Restoring Hair to the Goatee, Mustache, Beard, and Sideburns
Facial hair transplantation restores hair to the beard area where hair growth is thin or missing. It can be performed to restore the goatee and mustache, sideburns, cheek beards, and anywhere that hair is desired, even if hair has never grown in the area before. Facial hair transplants can also be used to conceal acne scars and other types of scars.
The absence or loss of facial hair may occur for different reasons. While most commonly genetic, other causes include prior laser hair removal, prior surgery such as a facelift or cleft lip repair, acne scarring, or burns. Gender reaffirmation female to male patients (FTM) may also benefit from a facial hair transplant to create a more masculine appearance. Goals for this procedure range from minor filling of a limited area, to recreating sideburns, to the restoration of a full goatee or beard. The procedure can be performed on areas where there is no hair (patients who for any reason cannot grow a beard), or on areas where hair growth is thin and more fullness is desired (patients who just want more facial hair). There should be no loss of preexisting hairs from the procedure. Areas of scarring can also be effectively concealed with facial hair transplants.
Graft counts depend on a number of factors including the amount of area to be covered, how much if any hairs are already present, the goals of the patient, and the thickness of the donor hairs. A general rule of graft counts are 350 up to 500 grafts (or around 400 to 500 hairs) for the mustache, 700 up to 12– grafts for a full goatee, 200 up to 300 grafts for each sideburn, and 300 to as many as 900 grafts for each cheek beard. Most patients achieve the desired results in a single procedure, however in the occasional patient a second smaller procedure may be indicated to achieve greater density or to extend the area of coverage. In younger patients at risk for developing male pattern hair loss it is important to recognize that any hairs transplanted into the beard will not be available for transplanting to the scalp. This means that if an individual typically has 6500 to 7500 total grafts (equivalent to 14,000 to 16,000 hairs) available for transplanting over a lifetime, if 2,000 grafts are used for the beard there will be 4500 to 5500 total grafts left for use in the scalp in the future.
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* All patients are unique and individual results may vary.
Beard hair transplantation using Implanter Pens. Here Dr. Epstein demonstrates the placement of hair grafts into the beard using the Implanter Pen, minimizing the trauma to the grafts for the most natural results and highest regrowth rate.
The donor hairs for a facial hair transplant almost always are from the scalp that once transplanted, will grow and appear very similar to beard hairs. These grafts are obtained by the FUE (follicular unit extraction) technique using the most advanced FUE systems with the smallest possible punches to assure excellent regrowth and minimal to no scarring of the donor area so in most cases the patient can shave his head as short as desired. The use of very small recipient sites typically 0.5mm in size assures essentially no scarring of the skin.
This attention to detail by our practice is extended to the matching of hairs from certain areas of the scalp to certain parts of the beard where they will create the nicest result. This typically means that hairs from the back of the head are used to restore the goatee and mustache and central cheeks, while hairs from the sides of the head are used to restore the sideburns and posterior cheek regions. The transplanted hairs are permanent and will grow like normal facial hair and can be trimmed or shaved as desired.
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Who is a good candidate?
Patients of all ethnicities and races can undergo a beard transplant. Proper motivation and realistic expectations are the most important criteria for undergoing the procedure. Younger patients needs to be aware that any hairs transplanted into the beard are hairs that will not be available in the future if a scalp hair transplant is desired. Our patients, if they choose, are able to shave their scalps and or beard areas with little risk of visible scarring.
Options For Your Evaluation
CONSULT IN PERSON – You can meet with Dr. Epstein in the Miami office if you live in or will be visiting south Florida. Here you can not only have a chance to discuss your goals and undergo a full evaluation, but also see the modern facility that is designed with patient comfort and safety in mind. Our office is located in South Miami close to Coconut Grove, Coral Gables, downtown Miami and Miami Beach, and is just 20 minutes from Miami International Airport. The office is on the campus of South Miami Hospital (affiliated with Baptist Health), and provides covered underground parking and sufficient privacy. Please be sure to bring your parking ticket for validation. You can schedule a consultation or learn more by clicking HERE.
CONSULT BY WEBCAM – Dr. Epstein is no stranger to webcams, having provided hundreds of patients consultations over the past five years. Today, this has become the most popular method for patients to “meet” Dr. Epstein, especially considering that most patients are traveling from out of town. Your consult can be performed just like a regular in-office consultation, with the doctor discussing with you your goals and explaining his recommendations in a formal manner from the comfort of your home, your office, or even your car. The most common formats for the webcam are FaceTime or Zoom, but other modalities are available. You can schedule a consultation or learn more by clicking HERE.
EVALUATION BY PHOTO REVIEW – This is an easy way to have your case evaluated, without any charge. By sending your photos, along with information on your age, hair loss history, any prior therapies or procedures, family history of hair loss, and your goals, Dr. Epstein can provide his recommendations and advice. If desired, once you receive his recommendations, you can have a webcam or in-office consultation to learn more, however by photo review you will have the opportunity to ask questions and speak with his assistant Roxy or Dannette who will be able to guide you through this process.
