Facial Hair Transplant Healing Process

Facial hair transplant is a procedure that helps restore facial hair in the areas where the hairs are missing or have started thinning. This procedure is mostly performed on mustache and goatee area, but if you have hair thinning or patchy spots in the beard, sideburns, or cheeks, you can also benefit from a facial hair transplant.

Facial hair transplant involves extracting hair follicles from the rear of the head using either FUE or FUT hair harvesting technique and transplanting them into the areas of need on the face. Like a conventional hair transplant, the recovery process of facial hair transplant is also quite lengthy and needs your patience and care for a quick and uneventful recovery.

The healing process starts immediately after the hair transplant and within 5 to 7 days, substantial healing has already taken place. While complete healing may take a couple of months, most of the surgery evidences fades away by the 14^th day following a facial hair transplant. Here is a day by day guide about the facial hair transplant healing process.

Day Following the Surgery:

• Transplanted area: Wash the transplanted areas gently but thoroughly to make sure treated areas are free any blood
• Donor area: Expect the donor area to remain sore, itchy, and tight. Numbness is also a possibility

Days 2-3:

• Transplanted area: Scabbing and moderate redness can be witnessed. Some swelling may also appear on and around the treated areas.
• Donor area: Discomfort in the donor area begins to disappear; however, some numbness may persist

Days 4-6:

• Transplanted area: Swelling will start settling down and the recipient area will start healing quickly
• Donor area: Crusting on the donor area starts coming off. Any remaining crust or scab can be scrubbed off through gentle massaging while you shampoo your beard. Directly running water over it will also help

End of Week 1:

• Transplanted area: Swelling should have completely subsided. Redness and other evidence will also fade away completely by the end of week 1.
• Donor area: Continue applying any prescription medication to ensure complete healing of the donor area.

Day 10:

• Transplanted area: The grafts are permanently fixed in place and will not dislodge. You should have returned to a normal routine by this time.
• Donor area: If taken proper care and post-op instructions followed properly, the donor area should have recovered more than 70% by this time, but it should still be protected against any trauma or damage.

Facial Hair Transplant post-op care:

• Sleep with your head elevated on the night of procedure and the next few nights
• Do not wash your face for 24 hours at least
• After 24 hours shampoo your beard very gently and carefully
• Avoid touching the transplanted area for 10 to 14 days
• Do not massage your beard for at least 10 days following the surgery
• Avoid strenuous exercises for a couple of weeks at least
• Avoid taking any blood thinners for 7 to 10 days after facial hair transplant
• Smoking should be strictly avoided for 2 to 3 weeks after the transplant
• Avoid alcohol for 3 to 5 days after the procedure