Can donor hair areas for a beard transplant be taken from other sites on the head besides just the back of the head?

Donor hair is usually taken from the back of the scalp.  There may be other areas on your body but that the results may not be as predictable as scalp hair.

Our donor should usually be expanded throughout the entire permanent zone where we remove the grafts. That may include the sides of scalp and temples as long as they are permanents. If the temples are not having miniaturization, they can provide great grafts quality. You may consider other options such as body hair if you have thick body hair as well. 

Ideally the hair is taken from the back of the head because it has the greatest success rate of transplantation and best matches the rest of the hair on your head and face. Hair on the side of the head and top is less dense and grows in a different direction therefore the decreased density of hair may make it seem more obvious in those areas. Other hairs can be used such as those on the body, but keep in mind that the hair will grow and behave like the hair on that body part. It also does not have the same survival rate as scalp hair. Other options include adding micro-tattooing into the thinned areas to give you the appearance of thicker hair. Hope this helps!
Johnson C. Lee, MD
Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon
@drjohnsonlee

Any area that has hair can be used, including other areas of the beard! (like under the chin is a good spot).  The trick is that different hair has different characteristics - like cycles of growth and caliber and curliness and so on.  Surgeons usually try to use hair to fill in the beard area that matches the beard and GROWS the best - hence the predilection for using head hair (also very easy to harvest for transplant).  If it is done correctly, the back of the head density will not suffer so you can worry less about that - especially when you pick an experienced beard surgeon!
Hope that helps!

The donor area is the wreath of hair measuring 2 1/2 inches high around the side and the back, If you take hair from the top and bald, the hair that you took will die off and the area you took it from will not look normal. Take care!