Hair Transplant Pain: What to expect during and after hair transplant?
Hair transplant pain is daunting for potential patients with limited knowledge about the procedures. However, hair transplantation is one of the least painful forms of cosmetic and aesthetic surgery.
It can be well controlled with local anesthesia. In a follicular unit extraction surgery for hair loss treatment, you may experience pain at the following stages:
1. Under local anesthesia
“Is hair transplant painful?” is the question most patients ask before the surgery. Under local anesthesia, you will not feel any pain during injections, extraction, and transplantation throughout surgery.
Some clinics even prefer to use the technique of anesthesia without needles.
2. Graft extraction from the donor area
With the help of a circular punch tool, donor harvesting processes are performed by a hair transplant surgeon during FUE. Before removing hair grafts, your surgeon will numb the area by anesthesia. That’s why patients don’t feel pain during the harvesting. However, they may feel pressure sensations.
Extraction during FUE leaves round incisions. They recover with primary healing and results in small scars.
3. Graft transplantation to the recipient area
Your surgeon will use surgical instruments to make tiny incisions. In general, the recipient areas are the front, the top, the hairline and the middle of the scalp. The surgeon will transplant hair follicles one by one.
This takes a few hours, depending on the number of grafts needed. Usually between 500 and 7000 grafts are transplanted.
4. After the procedure
Former patients may say hair transplant hurts if they don’t follow post-op care instructions well. Wait pain after hair transplant surgery. In typical, both areas will be fine one week after the surgery.
Yet, you may feel soreness for 7 days. The nerves on the scalp are waking up and the fluid under the skin is shifting, causing a throbbing discomfort.
Is hair transplant painful?
You are going to feel some pain after hair grafting. The clinic team will give you the painkillers you need. Tiny incisions put pressure on the nerves in your scalp during the healing process. As a result, you may feel a throbbing pain.
The painful process will last for 7 to 10 days in total. As long as you do not get an infection after the hair transplant, you will have no more pain problems in the 2nd week. You can help the healing process by using post-transplant hair care products.
If you experience an extreme pain condition, you may be experiencing a rare symptom. In such a case, contact your surgeon immediately.
Is hair transplant anesthesia painful?
An antiseptic solution is used to clean the area to be numbed. A fine needle is then used to inject the sedative under the skin. It temporarily blocks the nerve endings and makes the area numb. The effect starts within a minute or two. It will wear off some time after the procedure.
You’ll remain awake under local anesthetic. If more than 3,000 grafts are transplanted, staying in a fixed position can be tiring. In such cases, the medical team might give you a short 10-15 minute break.
What is the least painful hair transplant method?
The least painful methods are the modern techniques in which the incisions are the smallest and minor deep. DHI and FUE techniques do not have large linear incisions. There are small, minimal surgical cuts. Therefore, there is no pain as in old techniques like FUT.
How painful is hair transplant?
Compared to other surgical operations, hair transplant surgeries are the least painful. The only problem is that there are many nerves in the scalp. Thanks to the anesthesia, you will have no pain during the incisions. However, you may have a headache for up to a week after the treatment. You can control it 80% with medicines and meditation.
If you wonder how painful is hair transplant, you can expect something like a throbbing rather than a pain. Apart from the headache, you may have a sore throat for a while due to the anesthesia. You may feel weak for 1 week. Plus, you may feel mild pain when you touch your hair for the first 5 days.
How long is the pain after a hair transplant?
If you have a very delicate skin structure, it is expected to last a maximum of 2 weeks. If you have pain lasting more than 2 weeks, we recommend that you consult your hair transplant specialist.
This type of skin takes longer to heal:
- thick skin
- with poor blood supply
- aged skin
For post-hair transplant, medical teams give a number of medications to patients including antibiotics, painkillers, anti-inflammatory drugs, antihistamines, antiseptic solutions or post-transplant shampoos, and in some cases minoxidil or finasteride.
The use of minoxidil and finasteride remains controversial. There are patients who don’t prefer it because of some strong side effects. You may also consider supporting your hair transplantation with more natural treatments like PRP.
Does hair transplant pain go away after a week?
Yes, for 90% of patients. After a week, you may continue to feel pain for a while when you touch your follicles and scratch or pull them hard. However, the graze-like pain usually disappears. If you get an infection, your recovery may take longer.
To avoid infection, pay attention to the points below:
- Avoid dust and dirt.
- Do not wear hats that make your head sweat.
- Do not use hair care products containing chemicals for the first 6 months.
- Do not touch your hair with dirty hands.
Please work with a clinic that provides post-op care service. This way you can ask any questions you may have immediately. Entrust your hair to professionals you can contact and trust.
How to reduce pain after hair transplant?
There are some suggestions that may help you to manage pain after a hair transplant operation.
- Follow the surgeon’s instructions and take prescribed painkillers.
- Apply cold compresses to the forehead or donor area to reduce swelling and numb the pain.
- Refrain from scratching & touching the transplanted area to prevent pain and irritation.
- Don’t wash your hair until instructed to do so (usually 4-5 days after your hair transplant).
- Sleep with your head elevated on pillows can help reduce pressure.
- Use a soft pillow that can prevent extra pressure on the treated area while sleeping.
- Drink water to stay hydrated, thus, you can help to reduce headache, too.
- Take a break from strenuous physical activity, e.g. heavy lifting, which can increase blood flow to the scalp and cause pain.
- Take anti-inflammatory medication if your surgeon thinks it is necessary.
What side effects are normal after hair transplant?
It’s not uncommon to experience a few side effects after a hair transplant, as part of the normal healing process. Some other things you might experience include:
- Swelling is normal around the forehead, eyes or scalp after a hair transplant. This usually goes down within 2-3 days.
- You might also notice your scalp is a little redder than usual. The treated areas might look a bit red & pink for up to a few weeks.
- You might feel a bit numb in the treated areas for a few weeks, but this is also normal.
- Some patients may lose a bit of hair (this is called shock loss) in the first month. This is nothing to worry about and is just part of the hair growth cycle.
- Don’t be surprised if you get an itch in the donor or transplanted areas as the scalp heals.
- You might see small scabs around the transplanted grafts, but they should fall off within 7-10 days.
- You might find the scalp feels a bit tender or sore for a few days.
FAQs about Hair Transplant Pain
Because the surgeon removes the scalp from your donor region. Although they are removed from the epidermis layer of your skin, it still takes 1 week to heal.
Turkish surgeons are known for performing procedures in Turkish clinics in a very gentle manner. They use local anesthetic and provide free antibiotics and painkillers to make sure you’re as comfortable as possible.
It’s pretty usual because there are many nerves on the skin. You can feel so if your nerves have been cut. You may also have the feels of burning and itching.
Neck pain is quite normal because you have to stand in a fixed position for a long time. However, if you have neck pain that lasts longer than 2-3 hours after the procedure, you can consult your healthcare team.
Ref. List
- Garg A, Garg S. Donor harvesting: Follicular unit excision. Journal of Cutaneous and Aesthetic Surgery. 2018;11(4):195. doi: https://doi.org/10.4103/jcas.jcas_123_18
- Avram M, Rogers N, Watkins S. Side-effects from follicular unit extraction in hair transplantation. Journal of Cutaneous and Aesthetic Surgery. 2014;7(3):177. doi: https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-2077.146681
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