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The
Post-Surgery Experience
Considering a hair transplant?
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After your hair transplant procedure, you will be given written instructions
that explain in detail how to care for your scalp until your return
visit. Prescriptions for medications may be given at that time (or before
the procedure). Most doctors give their patients an analgesic such as
Tylenol with codeine. Antibiotics may be prescribed to prevent infection.
Some doctors give medication to prevent swelling, although these have
limited value. Tranquilizers and sleeping medications are prescribed
to help the patient over the first few days of healing.
Immediately following surgery, your grafts are held in place by fibrin
(the body's natural glue) produced by a chemical reaction in serum when
the graft sites are made. The grafts are loosely held in place for the
first 2-3 days and become fully secure at about the eighth day. The
hairs that are present in your new grafts usually fall out during the
first 2-6 weeks after the procedure (see Growth of New Hair section
below). At this time, the patient will usually look just like he did
before the transplant. Follicular Unit Transplantation is a relatively
minor surgical procedure; most people recover in several days, and many
return to work right away. Some discomfort generally exists in the donor
site for a few days after the surgery. The discomfort is best managed
beyond the first day in most people with Tylenol (with or without codeine).
Athletic activities should be restricted for 1-2 weeks. Some limited
restrictions apply in the second week. Although we caution patients
not to put undue stress on the donor area for several months, normal
activity may be resumed 1-2 weeks after the procedure.
There are several different approaches to post-surgical treatment.
The patient may leave with no bandage after the surgery or he may be
given a small sweatband to keep pressure on the donor area. The recipient
area is left open or lightly covered. This enables the transplanted
area to be exposed to the air for drying and healing.
Patients often worry about the potential visibility of their new grafts.
Scabs that tend to form on the scalp surface should be washed off as
they accumulate for the first few days following the surgery. With the
very small sites used in Follicular Unit Transplantation, no new crusts
will form after the second day. Other than the stubble of transplanted
hair and some faint redness, the transplant should not be visible after
the first week.
For those individuals who wash their transplanted grafts well, the full
extent of the transplant looks and feels (in the days following the
procedure) just like a five o'clock shadow. Swelling of the forehead
is present in 25% of people between the third and fifth day, but rarely
lasts more than one day. Rarely, swelling of the eyelids occurs.
Sutures
After three years of research, Bernstein and Rassman have switched to
a totally absorbable suture for most of our hair transplant procedures.
The results of this study, recently published in Dermatologic Surgery
concluded "Poliglecaprone 25 (Monocryl) is a very strong synthetic,
absorbable, monofilament suture with low tissue reactivity that can
be used in hair transplantation to close the donor wound with a single,
running cutaneous stitch. If specific surgical techniques are followed,
suturing with Monocryl can produce a fine surgical scar superior to
metal staples and can result in a more comfortable post-operative experience
for the patient."
We are pleased to offer this new suture to our patients. Besides the
convenience of not needing to have the suture removed, it is skin colored
and is literally invisible, even with the hair relatively short. We
still encourage our patients to come by for their 1-week follow-up visit
if they live close by, but suture removal is no longer a hassle.
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Recommended
Resources |
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- Ask questions and get information on Hair Transplants
in our Men's
Forums and Women's
Forums!
- Information provided courtesy of the New
Hair Institute, taken from "The Patient's Guide to
Hair Transplantation" William R. Rassman, MD and Robert
M. Bernstein, MD
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