SCAR REPAIR
A strip scar that rules out anything short. A donor area that tells a story you did not choose. From an old transplant, an operation or an injury, a visible scalp scar makes decisions for you.
At our Clyde Street clinic in Glasgow city centre, scar repair is assessed and performed personally by Dr Epameinondas Bonaros, from consultation to final review. Repair work is the most honest corner of hair restoration: what it can achieve is real, and so are its limits. Book a consultation, and you will hear both.
The basics
Scar repair uses follicular unit excision (FUE) to implant your own growing hair directly into and around scar tissue. The scar then disappears into the hair that covers it. Follicular units are taken with a sub-millimetre micro punch from the donor zone, which resists DHT (dihydrotestosterone), the hormone behind pattern hair loss. Extraction leaves dot marks rather than a new line. The scars we treat most often are FUT (follicular unit transplantation) strip scars, patchy or overharvested donor areas and plug-era work. We also treat scars from accidents, burns or operations, including neurosurgical ones.
The honest science first: scar tissue has a poorer blood supply than normal scalp. So grafts take less predictably and are placed at a lower density per pass. The goal is camouflage, not erasure. Suitability depends on the scar itself: flat, pale and pliable scars respond best, while thick or keloid-prone scars, which heal raised, need caution. It also depends on donor reserves and on maturity, because scars usually need a year or so to settle before grafting. Active scarring alopecia, an inflammatory condition that attacks follicles, is a hard stop until controlled. Grafting into it fails more often than it succeeds. When scalp micropigmentation (SMP), medication, or simply waiting is the better first step, we say so.
OUR APPROACH
Every repair starts with the scar, not the grafts. Dr Bonaros assesses its thickness, colour, pliability and blood supply, then plans what the tissue can genuinely support. That means conservative density on the first pass, with angles matched to the surrounding growth so the cover blends in. It also means a staged second session where needed, rather than overloading skin that cannot feed it. The person who plans your repair is the person who performs it: every extraction, recipient site and graft, personally. He uses the WAW system's hybrid punch to spare fragile scar tissue.
Repair patients often arrive with a donor area already depleted by earlier surgery, so we treat what remains as the finite resource it is. That means honest numbers, grafts kept in reserve, chilled handling and plain advice when grafting is not the right tool.
WHY PATIENTS CHOOSE FUE
Micro-punch FUE under local anaesthetic, with no stitches: you go home the same day. Repair adds tiny dot marks, never another line.
Back at a desk within days, exercising within about two weeks, and surrounding hair usually keeps the healing repair private from day one.
DHT-resistant grafts are placed into and around the scar, blended with your growth direction. Wash, cut and style it as normal. Survival in scar tissue is lower than in a healthy scalp, and results build over 12 to 18 months.
Dr Bonaros personally performs every stage, and every review happens at our Clyde Street clinic in Glasgow. Accountability for your results never changes hands.
THE PROCEDURE
Dr Bonaros examines the scar itself and assesses how much healthy donor hair remains, especially after previous surgery. He tells you honestly what coverage is achievable, and over how many sessions. You receive a realistic graft estimate and a fixed written quote setting out what is included. The itemised quote from the doctor who examined you is the only number that matters.
Preparation instructions follow. Never stop prescribed medicines without your prescriber's advice.
1. The scar and its blend zone are mapped and photographed. The donor area is clipped as agreed.
2. Local anaesthetic: a brief sting, then numbness. From here, most patients feel pressure, not pain.
3. Dr Bonaros extracts the follicular units one by one. Grafts go straight into a chilled solution.
4. Grafts are placed into and around the scar at a density the tissue can support, angled to match surrounding growth.
5. You go home the same day with your aftercare pack and direct clinic contacts.
6. Repair sessions are often smaller. Most take three to six hours.
Sleep slightly propped up for the first nights, and wash gently from day two or three. Scabs lift over seven to 10 days, grafts are secure by day 10 to 14, and exercise resumes from about two weeks.
Transplanted hairs shed between weeks two and eight, which is normal. Growth in scar tissue starts later and builds more gradually than in a healthy scalp. Judge the result at 12 to 18 months, not six. A planned second pass follows once the first has matured.
Temporary swelling, itching and numbness are expected, while serious problems are uncommon, and all risks are discussed before consent. Reviews run through your first year. Our FUE recovery timeline explains each stage.
