Not everyone who considers a hair transplant has an excellent donor supply, and those who don’t might wonder if they could have hair donated from a family member or relative. While this might seem like a great idea at first, there are several reasons as to why it is not a realistic option.
While it is technically possible to extract hair from one person and transplant it into another, the body will recognize that it is foreign tissue and most likely reject it. The body’s immune system is naturally prone to recognize and reject foreign organisms and tissue. And because the skin protects our bodies, it is even more likely than other parts of the body to reject foreign tissue. As the donated hair would be rejected, the hair transplant would simply be ineffective.
Various body organs can be transplanted from one person to another, but there has to be an exact donor match. But regardless of how exact the match is the person who receives the organ transplant has to take strong drugs to prevent rejection of the organ. In order to avoid rejection of the hair, a person using hair from another person would have to take the same kind of powerful and potentially harmful medication as someone who receives an organ transplant. However, there is no doctor that would undertake this procedure for a non-life threatening condition such as a hair transplant. And these anti-rejection drugs are so strong that they come with severe side effects. In order to avoid rejection they weaken the immune system which makes the body more prone to infections. Taking this type of medication to avoid rejection is ok when it comes to saving a life, but would not be acceptable for a cosmetic procedure like a hair transplant.
The use of artificial hair in hair transplants has been observed in other countries but is not legal in the U.S, with the reason being that artificial hair causes too much “fibrosis”, which is hardening and swelling of the tissue surrounding the hair. Artificial hair is also likely to cause excess redness and inflammation. In short, using artificial hair for a hair transplant is not an option either.
The only other person that one could get hair from, and that has a chance of being accepted by the body is from an identical twin. Most people don’t have an identical twin, and even if they did, the twin is likely to want to use their hair for their own hair loss. The vast majority of people, no matter how bald, usually have a small amount of donor supply that can be used for a hair transplant. Perhaps one day in the future it will be possible for hair transplant clients to use hair other than their own, but as of now, it is not an option.
Photo via Dr_Alan_Bauman
