Severe Pain at the Donor Area Months After My Hair Transplant

Hello doctor. My question is an honest one and one that hasn’t been asked before.

I had a hair transplant 2 and a half months ago but I still have a lot of pain above the linear scar (when I press it) and also the sensitivity on the top of my head in terrible and is constant. It’s like my hair is being pulled. My surgeon said in 17 years he has no idea what is causing it and never had this problem before. There is also a gap of about 10mm where the scar is and said he said to me he can do a scar reduction in a year. I am so sorry I had this procedure done as the pain is not letting up.

It sounds like you may have a scar entrapment (nerves squeezed by scar) or damage to the occipital nerves in the scarred area. I have had patients report symptoms like what you’re describing when they had a nerve entrapment. Sometimes, a scar will form around the occipital nerves just from the strip surgery, or the nerves could be mechanically damaged, or even partially or completely cut.

Doctors who will examine you will look for something we call a Tenels’s sign, which simply produces some of the symptoms as the doctor taps the area above the nerve. Surgery is a last resort to fix the problem if it is just induced by the scar. If the nerve is cut completely, a surgery most likely wouldn’t help.