One of the most common questions many people ask about the hair restoration process is, does my hair in the donor site grow back? A healthy scalp in the donor area might show hair regrowth in a few months. 

The type of hair transplant procedure (FUE or FUT) used to extract hair follicles and how you take care of your donor area after the procedure determines the natural hair growth and the time it takes for the donor area hair to grow back. 

What is the donor area?

During the hair transplantation process, doctors extract hair follicles from a place in your body, called the donor area, and implant them in another place known as the recipient area. Mostly the donor area in the back of your head where you have thick hair. However, hair can be collected from other areas also.

Donor area after hair transplantation

After hair transplantation, you may notice some signs and symptoms appear in the donor area. It requires special treatment to achieve desired results. Here are the signs that appear after transplantation:

• Itching is a common sign in the donor area after extracting hair follicles which appears just like when you have a scar.
• Redness and swelling that appear due to anaesthesia injection will disappear in a few days.
• Mild pain after the procedure can be managed by simple painkillers suggested by the hair transplant surgeon.
• You may observe scabs and blood clots on your skin surface at the donor site, and they are not internal. However, they will be cleaned by the surgeon on the same day in the hospital.

It might take 10 to 15 days for the donor area to heal. Next, a bandage is placed after surgery to the donor area. Once the dressing(bandage) is removed, you will observe small spots on your skin. As the hair grows, all these post-operative signs and symptoms probably disappear after two weeks of hair transplantation during the healing process.

Will Donor Site Hair Grow Back?

In Follicle Unit Excision or FUE procedure, the hair follicles are extracted in groups of 1 to 4 hairs from the donor area to perform the transplant. The hair transplant surgeon extracts the hair follicles strategically by spreading the donor area, so the hair follicles extracted are barely noticeable.

This is because the extracted hair follicles might not grow back in some people. However, the extraction of the hair follicles in the FUE technique makes it impossible to notice scars over time. The surgeon picks hair follicles from the donor area, where the hair is dense.

Whereas in Follicular Unit Transplant, or FUT, the surgeon removes hair surgically from the donor area like a strip. The strips removed during the transplant are very thin and long so that it is difficult to notice. Usually, the hair starts to grow back around the incision, but sometimes the hair grows through the incision patch also and over time the scar becomes invisible. 

Promoting Hair Regrowth in the Donor Area

The donor hair might not grow back for some people who have undergone hair transplantation. However, now technology has developed to promote hair regrowth along the donor area. Advanced therapies like Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and ACell are helping millions of people to regrow their hair along the donor area. The two treatments have been tested for donor scar healing and hair follicle regeneration.

If you have had hair transplantation and if the donor area hair did not grow back, consult our specialists at Best Hair Transplant Clinic in Hyderabad. They will tell you the most effective ways to improve hair growth along the donor area.

We are one of the Best Hair Restoration Centers in Hyderabad. We are committed to helping both men and women improve their appearance through hair transplantation in desired places. Our experienced hair care specialists have been the leaders in the hair transplantation industry for more than two decades. They have done thousands of successful hair transplant procedures not only for Indians but also for people coming from abroad.