Once you have made the decision to have hair transplant surgery, you are probably jumping ahead to thinking about your post-op plans. You most likely cannot wait to see the faces on your friends and acquaintances when they notice your new full head of hair. In the meantime, you have to go through the surgery and take care so that your hair transplant will be successful.
Your hair transplant will not heal unless you keep the newly operated-on skin out of the sunlight. The surgery will make the skin especially sensitive. If you protect the skin on your scalp after getting a scalp hair transplant, you will help the wounds heal much faster.
You can start out by getting some kind of hat. It does not matter what kind of hat it is, as long as it is fairly loose-fitting so that it does not rub on your new hair transplant grafts. You should not have to put up with this for long. After a couple of weeks, you can replace the cap with sunscreen. It should have an SPF of at least 30.
Having just the right amount of blood flow to the hair transplant sites will make a big difference in how fast they heal. For example, you need to make sure you get enough blood flow during the night. You can do this by sleeping on pillows to elevate your head. Your usual pillows can be used, or you can buy wedge-shaped pillows made for this purpose.
On the other hand, you do not want too much blood flow. You should get plenty of rest after your hair transplant surgery. For the first few weeks it is not wise to engage in any physically demanding activities. Then, the blood flow will be too much. Your transplants may start to bleed.
It is important to clean your hair just as your doctor recommends after hair transplant surgery. You will be given a special shampoo to use and specific instructions on how and when to use it. It is necessary to clean gently but thoroughly. At first, you may find yourself rinsing your hair many times a day. Just be sure that you do not bother the hair transplant site by scratching or rubbing it.
Your hair transplant doctor will want you to come in for a check of your transplants about a week after your surgery. Be sure to be at that appointment on time. If you have any questions about how to care for your hair, bring them up at that time.
Ask your doctor when you will be ready to use a comb on your new hair. You might be surprised at how soon you can use one. Then, your doctor will schedule other check-ups, which you should also attend.
At first it may seem as if you have to be very careful with your hair – and you do! It does not make sense to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars having your hair transplant surgery and then not follow through with good care. However, in no time at all, you will be treating this new hair just as you treated the hair you once had there.
