Will the Donor Area Grow Back After Hair Transplant?

Hair transplant clients often ask whether the areas where donor follicles are extracted during a transplant will grow back. The answer is yes – the hair on the donor area will grow back, but a slight reduction in density is normal (and not particularly noticeable). 

There are numerous potential concerns, such as worries about thinning hair, scarring, the visibility of the transplant, and how long the transplant will take to grow. Our advice is always to schedule a private consultation to ensure you have a complete understanding of the procedure and can ask as many questions as you wish.

As with all aspects of a hair transplant, the experience, precision and execution of your hair transplant surgeon and technical team are fundamental to your results, where careful follicle extraction, grading and implantation should create a seamless appearance across all of your scalp or facial hair. [1]

Hair Regrowth at Hair Transplant Donor Sites

Hair transplants can be performed using a variety of methods and techniques, which will impact the likelihood of hair growth around the donor site. 

During a transplant, the surgeon harvests healthy follicles from pre-selected parts of your scalp, using those follicles to replenish the hair in the target area – whether elsewhere on your scalp or as part of an eyebrow or beard transplant.

Our GMC-registered surgeons insist on a thorough consultation before booking a transplant for any client because this enables us to:

• Analyse your scalp and hair health to determine whether you are a good candidate for a hair transplant.
• Identify areas with sufficient healthy donor hairs that are appropriate donor sites.
• Calculate the number of grafts needed to achieve the outcomes you aspire to.
• Look at areas with plenty of follicles and thick, healthy hair. To avoid any visible impacts on those areas, we may select more than one donor site for more extensive transplants.

Regrowth may also depend on post-transplant care and the technique used by your surgeon. 

We prefer Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) transplants as a minimally invasive, safe and effective method that is suited to most hair transplant processes and provides the ideal approach from a client recovery perspective.

Hair Transplant Techniques and Donor Follicle Regrowth

Follicular Unit Transplantation, or FUT, is an alternative type of hair transplantation technique, also referred to as the strip method. It is a less advanced approach that we do not offer at KSL Clinic.

During an FUT transplant, a surgeon will:

• Create a linear cut, removing a strip of tissue and hair from the donor site.
• Close the incision with a line of stitches.
• Reimplant that strip into the transplant site.

Although well-positioned stitches should theoretically make the removed tissue from the donor site impossible to see after recovery, that isn’t always the case. Scarring can develop, particularly if the client does not receive the right post hair transplant aftercare. This can potentially mean the individual is left with a thin scar where hair cannot grow.

Some studies have also shown that the longevity of the transplanted hair after an FUT transplant is variable, with over 27% of patients seeing slight reductions in density and 55% moderate drops in hair thickness. [2]

FUE transplants are more complex and precise procedures, where we create microscopic incisions in the donor area, extracting individual follicles that have been selected for density, health and texture, one at a time.

If enough healthy follicles are left in place, without any further damage to the tissue, the hair will continue to grow thick and healthy, with the one extracted follicle impossible to see and with an invisible scar of around one mm across.

This procedure does mean that hair may be naturally less dense in the donor area, which is why it is so crucial you work with an accredited hair transplant team. In some cases, surgeons can also consider alternative transplant donor sites where there is not enough healthy hair on the head to complete a transplant. [3]

Recovery Timelines After a Hair Transplant

If you opt for a pain-free FUE hair transplant, you’ll find that the initial bandaging can usually be removed after around 24 hours, at which point the donor area will start healing. Residual discomfort can last up to two days, and is easily managed with pain relief and topical treatments.

For the vast majority of patients, the recovery process for the donor site is as follows:

• The tiny incisions, which appear as small dots, will heal and become invisible to the naked eye over three to four days.
• Complete recovery usually takes around a week or two, during which time the small marks and any lingering redness resolve.
• Hair follicles start regrowing back after 11 to 50 days, with proper donor hair extraction ensuring that the growth around each donor follicle means the healed donor follicle site is concealed.
• After roughly two weeks, it should be improbable that anybody but the client and their hair transplant surgeon will be able to identify any signs that follicle grafts have been extracted.
• Following full healing after a year, when new hair regrowth has occurred at the transplant site, there may be minuscule white dots – these should be impossible to see without a microscope and be entirely obscured by the rest of your hair growth.

