Dr. Woods Body Hair Transplant

Dr. Ray Woods, inventor of the now famous BHT body hair transplant procedure using donor follicles from facial and body areas to rescue badly scarred hair transplant patients with depleted scalp donor hair.

World Exclusive: FIRST on HairSite - Astounding Discovery with Body Hair To Scalp Transplantation, A New Reality in Cutting Edge Hair Restoration Technique.

Another world's FIRST from Dr. Ray Woods

Individuals with extensive thinning and limited donor hair may now be blessed with a second chance for a full head of hair again if they have sufficient body hair, thanks to Dr. Ray Woods for pioneering yet another world's first in hair transplantation.

Why body hair?

Transplanting body hair to scalp has been a topic of interest for years. Traditional hair transplantation relies exclusively on donor hair from the back of the patient's head (see picture to the right). Individuals with depleted or insufficient donor hair are rarely considered as candidates for hair transplants. Being able to tap into body hair as a donor source for hair transplantation would certainly open the doors to thousands who would otherwise not be able to consider hair transplant as an option.

Scientific Studies

Over the years, researchers have studied the significance of transferring hair to different regions of the body. For example, at the 10th anniversary meeting of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, Dr. Tom Hwang reported on the yield and resulting characteristics of hairs transplanted to anatomically different regions of the body. It was reported that hairs transplanted to a completely different anatomical site take on the physical characteristics of the recipient site. Similarly, Jung Chul Kim, MD and his team of researchers in Korea showed that when scalp hair is moved to the leg or other extremity, the hair will not grow as fast or as long in the new site. Based on these studies, one might hypothesize that hairs transplanted to the scalp from the chest might take on the characteristics of hairs in the recipient site and begin to grow much longer.

Hypothesis Turned Clinically Proven Reality

Widely recognized for their micro-surgical hair transplant technique where individual follicular units are isolated without using scalpels or requiring any removal of surrounding tissue in the donor site, Dr. Ray Woods in Australia were also the first in the world to prove on actual hair transplant patients that chest hair can indeed be a viable donor source for hair transplantation. In 2002, Dr. Ray Woods unveiled a series of photos of Justin and demonstrated to the world first successful attempt to transplant chest hair to scalp with cosmetically acceptable results.

More BEFORE pictures of Justin
Notice the severe scarring (white spots) on Justin's scalp

Justin, a challenge

Prior to becoming Dr. Ray Woods's patient, Justin had undergone several large punch graft hair transplants as well as artificial hair implants which caused severe infections. The back of Justin's head had been severely scarred and depleted of usable donor hair. His frontal hairline was sparse with a noticeable and uneven scar from previous procedures. The rest of his scalp was predominantly bald. With little scalp donor hair to work with, Dr. Woods decided to use Justin's chest hair for the purpose of the corrective procedure. In December 2000, Dr. Woods transplanted 1,200 grafts of chest hair to Justin's scalp. Dr. Woods first performed this type of body hair transplantation in 1998. Since then the technique has been refined and improved on several other patients. Justin was the first publicly documented case of body hair transplant patient in the world.

Post-Operative Results

According to Dr. Woods, depending on the patient, body hair when transplanted to the scalp may sometimes take a bit longer than usual to regenerate and grow to full length like normal scalp hair. However, it has been also reported that some of Dr. Woods patients have prompt regrowth in less than a year too. When transferred to the scalp using Dr. Woods, chest hair will not only grow to full length like normal scalp hair, but they will also take on the physical and cosmetic characteristics of normal scalp hair in terms of texture, feel and look etc.

Follow-up Evaluation 2 Years Later

On 5 November 2002, two years after the body hair transplant surgery, Dr Woods measured and documented the results on Justin's scalp. The body hair was originally 7 cm (2.75"). After 22 months it has grown to exceptional lengths and characteristics. It is now between 12.5 cm (4.92") and 16 cm (6.29") in length. Similar findings are confirmed on another patient whose original chest hair growth was 3.17 cm (1.25"). After 10 months it is measured at 6.35 cm (2.5").

In both cases the the body hair has taken on similar characteristics of normal scalp hair. This is one of the greatest findings in surgical hair restoration in recent years.

A New Reality To Many Considering Hair Transplant

Body hair transplantation is now a reality for many losing their hair. Since this breaking news was first publicized in 2002, many patients have pursued this option to restore their hair. Besides Justin, we also have photos from Timetested and Redskinbody who also had body hair transplant done. Please contact us for photos and case details if interested. For Timetested photos, please quote case reference "hairsite2.com/library/article253.htm".  For Redskinboy's case details and photos, please quote case reference "hairsite2.com/gallery/woods_redskinboy.htm"