If you are considering a hair replacement procedure, you may be wondering what it would entail. The recovery period after a hair replacement procedure can be a little confusing for some people. The procedure itself is not extremely complicated, but having your hair taken care of is a different story.
The good news is that the healing and recovery period is usually much shorter than you might expect, and most cases are even over quicker than anticipated. If you’re considering one for yourself or your loved one, here is what you need to know about your recovery process and what to expect on the days following your procedure.
After Your Procedure
So right after your hair transplant procedure is completed, you’ll be on pain medication to get a good sleep and help with your healing process. Like most people, you can expect to be entirely off this medication by noon of the subsequent day after your procedure. During this period, we recommend generally refraining from making any important decisions due to the effect of the medication you’re on this time. Another more obvious thing to expect is the bandage you’ll have at the back of your head and across your front when you walk out of our clinic after your procedure. We use this to keep your now sensitive hair adequately protected, so you’ll have it on for about two days at the minimum. Ultimately, when you take the bandage off, you’ll notice that most of the areas where we collected hairs at the back of your head are already healed. Before this time, however, the bandage will be noticeable, so you may want to avoid social settings during this time if you’re worried about the difference in appearance while you have it on.Day 5
By the 5-day mark, you might notice progressive swelling in the areas where we inserted your new hairs into. This swelling is a usual outcome of the procedure and should recede quickly. If you only had grafts in the crown or top of your scalp, you may not notice any swelling. We recommend taking special care to ensure you don’t overstimulate or agitate the new hairs and negatively impact the healing process.Day 10
By this stage of your hair recovery process, you’ll have noticed obvious scabs on the bottom of the hairs that we inserted in the recipient area of your scalp. These scabs often will take on the appearance and texture of little crusts and are ready to be washed out by this time after your hair replacement procedure. You may also notice that you’ll have a pretty short haircut throughout these ten days. That’s because you will generally need to have a buzz cut done right before we start your procedure on the first day, and your hair hasn’t had enough time to grow out much as of yet. However, if you opted for our discreet FUE procedure, there’s no need to buzz your hair, and you’ll likely have your hair at the regular length it was before you came in for your hair transplant. Overall, you’ll feel pretty normal throughout your recovery until this stage and beyond. You’ll get a text every morning from Dr. Vinay, our hair transplant specialist, with a video of himself going through the same recovery process to help you along with your journey and address any questions you may have as well.Conclusion
The point of all this is that your recovery from hair transplant surgery is an integral part of the procedure. And thanks to advancements in hair replacement techniques, the recovery period today is much less painful and time-consuming than it was in the past. That’s why our job at Northwestern Hair is to take care of your hair loss problems and get you back to normal quickly and with minimal fuss.Schedule a Consult
Interested in hair replacement? Schedule a complimentary consultation with a Northwestern Hair specialist. Choose between comprehensive in-person and convenient virtual consultations.