Can Body Hair Be Used for Hair Transplants? What Patients Should Know

Deciding to have a hair transplant takes time and patience, along with detailed conversations between patient and doctor and the careful consideration of many factors. 

One of the most important considerations Dr. Kim Meathrel discusses with her patients is the amount of donor hair that is present on the scalp. While some patients have balding or thinning in very specific areas like the crown, others have diffuse hair loss throughout their scalp or are in later stages of hair loss.  

When there is not enough hair on the scalp that is suitable for transplant, donor hair can also be taken from other areas of the body. This less commonly used approach is called body hair transplantation (BHT). Dr. Meathrel has had success using this technique for her patients, and she has published a peer-reviewed case report highlighting her results.

If you are seeking a hair transplant in Ontario, especially if you have been told you are not a candidate due to lack of donor hair on your scalp, you may be a candidate for body hair transplantation. Book a consultation with Dr. Meathrel to discuss your options.

What Is Body Hair Transplantation?

Body hair transplantation is a type of follicular unit extraction (FUE) in which individual hair follicles are harvested from donor areas outside the scalp and placed into thinning or balding regions of the head. FUE is a more modern type of hair transplantation, replacing follicular unit transplantation (FUT) methods that leave a linear scar due to removing a strip of tissue from the back of the head. Patients comparing FUE vs FUT hair transplant techniques often prefer FUE because of the less invasive harvesting process.

The scalp has a finite number of follicles available for transplant. In patients with advanced pattern hair loss or a history of previous transplants, the supply may not be enough to cover all of the areas of thinning. Over-harvesting the scalp can lead to visible thinning in the donor zone and limit future hair restoration options. When choosing an area for harvesting hair, we are concerned about both the near-term results you will get from the surgery and how this will affect your appearance five, ten or fifteen years later.   

Which Areas of the Body Can Be Used for Hair Transplant?

• Facial Hair: Facial hair is a common non-scalp donor source. It is thicker and coarser than scalp hair and can be used to add density in the crown or mid-scalp. 

• Chest Hair: Chest hair has a finer texture than beard hair and can blend well with the existing scalp hair.

• Limbs and Other Areas: Follicles from the limbs are shorter than those in other body locations and have a lower yield per session. They are often used when other donor sources are not feasible. 

• Suprapubic and Abdominal Hair: The lower abdomen and suprapubic region, which is just above the pubic bone, has received less attention in medical literature. Dr. Meathrel of Bespoke Skin MD has researched this area in particular as a beneficial supplementary donor source for certain patients.  

Dr. Meathrel’s Case Study on Using Suprapubic Hair for Hair Transplant

In March 2026, Dr. Meathrel published a case report in the peer-reviewed medical journal Cureus. This case study documented the use of suprapubic hair as another donor source during a body hair transplantation procedure. This case added measurable data to an area of hair restoration that has been underreported and opens up more options for surgeons planning donor sites for patients with limited scalp reserves. 

The Patient and the Plan

In the case study, the patient did not have enough scalp donor hair to fully address thinning in the crown. The 49-year-old patient had a previous follicular unit transplantation with another surgeon. After the FUT procedure, the coverage was not good, and he was not happy with the linear scar from the procedure. He received FUE to the crown of his head using follicles extracted from the chest and the scalp. While this provided good results for the linear scar, the patient was still unhappy with the density of hair on his crown. 

At this point, the patient was informed by his surgeon about suprapubic donor methods, including what to expect and all associated risks, and chose to undergo a final hair transplant using suprapubic hair as a donor source, along with platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections to encourage healthy hair growth.

Here is what Dr. Meathrel’s case report found:

• Before the patient’s chest and scalp grafting procedure, the patient had a baseline coverage at the crown of 67.9%.

• After the chest and scalp grafting procedure and PRP, the patient had 72.7% coverage at the crown.

• After the suprapubic body hair transplantation and a course of PRP therapy, crown coverage had increased to 84.6%.

What Can We Learn?

Most of the published literature on body hair transplantation has focused on the beard, chest and limbs. By documenting patient outcomes from the suprapubic area, we can expand the evidence base for surgeons and their patients. Not every patient is a good candidate for suprapubic transplants or body hair transplantation. Candidacy is always dependent on factors like hair characteristics and the surgeon’s assessment of what can realistically be harvested without compromising the appearance of the donor area at the time of surgery and in the future. However, it is important to Dr. Meathrel to provide her patients with the full range of options for hair restoration in Ontario.

