Hair Transplant : Post Operative Advice

by Provelus Hair Transplant, Delhi

Hair restoration is a delicate procedure. Your adherence to the following instructions is essential for optimal results.

REMEMBER:

The hardest part of hair transplantation is waiting for the hair to grow. The hair transplanted today will not begin to grow until 3-4 months after the procedure. Before this time, small scabs will form around the grafts. The scabs will fall off in 7-10 days along with the shaft of the hair. This is normal. The root of hair remains behind. The new hair shaft will continue to grow underneath the skin, reaching the surface in 3-4 months. By around 10 months the hair will mature and add density to the areas. It will take 10-12 months to actually see the result of the surgery since the hair grows at an average rate of 1.5 cm per month.

Post Operative Instructions

Take your medications: At Provelus Hair Transplant Clinic, we will give you all required medicines after surgery before we send you home, so that you stay comfortable. Once you reach home take your medicines as soon as possible. You need to eat before taking medications to avoid nausea or vomiting. Prescription for medicine and exact dosage have been provided to you separately. Consult your hair transplant surgeon or other medical staff in case you need further clarification.

Do not Smoke or drink alcohol - for a minimum of 48 hours following your procedure. Alcohol may thin the blood and cause bleeding. Smoking hampers the healing process and may reduce graft uptake.

Wear protection on your head - when outside in rain or sunlight, for 3-4 weeks after the transplant. Direct prolonged sun exposure can harm newly transplanted follicles and may even cause sunburn.

Sleeping – Lie down and rest for 2-3 hours after surgery. When sleeping or resting, use a travel pillow to avoid pressure on the stitch line or hair transplant donor area. Alternatively, you can lie flat on your back with two pillows under your head. Avoid sleeping on your stomach. (this prevents swelling of your face).

Physical Activity – Limit all strenuous activity for the next 2 weeks. This includes dancing, jogging, diving, lifting heavy objects and especially vigorous working out. Avoid bending over and excessive neck movements. You can resume yoga & brisk walk after7 days. Full strength exercise and swimming can be resumed after 4 weeks.

Swelling, Numbness and Oozing – With advanced technique, the chances of these problems are minimal but they can occur occasionally. Do not panic! Swelling is normal in the forehead area. Slight swelling and discoloration in the facial area of cheeks can occur. Use cold compresses on your face if swelling occurs there. Numbness on top of the head and at the stitch line is normal after the transplant. It will gradually improve. Oozing of blood or fluid at the stitch line is normal for up to 48 hours after your procedure. Apply light pressure with gauze to stop. If it continues consult the clinic.

Scabbing - Scabs will form and fall off naturally over the next few weeks. Do not pick the scabs or you may pull out a hair root. Avoid scratching transplanted area. Scabs will start falling from second week onwards. You may notice tiny hair stubble in the scabs. Your grafts are still intact: this is only the shedding of the original hair that was transplanted. Hair follicles remain underneath and will push up new hair in approximately 3 months.

Head band:

This band should not be removed in the first 48 hours except when you are shampooing, or if the doctor tells you to do so. Continue to wear it for a minimum of 2-3 days after surgery. After that, it can be disregarded if there is no swelling around the eyes.

Salt water spray

Begin it on the 2nd day of your surgery. Spraying saline on the grafts help speed healing and promotes shedding of any scabs.

Dissolve one and half teaspoons of table salt in 250 ml of water. Spray salt solution over graft area . Do not soak graft area. Let it remain for 5 minutes before air drying or patting gently with a paper towel. Do this 4 to 6 times a day. Continue until all scabs are gone (about 10 days).

Folliculitis at the graft site:

Very rarely, a patient may develop folliculitis at the grafted site. They are pimple like lesions looking similar to acne. If this happens, apply antibiotic ointment to the areas three times a day.

Hair grooming:

Do not comb your hair on the day of your transplant. The day following your transplant you may gently comb through your existing hair. Avoid scraping the scalp with your comb or brush. Resume your normal hair care routine 3 weeks after surgery or once all scabs are gone.

General Precautions:

Be careful when you get into a car! Make sure your head will not hit the rim of the door or the roof. Every year we have a few patients losing some graft from this accident.

Avoid wearing tight, round neck t-shirts. While wearing, they may rub on to the transplanted area and dislodge a few grafts.

Loose cotton caps should be used. Wool caps may get entangled in the scabs or transplanted 'stubble'.

Shampoo and cleaning:

At Provelus Hair Transplant clinic, first wash is done by trained technicians. You can take care of your transplanted area after first cleaning yourself.

1. Your hair should be washed on 3rd day after surgery. Wet your head with a bowl of room temperature water or with a gentle stream of water from the shower. If you use the shower, block the stream with your hand so that the water pressure is not too strong.

2. You can use baby shampoo for hair washing. Lather up the shampoo on the palm of your hand. Pat this shampoo on the area (DON’T RUB) and let it sit for 1-2 minutes. Gently rinse off with a bowl of water, or a gentle stream of water from the shower.

3. Pat dry gently with towel or let it air dry. After 7th day you can use a blow drier on cool setting only. DON’T RUB THE GRAFTS TO DRY THEM. Do this starting 3rd day after surgery, once a day for one week.

4. After 10th day, you should be able to shampoo normally. At this time, you can also start gentle scalp massage with finger tips to expedite scab removal. However, scratching with nails should be avoided.

Cut, Colour & Oil:

We advise not to cut or color the hair for at least 4 weeks after surgery. If you need to trim your hair in donor area you can plan it after stitch removal. Oil application can be started after two weeks. Perfumed oils should be avoided.

Ingrown hairs:

You may notice pimples in transplanted area, a few weeks after surgery. Do not pick or squeeze them; these are new hairs. Apply warm, moist compresses 3-4 times daily to help the hair push through the skin surface. It can take up to 2 weeks for this to clear up.

Suture removal:

Sutures need to be removed in 10-14 days for strip/FUT procedure; they won’t dissolve.

Suture removal is not required for FUE Hair Transplant.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call Provelus Clinic at +91-11-45201001 / +91-9650047060 or mail us at hairtransplantcentre@yahoo.com.