There’s a common misconception that the hair used in hair transplantation is donated by a third party. However, the hair transplanted actually comes from your own body. This is called donor hair, and it’s taken from areas that have healthy hair growth (such as the back of the head, or the beard).
Unfortunately, when too many donor hair follicles are taken, it can give you bad hair transplant results and prevent you from having future hair transplant procedures. This is known as hair transplant overharvesting.
Learn more here about how damaging overharvesting is and how can you avoid it.
Overharvesting happens when hair transplant surgeons overestimate how many hair grafts you need for a successful hair restoration surgery. They extract too many hair follicles from the back of your head, leading to unnecessary scarring, patchy hair growth, and insufficient follicles for follow-up procedures.
Experts say surgeons shouldn’t remove more than 1 in 4 follicular units for a hair transplant [1].
The most common reasons for overharvesting include:
FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) surgery is a harvesting technique that requires the utmost precision and skill [2]. An FUE hair transplant is a physically demanding task for any surgeon, so it shouldn’t be left to inexperienced or unlicensed practitioners.
Bad hair transplants and overharvesting are more likely to occur in clinics that fail to adhere to basic safety practices and medical regulations. Unfortunately, some clinics save time and money by using unlicensed technicians to perform hair restoration surgery.
The chair of the ISHRS reports that some hair transplant clinics in Turkey have taxi drivers and other unqualified people performing surgery [3]. So it’s easy to see how overharvesting can happen if you choose a subpar clinic.
When you have a hair transplant abroad, clinics don’t usually expect to see you again after the surgery. By using overharvesting methods, they can boost your initial results in the recipient area and send you home a satisfied customer.
However, since transplant recovery is a long process (with permanent results not usually visible until a few months after the procedure) this may not indicate your actual results.
Most people who need corrective surgery then turn to more reputable clinics in their home country to get the results they want. If too many hair follicles have been harvested from the donor area, follow-up procedures may be difficult or even impossible, even for experienced surgeons. Nearly all ISHRS members (96.4%) reported that up to 25% of their corrective cases were due to a black-market hair transplant [4].
Hair transplantation surgery is very safe if your surgeon manages your donor area well. If you’re considering a hair restoration surgery, take a look at what a successful hair transplant looks like months after the surgery, the costs involved, and the coverage you can expect with different hair graft quantities:
Overharvesting can result in not only damage to the donor site but also create unnatural-looking results. So if you have been battling hair loss conditions like female pattern hair loss or male pattern baldness and are looking for a permanent solution in the form of hair restoration surgery, it’s very important to not make the situation worse by getting a botched hair transplant.
Some risks and complications associated with an over-harvested donor area are listed below.
Overharvesting often leads to permanent damage to the donor area [1]. This can result in hair transplant scars and lack of growth after your hair transplant. Not only is this aesthetically unappealing, but it also makes it very obvious that you’ve had a hair transplant which is something most patients are keen to avoid.
Overharvesting also reduces the available hair follicles you may need for subsequent hair transplants. While most patients achieve the desired results within one procedure, 31.9% of patients require 2 or 3 surgeries to restore their scalp hair [4]. This becomes impossible if there aren’t enough follicles in your donor area to perform additional procedures.
Overharvesting can also lead to additional hair shedding. While transplant shedding is a normal part of hair transplant recovery, research has found that some patients lost additional hair in the donor area following follicular overharvesting [1]. In most cases, the additional hair loss was temporary, lasting just a few weeks.
Image credit: Complications in Hair Transplantation
There are also medical risks to overharvesting, such as necrosis and infection. Hypopigmentation — a lightening of the skin tone in the affected areas — can also occur [5]. Read more about hair transplant risks and what you can do to avoid them.
While it’s up to your surgeon to use the correct procedures and techniques to prevent overharvesting, there are things you can do to ensure your donor area remains healthy after hair transplant surgery.
The best way to reduce the risk of overharvesting is to work with an experienced, licensed surgeon. Don’t be duped by flashy websites and chauffeur-driven airport pickups. Instead, find out exactly who will be performing your surgery, what their success rates are, and what qualifications they have.
If possible, read testimonials from other patients and take a look at some before and after images to get a sense of the surgeon’s knowledge and skill.
An in-person consultation is the best way to gauge the expertise of your chosen clinic. The consultant can fully examine the extent of your hair loss and give you an accurate graft quote based on this.
87% of UK clinics offer a free consultation, giving you the chance to ask as many questions as you like. Ask about the procedure itself, and find out how they minimise the risk of overharvesting.
The donor area should always be mapped out on your scalp before any hairs are extracted, so you can see exactly how many hair grafts will be taken.
We recommend you get graft quotes from a range of clinics, so you can be sure the number of extracted hair grafts isn’t being artificially inflated to boost the price of the transplant. We found instances of this in our recent UK hair transplant cost analysis — so do what you can to protect yourself from shady clinics operating both in the UK and abroad.
Hair transplants are a very successful way to restore lost or thinning hair however they won’t prevent continued hair loss. For this, you normally need medication (such as Finasteride or Dutasteride) or a topical solution like Minoxidil. Applied regularly, these solutions can slow or even stop hair loss from male pattern baldness.
When your hair loss is under control, you may be less likely to need an additional transplant. So even if your surgeon takes a few too many follicles from the donor area, there should be less impact on your overall results.
Most patients hope they’ll see amazing results after just one procedure but unfortunately, hair transplants can sometimes fail. That’s why it’s so important to preserve your donor area and protect it from overharvesting.
Discuss the possibility of future transplants with your consultant and your surgeon. If they’re aware of your concerns, they can take extra care to protect the follicles in your donor area, and only extract as many as they need.
If a previous surgeon has already overharvested your follicles, they may discuss the possibility of an artificial hair transplant such as Biofibre.
Hair transplants are one of the safest, most successful cosmetic procedures when performed by an experienced hair transplant surgeon in a clean environment.
If you’re considering a hair transplant, read our hair transplant clinic reviews to see how the Wimpole Clinic prioritises patient safety and gets remarkable results.
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