Sleeping after HT

[Eman]

Couple of questions I have about sleeping after you have a hair transplant:

 

1. How do you or have you kept from keeping your hands from touching your recipient area while comatose?

 

2. How did you or do you keep from rolling over and sleeping on your stomach or sides?

 

I have a couple of ideas to prevent from doing this, but wanted to hear all of your experiences with this.

 

Thanks everyone!!

 

Eman

[Eman]

Couple of questions I have about sleeping after you have a hair transplant:

 

1. How do you or have you kept from keeping your hands from touching your recipient area while comatose?

 

2. How did you or do you keep from rolling over and sleeping on your stomach or sides?

 

I have a couple of ideas to prevent from doing this, but wanted to hear all of your experiences with this.

 

Thanks everyone!!

 

Eman

[Dewayne]

Eman, here's what I did and I didn't have any issues....

 

1. I wrapped a piece of saran wrap around my head and covered it with a surgeons hat for the first few nights (5 or 6).

 

2. I took one of the pain pills and a valium provided by my doctor before I went to sleep for the first 4 or 5 nights. Although it didn't "hurt", the one night I didn't take it I spent half the night awake b/c I was anxious.

 

And, I actually did sleep on my side some. You'll know it if you start irritating the donor area by rolling over.

[Thinman123]

i dont recall sleeping at all..lol..i put 2 pillows on top of each other and put my neck in one of those travel pillows to prvent my neck from shifting.Also, i had my head wrapped in a bandana...In short, try sleeping with a travel a pillow..it helps keep your neck in place. =)

 

Best of luck!

[Take a chance]

Is there any problem with sleeping on your side for the first few nights? Whats the worst thing that can happen because you're not sleeping on the receipient area.

[Abby]

My first night I felt discomfort trying to find a comfortable resting position. Wish I had invested in a travel pillow. My discomfort subsided after a couple of anxious nights. All I had to do after that was be carefull how and where I placed my head as it was still pretty sensitive to pressure and light knocks. Generally speaking 3 days later it wasnt too bad.

[Dewayne]

Originally posted by Take a chance:

Is there any problem with sleeping on your side for the first few nights? Whats the worst thing that can happen because you're not sleeping on the receipient area.

 

I think side or back is ok. The worry with sleeping on your stomach is perhaps stretching the donor area.

[Eman]

I think that my concern is the first ten days or so, when you have to be extremely careful.

[FacelessMan]

Hello,

 

I had asked Dr. Feller the same question, after my first HT. He said that he has never heard of this being a problem with any of his patients, because in a sense, the subconscious takes care of this for us -- basically, we're so aware that we do NOT want to mess with the recipient area that we keep this level of awareness while asleep. It's the same process that creates dreams, more or less. He will likely explain it better, but it sounds plausible...

 

With that, what worked for me was also sleeping propped up on several pillows. I had no problems with either rolling over, or with recipient area issues.

 

Benjamin

[Eman]

faceless, I can definitely believe that. But I know that when I am stressed, thinking about something, or simply having trouble sleeping, I know that my body is basically doing calisthenics (or I am tossing and turning). This would be my biggest concern.

[Thinman123]

The problem of sleeping on your side after a ht is that the fluid that the doctor has injected into your head would begin to move around, thus causing swelling. You want to try and keep your head leveled so that the fluid stays in place reducing the chances of swelling. Also, you want to keep your head as leveled as possible while asleep the first couple of nights because to also maximize your chances of keeping the hairs fully in tact. I believe thats the reason they ask you not to bend you head down to tie your shoe or do other chores that require you to bend down. Thats my knowledge on that topic..i could be wrong though

[YoungGuy]

I think faceless nailed it right on the head: don't worry about it. When you're comatose, your subconscious will take over and you won't do stuff that "hurts" - and touching fresh grafts qualifies.

