Your Appearance Following Hair Transplant Surgery: What to Expect

Planning your hair transplant procedure is an exciting journey. One question that many patients will ask during this process is how they will look immediately following the procedure and in the subsequent days and weeks.

While every patient is different, below we detail what you can expect your scalp to look like following hair transplant surgery. You can also check out the video on this page to see some real HRBR patients immediately after, and in the days following their surgery.

Immediately Post-Surgery – Day of Surgery

No patient at HRBR will leave the clinic with any bandages or dressings on the day of surgery.

Immediately after surgery your scalp in the area where the hair is transplanted may appear slightly red or irritated. This redness is temporary and will gradually fade in the days following the procedure.

For patients undergoing an FUT procedure generally your head is not shaved and therefore the donor area (where the hair is taken from) is covered and should not be noticeable. You will have a stitch in this area which is normally removed 7-10 days following surgery.

For most patients undergoing an FUE procedure the entire head is shaved and as such the area where the hair is removed (donor area) will appear slightly red and the small circular scars where the hairs are removed will be evident immediately after surgery.

Some patients may experience some limited bleeding in the donor area immediately following surgery, this normally resolves within the first few hours and the medical team at HRBR are on hand at this time to advise you.

Initial Weeks Following Surgery

For the first 3 days following your hair transplant you will spray your hair half hourly and won’t be able to wash it. Spraying prevents any scab formation on the transplanted and donor area.

From day 4 following surgery you will commence a tea tree shampoo wash and most patients following an FUT procedure will return to work following this. In general, people are not able to tell you have had surgery at this stage and we have had many high-profile celebrities return to TV work at this point.

Our FUE patients often wait until 2 weeks before returning to work following surgery to allow some of their hair to regrow after being shaved on the day of the procedure.

Occasionally swelling of the forehead and sometimes the eyes can occur post-surgery. If it does, it normally occurs 24 to 48 hours after the surgery. This will resolve itself, without intervention, usually 48 to 72 hours after it begins.

Patients will return to their normal hair grooming routines 14 days following surgery as at this time the transplanted hairs are now secure in their new location.

For more information see  our post-operative instructions.

For most patients the transplanted hair will begin to fall out 2-4 weeks following surgery. At this stage you will generally return to your appearance prior to your hair transplant.

Then at about 6 months following surgery the transplanted hair will begin to appear and will continue to grow gradually, with the final results of the hair transplant normally visible 18 months following surgery. As this hair growth is gradual over months, it normally goes undetected with our patient’s friends, family and co-workers.

Gallery – How Patients Look After Hair Transplant Surgery

The below gallery shows some images of patients in the days and weeks following surgery.

Several of our patients have also recorded their experiences during the initial weeks post-surgery which should assist you in gaining insight into what to expect.

Should you have any queries either before or after your procedure at HRBR please do not hesitate to contact the team who can assist you.