How fragile are the grafts/hair after transplant?

[ThinningBoldy]

Can anyone advise on how fragile the hair or graft is after a strip hair transplant. I have heard after 10 days they are fine and should withstand most things. I just want to know when you can start leading a normal life and stop worrying about them.

 

When can you begin to:

 

1) sleep normally

2) wear a cap/hat

3) wash hair with usual shampoo and conditioners

4) apply hair gel/wax/hair spray

5) hair dry and or hair straighten

[imissthebarber]

1) It depends whether you have staples or sutures. With staples only when they are out, First few nights are the worst. Use an airplane neck support cushion and several pillows.

 

2) Cap straight away, but not wool or knit. If it is knit it can get a hold of the grafts and tug them out. A normal baseball cap or prefereably XL sized cap should be fine as long as it doesn't touch grafted areas.

 

3) Start gently, by day 7 or 8 you should be able to wash fairly normally but DON'T rub too vigourously.

 

4) I'd leave that for at least 2 weeks and preferably much longer. Even once the grafts are secure the scalp needs time to heal and all that stuff won't help. Also the transplanted hairs will die.

 

5)I don't see a problem once the follicles are secure as long as the heat doesn't harm the scalp. Also don't forget if your scalp is numb, as is likely when nerves are cut, you might not feel pain like you should. This means you could be using too much heat and not realise. This may not help with growth or scalp healing.

[Dr. William Lindsey]

Each doctor has their own ideas on this. But we are pretty uptight about being gentle for the first 4 days. After that, I think the patient would have to do some work to remove grafts.

 

Now sometimes you can't cure dumbness...we had a guy last winter who came in at day 6 with a wool stocking cap on. I don't know how long he'd been wearing that wool cap, but I do think that by doing so, he removed some significant number of grafts.

 

So, be careful, use common sense, and follow YOUR doctor's recommendations.

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA