Side effects of hair transplant

Side effects of the hair transplant aren’t very harmful for your body.  And most them are temporary. You can expect that no hospital admission or serious condition will occur

Here’s the list of the side effects:

• • Swelling on forehead and face
  • Bruises or bluish hue on skin
  • Redness in eye
  • Numbness or sensation changes
  • Shock loss
  • Pimples
  • Small wound formation
  • Scabs
  • Infection
  • Anesthesia Side effects – Dizziness , Nausea , Syncope

Details of Side effects of the hair transplant

1. Scabs:

When we do hair transplant then part of skin around your hair also comes around the hair. This skin become dry and appears like black heads on your transplanted area . Appearance of transplanted area looks like covered by black or brown dots for 10 – 14 days .

Incidence – This Side effects of the hair transplant – Occurs in 100 % hair transplant patients

Duration – After day 7 – scabs will start to reduce . Usually takes two weeks time to shed completely . if they don’t shed in 2 weeks then you can use forceful massage to remove them . Forceful massage cannot be done in early phase as it may dislodge hair roots .

Management – You can wear normal Cap after 4 -5 days of hair transplant to hide hair transplant scabs . You can join office early also but in early phase very loose cap is required as grafts are quite sensitive to pressure in early phase of hair transplant. You can shampoo shampoo your transplanted hair twice per day to help the scabs shed faster.

2. Swelling on forehead and face:

The swelling over the face and forehead is on of the most  common side effects of hair transplant.

Why swelling occurs

• It occurs due to the saline water injected during the hair surgery to lift your skin up . Lifting the skin minimizes trauma to underlying blood vessels and nerves.
• Due to trauma and inflammation – Scalp skin also produces lot of fluid .
• This saline water and inflammatory fluid comes toward your forehead and face due to effect of gravity. Effect of gravity is more in sitting and standing position .

Incidence – 90 % patients will face this Side effect of the hair transplant after hair transplant and its essential to follow our instructions to control this

Duration of swelling – It should bother you minimum for 24 – 36 hours .  Normally takes 3 – 5 days but may stay up to 7 days. Depends on your care and follow the post op instructions.

Treatment –

• Physical barrier over forehead to prevent swelling over eyes and face
• Application of ice
• Massage over eyebrows , upper eyelid and lower eyelid in direction of nose to ear
• Pressure over areas with more swelling specially if they are around your eye
• Steroid tablets for 3 – 4 days if swelling is severe

3. Bluish hue on skin / Dark circle around the eye : 

The inflammatory fluid in swelling contains few blood drops which are produced due to needle injury during hair transplant . These blood cells can be absorbed by thin skin around your eye . If the patient doesn’t control the swelling from the start then it can lead to bluish hue on skin around the eye. This is because skin is very thin over your eyelids and below your eye and even few drops of blood cells may give pigmentation of this skin if this skin absorbs them . . If this happens then there may be dark circle type of appearance .

Incidence – 5 % ( 5 out of 100 ) patients may face this problem

Duration of side effect – This side effect of hair transplant is temporary as well. 95 % of pigmentation is corrected within  7 – 10 days . Last 5 % may take even months so skin may remain dark for some time if it occurs

Management and treatment

• Best is to massage around your eye after surgery as instructed by doctor . if swelling does not come around eye then this will not happen in 95 % patients
• If this happens then you can massage the area regularly to help it resolve faster
• If you want to join office then you can buy a foundation powder ( of make up kit ) matching to your skin tone from market . You can apply that powder over pigmentation to hide it and join the office . it will subside itself in 7 – 10 days

4. Redness in eye:

The redness in eye happens in some patients when mild swelling fluid comes around the eyes . It is due to absorption of blood cells by your eye tissue. Its not harmful for your eyes but redness may look odd and can prevent you to join office .

Incidence – 2 – 3 patients out of 100

Duration – It subsides in 7 – 10 days .  It is never permanent and does not effect your vision

Treatment – Few Eye drops may reduce redness but it will take 7 – 10 days to subside

5. Sensation changes – Heaviness or Numbness or pain or sensation loss:

Hair transplant procedure involve small holes and trauma in transplanted area which can damage the superficial nerves . This may cause multiple sensation changes

Pain – Pain after hair transplant is usually control by normal pain killer tablets but you can use strong pain killers if it does not get relief by normal pain killers . Normally pain killers are required for 7 days but if there is pain even after that then you can use them for 12 – 14 days .  After this patient does not need pain killers in 99 % cases .

Heaviness of head – it is more problem in initial 2 – 3 days . Becomes better with time within first 7 days . But in some patients it may take 2 – 3 weeks or longer  to subside completely

Numbness or sensation loss – When you touch a area – you may not feel it . This side effect is called numbness . Numbness starts recovering within first month . But major recovery starts after 3 – 4 months when new hair start to grow . But this problem may take 6 – 9 months to recover up to 90 % . There is small risk of permanent numbness is small spots of scalp .

6. Shock Loss: 

Shock loss is process in which patient losses their transplanted hair or hair around transplant area or donor area hair after 2 weeks of hair transplant surgery. In hair transplant surgery – the trauma can lead to decrease in blood supply of scalp skin . Hair may shed or stop growing is due to decrease in blood supply of area.

Duration – normally shock loss starts recovering after 3 -4 months of hair transplant . You can expect 50 % hair in 6 – 7 months and complete result in 9 – 12 months . If any area in donor site become bald spot due to shock loss then generally it also recovers in 6 months time .

7. Pimples:

Pimples are also common side effects of hair transplant. They can happen any time in next 2 years after hair transplant . they are due to folliculitis when new hair attempt to grow out .  They can be managed by applying antibiotic ointment for 5 days .

8. Small wound formation: 

Small wound formation is rare but can happen in Some cases if blood supply becomes so low that even skin tissue does not get blood supply . normally these wounds heal themselves well within 2 – 3 weeks .

9. Infection: 

Infection in the hair transplant are rare. But pimples may occur . Rarely skin infection or enlargement of pimple may occur . Pimple has to be punctured to drain pus and oral antibiotics are given .

10. Anesthesia Side effects:

The surgery gets done under the local anesthesia which isn’t harmful. And the patient stays awake for the whole time during the surgery. But due to it the patient can feel dizziness, Nausea , Weakness and  syncope. Patient is advised not to sit or stand for longer duration in initial 7 – 8 hours after surgery to reduce the risk of these side effects . In 7 – 8 hours – your body metabolizes the drugs used in anesthesia . After that you can work normally without bothering about side effects .

11. Scars

FUT – In FUT technique – a linear scar comes in your head . The mark of cut and stitches is permanent. The scar may remain thin in initial years but it may increase in width in subsequent years .

In FUE – Scarring is there in donor area in form of very small dots . But usually dots are visible on after shave of head . they are not visible after trimming of head so you can have short hair styles after FUE or Advance FUE techniques

Click here to learn more about FUT.

And for the pain the doctor suggests the painkiller dynapar.