Facial hair can be a defining feature, which is why it can be frustrating for some men who are unable to grow a full beard.

If you don’t have the natural genetics that allow you to enjoy certain facial hair styles, a beard transplant might be a good option to consider.

When hair loss affects the scalp, topical medications can be used to support hair growth.

The beard area, however, can’t be treated with these topical applications. The most effective way to increase facial hair is through a beard transplant.

What is a Beard Transplant?

A beard transplant is a surgery that can help you overcome genetics to enjoy facial hair that looks full and natural. Hair follicles are sourced from another part of your body, usually the back of the scalp. These follicles are transplanted onto your face, giving you facial hair that looks normal and natural.

Here are the most common ways transplants are used to enhance facial hair

Design a full mustache

Extend the beard to the cheek

Connect the goatee

Fill in a Patchy Beard

Create Defined Sideburns

You can select the beard style you desire, and then the transplanted hair follicles are placed in the locations where you want more hair. When these donor hair follicles are placed, the grafts look and function like natural facial hair.

Why Do I Have a Patchy Beard?

Some men have patchy facial hair growth, while others find it difficult to grow any facial hair at all. What are the reasons why your beard isn’t as thick as other men? The cause of thin, patchy facial hair is usually outside of your control.

Genetics

Not only do genetics affect the amount of hair that grows, but your genes also affect the hair color and overall appearance. If your father could grow a thick beard, it is likely that you will possess the same beard-growing genes.

Blood Flow

Researchers suspect that blood flow can play a role in the delivery of nutrients and hormones to hair follicles. Some men have weaker blood flow in the facial area, which may be a contributing factor to a patchy beard.

Hormones

Hormones play a significant role in beard quality. Both DHT and testosterone levels may play a role in your bodies’ ability to grow hair on your face.

Why Do You Need More Facial Hair?

When it comes to choosing a hairstyle, you have many options available. In the same way, you can change your image by choosing a facial hair style to enhance your aesthetics. Some men want to have a full beard, while others prefer a 5 o’clock shadow.

Working with an experienced hair transplant surgeon, such as Dr. Sharma, gives you the opportunity to choose your beard style in the same way you can choose your hairstyle. A beard transplant is truly an artistic process that should only be done by an experienced surgeon.

Studies have found that women find men more attractive when they have facial stubble, while men with full beards are rated as the most masculine. Not only can facial hair attract the attention of women, but many men feel they gain the respect of other men when they have facial hair. There’s no doubt that confidence in your appearance has an effect on your personality, attitude, and the way you interact with other people. Facial hair transplants can be used to boost your self-esteem, which can have a positive impact in all areas of your life: relationships, career, social, and more.

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Choosing the Best Donor Hair Follicles

Donor hair can be sourced from numerous parts of the body, but the best quality hair comes from the scalp. Dr. Sharma will source hair follicles from the back of the scalp (if deemed to be the optimal donor location), using either the F.U.T. or F.U.E. transplant method.

Learn about the difference between these two procedures here.

It is important that the transplanted hair matches your natural facial hair in terms of the growth cycle, texture, color, and overall appearance. Transplanting hair from the back or chest doesn’t create the same quality results that can be achieved using scalp hair.

If you have fine scalp hair, then it will naturally result in a fine appearance of the transplanted facial hair. On the other hand, coarse, curly donor hair results in a full look in the recipient area.

Customizing Each Graft

The grafts required for beard transplant are more specific and tailored before being implanted into the face. Using micro-surgery, we place the multi-follicular grafts under a microscope to accurately slice them into “singles” before they are relocated. Beard hair also requires a particularly flat incision angle. Matching the angle is imperative to achieving a natural result.

Filling in a Patchy Beard

This lesser-known procedure allows us to fill in the front, sideburn, mustache, and cheek lines of the face. Most often patients who have patchy beards, or sections of thin hair will require a fairly small amount of grafts. The surgery is still quite complicated and requires a large effort from Dr. Sharma and his surgical team. We often require 4-6 staff working alongside Dr. Sharma throughout the entire 12-hour surgery, but the results are worth it.

Why Do We Seperate Each Graft?

When performing a hair transplant to the scalp it is very important to follow the unique hair patterns and angles that every person is born with. Here is how they are most commonly placed when addressing the hair line.

Two to four rows of “singles” are placed at the front to create a dense textured look. Singles are finer hair, something you will notice naturally occurring near the front. This is followed by 3 rows of “doubles” which lead us further in to the hairline. Behind this we place primarily “multi’s” to give the appearance of dense and thick hair.

This placement technique prevents a plucked ‘doll hair’ look. In the olden days patients often received large plugs in the frontal hairline consisting of 3-4 grafts which looked very unnatural. Thanks to microsurgery techniques the grafts can now become minuscule and the precision has gone up immensely.

For these reasons, a properly performed surgery takes time. Grafts are living tissue and require a very delicate handling to remain intact. Careful excision, transport, and implantation are key to a successful hair transplant.

Graft Placement for Beard Transplants

Every case varies, but it is very common to complete an entire beard transplant using only ‘single’ grafts. Due to the disparity between multi-follicular grafts and single grafts we often use micro-surgery to split the grafts to attain the appropriate amount of individual follicles.

How Many grafts will I need?

Each case requires a custom number of transplanted grafts depending on the patient’s desired outcome. To give you an idea we have put together this estimation of required grafts per area:

Goatee connection : 200 – 600

Fill in patches : 600 – 1000 grafts

Sideburns : 500 – 1000 grafts

*Full Beard : 2,000 +

*Full Beard – this situation occasionally requires two separate procedures.

Incisions

Dr. Sharma uses multiple different tools to make the incisions which will then be the placement site for each individual graft. This is an integral part of the procedure and the placement location and angle will determine how and where the hair will grow. The procedure is performed with a mixture of a regional anesthetic block and tumescent anesthesia.

Implantation

Graft placement is a painless but laborious part of the day at our clinic. Our nurses will be placing the grafts one-by-one into the incisions made by Dr. Sharma. Before this happens, we carefully select and clean the excised grafts to ensure we are only placing healthy and intact follicles. During this part of the procedure you are able to watch television or listen to music to help pass the time.

The Result

To see the gentlemen’s results, you will just have to wait. The surgery was performed in April of 2021 and we will be taking his after photos in October of the same year. The best place to see updates would be our Facebok & Instagram pages.

Customized Treatment Plan for Every Patient

Dr. Sharma creates a personalized treatment plan for every patient. He has a keen artistic eye and can offer recommendations about the natural lines and layout of the hair placement. During your consultation, we will discuss various beard styles to select one to match your goals. Dr. Sharma uses this information to determine the right treatment process that will create optimal results for your facial hair transplant.

Each and every hair follicle needs to be carefully placed to match the correct direction, angle, and overall distribution of the facial hair design. When you choose an experienced surgeon, like Dr. Sharma, your facial hair transplant won’t be noticed by other people.

The goal is to complete the transplant in one surgery, but every person is unique. Together, we will determine the ideal process based on your hair and skin characteristics to optimize the possible results.

For more information about the facial hair transplants, contact our team to schedule a consultation with the leading transplant surgeon in the area.

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