I am developing a body hair to scalp transplant study. My goal is to determine what kinds of body hair are viable for hair transplants if the patient is using a systemic anti androgen like finasteride.

Here is a quick summary:

1. I will clear all testosterone affecting products from my system for 60 days. (I've been using saw palmetto for prostate health which I've discontinued using for over 60 days)
2. All test transplant zones (Chest, Leg, Stomach, Head, armpit) will be razor shaved.
3. Hair will be allowed to grow for 30-60 days to determine natural growth patterns
4. Hair follicles from every test zone will be identified with a permanent cosmetic (tattoo) on my various body parts. Example: I will tattoo the area directly below certain follicles on my chest with the numbers 1-20 to allow us to track these follicles. The same process will be used for the other areas.
5. I will start Propecia once natural follicle growth data has been obtained.
6. Follicles from each test zone will be measured at 30 day intervals while I'm using Propecia for 5 months.
7. After 5 months I will transplant follicles from each body hair test zone (chest, back, leg, stomach, armpit, etc.) to my scalp. Separate 1 square cm test zones will be created for each body hair type. A 2 mm space will be left between zones on my scalp. I will look like I have a bunch of boxes on my head for 2 years.
8. I will monitor the growth of each body hair area on the scalp and compare it to a control group on the body. Example: 20 hair follicles will be numbered, tracked, and moved from my chest to my scalp. 20 additional follicles will be numbered and left to grow on my chest for control monitoring.
9. I will monitor the growth of the follicles over the course of two years.
10. A blind panel of judges will be asked to review my scalp transplant zones. They will be shown 7 test transplant zones and asked to determine what type of follicles were transplanted into each zone: 1 chest hair zone, 1 back hair zone, 1 leg hair zone, 1 armpit hair zone, and 3 head hair zones.

Study Questions:

1. How does a systemic anti-androgen like finasteride (propecia) affect body hair once it has been transplanted to the scalp?
2. How does a systemic anti-androgen affect body hair left in its original location?
3. Does body Hair take on scalp hair characteristics?
4. Does it grow to normal head hair length?
5. Does donor dominance from body hair maintain the same function when transplanted to the scalp?
6. Does body hair lose thickness/length because body hair needs to have DHT to continue growing no matter where it is? Does being on the scalp change this?
7. Can FUE scarring be minimized with topical scar reducing medicinal products like Mederma or Neosporin?
8. How does each body hair type grow on the scalp? (i.e. Chest Hair, Leg Hair, Armpit hair, Stomach hair). Can a blind panel of judges differentiate the follicle types? A new panel will of judges will be added every 6 months in case the first panel was able to identify a hair type early on and remembered where it was on my scalp.
9. Can areas with high levels of sweat glands be safely used as hair transplants? (i.e. armpit hair)

This study is still evolving. It started out as a project to determine how Propecia affects body hair once transplanted to the head. I've been slowly adding study criteria.

I am posting this study to the forum for your feedback. Tell me what else you'd like me to test and I'll see if I can work it in to the study. I have agreed to be a guinea pig for all sorts of transplant tests. If you've always had something you wanted to see tested now is the time to get it on my list.

(sorry for any typos or glitches--kind of a long post

Edited: 10/21/2003 at 10:19 AM by Hair Loss Help Moderator

PeterMac,
I'm suprised that noone responded to this yet. Are you sure you want to be a guinea pig? Tatoos? I really appreciate that fact that you're willing to take one for the team, but that's a big step my friend.

<< I'm suprised that noone responded to this yet >>

Hey, me too! I thought quite a few people would have different things they'd like to see tested.

I forgot to mention I'm going to be testing Propecia's effect on beard growth. I will measure my beard growth shavings each month as well.

Guys, if you have a question you've always wanted answered, I'm willing to be a guinea pig as long as the test is somehow related to my core test concept. (I.e. I won't be sticking a balloon in my head just to see how it feels)

I am also seeking funding for the project. If any of you would like to help cover some of the costs of the experiment it would be most appreciated. I am volunteering my time and body for the project, but I will have significant travel and research expenses.

