Hair Transplant After Care And Recovery Guide
Aftercare Guide
- Night of your procedure and next few nights: Sleep with your head elevated.
- Morning after the procedure: Remove the headband, shower and shampoo your scalp three times over the course of the day (morning, noon, and night)
- Remainder of the week after procedure: Shower twice a day
- First week after: Shampoo very gently
- 10 Days after: Grafts are permanent, so you can resume regular shampooing and hair care
- Avoid alcohol for three days after the procedure
- Abstain from smoking for two weeks after the procedure.
- Wear a hat when in strong sunlight, and after two weeks, you may use sunscreen with 30 or higher SPF
- Three weeks after: You can have a haircut
- Four weeks after: You can dye your hair
- Avoid strenuous exercise for up to several weeks (see details below)
The night of your hair transplant, you are encouraged to sleep with your head elevated on pillows for the next few nights. Medication is given for sleep and pain (if needed). Antibiotics are generally not required. The morning after your hair transplant surgery, you will remove the headband and shower and shampoo your scalp three times (morning, noon, and night) — just for the first day. We will call you the next day to ensure everything is OK. You won’t need to come into the office at this time but are welcome to do so.
For the remainder of the week, you should shower twice a day. When showering, you will be instructed to clean the transplanted area with a special shampoo gently. The follicular unit grafts are made to fit snugly into the recipient sites and will not be dislodged in the shower if you follow the instructions. After your first shower, no further bandages are required.
Although you must be very gentle for the first week after hair loss surgery, regular shampooing, brushing, and hair care can be resumed after ten days since, by this time, the grafts are firmly in place. You can also have a haircut at this point. In addition, you can dye your hair four weeks after the hair transplant.
You should avoid alcohol for three days following your hair replacement procedure and abstain from smoking for two weeks. When in strong sunlight, you should wear a hat. After two weeks, you may use sunscreen with an SPF of 30+.
Generally, patients can resume their regular daily routine almost immediately. Limited exercise can be started in the first week.
We ask you to return to the office ten days after surgery for a follow-up visit, but for those who live far from our facilities, this can generally be handled by phone.
What To Expect After Your Hair Surgery
Ensure the post-operative instructions are followed carefully; in most patients, the hair transplant will be minimally detectable after a few days and almost undetectable after the first week to ten days. Patients are given medication for swelling during hair loss surgery, but some still experience swelling of the forehead that settles across the bridge of the nose and around the eyes. If this occurs, it is almost always gone by the end of the first week.
The newly transplanted hair begins to grow at around ten weeks. It is long enough to be groomed in about six months and, in most cases, will be fully developed in one year. In the few months following hair surgery, before the new hair starts to grow, your original hair may be shed so that the transplanted area may temporarily appear slightly thinner. This is a temporary situation. The shed hair will begin to regrow about the same time as the newly transplanted hair begins to grow. It should not be a cause for concern.
The most important thing to know after a hair transplant is that it takes a while for the hair to grow. It takes ten weeks to 3 months for the hair to start growing once people have the procedure. They are excited because they see stubble of hair right after the surgery and think it will continue to grow… but unfortunately, it doesn’t. That hair is shed, and then, about three months later, it starts to grow very gradually. So, it’s essential to be patient about hair regrowth; it begins with very soft vellus hair in about ten weeks to three months, then gradually increases in thickness and length over a year. We see about 90% of the benefit a year after a first hair transplant. Sometimes the wave can return in the transplant, even in the second year. So, 90% in the first year and then some little modifications, a little maturity of the transplant can sometimes occur later. If people have a second hair transplant, the growth seems to be a bit slower. Sometimes, 18 months might be the average before you see the total result.
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