If you have found yourself suffering from hair loss or a receding hair line, a hair transplant is a great, long-term solution that can give you a whole new body image and make you feel great about yourself again.
However, as often the case, with hair loss, a hair transplant using your own hair can face some difficulty due to the lack of hair overall.
So what about taking hair from another, generous person who is willing to donate hair for you? Is that possible?
That’s one of the most asked questions that we’ve been receiving when consulting a new patient, so let’s address it here.
Generally speaking, it is possible. Yes you can transplant hair from another person onto your own scalp. That’s great news. The hair needs to be grafted from that person’s head the same way it would be harvested from your own body.
However, as with any other transplant, because of the hair follicles not being from your own body, without having a genetic match, your body is likely to consider it as foreign and will therefore reject those transplanted hair cells. Not so great news.
Of course this risk of rejection can be reduced, by finding a genetically compatible match can reduce the risk of rejection, just the same way as with any other organ transplants.
But this process involves testing the donor’s bone marrow first. If it’s not a match, then the search will have to continue to find a person who is willing to donate hair for you and has compatible genetic material, and possibly again and again. Of course, if the donor is a close relative, the genetic match should be high and the chances of rejection will be relatively low.
Overall, as you can imagine, the costs of this procedure is exponentially higher than a standard hair transplant, unless as said the donor is a close relative, like your mother, father or sibling or offspring.
But we’re always happy to discuss your hair transplant options and find a way to help you solve your hair loss problems.