Hair transplants are considered relatively simple cosmetic surgeries. Minimal surgical instruments, minimal scarring, and anaesthesia might or might not require. Patients can also expect an easy recovery. FUE and sapphire FUE, in particular, have a lot of popularity because they have little downtime with a rapid recovery. However, when it comes to hair transplant recovery, you need to be aware of certain things. Below are the tips to achieve the best possible results.
Exercise and Strenuous Activity
In most cases, you will be advised not to engage in any kind of physical activity after your hair transplant. Our hair transplant doctors at the Cosmetic Expert say that activities that impede healing should not be performed for two weeks following the transplant. For example, we advise our patients to bend down only on their knees, never on their waists. We strictly prohibit doing activities that cause your blood to rush to your head where the transplantation is done.
Exercise that causes heavy sweating should also be avoided. If your daily routine includes compulsory daily exercises, take suggestions from the experts.
Washing Your Hair
Hair washing after transplantation is one of the biggest concerns for many patients. If you can wash your hair safely after implanting your grafts, then there is less risk involved. Generally, your transplanted hair can be washed safely after 48 hours, but if you wish to wait for another day, that’s okay as well. It is not recommended to apply shampoo directly to the scalp; put a small drop of the recommended shampoo in a cup of water. Stir together, pour over your head and rinse again with some water from the same cup. This is the easiest and most gentle way to care for your hair grafts, and you won’t have to worry about greasy hair!
In the first week, make sure you don’t expose your head directly to the showerhead spray. In the following weeks, do what you usually do with your hair.
Wearing a Hat
Understandably, you feel tempted to wear a hat after receiving your new hair when you go out. It is recommended that you wait for at least four before doing this. A loose-fitting hat can be worn after the first four days, and after 6 days, you can wear a tight-fitting hat. After the sixth day, you should be fine wearing any type of hat you want. In general, you would need to have the grafts surgically removed after six days if you wanted them to come out. You can’t do anything after 6 days of transplantation that may cause your new grafts to fall out.
It is a completely normal part of the hair growth cycle that some of the transplanted grafts will fall out after a few weeks or a few months following the procedure. The grafts are not lost; the hair just fell out, just like your healthy hair.
Itching, Swelling, Sun and Ice
After your procedure, your transplanted area is likely to swell, which may start on day three. To manage swelling, it’s recommended to keep your head raised for the first 7 days after surgery (i.e. sleeping on a recliner rather than in your bed). You can also apply ice below the transplanted area; for instance, you can keep it just above the eyebrows when transplantation was done on your head, but never apply ice onto the transplanted area itself.
Your scalp may feel itchy after transplantation, but you should not scratch for the first few days. Surgeons may recommend conditioners to help soothe itchiness after transplantation. Scabs should not be disturbed while forming.
Do not expose the transplanted area directly to the sunlight for at least two weeks. Direct exposure of the new grafts to sunlight may cause damage.
Alcohol, hair dye, and smoking.
Prior to a transplant, you can dye your hair, but after transplantation, hair dye is not recommended for a minimum of 4 weeks. The chemicals in the dye may negatively impact fragile hair grafts as they are still in the rooting process. Anyway, you would shave the area for transplantation.
If you are a smoker, you should stop smoking for the first 4 weeks. Ideally, we’d like you to stop smoking altogether. This is because smoking can negatively impact your blood flow which eventually affects your new hair growth as well.
Similarly, drinking alcohol also interferes with the supply of blood to your head. We advise you to wait at least a week before consuming it after surgery.
As soon as you return home after the transplantation, you will receive full instructions. Make sure to follow everything and if you have questions, contact the surgeon. You can always reach the Cosmetic Expert, and we will gladly assist you.