Peter,
I have an idea. Set a membership fee to access this site. That will cover this kind of research project which would be benefitial to all of us.

Peter,

I have conducted my own simplified version of this study for the past 1.5 to 2 months.

I have been on 1 mg/day finasteride for 1 year. I was also curious what the affect of finasteride has on my body hair growth. Therefore I shaved 3 areas of body hair:

1) a patch of chest hair

2) a patch of hair in the lower abdomen "from the happy trail"

3) a patch of hair from my right anterior lower leg

Unfortunately, I didn't have a control group to compare to (i.e. did not measure growth rates before starting finasteride). However, I can say that my subjective impression is that hair from all three areas is growing at what I think is a normal rate (for the given area). For me, chest hair and abdomen hair have been growing at a rate faster than the leg hair (my guess is this was the case before finasteride).

I can also add that I have not noticed any decreased rate of beard growth in the past year. I still have to shave every day.

I'm interested to hear what you find with your more scientific study.

jrf

Peter,

I think many of us on the board appreciate your willingness to engage in this study. I wish I could offer you some helpful feedback, but your methodical and meticulous approach doesn't leave me with many burning questions but here are a few.

1. What norwood classification are you?
2. Where will the body hair be placed (crown? midscalp area?)
3. Have you considered using Rogaine on one of the test patches?
4. Have you taken propecia before?
5. Are you considering Avodart?

I'm still trying to figure out how you can have all this donor hair. I've got more body hair than I would like (a little peach fuzz on my back, fairly thick coverage on my chest and legs...but I don't think any of it would be suitable for my head).

Edited: 03/27/2003 at 06:01 AM by Hair Loss Help Moderator

I got a few responses

ts808 said:
I'm suprised that noone responded to this yet. Are you sure you want to be a guinea pig? Tatoos? I really appreciate that fact that you're willing to take one for the team, but that's a big step my friend.

I received a couple private messages about tattoo as well. Several of you are concerned about this part of the study. These will be small tattoos about the size of a hair follicular unit. They should be easily removed via laser in a couple years. However, I will address your concerns with a dermatologist to make sure I understand all of the risks.

Gentleman said:
I have an idea. Set a membership fee to access this site. That will cover this kind of research project which would be benefitial to all of us.

Interesting idea. I do like having a free site where sponsors help cover operating costs. Hopefully some sponsors will be willing to help me out...hint hint...

jrf said:
Unfortunately, I didn't have a control group to compare to (i.e. did not measure growth rates before starting finasteride). However, I can say that my subjective impression is that hair from all three areas is growing at what I think is a normal rate (for the given area).

For me, chest hair and abdomen hair have been growing at a rate faster than the leg hair (my guess is this was the case before finasteride).

Yes, all body hair grows at different rates. See www.keratin.com. I believe head hair grows the fastest, followed by chest/back, and then leg hair.

I can also add that I have not noticed any decreased rate of beard growth in the past year. I still have to shave every day.

Some people feel they've noticed a reduction in beard hair growth but this is usually only noticeable to the patient and not anyone else.

Atl Guy asked:

1. What norwood classification are you?
about a Norwood 5

2. Where will the body hair be placed (crown? midscalp area?)
Mainly in the crown because that's the baldest area. Perhaps heading into the midscalp area if I run out of test area, but i doubt it.

3. Have you considered using Rogaine on one of the test patches?
Yes. We could make minoxidil part of the test. Perhaps we could make two patches for each test. One would use minoxidil, one wouldn't. How does that sound?

4. Have you taken propecia before?
No

5. Are you considering Avodart?
I was, but decided on Propecia because it's been tested a lot more and is a lot more widely used. Perhaps Avodart could be used in later testing.

