Above the Hairline

Twin Cities radio host Dana Wessel of the 93X Half-Assed Morning Show joins Nate Bruschi to talk about the part of hair restoration nobody covers: the conversation. Dana walks through the wedding photos that made the decision for him, what his bald co-hosts actually said, the "ugly duckling" first weeks after his FUE hair transplant, how he answers people who assume he's only positive because the show is sponsored, and the years of denial before he ever booked a consultation. Plus: why hair transplant pain reports vary so wildly, Alexis Mac Allister's Buenos Aires procedure, and whether to move from finasteride to dutasteride injections, PRP, or growth factors when your temples keep thinning.

Links:

• Blog: Does a Hair Transplant Actually Hurt? — https://hrimn.com/blog-details/does-a-hair-transplant-actually-hurt-what-the-wildly-different-answers-are-really-telling-you
• Free consultation — https://hrimn.com/schedule-online
• Hair by Air — https://hrimn.com/hair-by-air-program
• Dana Wessel on 93X — https://93x.com
• Questions for the show — Podcast@AboveTheHairline.com

Chapters

• 00:00 The Evolution of Hair Restoration Conversations
• 05:00 Personal Experiences and Societal Pressures
• 09:58 Understanding Hair Restoration Options
• 14:48 The Role of Communication in Hair Loss
• 20:09 Navigating Hair Restoration Treatments
• 24:58 Conclusion and Future Discussions

For some patients, the hair needed for a transplant may already be growing in their beard or chest.

In this episode of Above the Hairline, Nate and Alec welcome Dr. Gary Petrus, medical director of the Hair Restoration Institute of Minnesota, to explain body hair transplantation. They discuss when it can help patients with limited scalp donor hair, how beard and chest grafts differ from scalp hair, and why placement, surgeon experience, and realistic expectations matter.

The conversation also goes in the other direction: using scalp hair to restore beards, mustaches, and eyebrows. Dr. Petrus explains the importance of hair angle and direction, surgical risks, and the ongoing trimming that eyebrow transplant patients should expect.

Plus: the emotional impact of hair loss, the evidence for microneedling and platelet-rich plasma (PRP), and why minoxidil alone works better for some people than others.

Considering hair restoration? Book a free consultation with HRI, available in person in Bloomington, Minnesota, or online.

Traveling for treatment? Explore HRI’s Hair by Air program.

Articles and research discussed:

• Nathan Bruschi’s Star Tribune op-ed: “Why hair restoration isn’t just vanity — it’s self-care”
• The psychological consequences of androgenetic alopecia: A systematic review
• Microneedling plus minoxidil: The 2013 randomized pilot study
• “Every needling is not microneedling” (2019)
• PRP injections versus PRP applied with microneedling: The 2025 clinical trial
• PRP alone versus PRP with microneedling: The 60-patient randomized study (2022)
• Predicting topical minoxidil response with a SULT1A1 enzyme assay (2014)

Read more hair restoration articles from HRI.

Episode chapters:

00:00 Body hair and the donor supply problem
02:22 Your donor hair “bank account”
04:27 Dr. Petrus explains body hair transplantation
06:23 Which body areas can supply donor hair?
07:38 Beard hair: density, placement, and challenges
12:51 Chest and abdominal hair
14:49 Does transplanted body hair change texture?
16:06 Extraction, anesthesia, and healing
19:58 Beard, mustache, and eyebrow transplants
25:29 Traveling to Minnesota with Hair by Air
26:45 Key takeaways from Dr. Petrus
31:06 Hair restoration, confidence, and self-care
32:37 Microneedling and PRP: What does the research show?
39:56 Minoxidil without finasteride
44:10 Donor supply planning and final thoughts

Follow Above the Hairline for practical conversations about hair loss, hair transplants, and nonsurgical hair restoration.

Most people think scalp micropigmentation is for shaved heads. The fastest-growing use of SMP is the opposite: a density fill — pigment placed underneath the hair you still have, to erase the contrast between your scalp and your hair.

Nate and Alec sit down with Leah, Technical Director of Good Look Ink — the nation's first and largest SMP provider, with 29 clinics and over 100,000 procedures performed. A traditional tattoo artist for 17 years, Leah co-founded Good Look Ink, formulates its proprietary pigments, was featured on Good Morning America, and personally oversees SMP in Minneapolis, Indianapolis and Nashville. She is, plausibly, the most experienced person in the world at this procedure.

