3 weeks after your hair transplant, your life is starting to get back to normal. Your scalp has healed from the surgery (mostly within 7 days of your hair transplant), and you are free to resume most of your daily routines [1]. However, it isn’t all smooth sailing yet. Around this time is also when the dreaded hair transplant shock loss develops. You can expect sudden and sometimes abundant hair shedding in your transplant area. Fortunately, this is a temporary phenomenon that will resolve itself within 3-4 months [2]. And once regrowth begins, your hair fullness should only improve until you achieve your final results, about 1 year after your hair transplant.
This article will tell you everything you need to know about what you can expect 3 weeks after your hair restoration surgery. You will gain a better understanding of what your scalp should look and feel like, and learn which symptoms may indicate potential complications. We will show you real photos and accounts from patients 3 weeks into their hair transplant recovery, so you can get a better idea about this milestone. Finally, we will let you know what activities are safe to resume at this time and provide helpful, surgeon-informed tips on proper hair transplant aftercare, which promote and hasten your hair growth.
Key takeaways
The third week after your hair transplant can be filled with mixed emotions. On the one hand, your scalp should now be fully healed and your grafts secure. However, around this time, you can expect to experience a phenomenon that is as common and natural as it is dreaded by most patients: hair transplant shedding. Here is a detailed account of what you can expect:
All your surgery-related discomfort should have ended within 7 or 10 days after your hair transplant. This means that by the third week, you should not experience any more scalp pain, tenderness or severe itching [1][2].
If you had FUT surgery, your scar should have healed, and your stitches should have been removed (or, depending on their type, absorbed by your scalp) [3]. Your hair transplant scabs should also have fallen off at least a week ago, so there should be no more visible signs that you had surgery recently.
Most patients’ hair transplant redness fades completely within 3 weeks after their procedure. However, in some cases, it may linger for a few days or weeks longer. In very rare cases, patients may also still experience the occasional tingling sensation on the scalp, usually as a result of mild nerve injury during surgery. However, this should resolve over time.
At around 2-3 weeks post-surgery, the vast majority of patients experience a temporary side effect called hair transplant shock loss. This means the newly-implanted hair (and sometimes, some of their native hair as well) starts to fall out. The shedding is abrupt and followed by a dormant stage, where the hair follicles heal from the trauma of surgery.
3-4 months after the hair transplant, the hair starts growing back healthy [2]. Our experienced surgeon, Dr Peter Barron, provides a clear explanation of why this phenomenon occurs and how extensive you can expect it to be:
Expect almost 100% of the transplanted follicles to shed and potentially even some native hairs in the surrounding area. “Post-transplant shedding” is a recognised phenomena that happens to almost every post-operative patient anywhere from 2-4 weeks post-procedure as the hair follicle enters their resting phases. About 10% of your scalp hair is resting at any one point, however because follicles do this asynchronously, all over the scalp, we don’t notice it. The single physical stressor of moving transplanted hairs from donor area to recipient area however synchronises these follicles that have been moved hence the hair shafts shed at a similar time.
While your hair may look sparse and thin as it first starts to grow back, its density and thickness will gradually increase until around 12 months after your hair transplant, when you can finally see your final results.
These real patient photos will give you an idea of what your scalp may look like 3 weeks after your surgical hair restoration. Moreover, you can also see what other parts of your face, such as your beard or eyebrows, may look like at the 3-week mark after being surgically restored.
The patient above has undergone a hairline and midscalp hair transplant. Despite being in his 20s, before his procedure, his male pattern baldness was rather extensive, indicating Norwood stage 4-5 male pattern baldness. He required an over 3500-graft hair transplant to achieve this result, performed over 2 consecutive sessions.
The picture above shows a male patient who received a hair transplant 3 weeks prior. The surgery fixed his receding hairline and frontal baldness. You may notice that his hairline was not designed as a straight line. In older men, a mature, if not receding, hairline, with slightly raised forehead corners, looks more natural and distinguished. This allows the patient to get a hair transplant without anyone knowing he had his frontal area surgically restored. As you can see in the picture, his scalp is healed, and his hair transplant scabs have now gone. Soon, the hair in his transplant area will start shedding, before new hair growth can occur within 3-4 months.
The patient above is 3 weeks post-op from a hairline transplant. You can see that the transplanted site is still a bit red. This is a completely normal occurrence 3 weeks into the hair transplant process, as the scalp is still sensitive at this point. However, if the area was red, warm to the touch, and oozing, this could indicate a hair transplant infection.
After a beard transplant, you should be able to see your new beard hairline immediately, and whilst new hair growth will begin to develop by months 2-3, you should see what looks like light stubble by the 3rd week.
The patient above is 3 weeks post-op and has received a 2000-graft FUE beard transplant.
