Hair Transplant Side Effects and Risks
Written by Michael Seutin,
founder — former nurse, researching transplant pricing.
Published · every medical statement links to its source.
Most side effects of a hair transplant are short-lived. The NHS lists a tight, achy and swollen scalp for a few days, temporary scabbing where the hair was transplanted, and a single scar or many very tiny ones as common[1]. The risks are less common: bleeding, infection, an allergic reaction to the anaesthetic, and a small risk that the transplant does not take and the hair falls out, or that a noticeable scar forms[1].
Side effects to expect
- Swelling. It usually starts on the forehead, can spread to the eyelids and nose, and can last 3 to 5 days[2]. Our swelling page has the detail.
- Scabs on the grafts, which the NHS calls temporary[1].
- Itching on the donor and recipient areas, from drying and crusting[2].
- Shedding. The NHS says the transplanted hair will often fall out after a few weeks and later grow back[1]. Existing hair near the grafts can shed too: a 2018 review says this shock loss happens to some degree in most patients who still have hair in the transplant zone, and is most often temporary[2].
- Small pimple-like bumps around the new grafts. In one surgeon's series this sterile folliculitis was the most common problem, and lasted from 3 weeks to 3 months[3].
How often: it depends who is counting
There is no single complication rate for hair transplants. Published series count differently and get very different answers:
- 2,896 patients, one surgeon's record of his own patients in India, 2009 to 2020: sterile folliculitis in 203, facial swelling in 18, numbness in 18, grafts dislodged in the first 24 hours in 8, infection in 2 (both diabetic), and no significant or life-threatening complications[3].
- 533 procedures on 425 patients, one published series, 1995 to 2006: an overall complication rate of 4.7%, including enlarged scars 1.2%, folliculitis 1.0% and infection 0.2%[4].
- 73 men at an Indian teaching hospital, 2010 to 2014, most after strip surgery: swelling in 31, sterile folliculitis in 17, a wide donor scar in 11, and numbness or bacterial folliculitis in 8 each. Only 73 of the 197 men treated could be traced[5].
- 158 men who had FUE at one hospital in China, 2016 to 2020: 9 minor complications (pinpoint scars, a buried graft, folliculitis and swelling) and no systemic ones[6].
The lowest figures come from a surgeon's record of his own patients[3]; the highest from a study that also phoned and emailed patients afterwards[5]. None of them is a number you can hold one clinic to.
The rarer risks
- Infection. A 2018 review calls it rare, under 1%[2]. Our infection page covers the signs.
- Scarring. Strip surgery leaves a scar on the back of the head that should not be visible unless you have very short hair[1]. A wide scar is uncommon and comes from faulty technique or from not following the instructions after surgery[2]. FUE leaves pinpoint white scars that may be visible on close inspection with short hair[7]. Keloid and raised scars are rare[2].
- An over-harvested donor area. The ISHRS names taking too many grafts, or taking them from too wide an area, among the greatest risks of FUE, and calls the result uncorrectable[8]. More on the donor area.
- Poor growth. The NHS describes a small risk that the transplant will not take[1]. A 2018 review links poor growth to grafts damaged during dissection or placement, grafts drying out, poor donor hair, heavy smoking, diabetes and sun damage[2]. More on success rates.
- An unnatural hairline, from poor design and surgical execution[2].
- Small patches of dead tissue (necrosis) in the recipient area, seen in 3 of 2,896 patients in one series, all smokers, whose wounds healed by themselves[3].
- A reaction to the anaesthetic. The NHS lists an allergic reaction as a small risk[1]; a 2018 review says true allergy to a local anaesthetic is rare, and that most reactions are related to fear[2].
- Hiccups, rare, but able to last up to 2 to 3 days[2].
What raises your risk
The ISHRS says the more risk factors you have, the greater the chance of complications. It lists the ones your surgeon needs to know about, including long-term smoking, diabetes, immune-suppressing drugs or illness, chronic heart, liver, kidney or lung disease, recurrent skin infections, and medicines that reduce blood clotting[9]. Tell the surgeon all of it: a 2021 review says an incomplete medical history and a history of allergy increase the risk during surgery[3].
