How long does a hair transplant take?

Every person who suffers from hair loss wants to go back to their old days by having hair transplantation. For those who lack information about the hair transplant, there are important questions such as How long does a hair transplant operation take? Is hair transplant surgery difficult or easy? How long does a hair transplant take? those are the most searched questions on the internet. You will find the answer to all of these questions about the hair transplant operation and more in this article.

What are the stages of hair transplant?

Hair transplantation consists of three stages.

1-Before hair transplantation

2-Hair transplantation operation

3-After hair transplantation

Although each stage of these stages has an importance of its own, the most critical one is hair transplant surgery. This stage is important as it will make your hair as you want, or break it and disappoint you.

For such reasons, the hair transplantation phase should occur healthily. Since there is nothing much to do for the patient after a hair transplant, patience is important at this stage.

How long does a hair transplant take?
A hair transplant surgery takes between 6 - 9 hours depending on the follicle number. In a single hair transplant surgery, a maximum of 4 - 5 thousand hairs is transplanted. This number of hairs might take up to 9 hours to transplant. In operations with less hairless area, the time it takes will be shorter.

What affects the hair transplant operation duration?

There are many factors to consider on the hair transplant.

These are the factors that affect hair transplant operation duration.

1- The effect of the hair count on the hair transplant duration: The number of the hair is the most important factor that affects operation duration. For a patient who has lost most of their hair, taking 4 to 5 thousand hairs and transplanting those to the hairless area will take a long time. In operations where less hair is taken and transplanted, the operation will take a short time.

2- The effect of the selected hair transplant technique on the operation time: FUE is the most common hair transplant technique in the world and Turkey. Although the FUT technique is not preferred much, it is still used. In the FUT technique, since the hairy areas from the neck are cut section by section and glued to the hairless area, operations take less time. In the FUE technique, the hair transplantation operation takes longer because the hair follicles are taken from the nape and transplanted to the scalp one by one.

3- Effect of dexterity of the doctor in the surgery duration: The more experienced a hair transplant expert, the more dexterity they will have in hair transplant. Hair transplantation performed by a dexterous specialist is completed in a shorter time. As the hair transplant experts without hair transplant experience cannot move fast, this will affect operation duration.

4- The effect of the number of people performing hair transplant operations on the duration of hair transplant surgery, sometimes the hair transplant operations are conducted by a harmoniously working crowded team while others might be conducted by a single doctor. Hair transplant operations conducted by experienced and harmonious teams will take less if the time is used well.

What are the hair transplant stages?

A hair transplant consists of 8 stages.

1-Determination of the forehead line: The determination of the forehead line in the hair transplant operation, is completed within 15 minutes by receiving the opinion of the patient regarding the issue.

2-Shaving the hair: At this stage, the hair is shaved with a shaver. This phase takes about 5 to 10 minutes.

3-Local anesthesia to the neck: At this stage, local anesthesia is applied to the nape where the hair shall be plucked from. 10 to 15 needles are used for this. 1 hour is enough for anesthesia to take effect and numb the area.

4-Plucking hair follicles: We pluck these, one by one from the nape by using a micromotor. This process takes about 2 hours.

5-Application of local anesthesia to the hairless area: Local anesthesia is applied to the hairless area as well as to the nape. This stage takes about 1 hour with operation and numbness process.

6-Opening hair channels: On the hands of a fast expert, hair channel opening takes 30 minutes.

7-Transplanting the plucked hair follicles: This stage is the longest process in a hair transplant operation. Hair follicles are placed one by one to the opened channels. This process takes 4 hours on average. This period may be shortened if the transplant specialist does their job well. If this process is done by a team this could be even shorter.

8-Bandaging the nape: To stop bleeding after hair transplant operation and to prevent the infection of the damaged nape those areas are bandaged. This stage takes up to 5 minutes.