More Considerations for Suprapubic Donor Hair

Before you move forward with a hair restoration procedure, you should understand every aspect of the proposed surgery, including both its advantages and its limitations. Previous literature on suprapubic donor hair has suggested that, although the pubic area comes with longer healing times and lower growth scores compared to other areas, patients have been satisfied with the results of their surgery.

However, with any BHT, there is a range of reported results, and they are not always equivalent to results from scalp donor hair procedures. Each patient should have realistic expectations moving into their surgery and spend time talking to Dr. Meathrel about all of the potential outcomes.    

Who Is a Good Candidate for Body Hair Transplantation?

Patients With Depleted Scalp Donor Reserves

When a patient has advanced pattern hair loss, similar to patients seeking treatment for male pattern baldness where the area of thinning has expanded beyond what the donor areas at the back and sides of the scalp can cover, scalp methods can no longer be used on their own without compromising the density of the rest of the scalp. As in Dr. Meathrel’s case study, this can happen when a patient has already undergone one or more transplant procedures but still needs additional grafts to address ongoing hair loss. 

Patients Seeking Added Density

Sometimes, it makes more sense to supplement scalp donor hair with hair from the chest or other body areas to provide more density than scalp donor areas can provide on their own. This can be used when the patient still has some usable scalp hair but wants a plan that protects the long-term health and appearance of the donor area. 

Who Is Not a Good Candidate for Body Hair Transplantation?

At Bespoke Skin MD in Kingston, Ontario, we only perform procedures that we believe will benefit our patients. We do not recommend services that are not needed or do not fit with your lifestyle and identity. If body hair transplantation is not a good option for you, we will be transparent and straightforward about this. Some patients may not have enough usable follicles on body areas because the yield per session is often lower than scalp FUE.

Certain skin conditions affect healing, such as active eczema, psoriasis, or a history of keloid scarring. Realistic expectations are also important to us. If we feel that a patient does not have a good understanding of the procedure, the healing timeline and the expected results, we may not perform the surgery for this individual.   

What to Know Before Choosing Body Hair Transplantation

• Body Hair Behaves Differently Than Scalp Hair: The texture and growth cycle of body hair are different from scalp hair. This will change how the transplanted grafts look and how they blend in with any existing scalp hair.

• Results Take Time: It may take longer to see the final results after body hair transplants compared to scalp hair. Final results are usually visible 12-18 months after the surgery.

• Transection Rates Are Higher: Transection is the accidental cutting or damaging of a hair follicle during harvesting. While choosing an experienced hair transplant surgeon reduces this risk, the rates of transection are higher during BHT because it is a more technically demanding surgery.  

• It May Be Combined With Other Treatments: Dr. Meathrel may recommend using adjunct therapies like PRP to improve the outcomes of your surgery. These treatments help the transplanted follicles to thrive and improve overall scalp health.

• It Is a Long-Term Decision: Choices that are made today affect what options remain available for future procedures. We implement thoughtful planning and encourage our patients to do the same. 

Your Hair Restoration Procedure at Bespoke Skin MD

We start with a full assessment of your scalp and the density of potential donor sites. We use in-clinic technology like the SmartGraft® FUE hair transplant system for follicular unit extraction and TrichoLAB hair analysis to give us objective data on your hair density. Our hair restoration procedures are performed by Dr. Meathrel, who has spent more than 20 years serving the Kingston community. Patients travel across Canada to Ontario to work with a provider that they trust to get it right. Surgeries are performed in an accredited in-house operating room where we have shorter wait times and more control over the surgical environment.  

The Next Steps for Patients Considering Hair Restoration

If you are exploring hair restoration and want an honest assessment of your options, the Bespoke Skin MD team welcomes you for a consultation at our Kingston hair restoration clinic. We will determine whether your plan will involve scalp donor hair, body hair, a combination of donor areas or other hair restoration methods. The goal is a natural-looking result that can be maintained for years after your surgery. Contact us today at 613-549-7546 to book a consultation or learn more about your hair restoration options.

Reference

Clark M T, Meathrel K E (March 30, 2026) Suprapubic Hair as a Supplementary Donor Source in Body Hair Follicular Unit Extraction: A Case Report. Cureus 18(3): e106127. doi:10.7759/cureus.106127