After 3 weeks, any transplant scabs should have fallen off. However, you may still experience a beard transplant post-op itch. This can be frustrating as you’ll feel the urge to scratch at your new hair grafts, but don’t! Scratching your grafts could make them come loose or put you at risk of developing an infection.
3 weeks after a beard transplant, you can shave or trim your beard. However, you should still be gentle when touching your face and practice good facial hygiene.
At this point, you can also expect some hair shedding, which is completely normal and temporary, as new hairs will grow back.
The recovery progress 3 weeks after an eyebrow transplant is quite similar to what you can expect after a scalp hair transplant when it comes to side effects. Around the third week into the healing process, you can expect to see shedding of the transplanted hairs as the newly transplanted hair follicles prepare to grow hair in the coming months.
By week 3, any scabs should be gone, and you can apply makeup to the transplanted area. You may also need to apply hair gel from week 3 onwards to train your eyebrow hair in the correct direction. Find out if hair gel can cause hair loss.
As part of your eyebrow aftercare, you should still avoid direct sunlight on your healing eyebrows. This will protect your sensitive skin from burns, dryness and oxidative damage.
Once you have reached 3 weeks after your surgical hair restoration, and the most uncomfortable parts of recovery are finally behind you, it’s a good time to reflect on your experience so far. Here are some of our patients’ accounts 3 weeks after their hair transplant at the Wimpole Clinic:
If you want to read more of our patients’ experiences, as shared in their reviews, check out the Wimpole Clinic Trustpilot profile. There, you can find accounts from patients at all stages of the post-hair transplant timeline, from those who just had surgery days ago to others who have already achieved their final results.
If 3 weeks have already passed since your procedure, you should not be experiencing further significant hair transplant side effects except for shock loss. Thus, if you notice any persistent discomfort or unusual developments on your scalp, it may be a sign of complications. Learning to identify potentially concerning symptoms early can help you keep your grafts safe and improve your results.
Here is a good rule of thumb to help you differentiate between normal, lingering scalp symptoms and potential signs of complications (e.g. post-transplant folliculitis or other infections) [1][2][3][4]:
Normal symptoms:
Red-flag symptoms that could indicate complications:
It is best to let your surgeon know anytime you have concerns about your hair transplant recovery process. The best hair transplant clinics in the UK keep in close touch with their patients and are available to answer questions and promptly look into suspicions of complications. So make sure to call or text your surgeon if you experience any of the red-flag symptoms above.
Moreover, while hair transplants are generally safe, severe complications can occur in extremely rare situations. So inform your surgeon and/or GP as soon as possible if you experience any of the following alongside newly occurring scalp symptoms:
Since your scalp is now mostly healed, your aftercare will be geared more towards speeding up hair regrowth, avoiding complications and hair transplant maintenance. Here are some things that can really help:
Minoxidil can help expedite hair growth by increasing blood flow to the scalp. Similarly, PRP has been shown to accelerate post-transplant growth and improve strand density. Finasteride plays an important role in protecting native hairs and has been shown to increase the number of hairs in the growth (anagen) phase. As a result, it may create the visual impression that the transplanted hairs are growing in sooner, although it has no direct effect on the transplanted grafts themselves.
For general health, not just a transplant, patients should avoid smoking. In specific terms of a transplant, smoking will increase the risk of adverse effects. Smoking any recreational substance can decrease the oxygen-carrying capacity in your blood, meaning that the transplanted grafts and extraction sites aren’t receiving as much oxygen as needed to heal properly. Nicotine, whether inhaled or through nicotine replacement therapy, is pro-inflammatory and may increase post-operative swelling/ redness. Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor as well, meaning it could lead to reduced blood flow to the scalp and graft, once more potentially affecting healing. In the grand scheme of things, nicotine replacement therapy would be better than smoking, however no nicotine or the lowest possible amount is better than the rest. [… ] Reducing blood to native hairs is also something to consider with smoking in the long run, as it affects the scalp microvasculature.
By the third week after your hair restoration surgery, you should be able to resume most of your daily activities. However, some still require a little more patience. Here is what is safe to resume and what still needs more time:
It has already been safe to exercise lightly for a week now. However, now you can slowly start to engage in more strenuous workouts, such as weight lifting. Just make sure you do so gradually, to avoid overexerting yourself.
If your job involves intense physical labour, you are now likely ready to return to work after your hair transplant. While an office job could be resumed as early as 1 week post-op, your body needed extra recovery time to safely return to more strenuous daily routines.
However, it is best to get your surgeon’s approval before engaging in any physically demanding activities. They will check your healing progress to make sure you are sufficiently recovered. In some cases, if they feel it is too soon to safely resume certain activities, they may advise you to wait another week or two.
