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Most enquiries fall clearly into one of these two columns. The rest are decided at the examination, which is exactly why the examination exists.
Usually suitable
- Pattern hair loss that has been stable long enough to plan around
- A donor area with enough capacity for the coverage being asked for
- General health that can tolerate a six to nine hour procedure under local anaesthesia
- A chronic condition that is controlled, with clearance from the doctor who treats it
- Expectations that match what the donor area can actually deliver
Not suitable, or not yet
- No usable donor hair — without follicles to move, no current technique applies
- Under 18; in practice we usually advise waiting until the loss pattern stabilises
- Active scalp disease — psoriasis, eczema, a lupus flare — until it is treated and reassessed
- Pregnancy: an elective procedure, postponed until after birth and breastfeeding
- Uncontrolled bleeding or clotting disorders, and uncontrolled alcohol or substance use
- Unstable diffuse loss, or an active scarring alopecia
Blood-borne infections such as HIV or hepatitis B and C are not an automatic exclusion. They are assessed case by case, with the relevant tests, medical stability and single-use protocols confirmed first.
Most of what alarms patients in the first fortnight is normal healing. Knowing the difference in advance is the point of this section.
Swelling
Forehead and around the eyes, usually days two to five. Cold compresses on the forehead — never on the grafts — and sleeping with the head elevated help it pass.
Crusting and itching
Small crusts form around each graft from about day three and usually clear within seven to ten days. Itching often starts on day four or five. Picking damages grafts; only clinic-approved sprays and washing soften them.
Shock loss
Transplanted hairs shed between weeks two and eight, and some existing hair around the area can shed temporarily too. It is expected, not a failure, and regrowth begins around month three.
Numbness and tingling
In the donor or recipient area, from nerve endings being disturbed. It usually resolves over weeks; occasionally it takes longer.
Infection
Rare, but increasing redness, discharge or fever means contacting the clinic the same day rather than waiting for your next scheduled review.
Bleeding beyond the normal
A small amount during extraction and implantation is normal. Bleeding beyond that can indicate a clotting problem and needs to be assessed rather than managed at home.
Donor over-harvesting
Taking too many grafts in one session thins the donor area permanently. It is the main reason we plan a lower number when the donor supply does not support the request.
Folliculitis and ingrown hairs
More likely where hair regrows through healing skin in a tight curl. Usually self-limiting and manageable, but it should be described to you in advance rather than discovered.
Transplanting into the wrong diagnosis spends a donor area that cannot be replaced. These come up often enough to name, and in some of them the answer is not yet rather than never.
Send photos for an honest read- 01
Scarring alopecia that is still active
Where the follicle has been replaced by scar tissue, transplanting into an area where the disease is still active generally gives poor results and can provoke further inflammation. It is considered only where a dermatologist confirms the condition is clinically inactive, and even then the expected yield is lower and is discussed before anything is planned.
- 02
Traction that has not stopped
Hair loss from sustained tension — tight braids, weaves, locs, extensions — can partly recover on its own if the traction stops early and the follicles are not yet scarred. Where the styling that caused it will continue, transplanted hair will follow the same path, and we will say so.
- 03
Unstable loss in the early twenties
A hairline designed before the pattern stabilises can look wrong a decade later, when the loss behind it has moved on. Waiting, or treating the cause medically first, is often the better plan.
- 04
A donor area that cannot support the request
Lifetime donor supply is finite and individual. When the coverage being asked for exceeds what the donor area can give, the honest answer is a smaller plan or none — not a bigger session.
- 05
Expectations no procedure can meet
A transplant redistributes hair, it does not create more of it. Where the density being asked for is not achievable, we would rather lose the booking than take the deposit.
An honest read, before you book a flight.
Send three photographs — front, top and back. If you are suitable, you receive a written plan. If you are not, or not yet, you will be told that instead.
This page is general information, not a diagnosis. Individual results vary and no outcome can be guaranteed in advance.