People may experience swelling in the areas of the scalp, forehead, and eyes due to the hair transplantation methods used to transplant hair. It is completely normal to experience swelling following hair transplantation. Various reasons may cause these swellings, but it is important to note that they are related to hair transplantation. To be more precise, swelling is common after hair transplantation and is observed in almost every patient.
The doctor says that swelling is extremely normal after a hair transplant procedure.
In patients who have had hair transplants, swelling occurs immediately after the procedure and occurs at different sites for different people. However, it is possible to reduce swelling by following a few precautions suggested by the experts, which also speeds up the recovery time.
The Main Reasons for Swelling Post Hair Transplantation
Swelling after a hair transplant has a variety of reasons. Here are some of the most common causes and their explanations:
Serum
It requires some space between the scalp and skull in the area of hair transplantation. To create that space, a kind of serum is injected into the scalp during the procedure. This gap makes it possible to transplant hair follicles more comfortably and increases the chances that transplanted hair will be healthy.
The serum is injected into the scalp after giving anaesthesia. It is not possible to remove this serum immediately once hair transplantation has been completed. This may result in oedema and may cause swelling in the scalp area based on the amount of serum injected.
Once the patient gets out of bed and wanders around, the swelling on the scalp will change. Due to gravity, the serum is forced down the scalp and settles in the eye areas. This is why hair transplant specialists instruct their patients not to bend their heads forward for the first few days following hair transplantation. Swelling can extend to the temples after hair transplant surgery in patients who ignore this warning.
The amount of serum to be given depends on the size of the head and the area to be transplanted. Therefore, the level of swelling varies from person to person, and more serum injected means more swelling.
Hair Transplantation
Hair transplantation itself is another cause of swelling post-surgery. The procedure involves opening a large number of micro-channels in the scalp as part of FUE hair transplantation. The process might look simple, but it is surgery and requires surgical skills. The channels created in the scalp are referred to as a small trauma, and your body will work hard to speed up their healing. Therefore, the impact received by your body and its desire to heal the wounds themselves concentrate on this area, which results in a small amount of swelling eventually.
Anaesthesia
Drugs used for anaesthesia that are directly injected into your scalp before hair transplantation can also lead to swelling post-surgery. The level of swelling varies from person to person based on the amount of anaesthesia and drugs used. Additionally, allergic reactions caused by the agents in the drugs and oedema caused by them might also contribute to inflammation.
If you observe the causes mentioned above, the fluids injected into the scalp could be the main reason for swelling, and the other effects play a limited role in causing swelling.
How Long Does Swelling Last After Hair Transplantation?
Because swelling after hair transplantation is a natural reaction and cannot be completely avoided, the question is, when does swelling go away after transplantation. We can say that each person has a different answer to this question. This is because the time taken to subside the swelling is different for everyone. It strictly depends on your general health and the precautions you take after hair transplantation. However, in general, one can expect to go away the swelling within 3 to 5 days post hair transplantation.
Within this period, if the swelling doesn’t go away or is not reduced, and if you observe symptoms like pain, rashes, and high fever on your scalp, consult your hair transplant surgeon as soon as possible. To know more detailed information about hair transplants, consult our experienced hair transplant surgeons in Peshawar & Islamabad at Cosmetic Expert.