Your life is mostly back to normal at the 3-week mark after your procedure. However, you still need to wait 1 month after your hair transplant to engage in the following activities:
The next milestone to look forward to in your journey towards recovery is around 3 months after your hair transplant. That is when you can expect to see the first signs of hair regrowth after your shedding period. Once it starts growing back, your hair will become thicker, fuller and more natural looking.
By your follow-up consultation 6 months after your hair transplant, you should already have a pretty good idea of what your new hairline looks like. You should have achieved enough hair growth to notice a visible difference in coverage compared to photos taken before your surgery. However, it is only after 9-12 months (up to 18 in rare cases) that you can see the final results of your procedure and fully enjoy your natural-looking hair transplant.
If you want to rest easy after getting your permanent hair transplant, knowing that you will be supported at every step, you have come to the right place. All you need to do is book a free hair transplant consultation with one of our experienced surgeons. They will let you know exactly what to expect at every step of your hair restoration journey, from hair transplant preparation to aftercare, recovery and maintenance.
Here, at the award-winning Wimpole Clinic, we have built our 50-year legacy of hair restoration excellence on transparency, professionalism and a patient-centred approach. This is reflected in our 97-100% hair transplant success rate. See our results for yourself by perusing our before-and-after hair transplant gallery.
Discover more about hair transplant recovery after 3 weeks by looking through the answers to these frequently asked questions:
Yes, during shock loss, some patients’ entire hair falls off their transplant area. That is because the surgery disrupted their hair growth cycle, pushing the follicles into the shedding phase, where they will remain for 3-4 months before returning to the growth phase. This phenomenon is normal and reverses itself without intervention.
However, if you want to help speed up regrowth, you can ask your surgeon about using Minoxidil combined with Finasteride. And once at least a month has passed since your procedure, you can also try getting PRP hair treatment. Research shows that PRP can improve your hair transplant results and help shorten your hair’s dormant phase.
Most patients experience shock loss between 2 and 3 weeks after their hair transplant. However, that is an average, not a rule. Hair shedding can start sooner for some and later for others. So it is still possible to develop shock loss in the following days or even after another week or two.
Your grafts normally become securely attached inside your scalp approximately 7 days after your hair transplant. Since the number represents an average, some may achieve graft secure attachment 10 or even 14 days after their hair transplant. However, by 3 weeks, you should no longer experience grafts falling out easily. If you see your transplanted hair fall out, that doesn’t mean the grafts have fallen out with it. The hair follicles are still inside your scalp, resting and healing until they can start producing new strands.
However, this doesn’t mean that you should treat your hair roughly. Pulling at it forcefully or rubbing your scalp vigorously may still damage your still-sensitive grafts (it can even damage native hair follicles). Treat your transplant area gently, and you won’t have to worry about your grafts falling out going forward.
Unfortunately, 3 weeks after your hair transplant is far too soon to tell what your final results will look like. You may be able to see an outline of your transplanted hair before shock loss sets in, but only time can tell when it comes to your graft survival rate and the density you will eventually achieve.
The earliest you can get an idea of whether your procedure was successful is about 4-6 months after your hair transplant. However, you should know that your results can still improve by 12 months, and in some cases, 18 months post-surgery.
Most surgeons recommend that you stop smoking for at least 2-3 weeks after surgery. That is because smoking can negatively impact your hair transplant healing [10]. Resuming smoking after 3 weeks is definitely better than doing so earlier, as your healing process is already completed by this time.
However, you should know that smoking causes hair loss by reducing blood flow to your hair follicles and creating inflammation and oxidative stress in your body. This means it may slow down your hair regrowth after shock loss. It can also worsen androgenetic alopecia, so it may make more of your native hair fall out [6]. So there is probably no truly safe time to smoke when it comes to hair health and hair transplant maintenance. But if you must resume, it is best to do so after 3 weeks post-op.
Wimpole Clinic Services:
Hair Transplants, Beard Transplants & Eyebrow Transplants.
Talk to a specialist
Dr Chirag Gadhia (GMC 7926627) is one of our specialist FUE hair transplant surgeons, focusing on restoring natural-looking hairlines and enhancing hair density by combining the artistic nature of hair transplants with advanced surgical techniques. Dr Gadhia trained at our prestigious Wimpole Training Academy and has had experience at our world leading super premium Mayfair Hair Clinic, where he has gained and refined his knowledge to advance his hair restorative surgeries.
Dr Gadhia’s completed his medical degree at the renowned University of Pavia, Italy. He then honed his skills in various NHS surgical departments in Oxford, including Upper gastrointestinal and bariatric surgery, colorectal surgery. This diverse experience has shaped his personalised approach to patient care. He takes the time to understand each patient’s unique goals and concerns before recommending a tailored treatment plan.
Dr Gadhia is committed to providing compassionate care and empowering his patients to regain confidence and self-esteem through transformative hair restoration treatments. He is dedicated to staying at the forefront of advancements in the field and ensuring that his patients receive the highest standard of care.
