Hair transplant surgery relies on donor hair. Insufficient donor hair usually leads to a poor result
Putting aside for one moment the complexities of modern hair transplant surgery, the basic premise is to move hair from one part of the head to another. In the real world, this usually means taking hair from the back and sides where it is thicker and more resilient to loss, and placing it around the frontal hairline and crown where thinning or recession usually occurs first. Sacrifice the strong, to help the weak, so to speak.
But what if you don’t have enough donor hair? Perhaps you’ve lost so much hair, that what you have left simply cannot support the bald surface area you now have? Or maybe you’ve already had hair transplant surgery and used up all your reserves? What then?
If you’ve lost enough hair for a donor harvest to be an issue, the chances are you’re way past the point of using drugs like finasteride and minoxidil to cure your problem. You’re simply too far down the line. This leaves you with four options – concealers, hair systems, a body hair transplant and scalp micropigmentation.
Concealers can make a decent short-term fix, but ultimately the solution is doomed to failure as you continue to lose more and more hair. A system is a viable option too, but maintenance, ongoing cost and hygiene issues could become a real problem. For more information about these two solutions, see “How Does SMP Compare?“.
Body hair transplants, despite being around for a number of years, are still highly experimental with unpredictable results. The biggest challenge is finding hair elsewhere on the body that is the right colour, thickness and texture to look convincing on the head. Remember this hair was not intended as head hair, and more often than not hair from the chest, legs, back and pubic region are simply unsuitable. Rejection rates are also higher than with regular scalp to scalp surgery.
If you’re looking for a low maintenance solution, with the possible exception of wearing a hat all the time, scalp micropigmentation is the only viable option. The appearance you achieve is of a full head of hair, albeit shaved, and no donor hair is required. You even have the option of using what donor hair you do have to combine with your SMP treatment via a FUE procedure. For more information see this page.
If you have a depleted supply of donor hair and would like more information about scalp micropigmentation, please see the following links:
