Hair transplant recovery: when the scabs come off and when the hair grows

The scabs are usually gone within two weeks; the full result often takes a year or more, with a stretch of months in between when it can look as if nothing happened.¹ Surgeons set different aftercare rules, and the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) says to follow the one who operated on you over any website, this one included.¹

When does the new hair grow?

New hair usually starts to appear after about four months, and the NHS says the full result should be seen at 10 to 18 months; it also notes a small risk that the transplant does not take.²

Before that, the transplanted hairs fall out, usually between two and eight weeks after surgery, which the American Academy of Dermatology calls normal: the shaft goes, and the root stays in the scalp.³¹ By the third month your hair may look thinner than it did before the operation, which is also normal.³

Once it starts, hair grows about 1 cm a month,¹ and most people see results at six to nine months, some at 12.³ A touch-up should be considered only once final growth is reached, typically around 12 months.⁴

What happens in the first two weeks?

For two weeks the grafts are not yet secure, so the NHS says to be very careful with them.² Most people report no more than mild discomfort for a day or two, then 7 to 10 days of tenderness to the touch.⁵

Small scabs form within two to three days and usually come away by day 7 to 10,⁴ though surgeons differ on when to rub them off.¹ Scabs that hang on may raise the risk of inflammation around the follicles, often because of too little washing or picking at them early, and crusts still there after two weeks should be checked.⁴

Forehead swelling is the most common early finding: a 2026 review says it has been seen in nearly half of patients in studies of follicular unit excision (FUE), though reported rates vary.⁴ It peaks around day 2 to 3, can spread to the eyelids and nose, and usually goes within 5 to 7 days.⁴⁶ Keeping the head raised, about 20 to 30 degrees, in the first days is one of the measures used against it;⁴⁷ ask your surgeon for how many nights.

For the first wash, follow your clinic's sheet, because the advice differs.¹ The NHS says you should be able to wash gently by hand on day 6,² while that 2026 review favours gentle cleansing within 24 to 72 hours.⁴ The review also lists a first wash after more than three days as a risk factor for spots around the follicles, from a four-centre retrospective study of 1,317 patients.⁴⁸

Why can my own hair fall out too?

That is shock loss, a temporary shedding of your own, non-transplanted hair, mostly around the treated area, and it usually grows back.⁹⁴ It typically starts 2 to 8 weeks after surgery, with regrowth usually from around month 3.⁴

Estimates vary: ISHRS says it can happen to almost any patient,⁹ published rates range from 0.15% to 15%,⁴ and in a single-centre retrospective study of 621 FUE patients in Japan, 23 had it, 14 of them among the 67 women.¹⁰ Women are more prone to it, and so are people with many hairs that are already thinning; one review notes that the loss can sometimes be permanent, particularly in that second group.⁹⁶

When should I call the clinic the same day?

Contact the clinic as soon as possible for severe pain or any symptom you did not expect, says the NHS;² The Aesthetic Society adds pain that lasts, and redness and swelling.¹¹

Infection is uncommon, under 1% in most studies,⁴⁶ and tends to show as pus-filled spots or a tender, soft, red swelling that can be an abscess.⁶ For cellulitis, a skin infection (this advice is not specific to hair transplants), the NHS says to get urgent help for skin that is painful, hot and swollen, and emergency care if a very high temperature, or feeling hot, cold or shivery, comes with it.¹²

Thick crusts that appear early with a lot of fluid need a call that day, because they can mean the skin is losing its blood supply.⁴ That is rare, three cases in more than 10,000 patients in one team's experience between 2012 and 2021, and those treated in time healed within two to three weeks.¹³ Bleeding that does not stop with firm pressure needs a call too; a little oozing in the first 24 to 48 hours is expected.⁶⁴

What if you had it done abroad?

Before you fly home, get written information about the procedure you had, and the contact details of a named doctor who can deal with complications, rather than a helpline.¹⁴¹⁵ A clinic abroad may not provide follow-up, and may have no one at home you can turn to.¹⁶¹⁵ Until you leave, the NHS advice after cosmetic surgery abroad is to rest, and not to drink alcohol, lie in the sun, go sightseeing or go in the water.¹⁶

UK government advice is to come home with a full medical report in English,¹⁷ summarising the procedure, any tests and the aftercare, and with a number to call once you are back; its checklist also asks whether you were told which medicines you need afterwards.¹⁸ In Turkey the unit records the technique, the number of grafts, the area treated and the team's names on the Ministry's patient form,¹⁹ so ask for those too.

An international expert consensus recommends close follow-up through the first year, so agree before you leave who will see you at home.²⁰

Who may do it in Turkey?

In Turkey only doctors open the channels the grafts go into: doctors with a hair transplant practitioner certificate registered by the Ministry, plastic surgeons, dermatologists, and doctors with a registered medical aesthetics certificate.¹⁹²¹ Collecting and placing the follicles may be done by those doctors, or by health professionals with the hair transplant assistant certificate (nurses, community health officers, and community health, emergency medicine and anaesthesia technicians), under one of those doctors' supervision and responsibility.¹⁹²¹ Until 31 December 2026 these health professionals may work under the relevant doctor's supervision and responsibility without the certificate; from that date they need it.¹⁹²¹ Under sedation or general anaesthesia, an anaesthesiology specialist must be present.¹⁹

The unit itself may open only inside a hospital, medical centre or polyclinic, with a permit from the provincial health directorate written on the facility's licence, and you can ask to see it.¹⁹