Duration of stay for out of town surgery?

[MrSteele]

Hey guys, what do you think is the best length of time to remain in town after a hair transplant for out of town patients? I've heard someone suggesting to leave the day after, and another thought you should stay at least a week or so.

 

I'm leaning towards more of a week to let the redness/swelling subside, but I would like to hear if anyone has thoughts on this.

 

Also, does anyone have any input on what to say to customs going in and out of the country? 100% honesty, keep it vague, or even just a leisurely visit...

[Cant decide]

I stayed 3 nights total. The night before surgery, the night of surgery and the night after surgery. It worked out perfect. I drove from US to Canada 7 hours and was 100% honest with customs and salied through. I even gave them an invitation letter that the clinic provided which helped it go very smoothly with customs.

[Spanker]

I suggest being honest with customs if asked and I would suggest at least 2 nights AFTER surgery, or possibly 3. It is a stressful time for your mind and body. It is such a big investment so why push things?

[StaggerLee123]

If you are flying back usually it is recommended that you leave the day after your surgery. The other option is to stay at least a week to 10 days and get your staples/sutures out and fly home in comfort. If you hang around a few days you risk swelling up while being on the plane and that would just be uncomfortable. Why would you make up a story at customs? Just tell them the purpose of your trip and be done with it.

[StaggerLee123]

Personally I would much rather recuperate at my home than hang around a hotel room for a week or two.

[hsrp10]

I've done it twice and I recommend 6-7 days if possible, in order to return after the swelling is gone and to protect the grafts.

After only 2 days you will still be bright red in recipient area and will be dying to wear a hat etc. to cover it up, and the HT you paid a lot for is very susceptible to damage at this early stage.

 

Also if you stay local the clinic will be able to clean you up each day which helps with less crusting/scabbing.

After a week I was able to breeze through the airport without wearing a hat just sporting an "odd haircut," was not visible at all and didn't get a single stare.

 

If you have to go back early and customs is very crowded, just tell them the truth as Spanker mentioned that you have had surgery on your head and ask for a private room.

[1978matt]

I looked at it like this:

 

 

• Flights could get delayed, e.g. remember the volcanic ash thing a few years back? I decided to fly out 3 days early. I arrived on the evening of -3 day (surgery day = day 0) and had two full days to pick up prescriptions etc and familiarise myself with the local area.
  
• If it is a fairly big hairline case then with the swelling I think 4-5 days post op is advisable. If it is small work, or crown only work then perhaps you could get away with 2 or 3 days post op.
  
• If you're flying a long time (e.g. Australia to Europe) then maybe add another day for good measure.
  

I told the lady at the Immigration desk I was there for a minor surgical procedure. She did not ask what it was, only the location and 'did we not have any doctors in the UK who could do it?!'

[Cant decide]

I looked at it like this:

 

 

I told the lady at the Immigration desk I was there for a minor surgical procedure. She did not ask what it was, only the location and 'did we not have any doctors in the UK who could do it?!'

 

Funny, I was asked the same thing at the Canadian border and I said "Hey this guy is the best". There were no further questions:)

[greatjob]

I stayed in Canada for a week after my procedure with Dr. Rahal. I wanted to be sure that I was fairly well healed before I made the fairly long journey home. I also wanted to make sure that the grafts were well anchored before I left, i really didn't want to mess something up with all that is involved in traveling.

 

As far as customs goes you absolutely need to be 100% honest with them. If they think your lying to them they aren't going to think it's because your embarrassed about telling them your having/had a hair transplant, they will immediately assume you're up to something illegal and you're gonna have a bad time. Also if your traveling to one of the more prominent docs the customs people will probably know who the doctor is and have seen boat loads of patients come through the airport, I know that was the case with Dr. Rahal. In fact on the way back the customs guy at the airport was actually really curious, in a good way, about the procedure and how it all worked.

 

I wasn't really worried about the people working at the airport, I'm sure they see all kinds of weird stuff, I was concerned with other passengers seeing the work. I don't know who you're going to, but at the Ottawa airport I got to the airport at about 10AM on a weekday and the security area was completely dead, I was literally the only other passenger in the huge room. So when I had to take my hat off the only people that saw me was the security people, so that was a relief for me.

