Hair Transplant Surgery and Pain Management : Whether or not a hair transplant hurt mostly depends on an individual’s tolerance for pain. Some people handle pain better than others so there are no absolute rules to determine if a hair transplant will be painful. Some say that hair transplant surgery is similar to a visit to the dentist. This does not seem like a description of something that is pain-free, and it certainly does not seem like a relaxing experience.

Hair Transplant Surgery and Pain Management

However, most people are surprised at how little pain there is during a hair transplant procedure today. Some discomfort is to be expected as the anesthetic is injected into the scalp. Once the skin is anesthetized, there is no pain. If the numbing medicine wears off during the course of the procedure, more is injected to re-anesthetize the area. Advances in local anesthetic and the way it is applied allow for a comfortable and relaxing procedure. Most patients watch movies, listen to music or nap during their procedure. If there is pain, it will probably occur the first night, or the day after the procedure is typically the worst. This is even less the case if the FUE (follicular Unit extraction) type hair transplant surgery is done. Taking pain medications prescribed by your hair loss doctor as directed would further make any discomfort minimal.

Hair transplant surgery today is surely less painful than it was in earlier times when larger sections of scalp were operated upon. In Follicular unit extraction also called FUE, the procedure is truly minimally invasive with only tiny holes created at each extraction site. The pain after FUE Hair Transplant procedure is very minimal and the healing is much more rapid. Often only mild redness is seen even when a crew cut is done. In traditional hair transplants also called Strip HT, FUSS, FUT or FUHT ), large nerve branches are liable to being cut during the harvesting of the strip of flesh from the back and sides of the head. When these severed nerves heal, pain syndromes can results either temporarily or in rare instances permanently. In the newer FUE like techniques, individual follicles are harvested directly from the back and sides of the head using tiny punch like incisions. Since no major nerves are cut, the pain syndromes are avoided. Whichever method is chosen, a hair transplant with an experienced and skilled surgeon is an important key to having a less painful surgery. An experienced doctor who knows very well how to perform the procedure will cause you less pain an produce a better result for you and a better experience. For more information, please contact Dr Sanusi Umar a board certified dermatologist and hair specialist at DermHair Clinic in Los Angeles to speak with a Los Angeles Hair Restoration specialist at (310)318-1500, or visit our free online consultation page