Follicular unit hair restoration is planned around your hairline and density.
A hair transplant moves your own follicles from the back and sides of the scalp, where hair is resistant to hormonal loss, to areas that have thinned. It is a day-care procedure under local anaesthesia. New growth begins at three to four months and the result matures at around twelve.
Clinics compete on numbers, and it is the wrong measure. A well designed hairline with three thousand grafts looks far better than a poorly designed one with four thousand. Placement, angle and density gradient are what make hair look like it grew there.
The hairline must also be designed for the face you will have in twenty years, not the one in the mirror today. Set it too low and too straight, and it looks convincing at thirty and strange at fifty, by which time the donor area has been spent. A slightly conservative hairline ages properly.
The follicles at the back and sides are genetically resistant to hormonal thinning, which is why they keep growing after transplant. However, that area is finite. Once harvested, it does not regenerate.
This is why a plan across your lifetime matters more than one big session. Someone at twenty five with aggressive loss and a modest donor area may be advised to start medical treatment first and delay surgery, because using the donor area early leaves nothing for later. That advice loses a booking and protects the patient, which is the right trade.
The procedure takes most of a day under local anaesthesia. You go home the same evening. Small crusts form around each graft and clear within about ten days, and most people return to work within a week.
Then comes the part nobody warns patients about. The transplanted hairs shed at two to four weeks. This is normal and expected, the follicle stays. Regrowth starts at three to four months, thickens through six to nine, and the final result appears at about twelve months.
| Factor | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Number of grafts | Priced by graft, so the area covered drives most of the cost |
| Technique | Follicular unit extraction differs in time and cost from strip harvesting |
| Sessions needed | Extensive loss may need staging across more than one session |
| Anaesthesia | Usually local anaesthesia with sedation as required |
| Aftercare | Medicines, washes and review visits during the first months |
These pages answer the questions that most often come up alongside this one.
Pricing is normally per graft, so the total depends on how large an area is being covered and how many grafts that needs. Technique and whether more than one session is planned also matter. A written estimate is given after the scalp is examined and a graft count agreed.
The transplanted follicles come from areas resistant to hormonal loss, so they usually keep growing long term. However, untransplanted hair around them can continue to thin, which is why medical treatment is often advised alongside to protect what you still have.
Local anaesthetic injections sting briefly at the start. After that the scalp is numb and the procedure is not painful, although sitting for several hours is tiring. Mild soreness for a day or two afterwards is usual and settles with simple painkillers.
Shedding at two to four weeks is expected and alarms almost everybody. The hair shaft falls but the follicle remains and enters a resting phase. Growth restarts at three to four months. It is not a sign that the transplant has failed.
Most people return to work within a week, once the small crusts have cleared. Gym work waits about two weeks, and swimming or direct sun exposure a little longer.
Many patients need only one. Extensive loss, or loss that continues over the years, may need a second session later. Planning for that from the start is what protects the donor area.
Infection, poor graft survival, visible scarring in the donor area, temporary numbness, and shock loss of surrounding hair. Most are uncommon. Smoking and poorly controlled diabetes raise the risk of graft failure noticeably.
Hair restoration for pattern hair loss is cosmetic and is not covered. Reconstruction of hair after burns, trauma or scarring may be considered in some policies, and the team can assist with documentation.
Published with written patient consent and shown for education rather than promotion. Every case is different and these images are not a promise of results.
Consultations at Kiran Hospital, Katargam, Surat. Outstation and NRI patients can request a video consultation before travelling.