How Painful is Hair Transplantation surgery?

How much pain will I feel during Hair Transplantation Surgery?

One thing to consider is that this is a subjective question since everyone has varying thresholds of pain. That being said, please understand that the following is based on my hair transplant surgical experience

The most pain I felt during the hair transplantation surgical process is when they injected me with anesthetic using needles.

The process will be similar to this:

You will be poked with a needle probably about 5-10 times or so in the donor area (sides and back of your head) and poked about 3-5 times in the forehead (from side to side). Depending on how fast the anesthetic wears off, you may have to get a few more injections throughout the day increasing this number. Subsequent injections tend to be less painful since the area is still partly numb. Some injections typically sting more than others…it’s just the nature of needles. But the good news is, the pain is brief and relatively minor in my experience.

People have asked me to rate the pain on a scale of 0-10 to give them a better idea of what the pain feels like. Remember that this is based on my pain tolerance and experience. On a scale of 0-10 where 0 is the no pain at all and 10 is excruciating pain, I’d give the injections about a 1-3 depending upon the area. The experience of getting the injections is very similar to getting a shot with a needle.

The doctor does test the areas to make sure the patient can’t feel anything before they proceed removing the donor strip and before they start making recipient incisions in your scalp.

I’d say the most difficult part of the experience as a whole, regarding pain, is the night after the hair transplant procedure and the entire next day. Expect to experience some pain and throbbing in the donor area on and off. Because pain tolerance varies, it is recommended to use the pain killer medication provided by your doctor as recommended. The pain in the recipient area should be very minimal.

Bill
Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network and the Hair Loss Learning Center
View my Hair Loss Weblog

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