swim bike run after hair transplant?

[longhair]

Hi, I just had a hair transplant done on august 5th. I had roughy 3000 grafts taken by strip procedure by a coalition doctor. My recovery seems to be going well so far and I am scheduled to have the staples taken out this friday after nine days. After reading a lot of recent posts about scar stretching and healing I'm becoming a little concerned about when to start excersizing again and how much. I run and cylcle quite a bit as well as swim and do triathlons. I was told that I could start easing into running again after a couple of weeks but I have a marathon scheduled in December and a triathlon in November. Would starting to train heavily in running, cycling our swimming in the first few months after surgery significantly increase the odds of scar stretching? Any other runners, cyclists, triathletes out there have any experience with this?

Thanks

[dub09]

Hey longhair,

 

I don't have any first hand experience of this myself yet but it will be come an issue for me next month when I get my HT.

I too am big into running and am wondering what I will do. I remember Bill posted here recently, saying to stay off the gym and heavy training for up to a month after. He did say that an exercise bike is the best way to go after about 10 days. Less chance of scar stretching due to fluid movement on the bike.

[Glenn]

If it were me I would take no chances at all...sit back and enjoy the rest for a couple months....but thats just me.

[Eman]

you guys spent the money to get the hair, so like glenn said take some time off. I too am into running, swimming, lifting, etc....I took six weeks off and then slowly got back into it.

 

Let your scalp heal. Chlorine in the pool early on may not be such a good thing so don't take the chance. I swim now and it has zero negative effects.

 

Also, your body will thank you for taking the time off (trust me, I am OCD about physical activity too and didn't think I could do it).

[CuriousJungleGeorge]

Everyone is different, so all anyone (including a physician) can tell you is what your "odds" are of harming the procedure by performing physical activity. As I see it, it's all right to get back in motion a couple of weeks post-op., but, of course, you'll have to be careful not to stress the scalp too much. It's a tough decision to make, but you'll have to decide on which side of safety you'd rather err.

[Mercer]

Originally posted by longhair:

Any other runners, cyclists, triathletes out there have any experience with this?

 

 

I'm also a competitive triathlete. I had my HT done in mid Jan which I thought was perfect from a healing aspect and being able to be ready for the coming spring. I think I waited almost 3 months before I started swimming. My biggest concern was my swim goggles being tight and irritating my donor area where the scar line was. It didn't seem to be an issue after a few months. I started running and cycling slowly about 2 weeks after the surgery per my post op instructions. I think I was back up to regular training status for running and cycling by the end of the 1st month or so. I took it easy, went off how my body feeled and more importantly followed the post op instructions. Although, I think it's important to keep in mind everybody heals a littledifferently just like not everyone can recover as quickly or as well from tough workouts. Hope that helps.

[longhair]

I didn't even think about the goggles and I definitely don't want to get whacked in the back of the head in a mass swim start. I guess I'll just sit out the rest of this season. I was worried about the up and down motion of running stretching the scar but my doc says it should be fine in a few weeks. May wait a while to get back on the bike though. The thought of a crash right now does not sound appealing.