With today’s advanced hair transplantation procedures, everyone who seeks hair restoration surgery should get the result they expect. Unfortunately, choosing the wrong surgeon—or a practice where an unlicensed, unqualified technician performs the procedure—can produce an outcome ranging from disappointing to disastrous.
According to the “Anna Karenina Principle,” in order for a complex outcome to be successful, all necessary factors must be in place. If even one factor is missing, the outcome will be a failure. This definitely applies to hair replacement surgery, which accounts for why bad transplants are still performed. By the way, this principle gets its name from the Leon Tolstoy novel, Anna Karenina, the first line of which is, “Every happy family is alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
Visual Signs of a Bad Hair Transplant
Although each botched hair transplant is botched in its own way, there are some common types of bad outcomes—and the reasons they occur:
An unnatural-looking hairline — A male hairline that is too straight, too low, or too dense looks unnatural and can be a sign of poor planning or technique. Dr. Marco Barusco—Founder and Chief Medical Officer at Tempus Hair Restoration—provides his insight into the importance of creating a hairline that has the appearance of natural growth.
“There are no straight lines on the human body. You don’t want to put anything in a straight line because it doesn’t look natural. You want to create variability. If I just design a hairline and go straight into the hair without creating a soft transition to the temples, it’s going to look artificial. The effect will be so obvious that people will either know you’ve had a transplant, or think you’re wearing a hairpiece. Neither is a desirable outcome.”
A “pluggy” or “doll’s head” appearance — Older techniques used larger grafts, which can make the transplanted hair look like unnatural clumps. While this type of outcome is generally associated with hair transplants performed in the 1980s, they can still occur today. As our blog post — “Can a “Pluggy” Hair Transplant be Corrected?” — explains, the new generation of men seeking a hair transplant procedure tend to favor a more forward hairline, rather than the high M-shaped hairline characteristic of a mature man. In the hands of a surgeon who has a poor sense of how to place hair grafts to avoid a straight-across look, the growth pattern appears “off,” with the hairs seeming to grow up from the hairline instead of subtly blending in.
Dr. Barusco also addresses this issue on his YouTube channel, Hair Loss Medical Advice, in the video — “Options to Correct a Pluggy Hair Transplant” — in which he answers a viewer’s question regarding his own poor outcome.
Poor hair growth direction — Grafts placed at the wrong angle or direction can result in hair growing in an awkward way, which is especially noticeable in the hairline.
Sparse areas — Noticeable gaps or uneven coverage in the recipient area can result from sparse graft placement or the grafts not taking properly.
Visible scarring — Botched procedures can leave behind large, visible scars in the donor area—particularly from older follicular unit transplantation (FUT) techniques—or scarring in the recipient area.
“Moth-eaten” appearance of the donor area — This refers to a patchy, visibly thin appearance in the scalp’s donor region after a hair transplant, caused by overharvesting grafts. This can happen if too many grafts are extracted, especially using the follicular unit extraction (FUE) method, where the small circular extraction sites become visible and the area looks sparse or uneven—particularly when the hair is cut short.
Pitted appearance — Implanting hair grafts too deeply in the scalp can cause the healed skin to have small indentations or pits.
Do You Have to Live with a Bad Hair Transplant?
In many cases, an experienced, skilled hair restoration surgeon can mitigate the poor aesthetic outcome of an ineptly performed transplant. Understandably, some may be reluctant to seek help because they don’t want to make matters worse, but you’ll never know what’s possible unless you learn your options.
For those in need of a corrective procedure, Dr. Barusco meets with every client during their one-on-one consultation, which is essential in deciding the best treatment plan. Once he develops the plan, Dr. Barusco discusses it with the client at length before scheduling surgery. On the day of the procedure, he takes as much time as needed to make sure the client understands and agrees with the treatment plan before proceeding. Our blog post — “Undoing the Damage of Bad Hair Transplants” — covers Dr. Barusco’s corrective surgery approach in detail.
Choose Your Surgeon Wisely to Ensure Your Corrective Hair Transplant Achieves the Desired Result
Keeping in mind the afore-mentioned Anna Karenina Principle, in order for a hair transplant to be successful, all necessary factors must be in place. If you’re living with a bad hair transplant, don’t resign yourself to a lifetime of disappointment and resentment!
As our practice has learned from patients who come to Dr. Barusco for corrective surgery, most of those who were unhappy with the result of their initial procedure made cost the driving factor in their decision. We always emphasize to potential clients that skill and experience in hair transplantation and hair loss diagnosis should be the basis upon choosing a surgeon. We offer many financing options to place a hair transplant by Dr. Barusco within reach.
Ultimately, it is important to select your surgeon based on experience, results and integrity. Dr. Barusco’s long list of accomplishments, his notable artistic ability and his successful surgical team make Tempus Hair Restoration a renowned practice worldwide. Contact us to schedule your free virtual consultation. Dr. Barusco conducts every consultation himself, giving you the opportunity to learn your options in the comfort of your home – or any location, on any internet-enabled device.
Dr. Barusco conducts consultations in English, Spanish and Portuguese. For your greater convenience, Tempus Hair Restoration offers a two-night complimentary hotel stay to out-of-town clients who travel 100 miles or more to our Port Orange, Florida, surgical center. No matter how far the distance, we welcome the opportunity to help you on your hair restoration journey!