Who operates matters too. ISHRS members report seeing scarring, unnatural hairlines, poor hair growth, hair growing in the wrong direction, depleted donor areas and infections in patients of illicit clinics where unlicensed technicians perform the surgery[10]. With a qualified surgeon, the ISHRS says, risks and side effects should be relatively low and temporary[8].
Clinics by accreditation tier
Grouped by the strongest credential each clinic holds, using the tiers in our published ranking rules. A credential is not an outcome; it is what we could verify.
surgeon society
- Civas & Akpınar Hair Transplant
- Transmed
- Asmed Surgical Medical Center
- AHD Clinic
- DK Klinik
- Hairneva Clinic
- TurHair
hospital accreditation
- Smile Hair Clinic
- Dr. Serkan Aygin Clinic
- Dr. Yetkin Bayer Clinics
- Memorial Hair Transplant
- Dr. Terziler Exclusive Clinic
state licence
- Estepera
- Elithair
- Sule Hair Transplant
- Hermest Hair Clinic
- Istanbul Hair Center
- Estetik International
- ClinicHair
- Vera Clinic
quality certification
Clinics that name the surgeon who operates
Of the 36 clinics we track, 33 name the surgeon who operates on their own website. We read each clinic's own site by hand and record what it says. This counts the clinics that name someone; it is not a verdict on the rest.
A few of them, lowest listed price first:
Sources
Primary sources only: the NHS, the FCDO, the ISHRS and peer-reviewed papers on PubMed and PubMed Central. Each was opened and read on the date shown.
- Hair transplant — NHS. Read 2026-10-23.
- Complications in Hair Transplantation (Kerure & Patwardhan, J Cutan Aesthet Surg, 2018) — PubMed Central. Read 2026-10-23.
- Complications of Hair Transplant Procedures: Causes and Management (Garg & Garg, Indian J Plast Surg, 2021) — PubMed Central. Read 2026-10-23.
- Surgical complications in hair transplantation: a series of 533 procedures (Salanitri et al., Aesthet Surg J, 2009) — PubMed. Read 2026-10-23.
- Complications of hair restoration surgery: a retrospective analysis (Loganathan et al., Int J Trichology, 2014) — PubMed Central. Read 2026-10-23.
- Using the follicular unit extraction technique in treatment of male androgenetic alopecia (Wang et al., BMC Surg, 2024) — PubMed Central. Read 2026-10-23.
- Side-effects from follicular unit extraction in hair transplantation (Avram et al., J Cutan Aesthet Surg, 2014) — PubMed Central. Read 2026-10-23.
- FUE Hair Transplant: Benefits, Process & Recovery — ISHRS. Read 2026-10-23.
- Things That Increase Your Risk for Complications After Surgical Hair Restoration — ISHRS. Read 2026-10-23.
- ISHRS Launches Fight the FIGHT Public Awareness Campaign to Combat Fraudulent Hair Restoration Practices Worldwide (1 November 2019) — ISHRS. Read 2026-10-23.
Read next
← The full hair transplant recovery timeline, day by day to month 12
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Questions, answered
The NHS lists a tight, achy and swollen scalp for a few days, temporary scabbing, and a single scar or many tiny ones. Itching, shedding of the transplanted hairs and small pimple-like bumps around the grafts are also common in published series.
It depends who counts. One surgeon's record of 2,896 patients found no life-threatening complications, a published series of 533 procedures reported 4.7%, and a study that also contacted 73 patients afterwards found swelling in 31 of them. No single figure applies to every clinic.
The one that can't be undone. The ISHRS names overharvesting the donor area among the greatest risks of FUE and calls the result uncorrectable. The NHS also lists bleeding, infection, an allergic reaction to the anaesthetic, and a small risk the transplant does not take.