Can you damage grafts after 2 weeks post op

[Hah6788887]

Hi. I'm curious as to whether you csn negatively effect your grafts after 14 days post op. The general consensus is after 14 days there secure. So why are we told to avoid activities where you may bump your head for much longer if the healing is done? Can bumping your head actually compromise anything at this point? How bad of a bump would it take? I'm asking because I do want to return to sports soon but I'm not sure if I bump my head it'll cause an issue to the grafts. I'm guessing light scrapes and stuff won't matter at this point. I mean who really knows but curious to your thoughts and experiences on this

[Rafael Manelli]

I’d still wear a helmet for wrestling, tree felling or cycling. Anything that would damage normal hair, will damage grafts. Personally I don’t trust 2 week old grafts to be at full health yet, so I’d still take caution. They’re tough cookies, but they’re also your precious babies, keep em safe. Better safe than sorry. Chlorine from swimming can potentially still hurt them. Avoid too much direct sunlight too.

[Vann]

A lot of times, its better to be on the cautious side. Especially, if you can prevent something early that may result in damage that is permanent. Why not avoid it?

For example, some surgeons say do not work out after 1 month and some say 14 days is fine. Everyone has a different case and most of the time when you exert yourself early. Regardless of your post op, you are exerting increased blood pressure which can put strain on your already traumatized grafts, skin, etc.

Sometimes you can put yourself in an environment where it is not very clean and you could add inflammation to surrounding tissue that could harm or cause potential to get infected. 

Honestly, there are many reason early that it would just be better to play it safe. However, a lot of people say 2 weeks is fine and have continued their life at that point while some waited. But in general... I think its best to never bump your head regardless of how minor. The amount of damage done to your skull/brain will always result in some form of inflammatory response.

Theres an article about olympic athletes bending at the waist and climbing stairs normally with significant small increases in BP for someone at that level of health. Regardless of how minuet the activity is, there could cause little changes that could potentially be just enough to cause an adverse reaction early on.  

[Gatsby]

At two weeks the grafts are as much a part of your scalp as native hair is. Having said that do everything that makes you comfortable post op. All the best. 👍

[Hah6788887]

Appreciate the responses. When I say return to sports soon, I mean as in starting around the 2 month mark post op. I've lightly returned to the gym about 16 days post op as my clinic said after 14 days is fine. I'm planning to start exertion that is more challenging about 1 month post op and than around 2 months I'll get back into sports. I'm just curious to what others have experienced with the different timelines they took and if it effected growth

[Rafael Manelli]

2 months will be totally fine.