Hair Transplants - Frequently Asked Questions

The hairs that are transplanted as part of your surgery are carefully selected from the back of the head. The hairs at the back and sides of the scalp don’t have the androgen receptors that cause hair loss. When they are removed and transplanted to an area where there is hair loss, they won’t be susceptible to the dihydrotestosterone (DHT) that causes hair loss. Our genetics will dictate the distribution of our androgen receptors on the scalp and therefore the hair loss pattern that we will suffer from. For an unknown reason androgen receptors are never found on the sides or back or the head.
Hair loss can still be seen in these areas, but won’t be caused by genetics. Other causes such as stress, illness or chemotherapy can still cause hair loss there.

Will the Transplant be painful?
A hair transplant is an invasive operation that can be painful. This operation is performed under local anaesthetic to reduce the pain from the operation. As you will still be awake during the operation you may still feel some discomfort from the operation.

Will my Hair Transplant look natural?
A well executed hair transplant will be unnoticeable to the untrained hair, but that is down to the skill of the surgeon that you go for. There is an artistry to making sure that the surgery has a natural look to it. Designing a hair line that matches your age is a key element to creating that natural look. Lowering your hair line to where it once sat when you were 18 will create an extremely unnatural look.

Another easy to spot sign of a hair transplant is the pattern that the hairs follow. Normally your hair has a completely random pattern to it, and this needs to replicated by the transplant. Lower skilled surgeons with little experience can fall into the trap of planting the transplanted hairs in rows and columns which will look completely unnatural.

How long does a Hair Transplant take?
This will depend on the amount of work that is being done for your surgery. Typically a hair transplant will take up to 10 hours to complete, so anticipate it taking all day. Most people are likely to need multiple surgeries to complete the look that they are after, and those future transplants may not require as much work. This means there is a chance it could take less time up.

How long do the results take to show?
Straight after the hair transplant, the transplanted hair will enter a long resting phase. This resting phase can last between 6-9 months before the hair regrows again. Its not fully understood why the transplanted hairs enter this resting phase or how we can reduce the time.

In most cases patients will start to see some regrowth start to come through in some hairs between months 4-6 and typically you can expect full results between months 9-18 after surgery. Everyone reacts slightly differently to the surgery and so results and time frames will vary from person to person.

HairMax Laser Devices
Many hair transplant surgeons use the HairMax laser devices in conjunction with transplant surgery as they feel that they speed healing time, increase patency of the grafts and improve overall results. We recommend that if you wish to use the devices after your surgery that you consult with your surgeons about whether and how to use them after the transplant procedure.