How To Fix Hair Transplant Scars

Types of Hair Transplant Scars

Hair transplant is a surgical procedure and it is inevitable that the patient will be left with certain scars whether big or small, visisble or not. This will happen even under the hands of the most skillful doctors in the world. Any doctor or clinic who advertises that they offer a 100% totally scar free procedure is simply not telling you the truth.

Hair transplant scars can happen both in the recipient site and the donor site. Scars in the recipient site can be in the forms of plugs, ridging, pitting. On the other hand, hair transplant scars in the donor site are mostly in the form of donor strip scars from FUT or strip harvesting procedures. Hair transplant donor scars can also be in the form of visible white dots due to poorly executed FUE techniques.

How To Fix Hair Transplant Scars - Donor Site

Hair transplant donor scar is by far the most sought after repair procedures from hair transplant patients worldwide. In this article we focus our discussion on fixing hair transplant scars in the donor site as a result of strip or FUT procedures. This is commonly referred to as strip scars or linear scars in our community. This type of scars typically go across the back of the patient's head from ear to ear and can widen over time. See photo illustration at the top of this page.

We will discuss 4 ways to repair, fix or camouflage hair transplant donor strip scars.

1. Grow Your Hair Long

The easiest and least expensive way to fix a hair transplant strip scar is to simply grow your hair long to camouflage the problem areas. This is probably what most people do until the scar has widened over time and make it impossible to hide anymore. Also, some may just get tired of having to constantly remind their barbers to keep the hair in the back long in order to hide the scar, and that's when they decide to do look for a more permanent fix.

2. Camouflage with Hair Fibers or Spray

If your barber happened to cut your hair too short in the back and caused the strip scar to show, a fast and easy fix would be instant hair fibers or spray paint for thinning hair. This is an easy and very inexpensive fix. There are plenty of hair thickening fibers on the market and you simply sprinkle the tiny microscopic powder like hair fibers to the problem area and your problem will be solved almost instantly. Hair thickening fibers come in many colors nowadays so matching that to your natural hair color is never a problem. However, please note that this is a temporary fix only. The hair fibers will come off when in contact with water or soap so you almost need to reapply daily.

3. Hair Transplant Scar Excision

Now we get into something a bit more invasive if you are looking for something other than a temporary fix. One option is hair transplant scar excision, ie: removing the existing linear scar by means of another procedure in the donor site, almost the same as how the strip hair transplant was originally performed except that this time the doctor just moves the scar tissue. Healing time can be an issue as the patient will need to wait about a month for the donor site to heal after scar excision. The procedure can be costly as it is another surgical procedure that is carried out at the doctor's clinic. Also, this method does not completely remove the strip scar. It simply removes the excess scar tissue to make the existing scar look smaller or narrower in width across the patient's head. The goal is to reduce the existing linear scar to a pencil thin scar so that it is easier to hide. The patient is still left with the closure of the excision which over time may widen and become a problem again for the patient.

4. Scalp Micropigmentation SMP

Scalp micropigmentation or SMP is a recent technology in hair restoration that involves the use of tattoo to simulate hair follicles or hair growth on a person's scalp. When done properly, the result can be very natural and almost undetectable to the eye. The ink can be permanent or semi permanent. The procedure is relatively invasive and the result can last a long time. Below is a hair transplant strip scar repair that was performed using The Weston System in scalp micropigmentation.

5. Strip Scar Repair using FUE or BHT

The last and final option is to plant FUE grafts into the strip scars. This is probably the most effective way in fixing hair transplant strip scar problem permanently. This option will also produce the most natural results when done correctly. By planting fresh grafts into the scar area, this can break up the scar tissue and regenerate hair growth in the problem areas. For patients with insufficient head donor, doctors can transplant beard or chest donor grafts into the scar tissue. Beard grafts, in particular, are known to be particularly robust for repair sessions of this nature. One potential problem with this treatment is that if we are dealing with keloid scars or thick scar tissues that are completely void of blood circulation, then it may take many more donor grafts in order to generate the yield or regrowth necessary to break up the scar tissue.

Questions about Hair Transplant Scar Repair?

Have questions about hair transplant or hair transplant scar repair? Contact Hasson & Wong hair clinic for a free consultation. Email info@hassonandwong.com or visit Hasson & Wong for details.

Hasson & Wong is a top ranked sponsorsing clinic of HairSite with over 13 years of successful patient records in our community. Click links below for more info.