They tolerate the injections of the local anesthetic well. They are not bothered at all by the procedure. In fact they often watch television or read magazines, being awake and alert the whole time. Hair transplant surgery is surely less painful than it was in earlier times when larger sections of scalp were excised. How Are Follicular Units Used in Hair Transplant Surgery? Certain doctors have been aware of follicular units for a long time now, but the knowledge only recently made its way into hair transplant methods. Now these ideas are being used in hair restoration every day. To understand how follicular units have affected hair transplant surgery practices, it is necessary to first understand what a follicular unit is. The patient will be asked to bring, or will be given, a baseball cap for the ride home from the hair transplant procedure. The doctor will want to see how the grafts are doing the day following the hair transplant. The patient will go in for a check-up so that any problems can be corrected quickly. If that is not possible, at least plans can be made to correct them at a future time. For a light-skinned man with light-colored hair, or a dark-skinned man with dark colored hair, it takes a certain amount of hair to cover the baldness. However, a light-skinned man with very dark hair will need much more hair to provide the same amount of coverage. You should figure that the average number of hair transplant grafts needed to cover a balding area is 25% of the original hair that was there. If the hair transplant procedure is done well, the scar will not be noticeable even if the patient likes to wear his hair in a short style. The scar will only become unsightly if the patient is genetically predisposed to keloid scarring. People who have this kind of problem need special treatment. If a patient is known to suffer from keloid scarring, the first thing a reputable doctor will do before hair transplant surgery is to explain the possibility of unsightly scars. They might show you photos that they have taken using lighting tricks to make the hair look thicker and healthier than it is. It is often hard to spot such tricks, but knowing that some surgeons do them will help you to watch out for them. You will get some good advice if you go to certain associations for assistance.