I'm 14. I slipped, hit my head and got staples. Now it's healed and hair won't grow. What can I do? (Photo)

Hi jahshanti,After falling and having a traumatic injury to your scalp, hair doesn't always grow even after healing due to either damage to the hair follicle or scar tissue.  If you just had your staples removed then you are very early in the healing process and I would wait and see because you may have hair regrowth in the months following.  If however it has been more than 6 months, it's unlikely you will have new hair growth.   If the issue is due to the type of scarring, you may have hypertrophic or keloid scarring which could also be contributing to the lack of hair growth.  Without knowing more history or seeing a clearer picture it is difficult to say.  If this continues to be an issue, I recommend talking with your parents about seeing a plastic surgeon who should be able to evaluate you and let you know about any treatment options.Best of Luck!Dr. Rednam

Hairs do not usually grow on the scar after the laceration has healed.  There may be regular hair growth near the surrounding areas to cover your scar. The only way to have hair grow on the scar is to transplant hair follicles into the scar.

You don't give a time frame.  If this is a recent injury, you may get some regrowth.  Scars tend to get thicker and lumpier for the first 4-6 weeks, then flatten out as they mature over the next 6-12 months.Once the scar matured (usually closer to 12 months for a traumatic wound) you have options, such as revision of the scar (removing it and carefully reclosing) which can result in a much thinner scar that hides well, transplanting hair follicles into the scar or adding micropigmentation to the scar to better mask it.After the scar has matured, visit a surgeon who offers all of those options and discuss which may be best for you.

Traumatic injury to hairy areas such as the scalp or eyebrows can cause hair loss. The site where the hair used to be will be replaced with scar tissue. The scar tissue can be removed and the hair edges are approximated or closed to alleviate the scarred area of scalp containing no hair or a minor hair transplant can be performed at the site of injury.

Hair won't grow in areas where scarring has occurred.  Transplantation of hair follicles can move hair into the scarred area but many times the follicles root poorly and may fall out.  

Your wound was stapled closed so you must wait at least 8 months to see if the scar persists.  We offer Scalp Micropigmentation which is a cosmetic (non-surgical) treatment for scars such as yours. This may be better than a hair transplant which is the other option.  See web reference below for more information.