Risks and who should not have a transplant

This is surgery — treat it like surgery

A hair transplant is a surgical procedure and carries real risk. Going ahead without proper screening not only risks a poor cosmetic result — it can create genuine safety problems.

Who should not have a transplant (for now, or at all)

The clinic advises against proceeding if any of the following apply:

1. Keloid-prone / scar-prone constitution
2. Inflammatory skin disease, including chronic radiation dermatitis, purulent (pus-forming) skin infections, recurrent herpes simplex, significantly inflamed acne, xeroderma pigmentosum, and similar conditions
3. Blood disorders or abnormal clotting
4. Psychiatric conditions or significant psychological disorders that would interfere with informed consent, realistic expectations, or aftercare
5. Severe diabetes, heart or lung disease, or severe hypertension
6. Poor donor-area hair quality combined with very high expectations — when the achievable result can't meet what you're hoping for, the honest answer is not to operate

Several of these are temporary states (healing scars, active skin inflammation, unstable telogen effluvium after childbirth or major stress) — "not now" rather than "never". All of them are decisions for a licensed physician after an in-person examination, not for a website.

Complications covered elsewhere in this guide

• Post-operative swelling of the head and face — see the recovery guide
• Fluid oozing and infection risk — see the recovery guide
• Donor-area scarring — see the recovery guide
• Low graft survival — see the results guide