system to this day is
» not fully understood. In hot weather and exercise etc. moisture would
» accumulate and, because air circulation and drainage is limited in these
» “crease” areas there would be “water logging” of the skin.
»
» Tinea, yeast, fungal and bacterial infections would become a major factor.
» But, incredibly it is not usually a problem. However, In our clinical
» experience, problems do occur primarily when there is interference in the
» nature of the “wet zone”.
» People who excessively shave, wax , overuse antiperspirants or have
» surgical procedures in these areas are at increased risk of these
» infections and boils.
»
» Apocrine glands are unique to these areas. They are a tubular structure
» extending from the deep subcutaneous layer and are intimately connected
» around the follicle. The “milky” secretions drain into the follicle near
» the epidermis. We believe their existence to be crucial to the normal
» function of these special “wet areas”.
»
» In 1998, we looked at the issue and made a benefit–risk analysis.
» Attempting to remove armpit hair would result in very high transection
» rates. That means a lot of holes but very few hair. It would be very easy
» to wipe out entirely ALL armpit hair in one session. This would achieve
» one, maybe two hundred hair. Maybe less. Then of course there is the issue
» of odor coming out of the patient’s scalp. To overcome this one would need
» to get rid of the apocrine glands. Our early experimental work involved
» the high power dissection of follicles. What we found out then and what we
» know now is that it is almost impossible to remove the sebaceous gland
» entirely and attempts to do so render the follicle terminally damaged. We
» drew the conclusion that apocrine gland removal would most likely have
» similar problems. This means the yield could be even less
»
» Anyone who has had chest hair transplants knows that a temporary but
» common side effect is ingrown hair. If a boil occurs, it is no major
» problem. Just squeeze it, and it should drain. However, a boil in the
» armpit is much more tender, and infection can spread much more easily into
» the lymph nodes. Sweating makes things worse and cannot be avoided. We
» believe side effects and complications would be worse.
»
» Whether you believe in GOD or evolution, neither makes “silly mistakes”
» and went to a great deal of trouble giving us specialized glands or
» hormones that we don’t need, or for no reason. Eventually, we find out.
»
» So, rather than resorting to “wet zone” harvesting , our position is to
» treat each and every body (and head) hair as precious and irreplaceable.
» Every hair that is transected is gone forever and those who have been
» scarred and disfigured CANNOT afford unnecessary wastage. The doctor must
» go by the rule “if in doubt, DON’T!!”
»
» As far as beard hair is concerned, we recently spent several days removing
» beard hair transplanted to a patients head. It looked, and felt like barbed
» wire and made this man’s life a misery. Again, BEWARE.
»
» It is our belief that the hair transplant industry despite creating so
» many “experts” has caused more disfigurement, more suffering, agony,
» humiliation , negligence, blatantly stupid mistakes and deception than any
» other discipline in the history of medicine. And we want no part of it.
»
» THE DECLARATION OF PATIENT RIGHTS STAYS . There will be no compromise.
»
»
» Dr Woods and Dr Campbell”

Hey, that’s my name!

» Hey, that’s my name!

Sure is, sorry about that.

No problem.