6 Important short-term complications after a hair transplant

With the progress of modern medicine, minor surgeries like hair transplantation have become very safe and its complications exceedingly rare. Prospective patients should be informed of the benefits and risks of the procedure before booking themselves in for the operation. In our previous blog, we have discussed some complications of hair transplant, so today we will explore further details of the short-term complications of hair transplant including what they are, how they are treated, and should you be worried about them?

1. Dislodged Hair Graft

The first and most concerning complication of hair transplantation is losing your hair graft after the procedure. Most patients are very careful to treat their precious grafts very gently in the first few weeks but occasionally accidents can happen. Newly implanted grafts may not have implanted firmly, and a rub or scratch can make the graft fall off easily. When a hair graft becomes dislodged, they need to be quickly immersed in cold saline water and re-implanted within hours or as soon as possible for it to remain viable. Generally, losing a few grafts will not affect the final appearance of your hair as hundreds or thousands of grafts were implanted, but it is better to be very cautious to avoid losing any of them.

2. Shock Loss

Shock Loss is when your natural hair (non-transplanted hair) falls off within the first few weeks after the procedure. This can occur in areas adjacent to the Donor or Recipient region and can affect more than one spot in each patient. Statistically, this can occur in upto 5% of patients and as low as 3% at our clinic. Hairs lost due to shock loss will regrow over 3-6 months after the procedure and appear normal as before. To help improve the loss of hairs, our doctors will prescribe medication to help with its growth.

3. Folliculitis and red areas

After hair transplantation, oil producing glands in the hair follicles may find it difficult to release its oil and become blocked, causing inflammation. This is called folliculitis (not acne) and it is a good sign that your hair follicles are alive and continuing to work well in its transplanted area. Folliculitis can occur up to 3 months after the procedure and patients should treat it similarly to acne by using a clean, sterile needle and clindamycin (available at our clinic upon request). Redness (erythema) over the transplanted areas disappear over the first 3 months as well.

4. Numbness and hypersensitivity

There is a lot of confusion with regards to how long the scalp can remain numb after injection of local anaesthetics. Generally, the anaesthetics injected can last 6-18 hours after the operation, not exceeding 24 hours. The sensation of numbness can however last upto 3 months after procedure as during the operation, nerves can experience trauma (not permanent) that affect the way it delivers messages to your brain. The sensation can be decreased (numbness) or increased (hypersensitivity) during these months but they both resolve on their own without any treatment.

5. Facial swelling

Facial swelling is one of the most common side effects of hair transplantation and invariably affects all patients. As part of every procedure, hair transplant surgeons will have to inject a saline mixture (tumescence) into the scalp to separate the different layers of skin and safely work on the donor and recipient areas. This saline solution is safely reabsorbed into the body without any pain over 4-7 days and is removed from the body through urine. Facial swelling can be prevented by using an elastic headband placed just above your eyebrows to limit the solution from descending below your brows, at Bangkok Hair Clinic this is given to you after your procedure.

6. Bleeding

During the first few days after hair transplantation, it is very common to have some bleeding over the recipient and donor areas. This is due to the simple fact that the wound has not healed completely, and blood has not yet clotted to close the wound. Clotting usually completes within the first 24 hours so if there is a lot of bleeding during this period, we advise patients to use sterile gauze to compress on the bleeding area for 5-10 minutes, if it does not stop, repeat this again while seeking medical advice from our doctors. Please let your doctor know if you have a history of bleeding or clotting disorders.

Hair transplantation is a very safe procedure with few important complications as detailed above. Although they may seem daunting, it is vital to remember that most of these complications are treatable or will go away on their own without any treatment. If you are experience side effects of hair transplantation or have any questions about the complications listed above, please do not hesitate to contact our health professionals today!