WHAT TO EXPECT WITH DR. EPSTEIN
Natural appearing hair restoration, whether to the beard, scalp, or eyebrows, is achievable with a combination of aesthetics and technique. For more than 25 years, Dr. Epstein has devoted himself to the science and artistry of hair restoration, and for the past 14 years he has applied his skills to the refined procedure of beard restoration. Having performed over 750 beard transplants, Dr. Epstein is a recognized leaders in this technique, and he has lectured extensively at national and international scientific meetings and published multiple scientific articles and chapters including authoring the chapter on beard hair transplants for the 2015 edition of the textbook “Hair Transplantation 360” Performing on average three of these facial hair procedures each week, most of our patients travel to have their procedure with us in order to be assured of a natural-appearing result.
In most beard transplants, cases, single and two-hair grafts are combined to optimize naturalness and density. Each recipient site is made by the doctor so as to be sure of achieving the desired angle and pattern of hair growth. Our special “beard” team of assistants work with the doctor to help execute the desired final result.
Procedure & Recovery
Dr. Jeffrey Epstein – “Hipster” Beard Transplant
Goatee/mustache design is determined along with a graft estimate to achieve the desired results. The facial hair transplant is usually performed under oral sedation with local anesthesia, but if desired can be performed under twilight sedation. Lasting three to eight hours, it is a relatively easy and essentially painless procedure Prior to completion, the patient is able to observe for himself the result and any desired changes can be made at this time. The procedure is performed under strict sterile conditions to assure patient health and safety.
The recovery is typically painless, and most patients return home the very next day wearing a mask for privacy. Tiny crusts at the site of each transplanted hair start to fall off five days later, while it takes seven to 10 days for the face to fully heal up other than in some cases some prolonged pinkness to the area. Full exercise and normal face washing is permitted on the sixth day, and once the transplanted hairs fall out by 10 days shaving can be resumed. By three days the donor area is fully healed.
Traveling for a beard transplant
Most of our beard transplant patients are from out-of-town, and the entire consultative process from evaluation to recommendations to scheduling can be done by email, phone, and or webcam, but of course in-office consultations are also welcome. The day of or the day before the procedure the patient will meet with the doctor to further discuss the goals and plan for the transplant. assure your goals are met. Patient advisors Roxy and Dannette work with our patients to assure the entire process proceeds smoothly and easily
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Dr. Epstein currently performs likely more of these facial hair transplantation procedures than any doctor in the United States and possibly any doctor in the entire world. While it is hard to say exactly, Dr. Epstein currently performs, on average, over two of these procedures every single week. One of the reasons that people began choosing Dr. Epstein for this procedure was his background. As you may know, Dr. Epstein and all hair restoration doctors are doctors. They all go to medical school for some reason, but that reason varies. Some hair doctors are orthopedic surgeons, some might be neurologists, others might be dermatologists. Dr. Epstein is specifically a Board Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon and several of the doctors on our team are also Board Certified Plastic Surgeons. This facial plastic surgery background uniquely qualifies Dr. Epstein for the facial hair procedure because he is a hair doctor and this is a hair transplant and he is a facial plastic surgeon and this is a facial plastic surgery procedure.
Initially, it made sense that patients picked Dr. Epstein for this procedure because of that rare dual experience in both hair and facial plastic surgery. At this point, however, his artistic ability is well known because of that facial plastic surgery background and, of course, he now has probably more experience than just about anyone in the world in performing the procedure which is why well over 70% of our patients do fly in for this procedure from out of state or out of country. In fact, over the last five years, we have had patients fly in for hair transplants from 49 of the 50 states and over 40 different countries. This means you would be in great hands when selecting Dr. Epstein for your facial hair procedure.
The time of the procedure ranges between 3 and 6 hours or so, depending upon how many grafts are transplanted.
Yes, I do find that scalp hairs work the best, both in terms of quantity as well as quality/characteristics of the hair that essentially matches beard hair.
Yes. In almost all cases, Dr. Epstein is able to transplant hair from the scalp or sometimes other parts of the body to the face to help fill in or create facial hair for a patient where no facial hair existed before. However, the doctor does prefer to avoid transplanting to the “soul patch” or the area beneath the lower lip and centrally located toward the chin mount due to the risk of lumps forming in that particular area as it is a very sensitive area of the face.
Will the transplanted hairs look like normal facial hair, or would they look [and/or grow] like the hair from the scalp it would be transplanted from?
Specializing in the beard transplant procedures, my general protocol post-procedure is keeping the transplant area completely dry for the first 5 days. After 5 days most patients look essentially normal other then a little bit of pinkness to the transplanted area as well as a lot of very tiny little hairs that are the transplants that have yet to fall out. I permit shaving on the 7th day for most patients provided they use a very sharp razor so there is no risk of accidentally pulling on the hairs. Most of the transplant hairs will fall out within 3 weeks and will start to regrow 3 to 4 months later. The appearance post transplant of the cheek area is essentially normal and thus allows patients to undergo these procedures without any down side. Once transplanted, these hairs will need to be shaved because they will continue to grow for a lifetime.
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Why choose Dr. Epstein
- Been specializing in facial hair restoration procedures for over 14 years
- Continuously listed for years in Castle Connelly’s Top Doctor Guide, an unbiased rating of doctors in many different specialties.
- Holds board certifications in the fields of hair restoration, facial plastic surgery, and otolaryngology (head and neck surgery), is a Diplomate of the American Board of Hair Restoration, and is a fellow of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
- Voluntary Assistant Professor at the University of Miami in both the Department of Otolaryngology and the Philip Frost Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery
- Past President of the Florida Society of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
- Provides pro bono reconstructive surgery to children, veterans, and other people in need.