 

I got a travel pillow, put it on like 3 pillows so I was in a semi-sitting state and slept that way. It's not a comfy position but the industrial-strength pain meds I had took care of any discomfort. When you take one of those things you could probably fall asleep hanging from the ceiling. When the meds ran out, after about 3-4 days, the grafts were set and it wasn't a big deal.

[Eman]

Thanks for the info guys.

 

I have the travel pillow, which I will definitely be utilizing in my sleep plan. I was also planning on creating a sort moat on my bed by placing a sleeping bag on each side of me rolled up the long way to prevent me from rolling over. Sounds like fun doesn't it?!?

[Dewayne]

Originally posted by Eman:

Thanks for the info guys.

 

I have the travel pillow, which I will definitely be utilizing in my sleep plan. I was also planning on creating a sort moat on my bed by placing a sleeping bag on each side of me rolled up the long way to prevent me from rolling over. Sounds like fun doesn't it?!?

 

Valium is your friend......

[Hedgefund]

I just had my 2nd HT last week and contemplated similar predicaments. I found my answers very quickly the first time I accidentally touched it or rolled over....It's called PAIN

[Dr. Paul Shapiro]

Eman

 

Rest assured it is very uncommon to have a patient touch or rub their head at night while asleep and damage the newly transplanted grafts.

 

I agree with Dr. Feller's answer about the subconscious taking over. If you have ever had any other surgery or injury you may notice that it is very uncommon to hurt it in your sleep. Your body knows there is an injury and knows it will be painful to touch it. What we do see in our practice is a patient will accidentally hit their head when they are awake and dislodge some grafts. This is a much larger concern for us then anyone hurting their grafts while asleep.

 

I would not recommend putting any type of dressing on the grafted area. My concern is that grafts could stick to the dressing and come off when removing the dressing.

When hair transplants consisted of larger grafts, many doctors use to put on occlusive dressings after a hair transplant. But with the small follicular unit grafts most doctors got away from using the dressings. Bandaging of the scalp is often more uncomfortable then the pain from the surgery, and it can sometimes block venous and lymphatic drainage. Also, we like to use a spray called "Grafcyte" on the transplant starting right after surgery. "Grafcyte" has copper peptite which can aid in healing and keeps the transplanted area moist.

 

If you insist on a dressing, let your doctor do it. There is a special non-stick bandage call Telfa which would prevent the grafts from sticking onto the bandage.

 

As for sleeping on your back: We ask patients to sleep on their back with the head propped up on a few pillows to help the fluids that have accumulated in the scalp during the surgery to drain. If one lays on their face or side, the fluid may not drain well and noticeable swelling can occur. Laying on ones back with their head propped up helps reduce the possibility of swelling, but does not eliminate it. If it is difficult for you to sleep on your back or you toss and turn, you may have a greater chance of some post operative swelling, but this does not affect the outcome of the surgery.

As for hitting the grafted area while tossing and turning it is very difficult. Just try to position yourself in bed so that the typical surgical area is touching the bed/and or pillow and you will find that unless you are a contortionist it is very difficult.

 

Lastly, there are many medications available to make your first few post operative days comfortable. We give all our patients Vicodin, a strong pain medication which also has a sedative effect. Most patients sleep very well when they take Vicodin. For patients in which anxiety may make it difficult for them to sleep I will prescribe Xanax, or Valium.

 

Lastly we always offer our patients a follow up visit the next day. We will do the first hair wash and make sure all the grafts are snugly in place.

I hope this inormation is helpful

Dr. Paul

[Eman]

Dr. Paul-- THANKS for the post. It really helps to hear from a doctor regarding questions like this. I have been worried about sleeping post op for a while now, so it is great to hear from you.

 

I also do not believe that my doctor uses dressing on the recipient site after surgery.

 

Thanks again Dr. Paul

 

Eman

[JohnS]

I slept practically upright for the first few nights, to control swelling. Never had a problem.

[Eman]

I attached the way that I am sleeping at night. A little OCD (ok, a lot OCD!!).

 

Have a chuckle at my expense...