Post HT, how long till sunny vacation?

[slycooper]

I was asked by friends to join them in Florida for a weeklong vacation. I would love to go, but the week they have in mind is only 1 month after my scheduled FUE.

 

At one month post-op, to what extent can you even be in the sun? And more importantly, will this even be a vacation worth having?

 

I've read on this forum that the sun is very bad for grafts and that you must use sunscreen and sun blocking hats. Is it worth the risk? I would love to hear experiences people may have had trying to swim and party in the sun with a tomato for a head. Thanks guys

[voxman]

I went on a Caribbean Cruise 3 weeks after my 1st HT. I wore a baseball cap when I was out in the sun Island hopping and when inside on the ship, not. I had a good time and no one noticed anything. Unless you're planning on sitting on a hot beach for 12 hours a day or sweating you ass off playing volleyball, you should be fine with a little caution and care. Live it.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Generally speaking it’s not a good idea to expose your scalp to the sun for an extended period of time whether or not you’ve had hair transplant surgery. If you have just undergone hair transplant surgery, long-term exposure to the sun could damage the grafts and affect growth yield. However, if you are a couple weeks out from surgery and expose your scalp to the song for extended period of time, it will likely just produce postoperative redness for a longer period of time. Long story short, go on vacation and have a good time but just wear a hat or lots of sunscreen :-)

 

Bill

[pkipling]

Yep. As long as you keep your head covered (and even use sunscreen as an extra precaution), you should be fine. As a general rule, it's best to keep your scalp out of the sun for the first 6 months. I used a sports/spray deodorant in addition to a hat and everything worked out just fine.

[slycooper]

Thanks everyone, wanted to make sure I wasn't jumping the gun

[mattj]

A vacation in a hat is still a vacation worth having. As long as you do cover up then there's no reason why you can't enjoy a warm climate. After all, many HT patients live in that climate.