A TikTok user recently went viral after sharing the unexpected side effects of his hair transplant, joking that the swelling made him resemble “an alien.”
The creator, Kanah Flex—a dancer and artist—documented his cosmetic procedure on TikTok. His candid humor and transparency quickly caught people’s attention. Right away, he clarified that he hadn’t traveled abroad for surgery.
“For everyone asking, no—I didn’t go to Turkey for this,” Kanah said. “I had it done here in Wembley, Kenton, Harrow.”
Kanah explained that his day started with an early consultation at 8:30 a.m. After signing consent papers and meeting with the surgeon, the team agreed to concentrate on restoring his crown.
“My hairline was fine,” he noted. “The main problem was the crown and donor area.”
Hair follicles were harvested from the back of his scalp—the “donor site”—and implanted into the thinning region.
“I had 4,000 grafts transplanted, which equals about 8,000 hairs,” Kanah revealed. He added that if his hairline had needed adjusting, the number of grafts would have been even higher.
To prepare for surgery, he received multiple local anesthetic injections. “It felt like my head was inflating like a balloon. Eventually, I couldn’t feel a thing,” he recalled.
The most dramatic aftermath was swelling, which temporarily left his head looking oversized. Instead of hiding it, Kanah leaned into the jokes, even comparing himself to Will Ferrell’s animated character Megamind.
But is this reaction dangerous?
According to Dr. Emrah Cinik, a leading Turkish hair transplant expert, swelling is a common and generally harmless side effect. His clinic explains that surgical manipulation can cause tissue inflammation and fluid buildup, sometimes spreading to the face. Anesthetic solutions and handling fluids may also contribute. Typically, the puffiness resolves within a few days.
Kanah has since reassured his followers with an update, saying the swelling is already subsiding.
“Trust the process,” he encouraged, offering comfort to others considering the procedure.
Through his humor and openness, Kanah turned a personal cosmetic journey into viral content—showing that even transformations come with unexpected, and sometimes funny, moments.