Is A Hair Transplant Painful?

You should not feel pain during your hair transplant after your scalp has been numbed using local anaesthesia. At The Treatment Rooms London we also provide light sedation for extra comfort. This means an FUT or an FUE hair transplant is a comfortable process for most patients, a procedure which takes between 6-8 hours to complete. Despite most patients being very anxious about potential pain, here at The Treatment Rooms London, we make every effort to ensure they are kept as comfortable as possible. In this blog you can find out more about whether having a hair transplant is painful.

Pain Management During A Hair Transplant

In the scalp there are many nerves so these must be anaesthetised (blocked from working) so that when our Surgeons perform hair transplant surgery, their patient does not feel any pain whatsoever. Our Surgeons perform this using different techniques:

1. Using local anaesthetic injections
2. Giving pain relieving medications
3. Giving light sedation so the patient feels sleepy, comfortable and relaxed during the procedure

Local Anaesthesia Injections

The main technique your Surgeon will use to numb your scalp are local anaesthesia injections. These are very small injections into the areas your surgeon will take hair out and implant hairs into such as the hairline, temples or crown. The injections are performed using a very fine needle, (almost the width of a human hair).

Even though the needle is very small, our Surgeons go the extra mile. They use a TENS device on your skin to distract your brain from receiving all the pain signals. This means that any soreness from the initial numbing injections is significantly reduced. After this stage is finished, your entire scalp will be numb and you shouldn’t feel pain during the procedure.

Giving Pain Relieving Medications

In addition to local anaesthetic, our Surgeons will also provide you with some pain- relieving medications. These help to reduce any discomfort throughout the procedure and help to relax you even further!

Techniques used to minimise discomfort

Being stressed increases your brain’s perception of pain. So keeping every patient nice and relaxed is one of our main priorities. Our custom built hair transplant clinic is designed to keep every patient relaxed. We use different techniques such as:

• Giving a tablet that makes you feel sleepy and relaxed
• Music
• Temperature Control

This means that whilst patients are undergoing surgery, they often feel so comfortable they fall asleep. If you wanted to find out more about having a hair transplant at The Treatment Rooms London- watch the video below!

Is It Painful During Hair Transplant Surgery?

During the hair transplant you should not feel pain following your initial local anaesthetic injections. Once the procedure starts you will feel the hair transplant surgeons lightly touching your scalp. Together with calming music you may find you fall asleep.

If you stay awake during the procedure you are kept as comfortable as possible with your choice of entertainment. This includes music, podcasts, TV, films and more.

By choosing to have your hair transplant at The Treatment Rooms London you can expect the highest attention when it comes to your comfort. We take pride in making sure the process is as relaxing as possible. One of our patients has even described having surgery at The Treatment Rooms London as:

“It’s like sitting in a First Class plane seat and having a hair transplant“

Pain After FUE Hair Transplantation

After your hair transplant you will be given a recovery pack and instructions. Any pain you may feel will be easily managed with simple pain killers such as:

• Paracetamol
• Ibuprofen
• Co-codamol if required

After surgery most patients are pain-free and don’t require any further medications.

Our Surgeons will keep in contact with you regularly following your surgery. This means your recovery should go to plan and if needed, you will have access to our specialist advice with our dedicated caretaker service.

Pain After FUT Hair Transplantation

After your FUT hair transplant you may feel some pain in your donor site. This is common and tends to be worst in the first 2 weeks post procedure. At The Treatment Rooms London we will provide you with codeine based medication to help alleviate this pain. As a side effect, this medication can make you feel itchy and can also make you feel constipated. If you have issues with this tablet, please let your Surgeon know.

Will pain affect my transplant?

Pain should not affect your hair transplant. If you have pain lasting longer than 28 days you should contact your surgeon at your hair transplant clinic who will want to assess you further.

If you are interested in having a hair transplant at The Treatment Rooms London – find out more and book your consultation today.

Post hair transplant sensations and care

After surgery, it is normal for your scalp to feel numb in certain areas and sensitive in others. We find these abnormal sensations can last a few weeks before returning to normal. Sometimes we recommend specific lotions to apply to the scalp to alleviate discomfort especially if patients are feeling pain at night lying on their donor area. Most of our patients should be able to return to work after hair transplant within 10 days.

Book a Consultation at The Treatment Rooms London

One of the most common questions we are asked by our male, female and transgender patients is whether having a hair transplant is painful? We are able to reassure patients in their 1-1 consultation with a Surgeon the process of surgery and how we go to great lengths to ensure patients are comfortable during the procedure. If you want to understand more about the procedure and how we can help you with your hair loss, please contact our hair transplant clinic today.

References

1) Y Kim, Y Na and J Park, 2019. Comparison of postoperative pain according to the harvesting method used in hair restorative surgery, Arch Plast Surg 46 (3): 231

2) BP Nusbaum, 2004. Techniques to reduce pain associated with hair transplantation: optimising anethesia and analgesia. Am J Clin Dermatol 5(1):9-15

3) Teoli and An, 2019. Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)