Your donor area is the region at the back and sides of your head that are used to "donate" hair to your recipient area in an FUE hair transplant. Your surgeon will make small incisions around each follicle and take them out one by one. These incisions heal quickly. On average, it takes 5-7 days for your donor area to heal after your FUE hair transplant.
In this guide, we will give you some examples of how our patient's donor area heals after hair transplant surgery and what you need to be aware of.
What Is The Donor Area?
The donor area is typically the area on the back and sides of the head where a hair transplant surgeon harvests follicles from. This involves taking hairs from one by one (FUE hair transplant surgery) or as a strip (FUT hair transplant surgery) from the donor area and relocating these hairs to an area of balding or thinning (recipient area).
The hairs taken from a donor area are normally hairs resistant to the balding process. When they are relocated to an area of balding or thinning, they retain this resistance and grow normally.
Donor Area Healing After A Hair Transplant
The healing process following a hair transplant starts immediately. The small incisions will initially scab over. On the day of your surgery you will be given a bandage for the back of your head. You can remove this the next day where you will find the back of your head has small scabs where follicles have been taken.
These scabs begin to fade away immediately after surgery when you wash the back of your head. Underneath the scab your body will begin to repair and cover the small incisions with small scar tissue. This scar tissue should be between 0.7mm-1mm in size spread out throughout your donor area. As each small dot is very small, once your hair grows to a length 1 or 2, they should be unnoticeable.
Waiting For Your Donor Area To Heal Before Going Back To Work
You can see in the picture above by 7 days following surgery the donor area has completely healed and you can return to work should you wish to do so.
Cutting Your Hair After Your Donor Area Has Healed
You can cut your hair as normal after you have passed day 14 following your hair transplant. Your donor area should have healed fully following surgery by this point, provided you have followed our FUE aftercare and recovery guidelines.
Redness In Your Donor Area After A Hair Transplant
After your hair transplant your donor area may look a little red. This is in keeping with the normal healing process and becomes unnoticeable once your hair grows to a certain length.
If this redness persists for more than 4 weeks then you should contact your Surgeon to have the area evaluated.
Donor Area Scars After A Hair Transplant
After your donor area has recovered and healed following surgery, you'll be left with small "dot-like" scars spread across the back and sides of your scalp where hairs have been taken out. These are concealed when your hair grows. By keeping your hair a minimum length of 1-2 these scars should not be visible. Take a look at the video below which takes you through a some examples of our patients after surgery.
Are you looking to have a hair transplant?
To gain a better understanding of the amazing results our hair surgeons have provided over the years, visit our FUE hair transplant before and after page. Alternatively, if you're interested in understanding how much a hair transplant will cost, take a look at our hair transplant cost page for more information. Our hair graft calculator will also give you an indication as to how many grafts you will need.
Get in touch if you are looking to have a hair transplant and you are still wondering about when you can go back to work. Our Surgeons would be happy to go through your treatment options and explain when would be the best time for you to go back to work. Enquire today to find out more.
Authored by
Dr Roshan Vara
Full Medical Member of the British Association of Hair Restoration Surgery
Reviewed by
Dr Dilan Fernando
Royal College of Surgeons
Executive Committee Member & Treasurer of the British Association of Hair Restoration Surgery
FUE HAIR TRANSPLANT REVIEWS
★★★★★
The clinic is very clean and maintained to a high standard. Dr Vara was very professional, knowledgeable and caring. He was able to answer any questions I had and took the time to listen to any opinions I had. After the initial session Dr Vara has regularly kept a check on my progress and is there to answer any questions I have.
Rikesh Patel
★★★★★
Having thought about hair treatment for a long while as my hair has been receding around my temples, I was relieved to meet with Dr Fernando who made me very relaxed and developed a clear management plan for my hair loss. My hair loss is now under control and I couldn't be happier!
Vik M.
★★★★★
Dr Fernando provided sound knowledge on FUE hair Transplant during my consultation, whilst showing genuine interest in my requirements and concerns. After the surgery, Dr Fernando kept in contact to hear my progress. I highly recommend them for their quality of work, patient care, good practice and competitive pricing.
Steven Lingham
★★★★★
From start to finish Dr Vara, Dr Fernando, and their wider team have been top class professionals. Everything from the initial consultation to the after care has been done to an extremely high standard, I can't stress this enough.
No doubt if I ever need another procedure (thanks genetics), I'll be sticking with the incredible team here.
Luke Elston
★★★★★
The guys at The Treatment Rooms are seriously some of the best hair transplant surgeons in the UK.
I researched for months and went to countless consultations all across London, Manchester and Newcastle. Not only were they amongst the 'best value' for the number of grafts I needed, but Dr Fernando and his team were welcoming, knowledgable and walked me through the procedure from beginning to end with more detail than any consultation prior.
Jonathan Burns
★★★★★
The actual treatment itself was a lot less painful than expected. I was made to feel incredibly welcome and comfortable throughout the day - from preparing films for me to watch through to even providing me with drinks and lunch for that day. Most importantly, the results are fantastic, and I am delighted with how quickly I have seen a change to my hair line.
Rory Leadbetter
★★★★★
Dr Fernando is one of the nicest doctors I've ever met. He went above and beyond in helping me with my concerns and providing personalised advice for me. I will be forever grateful.
Ol Dudley
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