Author Archive for Michael Beehner, MD

Dr. Michael Beehner has been involved in hair restoration surgery since 1989 and has been full-time in transplanting hair since 1995. He has been a leader in the specialty during the past several years – conducting several important research projects, chairing the Examination Committee for the new American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery, serving as co-editor of the Hair Transplant Forum International, the principal journal of hair surgery in the world, lecturing at almost all of the various hair surgery conventions around the world, and authoring two chapters in the latest edition of Hair Transplantation, the principal text in our specialty, edited by Dr. Unger. In 2001 he published in Dermatologic Surgery the landmark article, “Nomenclature Proposal for the Zones and Landmarks of the Balding Scalp,” which put together for the first time a coherent system for naming all of these areas, which is now followed by all of the hair surgeons and dermatologists in the world. He has been a pioneer in the use of the “frontal forelock concept” for the extremely bald male and has done recent important research on “stretch-back” in scalp reductions and on the affect of “limited-depth recipient sites” on hair growth. For his research efforts, he was awarded the Platinum Follicle Award in 1999 by the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery for the year’s best research, and on three separate occasions has been awarded a Research Grant Award by the ISHRS. Dr. Beehner is a member of the International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons and recommended by the American Hair Loss Association. Visit Dr. Beehner's Website: www.saratogahair.com

Is Partial Eyebrow Reconstruction Possible With Hair From Another Person?

I would like to know, if it is possible to have a partial eyebrow reconstruction with artificial hair or from an transplant from a different person, in those cases were there is no available donor hair from the person.
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The answer in a word is “no.” Since it is almost unheard of not to have enough donor hair to do an eyebrow, I almost have to assume that your problem is one of severe alopecia areata termed “alopecia totalis,” a condition in which there is no scalp OR eyebrow hair. That is about the only condition I can think of that would prompt the need you mention. I sympathize with your situation, because I do realize how important the eyebrows are to completing the framing appearance of the normal facial structures.

The only other person you could get hair from and have it be accepted by your body would be an identical twin, which I’m assuming you don’t have. Artificial hair implants have been used in Italy, Japan, and Australia but are illegal in the U.S. I doubt they would be useful in constructing eyebrows, as they cause a lot of “fibrosis,” which is a hardening and slight swelling of the skin tissues around the hairs, and also causes a fair amount of redness and inflammation much of the time, all of which would look very unsightly in such a visible spot as the eyebrow location. A very artistic tattooing by a professional would be one way of approaching this problem, but it’s important they do it in such a way that the eyebrow looks like it has a little “texture” to it and doesn’t simply appear painted on.
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Can The Beard Be Used As Donor Hair For a Sideburn Hair Transplant?

Is it possible to take the donor hair from the beard area. I don’t have any donor hair left, and need a new side burn. -Steve

Dear Steve,
It IS in fact possible to harvest donor hair from the beard, but there is still a good chance that the wisest and best course of action may be to take it instead from the back of your scalp. There are two different ways to harvest beard hair: The older method was to cut out an eliptical strip from under the chin and then dissect this strip into individual FU grafts, but the drawback is that this method leaves a thin scar under the chin; so this method is only to be used if the man is absolutely committed to keeping a beard in that area of the face for the rest of his life, which makes the scar undetectable. Another probably better way to harvest beard hair is by “FUE,” or folliicular unit extraction, a procedure in which the surgeon uses a very small punch around 1mm in diameter and cuts into the very superficial skin surrounding the follicular unit, then follows up with a dull punch, which carries the dissection bluntly down the sides of the FU without cutting the follicles. The FU graft is then gently “plucked” out of this site, and the holes heal up beautifully in just 4-6 days and are hard to detect very soon thereafter. Read more

Hair Transplant Didn’t Grow, Left With a Scar - Can It Be Fixed?

Two years ago I had a hair transplant in Washington state with very poor results. I spent over $8000 and very little of the transplanted hair has grown in. I was also left with a scar that can only be covered if I grow my hair out about 3 inches or so. The entire experience was bad. Is it possible to fix the bad hair transplant and do doctors guarantee their results?

I’m sorry you had a bad experience with your first hair transplant procedure. It’s a little hard from your letter to tell whether you really had poor growth, that is, a low survival rate of the follicles planted at your surgery - or whether the doctor or clinic led you on initially with some expectation that wasn’t lived up to in your eyes. Sometimes a clinic will promise a “full head of hair,” and that just isn’t possible in a single session by almost anybody. I’m assuming it was probably a little bit of both of the above, but the only way to be sure would be to have a graft count of what was placed, see your “before” photos, and then personally examine you. Photos would help some, but wouldn’t be as good as your possibly going to another reputable doctor in your area of the country and having him or her look at your results. Certainly, at the two year mark, you should be seeing everything you are going to get from your transplant. Read more