Will a Second Hair Transplant Procedure (Follicular Unit Transplantation) Create a Wider Scar?

This question comes from a member of our hair loss social community and discussion forums: 

I’m looking to undergo a second Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) procedure, but I’m worried the second closure will stretch and create a wider “strip scar.” Is this true? Can a second FUT procedure create a wider post-operative scar?

In my opinion, it really depends.

From a physiological standpoint, scar tissue only regenerates around 80% of its original tensile strength. Because of this, if any of the affected tissue surrounding the original donor scar is used to close the new strip, it could technically stretch more significantly than the original closure.

However, it’s also likely that the new strip closure won’t involve any skin that was affected by the previous scarring, so the new strip could close the same or better than the original wound as well. To add more weight to this theory, keep in mind that individuals often undergo scar revision by having the old scar excised via FUT and re-closed with a double layered, trichophytic closure.

Altogether, if the hair transplant surgeon performs an efficient closure and the patient’s physiology isn’t extremely prone to stretching/scarring, I don’t see any reason to automatically believe the second scar will stretch wider than the original.

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Blake Bloxham – formerly “Future_HT_Doc”

Editorial Assistant and Forum Co-Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the Hair Restoration Forum

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