Correcting a Failed Hair Transplant: What Is Possible and What Is Not

Not every hair transplant succeeds. A hairline set too low, visible individual grafts, an over-harvested donor area or scars from older strip surgery can be repaired, but repair is harder than a first procedure.

The most common reasons for correction

A hairline set too low or too straight

A straight line across the forehead looks artificial, because a natural hairline is irregular. Set too low, it stops suiting the face as you age.

Visible individual grafts, the doll's-hair pattern

This happens when grafts that are too large are placed too far apart in the front row.

An over-harvested donor area

If too much was taken at once, the back of the head looks thinned. This is the hardest case, because material is missing.

Scars after FUT

Older strip procedures leave a linear scar that can often be camouflaged with individual grafts.

What makes a correction harder

• The donor area has already been used once, so less material is available
• Scarred tissue in the recipient area has poorer blood supply
• Badly placed grafts sometimes have to be removed or relocated before new ones go in
• Two sessions with a gap between them are often necessary

What is realistically achievable

In many cases the appearance can be improved substantially: softening and irregularising the hairline, filling gaps, camouflaging scars. A result that looks as though there had never been a first procedure is not always possible. Anyone promising you that without an examination should make you suspicious.

The first step

A correction starts with a sober assessment: how much donor material is left, how much scarring there is, and what can be achieved with what remains. We give that assessment at the consultation in Austria, including when it means less is possible than you hoped.

For how a treatment runs, see the procedure page.