This degree of specificity and expedited recovery are often key advantages for clients who wish to avoid the linear scarring common in FUT transplants.

We recommend visiting our before-and-after pages to see what each recovery stage will look like, alongside our previously published guides to hair transplant healing at two weeks, four months, and one year.

How to Help the Donor Hair Transplant Site Heal

Aftercare is essential to a full and quick recovery, and we strongly advise you to follow every piece of advice given by your hair transplant surgeon since it may be specific to your hair transplant, the donor site, and the transplant areas.

While the exact instructions given may vary, the norm is to:

• Apply medicated creams or ointments or take prescribed pain relief for a few days following the transplant. This prevents infection and supports pain-free healing without discomfort during the initial recovery.
• Avoid strenuous exercise, exposure to direct sunlight, and swimming for the first two weeks. This keeps the transplanted follicles and donor site sterile and prevents contaminants from impacting the healing skin and hair.
• Adhere to ongoing advice, such as hydrating and moisturising newly recovered skin to improve suppleness during recovery and scheduling follow-up check-ins and hair restoration therapies to optimise your recovery timeline.

XX notes, ‘Clients are never expected to already know all the specifics of hair transplant aftercare, and we provide complete guidance, suggestions and advice during the initial consultation, as well as following your hair transplant before you return home.

By following all the professional recommendations, scheduling subsequent hair restoration therapies and protecting your transplant location and donor site, you can expedite your recovery and augment the speed and health of hair regrowth.’

How We Help Ensure Full Donor Hair Regrowth

An extracted follicle will not return, so the key is always to ensure the donor area is used wisely and carefully without extracting too many donor follicles, which can make the area look thin or sparse.

Much will depend on the type of hair loss or receding hair you are experiencing and the number of grafts needed to complete the procedure. 

This factor may also influence the areas we consider suitable as donor sites. For example:

• A client with hair loss graded at Stage 4 on the Norwood Scale with balding around the crown may need approximately 3,000 to 4,000 individual grafts, even though the remainder of the hair has around 20,000 to 50,000 potential follicles to choose from.
• A reputable hair transplant surgeon will avoid extracting any follicles from the crown of the head, comprising around 30% of the scalp—also called the vertex—to avoid compromising potential future growth and acknowledging that pattern hair loss could expose this area to ongoing hair loss.
• Therefore, around 12,000 to 30,000 grafts may be available on the remainder of the client’s scalp. However, a significant proportion should be untouched to ensure a thick, even, and natural hair growth pattern across the entire head.
• Of the grafts available to select from, the surgeon will then identify specific follicles and ensure these are evenly spaced, focusing on healthy areas of growth unlikely to be impacted by future hair loss.

This theoretical scenario is based on a client with existing pattern hair loss, noting that the average person has around 100,000 follicles – illustrating why customised hair transplant strategies are crucial to completing the transplant and picking donor follicles with precision.

Suitability of Donor Hairs Before a Hair Transplant

We request that all prospective hair transplant clients book a consultation with their closest KSL Clinic. During this consultation, we can perform a full clinical analysis of their hair and scalp and discuss the type of results they’d like to achieve.

Incredible hair transplant results involve equal parts scientific expertise and precision hair transplant techniques, alongside the artistry of mapping out a customised hair transplant based on your aspirations, the area of hair loss, and the access and quality of available donor hairs.

If there are insufficient donor hairs, or these follicles are too closely grouped together, we might suggest a hair restoration stimulation therapy, including the plasma-rich platelet therapy (PRP) treatment we’ve mentioned, or laser light therapy.

PRP is proven to be a successful approach, combined with FUE transplants, to address even severe hair loss or extended areas of balding. [4]

Both options help to activate dormant follicles and can be used to prepare your scalp and hair for a transplant and as part of the ongoing healing process. By encouraging cellular activity and stimulating inactive follicles, we can ensure your hair grows faster and healthier, which can boost the donor follicles available to choose from.

To learn more about FUE hair transplants, our cutting-edge hair transplant methods, or the quality equipment, facilities, and surgical teams at KSL Clinic, please get in touch. 

Alternatively, visit our extensive celebrity reviews and client testimonials to discover how previous clients have felt about their experiences at our sector-leading hair transplant clinics.