Over 650,000 people get hair transplants every year, globally [1]. However, not all of these transplants go smoothly as some end in hair transplant regrets. If you don’t go to a trusted, professional clinic, you could be putting yourself at risk of experiencing a hair transplant infection.
There are many reasons why you might experience some sort of infection after hair transplant surgery, but there are ways that you can prevent any negative side effects from occurring.
Keep on reading to find out more about hair transplants, infections, and your transplant recovery timeline.
There are two main types of hair transplant procedures that most men and women who suffer from hair loss [2] will choose: Follicular Unit Transplantation(FUT) and Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE).
Using the FUT method, surgeons use local anaesthesia and remove grafts of hair from a donor area of the scalp where hair follicles are growing healthily, which will then be transplanted to areas where balding is being experienced.
FUE hair transplantation uses a similar process, but during this surgical procedure, surgeons will remove each healthy hair follicle one by one. This is normally the preferred method for people as it results in minimal scarring and appears slightly more natural than the FUT procedure.
The risk of infection is much higher with FUT transplants [3], but FUE is not completely risk-free. There are other complications that can arise like keloids and scars if you don’t get your procedure performed by a professional surgeon.
It should also be noted that the same risks of infections are present with FUE / FUT beard and eyebrow transplants.
Slight discomfort and redness after hair transplant surgery are pretty normal, but infections are much rarer [4].
Hair transplants involve making incisions into the skin and, like any wound, you need to be careful that microbes don’t enter these open wounds and cause an infection.
If your hair transplant wounds do get infected, you’ll start to notice some of the following symptoms around 3–7 days after your surgery [5]:
If you notice any of these symptoms, and they don’t start to calm down after a few days, you could even start to experience fever, headaches, nausea, and vomiting.
There is a range of different reasons why you might experience infection after your hair transplant. Some of the most common reasons for an infection include improper hygiene, excessive scabbing, and underlying medical conditions you have.
After your procedure, your surgeon will advise you on the best way to care for your transplanted hair follicles. If you don’t follow the instructions that are given to you, the chances of infection significantly increase.
You’ll be advised to care for the transplanted hair grafts and wash your hair on a regular schedule while your wounds are healing. You should also always wash your hands before touching your healing wounds as it’s very easy to transfer infection-causing microbes.
Scabs and crusting are a normal occurrence after hair restoration surgery when your wounds are healing. If you’re experiencing excessive crusting [3], you may find yourself itching the wounds more which transfers bacteria and can lead to recurrent scabs on the scalp.
Finally, certain conditions can make you more susceptible to wound infections. These include:
If you’re experiencing a hair transplant infection, you can get advice from your surgeon, but if things are severe you might want to visit your doctor.
You may be prescribed a course of oral or topical antibiotics to treat the infection in some circumstances.
However, your infection could just as easily be treated by exfoliating the scalp daily using a warm compress and washing your hair twice daily with an antibacterial shampoo to keep the scalp clean and prevent infection. Learn more about washing your hair post-hair transplant surgery.
No one wants to experience an infection after their hair transplant as it can cause a lot of pain and discomfort, but luckily there are easy ways that you can prevent this from happening:
If you follow all of these tips, your hair transplant should heal nicely without any infection.
Unfortunately, an infected scalp carries with it a whole host of other complications that can negatively affect both your general health but also the success rate of your hair restoration surgery.
Bacterial infection can cause hair follicles to become inflamed. This condition is known as bacterial folliculitis. It manifests as red bumps around your follicles, which typically appear a few weeks or months after your surgery (although folliculitis is also a common scalp condition in people who haven’t had a hair transplant).
Folliculitis can also occur without a hair follicle infection — this is sterile folliculitis. If you suspect you may have folliculitis, speak to your hair transplant aftercare team. They may be able to recommend a treatment to reduce inflammation and, if necessary, fight the infection.
Necrosis is a type of tissue damage that can be caused by severe infections. Infection increases the risk of ischemia, a condition that reduces blood flow to particular areas of the body. If the lack of blood flow continues, the tissue may ultimately die. This is known as necrosis.
When scalp tissue is affected by necrosis, it becomes black and leathery. Since this condition is irreversible, the affected tissue may need to be removed by a surgeon. If you notice severe localised pain on your scalp following your hair transplant, seek help from your surgical team.
Recovering from hair transplant surgery will start as soon as your hair transplant procedure has finished but it may take quite some months before you’re able to enjoy the full results.
It normally takes between 5–7 days for wounds to heal and for any hair transplant swelling or redness to die down. Then after two weeks, you might notice your transplanted hair falling out after surgery. This is known as shock hair loss and it is a completely normal part of the process.
Although the healing process will have finished by this point, it can take 4–5 months before you’re able to get a good idea of what your new head of hair will look like. It can sometimes take as long as 18 months for your full hair transplant to complete.
Get your hair transplant procedure at a trusted, hygienic, and professional clinic such as the Wimpole Clinic.
We have helped thousands of men and women with their hair loss, and we’d love to help you on your hair restoration journey too.
Start off by booking a no-obligation consultation call with one of our specialist surgeons. During the call, we’ll take you through the hair transplant process, answer your questions, and help you decide the best options for you. If you are unsure about what to ask, check out our list of questions you really want to ask about hair transplants.
Book your free consultation with Wimpole Clinic today.
[1] https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/every-13th-man-has-a-hair-transplant-according-to-bookimed-study-1028724168
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2684510/
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6371733/
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4212293/
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560533/
Images Sources:[1] https://www.healthline.com
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