Care of the transplants while resuming your routine duties

Post hair restoration care Care in the weeks after your hair transplant

The First week after your Hair Transplant Surgery

Most clinics use permanent sutures that will need to be removed form the donor site. Usually, an appointment is used 7 to 10 days after the surgical procedure for their removal.

You can go to the hair transplant clinic or, if you live far away, your family doctor may do the suture removal. The surgeon will want to conduct follow-up visits during certain points in the healing process, and it is essential to keep these appointments. These visits will allow the surgeon to make sure that the incisions are healing properly, and to monitor any potential complications.

The crusting over and around the grafts should start to fall of 1-3 weeks after the procedure. Crusts will separate from the grafts more quickly if they are kept moist. There are different ways to do this and your clinic will tell you their preferred method. Some will give you a saline solution to use, others provide things like vitamin E containing oils. These are applied to the skin before gently washing the scalp with shampoo.

The transplanted hair follicles will usually shed their hair from 2-6 weeks after the hair implantation. The transplantation procedure involved cutting off their nutritional supply for a few hours. This shock to the hair follicle usually sends then into a telogen resting state. The hair fibers the follicles were growing gets shed over the subsequent few weeks after the surgery. It is almost inevitable and there isn’t much you can do about it. New hair growth will begin to be visible from about 10 weeks after surgery. Not all grafts will begin growing hair at the same time so don’t worry if the initial hair growth looks a bit patchy. This is normal. As hair only grows at a rate of at most 0.35mm a day, it will take time for the hair to grow long enough for you to comb and style it properly. By 6 months after the surgery the hair should be growing well enough for you to gauge the result of the transplant, though it will be 9 months after the surgery before the full effect will be realised. The hair fiber that initially grows in the first few months may be duller and more fizzy than normal. However, the follicles should settle down and start making better quality hair fiber by 14 months after the procedure.

To help things along and speed up the hair regrowth process, some hair transplant surgeons advise on applying minoxidil form the third day after the transplant. This is a direct hair growth stimulant so it should speed up the hair follicle recovery. However, some people are allergic to the ingredients in most minoxidil formulations so it is not for everyone. Your clinic should advise.

Recovery times following hair transplant surgery will vary from patient to patient and will be affected by the length, complexity and type of each particular surgery. Many patients are able to return to work and resume normal, light activities within several days following the procedure. Though your doctor will provide you with specific guidelines for gradually resuming your normal activities, you will generally need to avoid strenuous activity as it increases the blood flow to the scalp and may cause the transplants or incisions to bleed. Vigorous exercise and contact sports should be avoided for at least three weeks following surgery, and your doctor may also advise you to avoid sexual activity for at least 10 days. Within six weeks following surgery, the “new” hair may fall out, but new hair growth will usually resume within another five to six weeks.

Follow-up procedures may be required once the incisions have healed. In order to create a more natural-looking result, the hairline may need to be filled in with a combination of mini-grafts, micro-grafts, or slit grafts. Flap procedures may require additional surgery to remove a small bump called a “dog ear” which can form on the scalp. Be prepared for each of these potential followup scenarios.