Is Facial Swelling a Common Occurence Following a Hair Transplant?

A close friend of mine had a hair transplant and I noted some serious swelling around the face immediately afterward. I did not expect a transplant to produce that degree of facial swelling. Is that normal or is this just a rare case? If it’s rare, why do you think this occurred? Was it the surgery or the medication he was on after? It doesn’t speak to any problem with the grafts, right?

I’m considering a hair transplant but I want to use styling to hide the transplants while they heal — I can’t hide a swollen face, though.

Facial swelling can occur after a hair transplant from either the surgical procedure or just from an anesthetic alone, and it could be quite obvious in some cases. It’s not terribly common to see a large amount of swelling, though I’m not sure to what degree you consider the swelling to be “serious”.

The swelling is more of an annoyance than anything, and it doesn’t signify a problem with the surgery, healing, or future graft growth.

To minimize this risk, I use a single large dose of steroids at the time of the surgery or scalp anesthetic, and it usually prevents its occurrence. We rarely see it, but it does occur from time to time. When it occurs, it usually lasts a couple of days.