Australian Doctors Perfect World's First Chest-To-Head Hair Transplant

Market Wire, 20050229

While many balding men complain of not having enough hair on their head, very few complain about having too much on their chest. For one man this chest hair turned out to be just what the doctor ordered.

Dr. Ray Woods, the developer of a new hair replacement technique called The Woods Technique of Follicular Relocation (TM), saw this inequity as an opportunity to give his patient more hair where he needed it most, on his scalp.

Existing hair transplantation methods require doctors to surgically remove large swatches of scalp from the back of the head in order to extract the follicles. Dr. Woods has developed a less invasive technique using microsurgical instruments to extract individual hair follicles directly from the skin. No surrounding skin is removed and patients are not left with an ear-to-ear scar typical of current hair transplantation surgeries.

For some men, these scars and poor results from hair transplantation surgery often lead to a lifetime of humiliation and regret. This was the case for James, a 60-year-old man who sought help from Dr. Woods after several previous unsuccessful surgeries left him scarred and with very little donor hair.

"In most cases we are able to remove sufficient hair from the back and sides of the head. However, in James's case there was so much scarring and so little hair to work with, we decided to try removing some of his chest hair to give him additional coverage. We extracted 1,200 hairs from his chest and they were inserted about one inch behind his frontal hairline. We have scheduled additional procedures to relocate another 2,800 hairs, which will add a significant amount of coverage and density that would otherwise be impossible," explains Dr. Woods.

Dr. Woods and his partner, Dr. Angela Campbell, both former skin cancer surgeons, started developing the procedure 12 years ago and have been perfecting and refining it ever since. They were featured on the Australian TV program "Good Medicine," first in 1996 and then in 1999, and were shown operating on several patients including a female patient who had suffered some burns on the scalp.

"At the time we were on TV in 1996 we were able to remove only 100 follicles per session since it requires tremendous skill to remove the follicle without damaging it. Anyone can extract a follicle, however, unless done correctly the extraction can lead to something called transection, which is permanent damage to the follicle, thus depleting the donor area. If you have a high transection rate you might as well go back to traditional strip-harvesting methods," says Dr. Woods.

Due to an increase in their skill level as well as enhancements to their microsurgical instrument, the doctors are currently able to relocate 1,200 hairs per session. What this means to patients is that there is now hope for people like James who previously had no options. In addition, people who have never had a hair transplant now have the ability to have their hairline restored without having to undergo painful invasive surgery or experience any scarring. The Woods Technique of Follicular Relocation (TM) can be performed on any patient and requires no special tests or criteria.

"Drs. Woods and Campbell are the innovators and undisputed leaders in this type of cosmetic surgery," says Farrel Manne, senior editor of hairlosshelp.com, a Web site dedicated to educating consumers about hair loss.

"Since we began featuring information about Dr. Woods on our Web site, the public reaction has been incredible. What makes Dr. Woods and Dr. Campbell unique is that they never use assistants to complete their work and personally remove and place every single hair. In addition they are the only cosmetic surgeons I know who do not require a patient to sign a release form that legally protects the doctor against lawsuits from surgeries that go wrong. If that doesn't demonstrate their level of confidence, then I don't know what will," adds Manne.

Drs. Wood and Campbell are based in Sydney, Australia. After successfully treating many patients from the U.S. and around the world, Dr. Woods has announced plans to teach other physicians how to perform their follicular relocation technique.

"I want every patient in the world to have access to this technology so that there never again will be a need for us to have to repair someone's head," quips Dr. Woods.

Information and pictures of James, Dr. Woods' patient, can been seen on www.hairlosshelp.com and information about Drs. Woods and Campbell is available through their Web site www.4hair.com.au

The TOP UP CLINIC - Level 12, 183 Macquarie Street - Sydney NSW Australia

Interactive Marketing Group - 1266 S. Boyle Ave -Los Angeles, CA 90023