FUE hair transplant donor area. 12 days out. Should I be concerned? (Photo)

Just like any other form of hair transplant surgery, follicular unit extraction (or FUE) is NOT a “scarless” technique and will result in some degree of scarring, regardless of what you may have heard. Whenever an incision is made in the skin some degree of scarring will always result. While it is true that an FUE procedure does not produce a single linear scar like follicular unit grafting (or FUG), it will produce dozens of tiny, circular scars throughout the donor area which can potentially be even more noticeable. One of the most important elements of any successful hair transplant procedure is making sure that those scars are as small and faint as possible, and this requires a surgeon with a great deal of skill and experience.
Fortunately, most scars do gradually fade over time, but every patient heals at their own rate, so it can be difficult to tell whether your case is atypical without a thorough examination. Even though recovery time after hair transplantation is usually minimal, some patients do experience redness and itching two weeks or even a month after their procedure. The symptoms you describe are typically signs that the scalp is healing, but it is difficult to know for sure based solely on the pictures that you have provided. I would recommend that you reach out to the surgeon who performed your procedure to make sure that you are not experiencing a mild post-operative infection, such as common folliculitis. As with any form of surgery, I would also encourage you to attend all post-surgical follow-up visits, take all prescribed medications, and carefully adhere to the hair maintenance plan that you formulated with your doctor prior to your procedure.

It is normal for the donor region to look thin and a bit red just 12 days post op. Don't worry, it will continue healing and thicken up over time.