What Are Hair Transplants?
In punch transplanting, a plug containing hair follicles is removed from a part of the scalp where hair is more dense and transplanted to the treatment area. Hair transplantation has a high success rate as long as there is enough donor hair. This procedure does not have any long-term or major side effects.
What To Expect After Your Hair Surgery?
If the post-operative instructions are followed carefully, in most patients the hair transplant will be minimally detectable after a few days and almost undetectable after the first week to ten days. Patients are given medication for swelling at the time of hair loss surgery, but some still experience swelling of the forehead that settles across the bridge of the nose and around the eyes. If this occurs, it is almost always gone by the end of the first week.
The newly transplanted hair begins to grow at around 10 weeks. It is long enough to be groomed in about 6 months and, in most cases, will be fully grown in at one year. In the few months following hair surgery, before the new hair grow, there may be some shedding of your original hair so that the transplanted area may temporarily appear slightly thinner. This is a temporary situation. The shed hair will begin to regrow about the same time as the newly transplanted hair begins to grow. It should not be a cause for concern. For more about shedding, please read Shedding After a Hair Transplant.
The following table describes the usual course for persons having FUT Hair Transplant surgery. There will generally be a significant person to person variability, so if you do not follow the course exactly, do not be concerned.
What Are The Risks Of Hair Transplant Surgery?
Hair transplantation is an extremely safe out-patient procedure that is normally without significant risks or complications. However, as is the case in any surgery, there are risks, and these are always presented and discussed in detail at your personal consultation with our qualified surgeon.
What Are The Potential Side Effects Or Complications?
There are some minor, temporary complications:
Temporary Thinning of Pre-Existing Hair
Although rare, after the surgery some pre-existing hair can thin. The pre-existing hair will return to normal, full condition within a few months of the surgery.
Bleeding
Some bleeding is normal and will stop with simple pressure. Persistent bleeding occurs in about one in a few hundred cases. Additional stitching is rarely required.
Pain
Pain is usually rare and fairly minimal. Half of our patients do not require any pain relievers, and the others take Solpadeine or Panadol for a few days.
Numbness
Some transient numbness is inevitable, usually in the donor area, and generally lasts from 3 to 18 weeks. It is rarely troublesome or long-lasting.
Hiccups
Hiccups may occur after surgery. The cause is not known, but hiccups seem to occur more frequently after hair transplantation than scalp reduction. The incidence of this complication is about 5%. It usually lasts several hours to several days.
Itching
Some itching commonly occurs but is rarely troublesome and lasts only a few days. Shampooing the hair daily will help the discomfort.
Swelling
There is rarely any swelling. When there is, it can affect the forehead and the area around the eyes and last 1 to 2 days. In about 1% of cases, a “black eye” can develop.
Infection
This happens in one in several thousand cases and is easily treated with antibiotics.
Scarring
Keloid scarring occurs only in pre-disposed individuals, and even more rarely (one in one thousand cases) this scarring can cause a ridging effect.