You’ve done your research on what to expect with hair transplant surgery, viewed before and after photos, and are almost ready to schedule your procedure. At that point, the next question is usually, how long doe a hair transplant surgery take?
Well, plan on the whole day. At Utah Facial Plastics, we start our first case at 7:30 am, with a second around 10:30. This allows time to extract the grafts for the first case before moving on to the next. Grafts are obtained by either removing a strip from the back of the head (FUT), or extracting them one by one with NeoGraft (FUE). This also gives time for Dr. Thompson to draw in the frontal hairline outline, if being filled in that day.
After grafts are obtained, recipient sites are created by Dr. Thompson, sometimes with the help of his technicians, in the bald areas for the grafts to be placed in. Once the sites are done and the each graft has been counted, prepared, and separated depending on the number of hairs are in the follicle, they are then placed into the sites. A head wrap is placed and can be removed after 24 hours.
The length of the hair transplant surgery depends on how many grafts are being transplanted. The average case will take approximately 6-8 hours from start to finish. Patients are awake but we do give them Valium to help them relax throughout the procedure. We have Netflix as well to watch some movies on with it being such a long procedure. Patients can bring their own music or mobile device for entertainment as well.
We also provide lunch and snacks through out the day and patients are welcome to have family members come and wait and visit them in the room periodically. All patients do need a ride home when the surgery is complete and cannot drive themselves.
Another popular question is, how much does hair transplant surgery cost? That also depends on the number of grafts Dr. Thompson recommends. You can read more about the cost of hair transplant surgery HERE.
Watch this video to learn more about the process and how long a transplant surgery takes. Call (801)776-2220 or contact us here for a consultation to see if hair transplant surgery is right for you.