how a hair transplant go wrong

How can a hair transplant go wrong?

With the proliferation of black market clinics, the number of failed hair transplants is rising rapidly. A few key strategies can help you avoid unlicensed places for such a critical surgical procedure. None of medical professionals can guarantee a 100% success rate for hair transplant procedures. Although rare, unsuccessful hair transplant results are always possible

According to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, approximately 43% of hair transplants result in suboptimal outcomes. This study was conducted by researchers who assessed outcomes based on patients’ expectations and whether those expectations were met. But, experts consider a hair transplant failure when the transplanted hair follicles fail to grow. 

When a hair transplant goes wrong, unprofessional clinics are usually not focus to pursue the post-operative care. But professionals must also take responsibility for poor outcomes. Plus, successful surgeons must not only be experts in the field of scalp surgery, but also be hair stylists with an eye for detail. Designing a new hairline to match the patient’s facial appearance requires dexterity.

What can go wrong with hair transplant?

Botched hair transplants can happen for many reasons. Failed results can lead to hair transplant regret. The most common problems are listed below:

  1. Transplanted hair may not grow back. In the first month after a hair transplant, you can see new hairs growing little by little.
  2. Permanent scars are what most patients fear.  Older techniques like FUT can cause linear scarring. 
  3. Unnatural-looking results. The hair line, angle, density of the hair is not in natural harmony with your natural hair. 
  4. Post-hair transplant infections including folliculitis, cellulitis, abscesses, severe inflammatory, blood infection, and necrosis. Most infections are patient-acquired in the post-transplant after care period. 
  5. Over-harvesting occurs in some hair transplant clinics. When they remove too many hair grafts from the donor area, it can lead to hair thinning or baldness there. 

What are the mistakes for hair transplant?

There are some common mistakes to avoid after a hair transplant procedure:

Choosing the wrong clinic

Lack of research about clinics and surgeons may lead to unsatisfactory hair transplant results. Inexperienced surgeon and team may ruin the process. So, please check before-after photos, read reviews, and seek out patient testimonials. 

Bad planning

Factors including the area where more hair will be transplanted, the angle of the hair and the space between them are necessary to avoid bad surgical results. For example, you need more transplanted hair around your temples. But your surgeon doesn’t put much hair there but focuses on the top area. 

Inexperienced surgeons

The main reason why Turkish surgeons and Turkey are the best for hair transplants is their experience. They treat thousands of people with alopecia every year. They perform Afro hair transplants to receding hairline treatments. This makes their success rate up to 98%. 

Failure to utilize grafts well

Up to 5% graft viability may be lost during extraction of grafts from the donor area. However, this rate can be much higher with inexperienced surgeons or unhygienic operating rooms. Good transplantation of the hair follicles in the grafts is also an effective part of the process. 

Absurd hairline design

To create a correct hairline, the angle of the hair is important. A design at the opposite angle to your existing hair can look bad. It is also not a correct technique to create a line on your temple and forehead as if drawn with a ruler. 

Damage to the donor area

Overharvesting is the biggest problem for the health of your donor area. Protecting the donor area is very important for hair transplant patients because if they need a 2nd operation, grafts will be taken from the same area.

Why do some hair transplants fail?

Why do some hair transplants fail?

Hair transplants have a higher success rate than other medical treatments. However, there is a possibility of failure. Knowing the possible reasons can help you make a better decision before surgery. Here are the factors that can cause a hair transplant to fail:

  • Your body can reject hair grafts. It can be related with LLP (Lichen planopilaris). A type of primary scarring alopecia may lead to inflammation at the top areas of the follicles. 
  • Poor choice of candidates may lead to unsatisfactory results. Let’s say you are an ideal candidate for a 3000 hair transplant. However, your clinic forces you to undergo 5000 hair transplants. In this case, you may be faced with unnatural results. Make sure that you have chosen a clinic that cares more about your satisfaction than profit.
  • Poor post-transplant care ruins the process. You need to follow the do’s and don’ts after a hair transplant, which will be given to you by the clinic staff. Avoid sun exposure for several months, minimize contact with the new follicles and protect them from dust and dirt. For the first 10 days after the hair transplant, you should follow the sleeping position guidelines. 

Signs of failed hair transplant

If you have an unsuccessful operation, you may experience one or more of the following, depending on the cause

Infection in the first week after transplant

You may get an infection in the first week. You may have these potential infections: folliculitis, cellulitis, abscess formation, impetigo, necrosis, and infected grafts.  

Pain and itching

You may feel pain or soreness because you have damaged your grafts. If you excessively scratch your head, you can notice hair loss in the recipient area.

Donor area after hair transplantation

If your donor area has not healed after 2 weeks of surgery, you might suspect. The hair in the donor area should have healed much sooner than in the recipient area. 

