All about beard transplantation

How does a beard transplant work?

• A beard transplant works exactly like a hair transplant, but with your face as the recipient area. Depending on the technique, transplanted hair follicles are harvested differently to fill in balding areas.
• For stubborn bald spots, beard transplantation can help restore a full beard regain a full beard. The transplanted hairs simply grow as normal. If a beard transplant is done properly, you'll even have a natural result.
• There are three known techniques for beard transplantation. These are FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation), FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) and HST (Hair Stem Transplantation).
• A few grafts are always left for a possible second treatment. Hair transplantation cannot be done often in your life. So it has to be right the first time.
• There are different methods of hair transplantation, but they are all done under local anesthesia so that the procedure is as painless as possible.

FUT beard transplantation

• FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation) is an obsolete hair transplantation method in which, under local anesthesia, a strip of skin is cut away from the donor area to harvest grafts (hair follicles).
• Here, it is important to have the entire hair follicle along and keep a good number of grafts for transplantation. The skin of the donor area is sutured back together.
• This method is barely used now because it leaves a large scar left at the donor area. Meanwhile, there are better methods that do not leave visible scars.

FUE beard transplantation

• The method most common now is FUE hair transplantation (Follicular Unit Extraction). Instead of removing a strip of skin, the hair roots are carefully extracted with a hollow needle removed from the donor area. The hair follicles are then placed directly into the recipient area.
• Because the FUE technique is very precise, you don't get a large scar on the back of your head. You can also get a high hair density achieve. To get a nice beard, it is definitely important to have the right hair density. So an FUE hair transplant is absolutely suitable for a balding beard.
• During the procedure, you will be locally anesthetized. An FUE hair transplant is quite labor intensive, though. It often takes around 5 hours.

HST beard transplantation

• A new technique sometimes used for beard transplants is an HST transplant. This method works even more precisely than the FUE technique. When hair follicles are extracted, parts of them are left behind in the donor area. This ensures that hair can still grow in the donor area.
• The number of grafts required for a hair stem transplant is lower. This procedure is quite a bit more complicated, though, which is why you need a hair transplant specialist needed. Just like an FUE beard transplant, you don't have a visible scar with HST transplantation.
• Find out even more about mustache and beard transplantation in this article from the Dutch Hair Foundation.

Complications beard hair transplantation

As a cosmetic procedure, beard transplantation is not without risks. A good beard transplant can provide a full beard and a lot more self-confidence. However, a bad transplant can have dire consequences have.

Infections

• As with hair transplants, a beard transplant can leave you with infections after the procedure. This is because the treated area is still vulnerable after the transplant. With a poor beard transplant or poor healing, it is possible that you could get infections get infections through the areas where the cosmetic procedure was performed.
• Important in preventing infections is that you go to a good specialist and protect the treated area enough during healing. Especially for a beard transplant, it is not always easy to find a specialist, as they are not yet very popular here.

Hair falls out or grows incorrectly

• If the transplanted grafts are not of quality or there are problems during recovery, the implanted hairs may begin to fall out during healing fall out. It is normal for a few hairs to fall out, but too much hair loss indicates a problem.
• Please note: it often takes a year before you see the final results of your beard transplant treatment.
• Sometimes the hairs do continue to grow in the receiving area, but they grow in the wrong direction. This happens when the transplanted hair is not placed correctly and does not follow the natural direction of growth.

Cheap beard transplants

• Cosmetic procedures such as beard transplants are not that popular (yet) in our region. Therefore, it can sometimes be difficult to find a specialist who can take care of your beard transplant. The prices can also sometimes scare people off, making them more likely to opt for cheap clinics. However, this is not a good idea!
• With very inexpensive hair transplants, you have a much higher risk of infection and often a poor result. They sometimes harvest a high number of grafts that are not quality at all. You often get multiple small bald patches in the donor area and no natural result at all in the recipient area.

Alternatives to beard transplantation

Because the results of a beard transplant are permanent, it is often suggested for people who cannot grow a full beard. However, it is not always necessary to have such a procedure done.

Those who like a fuller beard can also use simpler alternatives such as hair fillers, a PRP treatment or microhair pigmentation. Depending on your desired end result, you can use one of these alternative methods to stimulate hair growth or get the right look for your beard.