Hair Transplant: Covering and Leaving Scar Tissue

Picture of Elisa Chistyukhina
Elisa Chistyukhina
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Hair transplant procedures and scarring

All hair transplants leave scars on the scalp of some sort. The question is just, how big is the scarring and is it visible?

A traditional Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT) procedure leaves a line shaped scar on the donor area at the back of the head. Patients need to wear their hair at a minimum length to hide the scar.

FUE hair transplant surgery (Follicular Unit Extraction) leaves micro scars at the back of the head. These are very small and will not be visible if the hair is a reasonable length, but donor area FUE scars are sometimes visible if the hair is shaved short.
Transplant scars can be minimised by the most modern surgical procedures. Micro Sapphire FUE hair transplant procedures minimise scarring by making finer incisions than traditional Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) procedures.

Even better, Micro Sapphire DHI leaves dot scars so small that they can be described as micro scars. This treatment offers minimal scarring and the most natural looking results on the market.

This is because the incision tools used to remove the transplanted hair follicles are made of the precious stone sapphire, which is much finer and more accurate than traditional steel tools.

Hair transplantation procedures on already existing scars

Almost no major wound heals without leaving scars. A burn, a chemical burn, an accident, or an operation can all leave major damage to skin tissue.

When they are situated on the head, scars can be particularly upsetting. Hair can no longer grow from scar tissue under its own power and thus bald patches can form.

Some people use hair pigmentation to cover their scars, but sometimes this is no longer sufficient. In these cases, a hair transplant can cover visible scars.

When is a hair transplant on a scar an option?

In general, a hair transplant can be performed on any scar that still has blood supply and whose scarring process has completed.
If a scar on the head severely impairs quality of life, a hair transplant can do a lot to provide a long-lasting visual cover.
Many scars cannot be completely covered by the remaining hairs around. Poor quality and botched hair transplants, especially with the FUE or FUT methods, can also leave unsightly scars on the scalp.
In all these cases, a professional hair transplant in Istanbul can help the patient to cover up a scar. Various techniques are available for this purpose.

Can hair be transplanted onto any scar?

Generally, a hair transplant can be performed on any scar. However, the scar sometimes needs to be prepared. The excess tissue must first be removed if the scarring was accompanied by severe tissue growth.

Unfortunately, there are also scars that continue to grow permanently, whose tissue proliferates permanently. On such scars, no long-term success can be achieved through hair transplantation if the scar growth is not stopped.
A thorough preliminary examination is needed to determine whether the grafts can be implanted directly into scar tissue.

What technique is best to transplant hair onto a scar?

The aim of a hair transplant on scar tissue is to make the scar disappear visually. In the case of strip-shaped scars, it may be sufficient to remove the scar and overlap surrounding skin tissue.
This is a form of scar repair. If necessary, the patient’s own hair can then be transplanted afterwards.

The slit technique for particularly thin areas of skin

The slit technique uses extremely fine scalpels. With these scalpels, the hair transplant surgeon makes incisions in the skin in the natural direction of hair growth. The grafts are then inserted in the direction of growth. This technique is often used in the area of the temples or eyebrows, where vertically inserted hair follicles are quickly noticeable.
The advantage of the slit technique is that it is not noticeable even when looking closely from close up. The hairs blend in naturally. In areas of the scalp with thin skin, this technique helps to achieve a natural appearance of the hair.

The Micro Holes Technique

In the micro holes technique, the grafts are inserted into particularly small channels using fine instruments. Especially for areas with poor blood supply, the grafts can be placed as close as possible to the existing capillaries. This improves the blood supply to the transplanted follicles. In this way, a surgeon can achieve a much higher graft success rate.

How long does a hair transplant on scar tissue take?

The duration of a hair transplant operation on a scar depends on its size. Removal of scar tissue extends the treatment time. The use of the slit or micro hole technique also makes a hair transplant take longer than a standard one.
In total, you should allow at least two to four hours for a hair transplant on a scar. If the scar is larger, it can take even longer.

The aftercare of a hair transplant is the same as a standard hair transplant without scars. Clear results are already visible after around 3 to 6 months. After about a year, you can enjoy a full, healthy-looking head of hair again.

Book a consultation with Cosmedica Clinic’s Dr. Acar about your hair loss today. It is free, personalised, and no-commitment.