FUE + travel home?

[glocktop]

Hi all. After years of saving, I am ready to book my first HT in the next few months. I've decided on FUE, due to the faster recovery of the donor area, and the ability to continue to cut my hair at a #2.

 

My question - if I were to travel from Washington DC to Europe for a FUE, how much time would I need to spend in the overseas hotel and recovering before flying back home? I'm concerned about the flight mostly... would resting my head against the seat result in damage to the donor area (i.e. bleeding, prolonged healing, more scarring, etc)? I think its inevitable that I would fall asleep or rest my head on a long flight like that. Anything else to think about?

[Britanium]

My last 2 FUE Hts i have flown back home a few hours after surgery. with a loose fitting hat and bandages. For sitting down on the plane i used a blow up neck cushion. Dozed off and everything was fine.

I wasnt worried too much about the donor area - it was the transplanted hairs, but with being careful you should be fine.

[glocktop]

Thanks johnboy. Indeed, recipient graft area is the priority! I sort of imagined I'd be uber careful too with the top of my head. Good tip on the neck cushion, I will get one.

Do you or anybody else have a pic of these "loose fitting hats" that I've heard some clinics provide for travel following the HT? Is it like a paper cap or something? I would prefer to avoid as many stares as possible during travel.

[Britanium]

Well the best one i have used is a trilby type ! looks better than it sounds. it was perfect in protecting the right areas.

Dr Maral gives these out after surgery ! but i think they are pretty inexpensive to get.

[Britanium]

If you see the bandage on my profile pic the trilby sat perfectly on that. Like i said it worked a treat. Easy to take on and off at the airport security too.

[Questionmark]

Hi, I would recommend that you either travel back home on surgery day, yet, or you take 3-6 days in a hotel for hideaway reasons Swelling might be heavy, even large areas of green and blue bruises might occur in that time, plus the mess on your whole head, and you probably will look so neat that you`ll get a fit of laughter looking in the mirror on the morning of the second or third day (Make sure to take pictures )

 

If you got the time, I would stay, you got the clinic still around etc.. All the best!

[Rootz]

Yeah if you get swelling (and I think most do), it starts from the 2nd day and extends to about the 6th day. I believe by day 7 I looked basically normal and you couldn't tell. If you get swelling, you will probably look very very weird during that time... For me the swelling started on my forehead on day two then for the remaining days kind of hung around the inside corners of my eyes. But it was very noticeable and strange looking. The area around my ears swelled and also pushed my ears apart. I sort of looked like the creature from The Goonies. But fortunately sunglasses did a really good job hiding the swelling.

[hairweare]

I would never advise a patient to travel such a long distance on the day of surgery. You will be groggy from sedation and or worn out from the ordeal. After being confined to a prone position for most of the day you will want to get up and move about. Sitting in a tight airplane seat for 10-15 hours would put you at risk for DVT which is potentially a lethal complication. Best advice is to follow up at the clinic on POD #1 for a gentle cleaning of both the donor and recipient sites and allow the doctor to take another look as well. You can then get a good nights rest and fly home the next day. I personally wouldn't wear a hat and take the chance that a graft might become dislodged. You will want to be very careful not to bump your head on anything, Seems like obvious advice but easier said than done! Don't be concerned about people staring, you don't know them and they don't know you. Besides you will be surprised how little you will be noticed. If you do wear a hat be prepared to remove it for security which may end up being an awkward moment. You should pay extra for an economy comfort seat and try to get an aisle because you will want to frequently spray your head with saline. I did it at my seat discreetly as the guy next to me was preoccupied with a movie. At one point he asked me if I was in the military so again don't worry about attracting stares because you won't.