Quitting Smoking Before Hair Transplant

[Patienthair01]

Really hoping to get some feedback on this. I am planning to get a HT and wanted to know how long before a HT do i need to be a non-smoker. If i quit smoking but using nicotine patches how many days or weeks prior to surgery do i need to be completely off nicotine?

[Spaceguy]

I was asked by doctor to reduce or stop smoking two weeks before surgery and a week or two post-op!

I reduced it by over 90%, and after surgery i had idk maybe 2 cigarets per day....i roll that small ones! Doctor said avoid smoking but if completley stoping causes you stress that is also not good for transplanted hair or hair in general so keep it low as much as you can avoiding stress.

Overall it wpuld be good for our hair to stop smoking or keep it on few cigs per day.....now i really think a lot of completley stop smoking!

[Al - Moderator]

If you can stop smoking for a full year before the hair transplant you would have it practically paid for with all the money you saved not buying cigarettes  😀

 

[HappyMan2021]

FWIW I am a near-daily weed smoker (technically vaping). I have had 3 hair transplants. For every surgery, I vaped up until a few days before surgery. And resumed daily vaping 10 days or so after surgery. For each procedure my hair grew in fine. 

Perhaps nicotine is different....just sharing my story in terms of weed. 

If ceasing smoking will cause bad withdrawals or otherwise cause unbearable stress, see if your HT doc or maybe your primary can prescribe smoking cessation such as Wellbutrin, or maybe even a SMALL dose of a daily benzo for the 1st 10 days after surgery.

Smoking is not optimal for post-surgery, but neither is a huge amount of mental stress, or your body's withdrawal reaction to nicotine. 

[Patienthair01]

Some places i am reading 1-2 week prior to HT and a few weeks after is what is recommended. I wonder if there is a consensus amongst the surgeons on this.