Honest guidance for your aesthetic journey

A surgical scar takes 12 to 18 months or longer to mature, and the NHS says fading can take up to 2 years or more: most scars end up paler and flatter, but none disappears completely.

Two to eight weeks after surgery the transplanted hairs fall out, which is normal; new hair usually starts to appear after about four months, and the NHS puts the full result at 10 to 18 months.

About two thirds of the swelling goes down in the first month and 95% by six months, one small study found, but the tip takes longest and surgeons place the final result at about a year.

Swelling and bruising are expected. The week-three slump is not — and almost everyone gets it.