The final step in transitioning to a man is having facial hair. It is like the finishing touch that gives the Trans man the final sense of self confidence and a final step in this wonderful journey of self identification. It also lifts up the person’s acceptance or mainstreaming of the person as a male member of the society. Social acceptance and self satisfaction reduces the person’s social and physical dysphoria and boosts self confidence.

As lucrative as it sounds hair transplants actually pose a unique set of challenges to overcome.

HAIR TRANSPLANT TECHNIQUES:

Female to male facial hair transplant usually consists of beard and moustache transplant.

There are a wide variety of hair transplant techniques. These are:

Follicular Unit Extraction Technique (FUE Technique):

This technique is considered one of the best hair transplant technique. It involves one by one extraction of follicular units or grafts from the scalp in the donor area. These units are present at back and both sides of the scalp.

This method takes ample amount of time and expense to learn and to develop skills to a higher standard. The survival of the follicular units is one of the key factors that decide whether the transplant is a success or not. If the follicular units are transected in the extraction process there are more chances that they won’t survive the transplant and the hair transplant won’t be a success.

Follicular units harvesting of grafts may create pit scarring. These are small, round and whitish scars in the donor area of the patients from where the grafts have been removed.

Follicular unit extraction generally has a lesser patient recovery period of time and also significantly lower post-operative discomfort. In addition to this, there is lesser risks of long term nerve damage which leads to chronic numbness and pain in the donor area in many cases.

The drawbacks of this technique are that the follicles have to be harvested from a much greater area of the donor zone. Also the follicles harvested from borderline areas of the donor region may not actually be permanent and overtime the transplant maybe lost. Subsequent sessions of transplant are much more difficult due to the scarring and distortion of donor scalp. Thus further grafts are more fragile and subject to trauma or irritation during placement. This may also be because they often are devoid of the protective dermis and fat of microscopically grafts.

BEARD AND MOUSTACHE TRANSPLANT:

Beard and moustache is a characteristic feature of a human male and it is important because it showcases masculinity. Beard transplant is the method of facial hair construction. This is done by transplanting scalp hair to areas of the face as needed by the person. The transplant technique used for this is follicular transplant technique which is described above.

The success and realistic look of the beard depends mostly on the natural characteristics of the recipient site hairs. If the patient’s scalp hair is short and curly, then the beard will blend in perfectly.

RISKS AND SIDE EFFECTS:

• Bruising and swelling in the donor region.
• Redness in the donor region.
• Increased sensitivity, irritation or pain at the donor and recipient sites.
• Infection in the transplant areas.
• Scarring in the transplant areas.