Recipient area after hair transplantation

Don’t you see any new hair in the recipient area for 1 to 2 months? If your answer is yes, there is something missing. If you have also noticed that the severity of the shock is much greater than you expected, consult your surgeon.

Does anyone regret hair transplant?

Depending on the expectations and success of the operation, the satisfaction rate may vary. Although the success rate after hair transplants is over 90%, there can be some exceptions. 

 

There are two reasons for this: the result does not match the patient’s expectations and the surgeon makes a mistake. 

 

  • The expectations of patients

 

Some patients do not come to the clinic with realistic expectations. For example, they may expect 6000 or 7000 hair graft transplants despite having a donor area with thinning hair. This is impossible. The operation is planned according to the number of healthy grafts in the donor area and the number of hair follicles per graft. 

 

  • Surgeon-related problems

 

Some surgeons may take a great risk and attempt to transplant a very high number of grafts into a patient at stage 6 or 7 on the Norwood Hair Loss Scale with unhealthy grafts. Plus, negligence during the operation can cause the grafts to lose their vitality. 

Who is a poor candidate for hair transplant?

You may not be eligible for the procedure. If you have any of the conditions listed below, you may not be a suitable candidate for the procedure:

  • You are over 65 years of age,
  • You have a blood-borne disease
  • You don’t have a healthy and strong hair donor area,
  • You have unrealistic expectations from the surgeon and the operation,
  • You don’t want to care for the first 6 months after the operation. 
  • You do not want to spend time on processes like post-op sleep position, sun exposure, chemical-free products use, etc.
  • You have chronic alopecia areata or telogen effluvium.

What percentage of hair transplants fail?

Each hair transplantation technique has a different success rate. Below you can see the success chances of popular hair transplant techniques and the conditions affecting their success.

 

FUE Hair Transplant: A surgeon can perform FUE hair transplantation on Norwood and Ludwig scales, no matter what degree you are. In the hands of successful surgeons, the success chance is very high – 97-98%.

 

DHI Hair Transplant: With this procedure, the grafts remain outside for a shorter time and fewer grafts are transplanted. However, grafts placed one at a time with the Choi pen extend the duration of the session. The success rate is not dramatically different from FUE. 

 

E-FUE Hair Transplant: Unshaven FUE is a popular procedure among patients who do not want to shave their existing hair. It is the process of applying the FUE technique between long hairs. Existing hair slightly increases the risk of infection. Therefore, the probability of success is lower than with standard follicular unit extraction. 

What does a failed hair transplant look like?

Depending on the reason for the failure of your operation, your appearance at the end of 1 year will be different. The biggest risk is that you will remain bald. The last thing you want is to lose your hair in the donor area and become completely bald. 

 

Another risk is that visible scars remain. In old hair transplantation techniques like FUT, there was a possibility of scarring in horizontal lines. Most of these patients undergo 2nd surgery with modern techniques; FUE or DHI. 

 

Your hair may look sparse. Even if you are not bald, you may have bald spots, your hair may continue to thin. If your pre- and post-operative care is inadequate, you may be at risk. You can avoid this situation as much as possible by using natural hair care products after hair transplantation, keeping your hair out of the sun, avoiding smoking and alcohol, and avoiding dirt and excessive touch.

how to fix failed hair transplant

How to fix a failed hair transplant?

Some people turn to natural treatments and try to stop further hair loss with conditions just like hair oil, shampoos with natural ingredients. Some people look for solutions like wigs, which do not give a natural look but hide the current situation. However, no solution is as effective as a second operation. 

Before the second surgery, the surgeon will examine the donor area, analyzing any scars for their depth, size, and type. They may also conduct a blood test. Based on the results, the surgeon will choose the appropriate technique and proceed with the operation. The procedure closely mirrors the steps of the first hair transplant.

The success rate of the second hair transplant surgery can reach 85-95% with successful surgeons. If the mistakes made by both you and the clinic in the first treatment are not repeated, you can finally have the vibrant and dense hair of your dreams. 

FAQs

Absolutely not. The risk is very low if you are treated in countries which have a good reputation in this area, for example Turkey, Poland, England and the USA. 

Very rarely. The grafts must be badly damaged and very poorly cared for. It is one of the lowest risk surgeries among cosmetic plastic surgeries. 

It depends on how you care for your hair after the transplant and how your lifestyle develops. In the first week, you should make sure that the grafts are growing healthily to prevent future loss. To do this, follow the instructions you have been given. The risk is very low if you don’t have a condition that attacks your hair follicles in the future.

Ref. List

 

  1. International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery: 2020 Practice Census Results. https://ishrs.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Report-2020-ISHRS-Practice-Census-05-22-20.pdf 

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