LEARN MORE Scalp Micropigmentation (SMP): https://hrimn.com/scalp-micropigmentation-smp Good Look Ink — nationwide SMP: https://www.goodlookink.com SMP for women: https://www.goodlookink.com/women-treatments Hair transplant overview: https://hrimn.com/hair-transplant-overview FUE hair transplants: https://hrimn.com/follicular-unit-extraction-fue FUT / strip hair transplants: https://hrimn.com/follicular-unit-transplantation-fut-strip Female pattern hair loss guide: https://hrimn.com/female-pattern-hair-loss Male pattern hair loss guide: https://hrimn.com/male-pattern-hair-loss Blog — Why Your FUE Donor Area Shows Up in a Mid Fade: https://hrimn.com/blog-details/why-your-fue-donor-area-shows-up-in-a-mid-fade-and-what-actually-fixes-it Hair by Air (out-of-state travel program): https://hrimn.com/hair-by-air-program Results gallery: https://hrimn.com/hair-transplants-results-gallery

FREE CONSULTATION: https://hrimn.com/schedule-online

Above the Hairline is produced by the Hair Restoration Institute of Minnesota. Our mission is to improve lives and restore confidence through thick, healthy hair.

Nothing in this episode is medical advice. Individual results vary. Consult a licensed provider about your situation.

#ScalpMicropigmentation #SMP #HairTransplant #HairLoss #DensityFill #FemaleHairLoss #FUE #HairRestoration

What actually changes about a hair transplant when the goal isn't restoring a hairline — it's building one that reads correctly? Nate Bruschi and Alec Persson sit down with HRI Medical Director Dr. Gary M. Petrus for a detailed, respectful conversation about hair transplant design for transgender patients.

Dr. Petrus is double board certified — by the American Board of Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and the American Board of Otolaryngology — has been inducted into the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), and completed fellowship training at UC San Francisco, one of the country's major transgender care centers. He brings more than 25 years of surgical experience to a topic most hair restoration content avoids entirely.

In this episode:

• Why MTF cases are building a hairline rather than restoring one — and why that's a completely different engineering problem
• What actually makes a hairline read as feminine: vertical height (5–6 cm vs. 7–8 cm from the mid-brow), temporal mound rounding, undulation, cowlicks, and single-hair graft work at the leading edge
• Why these are large graft cases, and when a second session is realistic
• FUE vs. FUT vs. combo harvesting — including the strip technique for patients who've grown their hair out and won't shave the donor area
• How estrogen, spironolactone, and testosterone affect hair loss and day-of-surgery safety (clotting risk, blood sugar, break scheduling)
• Why facial feminization surgery must come before hair restoration — hairline advancement, frontal bossing reduction, and the donor hair you can waste by sequencing it wrong
• Insurance: the only context in which we have ever seen a hair transplant covered is gender-affirming care. How single case agreements (LOAs) work, what documentation carriers require, and why prior authorization has to happen before surgery
•

🔗 LINKS

Hair by Air Program (flying into MSP for treatment) Program page: https://hrimn.com/hair-by-air-program

Full walkthrough video — baggage claim to procedure room: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4W80hN33k0

Book a free consultation: https://hrimn.com/schedule-online

Dr. Gary M. Petrus: https://hrimn.com/bio/dr-gary-m-petrus Podcast home: https://abovethehairline.com

HRI Blog: https://hrimn.com/blog

Hair Restoration Institute of Minnesota 📞 (612) 588-4247 | 🌐 https://hrimn.com Our mission is to improve lives and restore confidence through thick, healthy hair. Free consultations, always.

This episode is educational and is not medical advice. Individual results vary. Nothing here is a promise of insurance coverage — coverage decisions are made by your carrier.

#TransgenderHairTransplant #HairlineFeminization #GenderAffirmingCare #HairTransplant #FFS #TransHealth #HairRestoration #MTF #FUE #FUT

A veteran hair transplant surgeon walks Nate through the real rulebook for candidacy — too young, too bald, not enough donor, wrong reasons — and reveals why the front hairline, not the crown, is what actually frames a face.

