How painful is a Hair Transplant?

We’ll look at how painful a hair transplant may or may not be, the possible side effects and how long the recovery time is likely to be.

If you’ve been considering hair transplant surgery, one of the key reasons for delaying may be the question of how painful it might be.

Naturally this question is a difficult one to answer as it’s often down to individual pain thresholds. However, at the Harley Street Hair Clinic our surgeons use their years of expertise in this field to ensure your treatment is as pain free as possible.

Does hair transplant surgery hurt? – Let’s take a look.

 

What to expect on your treatment day.

During your initial consultation, you’ll be briefed on what to expect when the day of your treatment finally arrives.

It’s perfectly understandable to be nervous of any surgical procedure but understanding what’s happening and what you’re likely to expect goes a long way towards putting you at ease.

To understand where you may experience a little discomfort during the procedure, we need to look at the two main types of hair transplant surgeries, FUT and FUE.

FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation) or ‘STRIP’ consists of the removal of healthy hair follicles in small strips from a donor area.

The hair follicles are then separated out and inserted in to the area to be treated.

As a strip of healthy hair is taken, the procedure is slightly more invasive, therefore will result in longer recovery and healing times. There may also be some scarring at the donor site.

With FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) a small number of hair follicles are removed and then transplanted to the area in need. This procedure takes more time to complete but leaves little to no scarring and a much faster healing time of 3 to 7 days.

This is why the FUE method is preferred by most surgeons.

Take Away: Most surgeons prefer to use the FUE method as the results look more natural and the surgeon has more control over the placement of the grafts. In addition there is less scarring and a shorter recovery time.

 

Prior to either of the procedures, a local anaesthetic will be administered, and this can be slightly uncomfortable. However, this greatly minimizes any discomfort during the treatment.

Hair transplantation is a surgical procedure, and your surgeon will always advise that there will be some level of discomfort with any surgical intervention, however, pain relief is available, most usually as a local anaesthetic.

Even with the local anaesthetic, there will probably be some light discomfort during the procedure as you will be fully awake and may feel some pulling or tugging, but this is not painful.

The beauty of local anaesthetic is that the discomfort is minimal, and it doesn’t carry any of the potential risks of a general anaesthetic The patient will be awake throughout the procedure and will be able to communicate with the surgical team.

After the Hair Transplant Surgery

Whilst there shouldn’t be any pain during an FUE or FUT procedure, the transplanted areas of the scalp are likely to be tender after the surgery has been completed.

This is because the various tissues on your head have been subjected to varying levels of trauma, which will inevitably cause some redness and swelling. This can easily be managed with mild pain killers, taken for a few days after treatment.

 

The recovery process

Most people are able to return to work about 3 days after having a hair transplant.

It cannot be stressed enough that you need to be very careful with your transplanted hair for the first 2 weeks after your operation. The grafts will not be secure.

You may be told to cut down on exercise and other physical activity in the first month to reduce the chance of complications.

The recovery time scale

After 2 to 5 days: any bandages can usually be removed, but you should not touch the grafts.

Day 6: you should be able to wash your hair gently by hand.

After 10 to 14 days: any non-dissolvable stitches can usually be removed.

After a few weeks: you may notice the transplanted hair will fall out, and later start to grow back.

After 6 months: new hair usually starts to appear.

After 12 to 18 months: the full results should be seen.

 

What Side effects am I likely to expect?

There are a few side effects associated with a hair transplant. It's common to experience:

• Swelling on the scalp and a tight, achy feel for a few days
• temporary scabbing where the hair was transplanted
• a number of very tiny scars or a larger single scar

 

What could go wrong

These days a hair transplant is regarded as a safe procedure, but as with any type of surgery there's always a small element of risk, such as::

• bleeding
• infection
• an allergic reaction to the anaesthetic

But with good aftercare and closely following the clinic’s instructions, few patients experience complications or adverse reactions.

If you experience any of the above, contact your surgeon who should be able to treat these problems quickly.

There's also a very small risk that a noticeable scar may form or that the transplant does not take, and the hair falls out, Once again, contact your surgeon who will be able to explain what the problems are and what steps to take next.

You may notice that your hair continues to thin around the transplant, but your surgeon should have planned the design of the transplant to make sure the hair looks natural as time passes.

You should contact the clinic where you had your hair transplant as soon as possible if you have severe pain or any unexpected symptoms.

 

Conclusion

Modern hair transplants involve less invasive surgery, better outcomes, and little pain.

The highly qualified surgeons at Harley Street Hair Clinic have a wealth of experience and can restore your bald or thinning hair to the head of hair of your dreams.

Take a look at our Harley Street Hair Clinic or contact us today for a chat Call Now

 

More information

• British Association of Hair Restoration Surgery (BAHRS): hair restoration
• British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS): hair transplant surgery
• International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS)
• Royal College of Surgeons: cosmetic surgery