What can I realistically expect from a FUE facial hair transplant to conceal an old chicken pox scar in my upper lip? (Photo)

Question

I have a couple of very old chicken pox scars on my upper lip area. They are shiny white and a bit atrophic (depressed). I was considering getting a FUE procedure or surgical tattooing but i am not confident either would work. Don't want to waste $.

Jae Pak, MD · Answer

FUE to any scar (chicken pox scar) may help disguise your scar if you grow out your hair (beard). However it will NEVER allow you to shave your face so your scar is undetectable.  Actually it may make it look WORSE.Think about it.  You are having a hair transplant to the scar.  Then you are SHAVING it.  This is not going to hide your scar.  You will still have the scar and the transplanted hair may even make your scar look worse as the transplanted hair will not completely match your surrounding hairs in texture and hair direction. The discoloration will show.FUE to the transplanted scar can work if you keep your hair (beard) long, but it will not work if you shave your head.Even Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) which I perform at my clinic will have limitations.  SMP can give you the look of a shaved 5 o clock shadow but as your hair (beard) grows there will be an absence of hair.I have given a few of my former patients SMP to the beard scars on a limited basis with good results.This is why you need to see a doctor for a realistic assessment.

Kevin Ende, MD · Answer

A facial hair transplant using an FUE technique is the best option for disguising those scars.  It likely won't change the depressed or hypopigmented characteristics, but hair growth in the scars would help you.  Hair transplants to scar tissue don't always work, but that area is fairly vascular and therefore blood supply would probably not be an issue.  Its a relatively small procedure to perform, but should make a big difference.

Greg Williams, FRCS (Plast) · Answer

Medical micropigmentation tattooing, if done well, will simulate stubble but will not match neighbouring growing hairs.A hair transplant procedure is probably your best option but will be very expensive for the number of hairs required. You may also want to have it repeated if not all the transplanted hairs grow.

Jeff Donovan, MD, PhD · Answer

Graft survival in scars can sometimes be less than non scarred tissue. However, provided you follow post op care meticulously you should have a nice improvement. Improvement of the white color is very difficult.

John Peter Cole, MD · Answer

It does not take many grafts to help conceal these scars.  The grafts will slightly help to elevate the scars and they will also add a little pigment.  You may need to have some fillers placed to elevate the scars or you might consider platelet rich liposecretion injected into the scars to help elevate.  I think the most difficult thing to change will be the color, but grafts with help.  I would not worry too much about the cost, because you really don't need many grafts to improve this situation.

Michael Meshkin, MD - Account Suspended · Answer

You can do a FUE to extract  a few hair and implant in those areas,  you should not have any problems and since it's a small procedure the healing is very quick.

William Rassman, MD (retired) · Answer

A good thick mustache will cover these scars. If a hair transplant goes in to the mustache and you don't want to grow out your mustache, we have been doing scalp micropigmentation on beards, mustaches and eyebrows that need only a minimal amount of work. The scalp micropigmentation 'dots' are made to look like a shaved beard, head, or mustache and works better than hair transplants unless you want to grow out your mustache.See the website for scalp micropigmentation belpw

What can I realistically expect from a FUE facial hair transplant to conceal an old chicken pox scar in my upper lip? (Photo)

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