Does a Hair Transplant Actually Work?

The answer is Yes – good quality hair transplants work provided they are carried out by qualified surgeons with a great portfolio of results. 

Hair transplants are an effective, clinically safe, and proven technique for correcting hair loss and thinning, straightening uneven hairlines, and replenishing thick, full growth in almost any area, from eyebrow and beard transplants to widow’s peak and crown transplant procedures.

In many cases, scepticism about the efficacy and results achievable after a hair transplant stems from outdated procedures, such as ‘plugs’ and low-quality transplants that look obviously unnatural or leave scarring and visible signs that a person has undergone a transplant.

Our advice is always to consult the experienced, regulated and well-regarded teams at KSL Clinic if you are interested in a bespoke, private transplant with a nationwide network of CQC-regulated practices and a talented team of GMC-registered hair restoration specialists.

The Effectiveness of Hair Transplants

As we’ve indicated, hair transplants can be transformative, and with a superb and sector-leading success rate, we know that the most important aspects are precision and expertise, consulting closely with every client to understand exactly what they want their hair to look like and using minimally invasive procedures to deliver on those aspirations.

While a hair transplant cannot cure some conditions linked with hair loss, and a reputable surgeon will never perform a transplant without the opportunity to perform a clinical assessment of the client’s scalp and hair, the procedure is widely seen as the safest way to permanently correct thinning or patchy hair.

One factor to consider is that if you have little to no hair available as donor follicles or you have suffered ongoing hair loss and thinning, we may not be able to recommend a hair transplant right away.

Likewise, we will not recommend a transplant if we can see that progressive pattern hair loss is in the early stages, and completing a hair transplant now will inevitably mean needing further procedures in the future.

Instead, we could suggest a non-surgical therapy such as platelet-rich plasma therapy, which can activate dormant follicles and optimise the health and cellular activity in your hair and scalp, either as an alternative to a transplant or to prepare your scalp and hair for a procedure.

How Does a Quality Hair Transplant Work?

We’ve published an in-depth guide to the FUE hair transplant process, which runs through the procedure step by step, but as a recap, this type of advanced, minimally invasive hair transplant involves:

• The extraction of individual follicles from pre-selected aspects of your scalp, removing each one using a Micro Punch microscopic tool.
• Grading and preparing those follicles, ensuring they have a consistent colour, texture, density, growth direction and characteristics as your hair in the transplant site.
• Transplanting each graft, again, one at a time using microscopic precision, and then applying gentle bandaging to protect the area during the initial healing period.

While there is much more to it from a clinical perspective, this is why FUE hair transplants are considered the ideal approach—there are no large incisions, each tiny circular cut is around one mm across, and you will not need any stitching whatsoever.

Every procedure is performed under local anaesthetic, which ensures it is pain-free and comfortable. Once we have reviewed the aftercare instructions and verified that you feel well, you can return home after your procedure.

Reasons Hair Transplant Procedures May Fail

Low-skilled hair transplants, overharvesting of donor follicles, a lack of sterile and hygienic clinic facilities, or completing a hair transplant for a client for whom we would consider the procedure inadvisable can all mean the results are subpar or unsatisfactory.

We also deal with a high number of failed transplants performed at black-market clinics, primarily overseas, where issues like infections, lack of aftercare, or unnecessary trauma to the scalp mean further therapies, hair restoration treatments, or even second hair transplants become necessary.

However, the biggest cause of hair transplant failure is a lack of adherence to aftercare instructions. Caring for your scalp and follicles, especially in the first two weeks after your procedure, is fundamental to enabling those follicles to embed, heal, and enter a subsequent growth phase.

Clients must, for instance, delay washing their hair for a few days, stick to mild and clinically safe topical creams and treatments, postpone exercising and swimming for two weeks, and avoid any temptation to wear restrictive hats and headgear or rub and scratch the donor and transplant sites.

While some natural shedding is expected as part of the process whereby follicles begin regrowing new hair, ignoring any of this guidance can lead to follicles becoming dislodged or damaged, which can negatively impact your final results.