Reduce redness (bepanthen/bepanthol)

[Erik_1]

Hi,

I was given aloe vera for the post-op to reduce redness and itchning. But the aloe vera is actually irritating my scalp.

My question is, can I use bepanthan ointment? It helps a lot but I want dont want to affect the outcome! I am 6 weeks post-op. My doctor is recommending aloe vera but it doesnt work.

Regards,
E

 

[BelfastBilly]

Aloe Vera made my scalp redder, I have changed to Aveeno oatmeal cream in the last few days and the redness seems to be reducing quickly. B

 

[Elithair]

Aloe vera irritating the scalp is more common than people think, especially in the first couple of months. Some formulations have added ingredients that don't agree with a healing scalp even though the base product is supposed to be soothing.

Bepanthen is generally very well tolerated and is actually used post-op by a lot of clinics for exactly this kind of irritation. At six weeks your grafts are anchored so the risk of displacement is gone. The main thing at this stage is keeping the scalp calm and moisturized while it finishes healing.

That said your doctor recommended the aloe vera for a reason so before switching go back to them and explain that it's causing irritation. Most doctors will have no issue with Bepanthen as an alternative but it's worth a quick confirmation rather than switching without telling them.