FUE Beard Transplant on a 46 Year Old Man - Los Angeles, CA

I decided to have a beard transplant because I noticed that I had two large patches of hair missing on either side of my mouth and across my lower lip. I lived with this for years since the time I became sick with low testosterone and my body's estrogen levels shot up to 10 times the normal. This is when I noticed the missing patches of hair. My chest hair had also started to thin. The body hair was not an issue but the facial hair was. I could no longer grow a full beard without the missing patches. Even testosterone replacement therapy in the form of weekly injections did not help to return the missing facial hair. It just stopped it from getting worse. Facial hair is important to me both as a form of artistic expression (different beard styles) and a very male characteristic.

I did some research online and found a few medical hair transplant clinics that did beard transplants. I read up on it and decided to book a free consultation with the New Hair Institute in Los Angeles. I met with Dr. Pak and he explained to me that a beard transplant for my case was totally possible. He explained the procedure in detail and said not to expect instant results as a hair transplant of any kind will take six to 12 months to see full results. He also showed me some photos. Since he was honest in telling me how long results could take, I decided to book my procedure.

On the day of the surgery, Dr. Pak and I discussed the placement of the hairs and he drew lines where the new hairs would be placed. They shaved a strip of hair on the back of my head and used a procedure they called FUE which stands for follicular unit extraction. This is when they remove individual hair follicles from the back of my head and use them for the transplant. I was given a light sedative that made me sleep for a few hours. When I woke up, the holes for the transplant had been made on my face and part of my face was numb. When they started the FUE, I didn't realize that my head was numb and asked if they would numb it. The staff laughed and said it was already done. I guess I was still a bit out of it.

They removed 300 grafts from my head and used them for the beard transplant. I didn't feel anything during the FUE part. During the transplant portion, I was given some laughing gas and my face was numbed again since the initial numbing from when I was sleeping was starting to wear off. They placed follicles to the right and left of my mouth where I had missing patches of beard. They also added three follicles to my mustache where I had a few hairs missing. I also asked to have hairs added below my lower lip in order to fill it in and that they did. After is was all done, I could see how the new beard line would look and I was very excited.

There was no real pain in this operation. The swelling has been very minimal and I have a bit of bruising on my lower lip now that I am two days out from the surgery. I was shown how to wash both the donor area on the back of my head and my new beard area on my face. They gave me some special shampoo, a surgical sponge and some antibiotic ointment. I was also given pain pills to take home. I took a few pain pills on the first day but I don't have anymore pain.

Overall, this was a relatively painless procedure which promises to yield some fantastic results down the road. The folks at New Hair Institute really know what they're doing on this one. As everyday goes by and I clean the transplant area, I am more and more excited as to how it will look in four or six months from now. I'll finally be able to once again grow a full beard.