It’s not just the hair necessities – transplants may also heal scars

HAIR transplants are becoming increasingly common among men, long after the likes of Wayne Rooney and John Travolta had theirs done. But a study has found that the benefits of the cosmetic surgery that combats receding or thinning hair go beyond the aesthetic because the treatment may also be able to help heal scars.

Scientists implanted complete hair follicles into the scarred scalps of three patients and found that the skin began to resemble a healthier version of itself rather than scar tissue.

Scars do not grow hairs as a result of the damage, and they also lack nerves, blood flow and sweat glands. But the hair follicle is known to help rejuvenate and remodel the tissue, so Imperial scientists worked with Dr Francisco Jiménez, lead hair transplant surgeon at the Mediteknia Clinic in Gran Canaria, Spain, to study if three hair transplants into scarred skin helped.

They transplanted hair follicles into the mature scars on the scalp of three participants in 2017.

The researchers selected the most common type of scar, called normotrophic scars, which usually form after surgery.

They took 3mm-thick biopsies of the scars just before transplantation, and at two, four, and six months afterwards.

The team found that the skin underwent fundamental genetic and architectural changes that made it look and behave more like unscarred skin.

Dr Claire Higgins, of Imperial’s Department of Bioengineering and lead author, said: “After scarring, the skin never truly regains its pre-wound functions, and until now all efforts to remodel scars have yielded poor results.

“Our findings lay the foundation for exciting new therapies that can rejuvenate even mature scars and restore the function of healthy skin.”

The study found that the scarred skin thickened to healthy levels, had more blood vessels and made the skin less stiff and uncomfortable.

Exactly how the hair follicle transplant affects such change remains a mystery, but the team found that the hair did continue to grow, which was acceptable in the three volunteers as it was on the scalp.

The team said the results may have longer-term implications for other scar tissue, such as on internal organs.

Dr Higgins said: “This work has obvious applications in restoring people’s confidence, but our approach goes beyond the cosmetic as scar tissue can cause problems in all our organs.”

The research is published in Nature Regenerative Medicine.

‘Procedures have obvious benefits in restoring confidence, but it now goes beyond the cosmetic’