[CaddyTad77]

The Monet of Fue, Dr Koray Edrogan, I believe has overnight rooms in his clinic which is an added benefit for those traveling overseas.

[alix]

I booked my flight for the next day after HT,I think that's the best time to fly back or you have to stay at least 1 week.there will be swelling which starts at day 2-3 and will take around a week to go away.believe me the worst thing will be travelling with a swollen face it can look VERY strange and ugly and will draw a lot of attention.

so flying back day 3-4 will be the worst thing one can do.

you can stay for a week and that's good for follow up check with the clinic etc,but will be very boring and tiresome (and expensive) since you will have to stay in the hotel all the time not being able to go out looking like that.

 

upon arrival I told the custom that I'm going for medical procedure and had a copy of the surgery appointment with me just in case (& they didn't ask for).

 

when I was returning the next day after surgery,I asked my doctor to give me a letter stating that I've had surgery on my scalp and the clinic put a bandana on my head for protection and coverage.

that did the trick at airport security when they asked me to remove the bandana,they just scanned my head with their handheld metal detector and let me go.

even if they refuse to let you go without removing bandana/hat,you can ask for a private room,they have cabins there where you and one of them go in and you can remove your head covering there.

[MrSteele]

I booked my flight for the next day after HT,I think that's the best time to fly back or you have to stay at least 1 week.there will be swelling which starts at day 2-3 and will take around a week to go away.believe me the worst thing will be travelling with a swollen face it can look VERY strange and ugly and will draw a lot of attention.

so flying back day 3-4 will be the worst thing one can do.

you can stay for a week and that's good for follow up check with the clinic etc,but will be very boring and tiresome (and expensive) since you will have to stay in the hotel all the time not being able to go out looking like that.

 

upon arrival I told the custom that I'm going for medical procedure and had a copy of the surgery appointment with me just in case (& they didn't ask for).

 

when I was returning the next day after surgery,I asked my doctor to give me a letter stating that I've had surgery on my scalp and the clinic put a bandana on my head for protection and coverage.

that did the trick at airport security when they asked me to remove the bandana,they just scanned my head with their handheld metal detector and let me go.

even if they refuse to let you go without removing bandana/hat,you can ask for a private room,they have cabins there where you and one of them go in and you can remove your head covering there.

 

Good info. Thanks

 

My surgery will be on the crown. I was told this should not result in much swelling to the face.

[Dr. William Lindsey]

If you are not staying the full week to have your doctor take out the sutures...which I recommend, then I personally recommend to our patients: either leave the day after surgery or wait til day 4. Routinely however people leave on the morning of day 3 when they look Klingon. Now its never been a problem getting out of the DC area...but I know some of these guys are embarrassed by the swelling and I bet the person sitting next to them on the plane is concerned....

 

But ask your specific doctor what his/her preferences are.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[Gettinold]

I booked my flight for the next day after HT,I think that's the best time to fly back or you have to stay at least 1 week.there will be swelling which starts at day 2-3 and will take around a week to go away.believe me the worst thing will be travelling with a swollen face it can look VERY strange and ugly and will draw a lot of attention.

so flying back day 3-4 will be the worst thing one can do.

you can stay for a week and that's good for follow up check with the clinic etc,but will be very boring and tiresome (and expensive) since you will have to stay in the hotel all the time not being able to go out looking like that.

 

upon arrival I told the custom that I'm going for medical procedure and had a copy of the surgery appointment with me just in case (& they didn't ask for).

 

when I was returning the next day after surgery,I asked my doctor to give me a letter stating that I've had surgery on my scalp and the clinic put a bandana on my head for protection and coverage.

that did the trick at airport security when they asked me to remove the bandana,they just scanned my head with their handheld metal detector and let me go.

even if they refuse to let you go without removing bandana/hat,you can ask for a private room,they have cabins there where you and one of them go in and you can remove your head covering there.

 

 

I flew out the day after and proudly took my hat off in security and made funny faces. I love attention , and people stayed the heck away from me.

[macjay]

I flew out the next day, which wasnt too bad, would struggle traveling a week after my swelling was hardout after a week- the day after the swelling wasnt too bad which was ideal for flying- not the most comfortable but prob better than a week later. Issue is that staying enables you to have post op care by your doctor.