If you consider undergoing a hair transplant, you may be faced with various questions such as, “Do hair transplants hurt?”, “How long does the treatment last?”, “What is the cost of the procedure?” and “Am I a suitable candidate?” among others. Let us understand the procedure and, in turn, get answers to all questions.
Hair transplant is an elective cosmetic procedure. During any surgical or medical procedure, none of us wants to go through pain and discomfort. However, you don’t feel severe pain or discomfort during a hair transplant due to technological advancements.
It is a minimally invasive surgical procedure carried under the influence of anaesthesia. Therefore, most patients do not feel significant pain during the process.
Before proceeding further, you need to understand the procedure thoroughly. So if you want to learn about treatment for scalp pain caused by hair transplant, you must pay attention to before and after surgery details. So first, let us understand the surgery procedure to know how painful a hair transplant is!
Before surgery
Before starting the procedure, a surgeon soothes the scalp area with a numbing drug. When the medication is applied to your scalp, you don’t feel discomfort.
However, as the effects start to wear off, you may feel slight numbness at the surgical site. The numbing process is carried in two parts, and a numbing drug is applied to the donor and recipient area.
Before starting the procedure, a surgeon washes your scalp and trims the donor area. Then they administer doses of local anaesthesia in the donor area. Next, the drugs are injected using a fine needle.
While injecting the medication, you may feel a sting or pinch in the donor area. After 10-15 minutes, you will feel anaesthesia’s effect. The next step involves removing hair follicles from the donor area and planting them in the recipient area.
Do hair implants hurt? The answer is a yes. Once the surgery is over, you may feel pain in the scalp.
What are the stages of hair transplant?
The major stages in a hair transplant surgery include:
- Consultation : It is the first step in which your doctor looks at your records and the intensity of hair loss. Moreover, they may discuss the surgical steps and after-surgery care with you.
- Local anaesthesia : Local anaesthesia doses are administered to provide relief from the pain during surgery.
- Hair extraction : The surgeon marks the area on your head to pluck healthy hair follicles. Then, a punching machine is used to make the incision. After removing healthy hair follicles from the donor area, the plucked hair follicles are implanted into the recipient area. Then the surgeon adds an antiseptic dressing to the donor region.
- Postoperative period : In the postoperative period, the surgeon suggests ways to take care of your transplanted hair. To get an optimal result, you are requested to follow post-surgery tips strictly.
Keep yourself calm and composed during the surgery. It is essential to follow the surgeon’s advice after undergoing hair transplant surgery.
After surgery
Some people might feel a little pain after a hair transplant. Once the anaesthesia’s effects start to wear off, you may feel slight pain at the surgical site. However, your surgeon will re-administer the numbing drug to reduce the discomfort, and you will feel its effect for three hours.
It means you may experience tenderness and little pain after three hours. During those three hours, you can go back to your home and start following post-surgery preventive tips.
If you feel intense pain, you can take painkillers to get relief. If you take the prescribed medications in the required doses, you may experience a smooth transition without feeling any pain.
The next day, you may not feel any discomfort or irritation. However, if you feel slight pain, you may take a few doses of painkillers to soothe the area.
Is a hair transplant painful?
For most people, a hair transplant is a painless experience. It is because they follow after-care tips cautiously and take prescribed drugs in the required doses. Moreover, most hair transplant patients feel that it is a painless and fun experience.
Pain relief after Hair Transplant surgery
Experiencing slight pain after surgery is a common phenomenon. However, following your surgeon’s advice will help in minimising pain. Therefore, you must select a recognised and qualified surgeon for your hair transplant.
To protect your scalp from infections, your surgeon will prescribe medications and ointments. After the transplant, you may observe redness on your scalp, but it will reduce in a few days.
You may have to deal with slight pain after the procedure, but you can cope with it by following the right after-care tips.
How painful are FUE and DHI hair transplant techniques?
In FUE hair transplantation, a surgeon has to extract a hair follicle and then graft it to the recipient area. It is a labour-intensive operation and requires extra effort.
To reduce pain, the surgeon gives you anaesthesia. Moreover, you are given a combination of sedatives and painkillers to control the discomfort, while in DHI, you will experience less pain. However, the discomfort also depends on your tolerance levels.
Is a hair transplant painful? If you are unsure, you can contact Dr. Sunil Arora at ALCS Clinic to solve your doubts.
