Hair Transplant Surgery Post-op guide

Like all other surgical procedures, hair transplant surgery, also known as hair restoration also needs care post-operation. Patients undergoing Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation are often unaware of the precautions they should take and are also not aware of how soon they will see results. This article acts as a guide for people who have recently gone through hair transplant surgery, as well as for those who plan to go for hair restoration in the near future.

For patients planning to go for hair transplant surgery, your surgeon or health care professional will guide you through the preoperative measures which you will need to take care of before going through the surgery. These preoperative measures and precautions include halting anti-coagulating medications, examining blood clotting and bleeding time, avoiding tobacco and alcohol around one to two weeks prior to surgery, use of antibiotics to make sure the procedure goes well, stopping physical exercises as well as following a normal daily routine without late night-outs and short sleeping hours. These pre-op precautions are necessary to follow as they help to make the hair transplant procedure successful as well as satisfactory. Following them will also ensure that you do not develop any post-op complications.

After the surgical procedure, patients are often worried about how to take care of the area which has been treated and also wonder how long it will take to get the results they wanted. Patients are given a pain relieving medication for the first one or two days. In the first week, the patient usually experiences mild swelling on the forehead area. Swelling normally begins on the second or third day and completely recedes by day six. Very small blood clots also develop at the incision sites which flake away in the first week. After the seventh day, the treated area remains pinkish for the next few weeks. The surgeon may also advise an anti-swelling medication or recommend you to sleep with your head in an elevated position for the first week to reduce swelling.

After the surgical hair restoration procedure, it is very important to regularly wash the hair. Shampooing as recommended by the surgeon removes any dirt, blood and oil which may cause scabs or infections of the skin and scalp. Maintaining proper hygiene is also important as it prevents infections and other skin problems from arising on the treated area.

During the first month, the transplanted hair goes in a dormant state, and they begin to shed. This temporary shedding is caused due to the intense procedure the hair had to go through and is known as anagen effluvium. This is completely expected and patients should not panic if they see the new hair shedding after the surgery. The transplanted hair returns back around 3 to 6 months after surgery, when patients start to see the initial results. For some patients, the newly growing hair may get trapped under the skin before coming out to cause an acne-prone look. This is also natural and temporary and shows a positive sign for hair growth.

Transplanted hairs initially emerge as fine hair, which gain length and thickness as they continue to grow. Five to six months after the surgery, patients can see considerable new growth of hair, most of it measuring two to three inches in length, and see an impressive difference between months eight to ten. The full effect of hair transplantation surgery is visible after the first year of surgery, when the new hair is fully grown, thick and strong. Hair takes time and grows less than an inch every month, which is why it is important to wait a whole year to see the final results of hair transplant surgery. Hair density will also be better than what it was at the time of surgery.

Successful hair transplant in Pakistan procedures are so natural, that they cannot be identified by professional hair stylists as being natural or transplanted hair. Once a whole year has passed after the surgery, hair will continue to grow as normal hair. They can be styled, cut, trimmed in any manner and no special care or treatment is required to maintain them. All standard hair products can be used by the patient and treat the transplanted hair as if they were natural.