I'm still trying to figure out how you can have all this donor hair. I've got more body hair than I would like (a little peach fuzz on my back, fairly thick coverage on my chest and legs...but I don't think any of it would be suitable for my head).

My chest hair is thick and dense. I measured the thinner areas of my chest/stomach and they average 15 FU per sq cm. If I had that on my scalp I'd look balding, but it makes me appear like I have a hair body. As a society we expect our head hair to be dense and body hair to be thin.

Consider the size of this donor region. My torso is at least 30 cm by 40 cm = 1200 cm². 1200 cm² * 15 FU/cm² = 18,000 FU available. I don't want any hair on my chest or abdomen. All of the hair here can be used. My happy trail and other parts are twice as thick as some zones. 18,000 is a low estimate. I probably have several thousand more FU to use.

My back had just as much hair once upon a time, but it's been thinned out with laser hair removal.

Hmmm...I should show you a picture of one of my chest hair follicles and head hair follicles up close. I won't tell you which is which. I'll cut them to the same size to make it harder to tell. I'll see if you can identify them. Dr. Cole posted a pic of an extracted head hair and body hair FU. The only difference I could see was the head hair went deeper into the skin.

Great feedback guys. Keep it coming.

3. Have you considered using Rogaine on one of the test patches?
To experienced minox users: Are you able to isolate Minoxidil application within a 1 sq cm zone such as with a bottle dropper? I can see this as being very difficult to do.

Edited: 03/27/2003 at 10:59 AM by Hair Loss Help Moderator

i think # 2 or 3 on your list has already been covered by merck, from what i remember(could be wrong)I think it said that the drug could accelerate the growth of body and facial hair. I KNOW its true in the facial hair part in women, even though they are told to stay away, there is some scripts wrote for women who don't plan on child bearing, and has been studied. I know i got hairier? when i was taking propecia religiously, and i was working out 5-6 days a week hard, and had been for 10 years previous, and noticed significant pec growth. I am on avodart now, but i am scared to take more than 2-3 times a week, messes w/ hormone levels, and quite possibly could have long term organ damage

could you use also pubic hair in your test ?

Peter Mac
I've heard that Minoxidil has a slight "diffuse" effect, in other words it can affect neighbor areas. I know that's kind of vague...

I was interested in this question at one point, because if you've ever used Minoxidil, it can be a little tricky to make sure you've applied it all over your scalp. It can lead to overmedicating (make sure I got that little area, and "that" little area, ad nauseum...)

When I heard that you don't have to apply it to every mm of scalp every application because it will affect close-neighboring areas, it seemed reassuring. I don't know if that's true, but it's something to investigate.

So maybe your minoxidil areas should be isolated.

i think # 2 or 3 on your list has already been covered by merck, from what i remember(could be wrong)I think it said that the drug could accelerate the growth of body and facial hair.

In the clinical pharmacology report on Propecia Merck reported the patient survey revealed no significant change in body hair. This could be the patients didn't notice a significant change in body hair growth or didn't monitor it properly. No scientific test was performed to measure body hair weights and lengths. All patient testimonials I've read indicate that patients felt their beard hair growth sometimes decreased. I never read about a case of increased body hair growth with finasteride until I read yours.

could you use also pubic hair in your test ?

I believe the sebaceous and sweat gland makeup of the pubic area makes it inconducive to transplant. There's also a psychological issue. I don't believe I could handle knowing I have pubic hair on my head. Since no doctor wants to use it as a donor source, I think it's best to leave it out of the study.

Edited: 03/28/2003 at 11:02 AM by Hair Loss Help Moderator

When I heard that you don't have to apply it to every mm of scalp every application because it will affect close-neighboring areas, it seemed reassuring. I don't know if that's true, but it's something to investigate.

So maybe your minoxidil areas should be isolated.

yes, I believe the minox test zones should be on one side of the scalp separated from the other non minox zones by a cm or two if possible. How far does minox seep into neighboring areas?