Could you intentionally harvest all of the donor area hair via FUE?

Question

So I was just curious, would it be possible to use all hair from the donor zone(back and sides) via FUE method to provide a very nice coverage on top and disguise then the bald donor zone with a SMP procedure? Then with a good hair cut and fade someone could rock a decent and modern haircut. Only downside would be maintenance and that it is the only hairstyle for the rest of your life but I would rather have that instead of a Julius Caesar horseshoe. By the way am not balding just had that idea.

Jae Pak, MD · Answer

Someone with a hair loss pattern may be perfectly happy with 1000 grafts, while others may not be happy even with over 3000 grafts.  You also have to realize one surgery may not be enough.  To add to the confusion, straight black hair on fair skin results in a thinner appearing outcome then someone with curly blond hair on fair skin.  I hope you can appreciate there are many factors to the end result than just a "number" of grafts.
If you harvest all of your donor area hair, there will be a lot of scarring and is not a result many patients are seeking.

Justin Rome, MD · Answer

There is no way any good Doctor would risk trying to harvest every hair from the back and sides to gain coverage on the top.  The risk in over harvesting is creating a completely scarred up donor area that is in theory creating a problem to fix another.  There are ways with a good plan for someone with that much hair loss to get good coverage without jeopardizing the integrity of the donor area.

William Rassman, MD (retired) · Answer

That is a terrible idea. Creating a bald side and back of your head that is full of scars, is not my idea of something any reasonably ethical surgeon do regardless of how much money you would pay him/her

Could you intentionally harvest all of the donor area hair via FUE?

Answers (3)

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