• Blog Post: Looksmaxxing, The Daily, and What the Rise of “Clavicular” Means for Hair Restoration
• Hair by Air Program
• Dr Stoller's Bio and Credentials
• Schedule a consultation for Dr Stoller

Nate finally opens up his own medicine cabinet — finasteride, oral and topical minoxidil, vitamins, PRP, Vitti Pure, EV Pure, and his laser cap — while Alec grills him on what’s actually evidence-backed versus what’s just expensive hope. Plus: the quack-aisle stuff Nate refuses to touch (rosemary oil, onion juice, biotin megadosing, and more), why "my DHT is normal" doesn’t rule out pattern hair loss, and a look at hair systems as the zero-prevention alternative for guys who just want it solved by Friday.

Links to things mentioned:

• HRI Complete Hair Loss Vitamins
• HRI AA Hair Loss Vitamins
• Nutrafol Men
• Laser Cap (LLLT)
• Exosomes and Growth Factors
• Hair Systems
• Scalp Micropigmentation
• Blog: Hair Systems for Beginners

Alec finally breaks down FUE, FUT, and DHI hair transplant techniques — what they actually are, the real tradeoffs on scarring, recovery, and graft yield — and why he personally chose FUE. The duo also discuss "executive" or "incognito" FUE and the robot that can do hair transplants. Plus: what actually separates a "hair mill" from a boutique surgical team, a new academic look at an ancient Chinese herbal remedy for hair loss, and a listener-emailed question on Nutrafol vs. finasteride vs. dutasteride.

Blog Post: https://hrimn.com/blog-details/hair-mill-vs-boutique-surgeon-what-actually-determines-your-hair-transplant-results

Hair by Air: https://abovethehairline.com/hairbyair

Request Consultation: https://hrimn.com/schedule-online

Not every hairline needs a transplant — sometimes it needs a diagnosis. Alec breaks down the real candidacy exam behind every HRIMN consultation: the four factors that determine a ‘yes,' the red flags that trigger a ‘not yet,' and why donor supply is the most important number nobody thinks to ask about. Plus: the promise of exosome therapy for hair restoration and the questions to ask a provider, and whether a certain kind of hair shedding is normal or a cause for concern.

Blog: https://hrimn.com/blog-details/does-exosome-therapy-actually-work-for-hair-loss-what-the-evidence-shows

Question, answered: https://hrimn.com/blog-details/shedding-after-starting-finasteride-post-transplant-normal-reset-or-red-flag
Hair by Air program: https://hrimn.com/hair-by-air-program

Before and after photos: https://hrimn.com/exosome-and-growth-factor-therapy

Getting a hair transplant is only half the procedure — what you do in the two weeks before surgery and the two weeks after decides whether it actually works. Nate and Alec break down the real pre-op and post-op instructions for FUE and FUT: what to stop taking, why hair length matters differently for each technique, what swelling and shedding actually mean, and why the “Ugly Duckling Phase” trips up more patients than any surgical complication does.

Blog Post: Shedding After Starting Finasteride Post-Transplant: Normal Reset or Red Flag?

Unanswered Question: Does Transplanted Hair Stay Coarse and Wiry Forever? What to Expect From Texture Changes

Hair by Air Program: https://hrimn.com/hair-by-air-program

Schedule Consultation: https://hrimn.com/schedule-online

Hair transplants used to mean checkerboard plugs and a "dolls head" hairline — for good reason. Nate and Alec trace the real history, from 1950s punch grafts through the 1990s follicular-unit breakthrough that made results undetectable, to today's FUE boom and the new risk hiding inside it: not bad technology, but untrained hands using good technology. A history-forward, patient-facing look at hair plugs vs. modern FUE.

• Blog Link: GLP-1 Hair Loss: Why It Happens and How HRI’s Regenerative Hair Recovery Protocol Can Help
• Hair By Air Program: https://hrimn.com/hair-by-air-program
• Request Consultation: https://hrimn.com/schedule-online

Above the Hairline is produced by the Hair Restoration Institute of Minnesota. Our mission is to improve lives and restore confidence through thick, healthy hair.

Nothing in this episode is medical advice. Individual results vary. Consult a licensed provider about your situation.

#HairTransplant #HairPlugs #FUE #FUT #HairLoss #HairRestoration #MalePatternBaldness #Ozempic