The hair transplant procedure involves cutting the skin, so it will leave some scars behind due to its nature. Having scars after a hair transplant surgery is expected, however, these scars will be minimal, and they will heal over time.
In hair restoration surgeries, the skin on your scalp is punctured. Through this, the surgeon extracts the hair follicles from the donor area needed for implantation in the recipient area and insert the hair grafts inside the little cuts on the skin. The small cuts are filled with individual hair grafts on your transplanted area, so the two skin parts will merge and heal together. This ensures very minimal scarring on the transplantation site, which will disappear quickly. However, since the grafts will be taken from your donor area, the skin there will be left with very tiny cuts, which will cause scars. Your skin will start to heal itself immediately after the surgery, and start covering the cuts.
Collagen is the most abundant fibrous protein which makes up the skin. And, collagen fibers play an important role in the wound healing process. Your skin will start producing collagen immediately to cover those cuts. It will also prevent you from getting an infection through the open cuts on your skin.
However, the texture of the scars is different from the surrounding skin. Normal skin is composed of randomly oriented collagen. Scar tissue, on the other hand, has collagen bundles that are arranged parallel to each other. This makes them look different. It’s because your body is trying to close the wound as quickly as possible.
Will I Have Permanent Hair Transplant Scars After Having FUE Hair Transplant?
A circular “punch” tool is used for extracting hair follicles in FUE hair transplant. This tool makes punch sizes of 0.3 mm. or 0.8 mm, depending on your graft size. As the punch size is quite small, the incisions will not leave you with any permanent scars.
It’s completely normal to have white spots form after a hair transplant procedure. However, your skin will heal slowly with time.
How Long Will It Take for My Hair Transplant Scars to Go Away?
Your hair transplant scars will not be visible at the end of the one-year recovery period. You’ll also see the final results of your surgery after a year.
Scabs and scarring are inevitable after the surgery. However, as the size of the cuts is quite small, you can expect the scarring to completely disappear if you follow the aftercare instructions.
How Can I Speed Up the Wound Healing Process?
Numerous factors can affect the wound healing process, such as age, health, diet, and medications, etc. However, you should make sure to take proper rest, eat healthy, stay hydrated, avoid smoking or drinking alcohol, and lastly, be patient.
You can also experience small bumps on your skin and your scars might be itching while they are healing. Don’t scratch them or pick them up, this can lead to infections and permanent scarring.