Most of us have scars, and they can be unsightly, especially when located in hair-baring areas like the face or scalp. Some scars fade over time, but if you have a large or prominent scar that you’re unhappy with, there are ways to minimize its appearance. You can also conceal it with products such as hair fibers and concealers that cling to your natural hair to create the appearance of thicker, fuller hair. Or, you can opt for a layered haircut to camouflage the scars. You may even choose to have a hair transplant to cover your scars with follicular units extracted from the healthy surrounding hair.
But why doesn’t hair grow on scars? Hair follicles live in the skin, and when the skin is damaged during injury or burn scarring, they are typically destroyed. This means that even if there are hairs in the area they won’t be able to regrow hair as they can’t get the nutrients and blood supply they need to thrive from the scar tissue.
Hair transplants can be performed on scars, but it’s more challenging than a standard procedure. This is because scar tissue tends to be thick and dense, which makes it difficult for hair follicles to survive in it. However, there are a few techniques that can be used to improve the thickness of the scar and make it more receptive to hair growth, such as thinning the scar with steroid injections or debulking the scar by removing bits of it before putting in new follicular units.