What Does A Hair Transplant Scar Look Like?
As patients enter the hair transplantation process, they bring a wide variety of questions and concerns that will help determine the most ideal course of action. Whether they are in Abu Dhabi or Chicago, the most common concerns expressed by patients have to do with their appearance, with many asking about the length of time before the final results of the hair transplant will be visible. Still other patients offer questions regarding the conspicuousness of the hair transplant, mostly out of a concern that there will be some kind of visual evidence of having undergone a hair transplant procedure. This concern extends to include worries over the possibility that any scarring from the donor site will be visible to others.
Does FUE Transplant is Causing Scar?
Fortunately, patients opting for an FUE or FUT procedure do not need to worry over a scar being visible to others. FUE transplant is considered a no linear scar technique, it should be noted that the procedure does leave a very small circular scar for each follicle. Patients opting for FUE often do so because of the fact that there will be no scarring left behind in the no-suture, no-scar process. This is why patients who prefer a close-cropped hairstyle often choose FUE over FUT. While the FUT procedure does involve the removal of a strip from the donor site, hair transplant doctors make sure that any scar left behind is easily covered by the patient’s existing hair. It is in this way that the patient is able to walk out of a hair transplant procedure will no visible scarring in the donor site.
Patients who have undergone the FUT procedure are left with a horizontal scar at the donor site, which is often located at the back of the patient’s scalp. The length of the scar can vary depending on the number of grafts needed to complete the procedure, and patients often undergo multiple sessions of FUT, which might involve the lengthening of the initial scar if that is the best option for concealment purposes. The scar that is left behind is very thin and is often no longer than a patient’s index finger. It is worth noting, however, that every patient heals differently, which has an impact on the appearance of the scar. The patient can do their part to make sure the healing process goes smoothly by closely following the post-operative care instructions provided by the doctor. In any case, the scar will be positioned in the most inconspicuous way possible to ensure that it is never visible to others.
Is the Hair Transplant Scar visible?
Hair transplant candidates have every right to express concern regarding the visibility of any scarring left behind by the available transplant procedures. During the patient’s initial consultation at a hair transplant clinic in Manila, Abu Dhabi, Connecticut, Chicago, Dubai, and New York, it is essential that the doctor and patient discuss what each procedure entails and how the various methodologies might affect the specific patient. A prospective patient who wishes to keep their hair cut very short, for example, would very likely prefer the FUE procedure over the FUT procedure, as a close-cropped haircut would mean the horizontal scar left behind by the FUT procedure would remain quite visible. The FUE procedure, on the other hand, does not leave any visible scarring on the patient, even those with very short hairstyles.
There are many reasons why a patient will still opt for the FUT procedure over the FUE procedure, including the fact that the small, horizontal scar created during the procedure is easily covered up by the patient’s existing hair. Since the FUT procedure allows more grafts to be transplanted during a single session, patients who do not keep their hair very short can select this procedure knowing that the scar will never be visible to others unless the patient chooses to reveal it. During the FUT procedure, the doctor will select a donor site based on several factors that include the viability of the donor tissue and the ability to cover any scarring with the patient’s existing hair.
Once patients have fully healed and have realized the results of their hair transplant, it is common that they experience difficulty even locating the scar on their scalp. When the hair surrounding the area grows back in and the scar has had time to completely heal, the scar itself blends in seamlessly with the rest of the scalp and will take some time for patients to find. The fact that patients cannot find their own scar underscores just how capable hair transplant surgeons are when it comes to ensuring the scar is never visible and does not reveal the fact that the patient has undergone a hair transplant procedure.
Does FUE Hair Transplant Have a Scar?
Perhaps the principal reason patients select the FUE procedure for their hair transplant is the fact that the no-suture, no-scar option encourages the continued use of a very short hairstyle. The reason the FUE procedure is able to accomplish this is the fact that doctors harvest the follicles from the donor site on an individual basis before transplanting the grafts into the recipient site. While the FUT procedure leaves a horizontal scar that has to be covered up by the patient’s remaining hair, the FUE procedure does not require the use of a strip to create the individual follicular grafts that will be utilized in covering up the areas affected by thinning hair or hair loss. This is a time-intensive process due to the need to remove each graft individually, which is why a single session takes longer than the typical FUT session while also yielding far fewer grafts.
While the FUE transplant is considered a no linear scar technique, it should be noted that the procedure does leave a very small circular scar for each follicle removed from the donor site. This scar, when it is even visible, is white in color and is so imperceptible that one would likely need magnification in order to locate any individual scar. For all intents and purposes, the FUE procedure is rightly considered a no linear scar technique and is an ideal option for patients who prefer a close-cropped hairstyle.
What is a Hair Transplant Scar Revision?
Unfortunately, the relatively recent advances in medical technology were unavailable to many hair transplant patients of years gone by, and many of these patients have scars that are more visible than they would like. It is also sometimes the case that doctors using outdated procedures will leave a patient with an unsightly scar, and some patients simply do not heal particularly well and find that their hair transplant scar is somewhat visible. Patients dealing with any of the aforementioned issues surely want to have their scar corrected so that it is no longer readily visible to others, which is why doctors have developed strategies aimed at successful scar revision.
A scar revision can refer to several different corrective options, including either excising the scar or changing the scar’s direction so it can be better covered by the patient’s existing hair. Excising the scarred area is often utilized to correct the scarring caused by old, outdated hair transplant methods, and it can be complemented by the use of cortisone (for thickened or raised scars), dermal fillers (for concave scarring) and dermabrasion (for scar tissue that is rough or abrasive). In addition to these options, patients with visible scarring can also utilize scalp micropigmentation. This procedure is available at MAXIM locations in Manila, Philippines, New York, Chicago, and Dubai, and is ideal for visible scars since it involves the injection of a follicle-like pigment into the scalp, obscuring the scar by replicating the patient’s originally occurring hair follicles. The procedure is also useful for patients who keep their hair cut very short but are experiencing hair loss or thinning hair.