1. Spreading redness, heat or swelling.
2. Pain increases after day three instead of easing.
3. Discharge from graft sites or a fever.
General information only: advice becomes personal at your consultation.
Patient stories
Results
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, provided the scar is healthy and mature, and the grafts are placed with care. Scar tissue has a poorer blood supply than the normal scalp, so transplanted follicles take longer to take root. They are implanted at a more conservative density, sometimes over two sessions. In the right scar, the result is real, growing hair through skin that previously had none.
This is the repair we perform most often. FUE grafts are implanted directly into and along the strip scar so it disappears into the surrounding hair. The approach avoids adding any new linear scar. Where the strip scar is wide or stretched, Dr Bonaros will tell you honestly what coverage each session can achieve.
No, and any clinic promising complete removal should be treated with caution. Grafting camouflages a scar with growing hair rather than erasing the tissue itself. The improvement is dramatic at normal hair lengths, but a grade-zero shave will still reveal most scars. We show healed results at the consultation so you can judge the realistic outcome for yourself.
Less than in a healthy scalp, and less predictably, because scar tissue carries a reduced blood supply. This is exactly why we graft conservatively on the first pass. We stage a second where needed, rather than crowding grafts into tissue that cannot feed them. Your scar's thickness and pliability are assessed at consultation before any numbers are promised.
FUT strip scars, patchy or overharvested donor areas from earlier FUE, old plug-era transplants and scars from injury, burns or operations, including neurosurgical ones. Thick, raised or keloid-prone scars require particular caution and sometimes a different plan. Flat, pale and pliable scars respond best.
Not while it is active. Scarring (cicatricial) alopecia is an inflammatory condition in which the immune system attacks the follicles. Grafting into active disease typically results in fewer than half of the transplanted follicles surviving, with a risk of further inflammation and hair loss. It most often affects women between their 30s and 50s. Control the condition first with your doctor or dermatologist. Once it has been stable, repair can be reassessed.
A scar needs to be fully mature before it can support grafts, which usually means around a year after the surgery or injury, sometimes longer. Grafting too early into tissue that is still remodelling wastes grafts you may not be able to spare. Dr Bonaros will examine the scar and tell you plainly whether it is ready or worth waiting.
Sometimes. Because scar tissue supports lower graft densities per pass, larger or wider scars are often best treated in two stages. The second follows once the first has matured, at around 12 months. Planning this honestly from the start protects both your donor supply and your result.
The only genuinely uncomfortable part is the local anaesthetic itself: small injections that sting for a few seconds before the area goes numb. From then on, most patients feel pressure and movement rather than pain. Repair sessions are usually smaller than full transplants, so most take three to six hours, including a break. Any soreness afterwards typically settles within days with simple pain relief.
It depends on the scar and on you. SMP shades the scar to match the surrounding stubble and suits very short styles or depleted donor areas, but it adds pigment, not hair. Grafting adds real, growing coverage. Some patients do best with a combination. We offer scalp micropigmentation at the clinic. So the advice you get is about the right tool for your scar, not the one we happen to sell.
Pricing depends on the size of the scar and the grafts your plan needs, typically around £4 per graft, though case complexity can affect the final cost. That is why we quote only after Dr Bonaros has examined you. You receive a fixed written quote setting out exactly what is included. Rather than publishing headline prices that rarely reflect real cases, we wait until your plan is in place and give you an itemised figure.
Yes, and much of our repair work follows surgery done elsewhere, at home and abroad. You will get an honest assessment, never a lecture. Wherever you have repair work, check the doctor on the General Medical Council (GMC) register and ask to see healed scar-repair results. Confirm the clinic's regulation too. In Scotland, independent clinics are regulated by Healthcare Improvement Scotland. Having your repair in Glasgow also means that every review and any concerns between reviews are handled in person, close to home.
Dr Epameinondas Bonaros, personally. He is a GMC-registered doctor (GMC number 7566786) and a verified Diplomate of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery (ABHRS). He is also a full member of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS). He assesses your scar, performs the extraction, creates the recipient sites and places the grafts. He then sees you himself at every follow-up review. Nothing is delegated to technicians.
About the Medical Reviewer
Dr Bonaros is a GMC-registered doctor, an ABHRS Diplomate and a full member of the ISHRS. He has dedicated his career to surgical hair restoration and personally performs every stage of each procedure, from hairline design to graft placement. This page has been written and reviewed to ensure it is accurate, balanced and patient-focused.
