Booze, Cigarettes & Socializing

[Rossybop]

I don't smoke daily or drink like an alcoholic but I'm a social animal with my flaws.

I understand that I'll have to nurture good care and habits following a hair transplant but I am wondering how long should I wait before I start popping out to the pub again for social drinks and cheeky cigarettes?

[pkipling]

Every doctor is going to have slightly different protocol set in place in terms of the "dos and don'ts" before and after a procedure. That said, one thing that studies show is that by Day 10 post-op, the grafts are incredibly secure and there's nothing you can do to dislodge them or mess them up. So with that rule alone, socially drinking and smoking 7-10 days after your procedure won't put your hair transplant at risk. Of course, you want to set your body up to win in terms of healing/recovery - but there are many things most of us do on a daily basis that don't optimize our health (lack of sleep, eating junk food, lack of stress management, etc.) that I think are way more important to implement than "avoiding an occasional social drink or cigarette". 

The only thing I've ever seen be universally accepted in the HT community that can damage your grafts after the 10-14 day mark is sun exposure/sunburn... So as long as you're not drinking and smoking in the sun on a beach somewhere, I think you're good. 

That said - it's always a good idea to run these things by your surgeon. They'll have their specific answer to this question that they give their patients, and you can consider that accordingly. 

[ciaus]

I'm like you, social drinker on the weekends and I only took off the first week for my procedures. By the next Saturdays I was back to giving in to the peer pressure.

[Rossybop]

1 hour ago, pkipling said:

Every doctor is going to have slightly different protocol set in place in terms of the "dos and don'ts" before and after a procedure. That said, one thing that studies show is that by Day 10 post-op, the grafts are incredibly secure and there's nothing you can do to dislodge them or mess them up. So with that rule alone, socially drinking and smoking 7-10 days after your procedure won't put your hair transplant at risk. Of course, you want to set your body up to win in terms of healing/recovery - but there are many things most of us do on a daily basis that don't optimize our health (lack of sleep, eating junk food, lack of stress management, etc.) that I think are way more important to implement than "avoiding an occasional social drink or cigarette". 

The only thing I've ever seen be universally accepted in the HT community that can damage your grafts after the 10-14 day mark is sun exposure/sunburn... So as long as you're not drinking and smoking in the sun on a beach somewhere, I think you're good. 

That said - it's always a good idea to run these things by your surgeon. They'll have their specific answer to this question that they give their patients, and you can consider that accordingly. 

Thanks very much for this fascinating input. Interesting what you say about the grafts being secure at 10 days. It corroborates with what I was told at a clinic here in Ireland; they told me the grafts are secure at 14 days or thereabouts.

I was planning on staying dry of drink and cigarettes anyway for about 10 weeks post-op. I know that smoking is one thing that never really helps with medical conditions. I just want to get the best result that I can from my transplant and I'll do whatever I can to encourage a good result. If staying dry for longer than 10 weeks might help then that is no problem, if resuming old habits after the 10 week mark won't have any negative effects at all then I'll pop back down to the pub after 10 weeks and I won't worry about it upsetting the development of my new hair.

Thanks for the info.

[Rossybop]

52 minutes ago, ciaus said:

I'm like you, social drinker on the weekends and I only took off the first week for my procedures. By the next Saturdays I was back to giving in to the peer pressure.

Cool. Would you lash the cigarettes out of it too when you're out having a good time? Did your behaviour have any effect on your hair transplants? 

[ciaus]

1 hour ago, Rossybop said:

Cool. Would you lash the cigarettes out of it too when you're out having a good time? Did your behaviour have any effect on your hair transplants? 

No problems with my results. Never was a smoker, as long as we aren't counting those candy cigarettes when I was a kid. Just had to go search amazon to see if those are still around given the pearl-clutching times we live in, and sure enough!

Get yourself a 10week supply of these, pretty sure they won't restrict your blood flow as much, and they still can give you that sophisticated rugged look -as long as don't give in to temptation and eat them. They are pretty delicious.

 

oh how the times have  achanged

[Rossybop]

Ok cool. Haha I remember them myself. I remember chocolate cigarettes too. I actually remember lighting chocolate cigarettes before when I was a kid.

[Al - Moderator]

You're probably not going to want to go out at least the first weekend anyway due to some lingering soreness and some swelling and maybe not even the 2nd weekend while waiting for the crusts to come off. So it may not even be an issue.

 

[Rossybop]

3 hours ago, BeHappy said:

You're probably not going to want to go out at least the first weekend anyway due to some lingering soreness and some swelling and maybe not even the 2nd weekend while waiting for the crusts to come off. So it may not even be an issue.

 

I have no interest in going out for about 10 weeks post-op but if I should avoid smoking after the 10 week mark then I will do so.

[Melvin- Admin]

I’m not a smoker, but I enjoy my beer and wine 😁 I didn’t drink for the first two weeks. It’s pretty easy to do, you don’t really want to be out in public anyway. Not sure the situation in Ireland, but in the us many places banned bars and breweries. So, it’s a perfect time to get an HT.

 

[Rossybop]

2 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

I’m not a smoker, but I enjoy my beer and wine 😁 I didn’t drink for the first two weeks. It’s pretty easy to do, you don’t really want to be out in public anyway. Not sure the situation in Ireland, but in the us many places banned bars and breweries. So, it’s a perfect time to get an HT.

 

Cool. I often smoke when I'm out at public houses. Staying dry is not a huge issue for me. I've been dry now for most of this year since March anyway so staying out of the boozer and saving up extra pockrt money for another 3 or months is fine if neccesary. 

Ireland might be similar to America. Everything closed down here at the end of March, but gastropubs and special venues opened again with restrictions in place during summer, but then everything went to shit again and we went to another full-blown lockdown 😂 Restraunts and gastrobars opened again at the weekend and itd be nice to get out but if I have to wait for the greater good then that's no problem.