Question: I am 28 years old and would like to have a hair transplant. I am embarrassed to admit that I have quite a bit of anxiety about the procedure. Is the transplant painful? Will I be awake?
Answer: Most hair transplantation is performed with the patient sedated, but not under full general anesthesia. The patient is in various levels of a sleep-like state throughout the procedure, depending on how much medication is given. However, once the scalp has been numbed with injections of local anesthesia, the patient will not experience any pain and the amount of sedation medication can be decreased. Oftentimes, patients are kept somewhat sedated throughout most of the procedure to help relax them and minimize restlessness during long procedures. Most patients report or recall little or no pain during their procedure.