Looking After Your New (soon-to-be) Locks
When potential patients come to us about undergoing a hair transplant, the main concern revolves around the surgery itself; how long it will be and, crucially, will it be painful. The surgery is the main event for sure but like any surgery, appropriate after-care is also extremely important for the success of the treatment and should be taken into account when deciding to go this route. Luckily, hair transplant after-care is relatively straightforward once the patient understands what to do and what not to do in advance.
What to expect when you’re expecting new hair!
Hair transplant surgery involves thousands of tiny incisions (little cuts) on the treated area. As these incisions at the top of the head begin to heal, they will form tiny scabs, like any cut. This is completely normal and part of the healthy healing process. The blood around these little wounds needs to be able to thicken/clot and then dry over. For this reason, we recommend you do not use any plasters/bandages/any other covering during this initial phase of the healing process. The more exposure to fresh air the treated area receives, the quicker and healthier the healing will be. If the wounds are not allowed to dry and form scabs, it will not only delay healing but also poses the risk of some of the hairs coming loose.
Keeping it simple
We also do not endorse the use of steroids or preventative antibiotics. These are unnecessary and can in fact hinder the healing process. Some hair transplant clinics - particularly foreign-based clinics - will upsell products positioned as after-care. These may include, but are not limited to, steroids, antibiotics, expensive shampoos, ointments, and various take-home treatments. In our extensive experience we see no benefit of any such products and instead encourage taking the simplest, most straightforward and best route to recovery from the surgery - fresh air exposure and the body’s own rich and nutritious blood supply to the treated area. Of course, in cases of infection - something that rarely, if ever, occurs as a result of hair transplant surgery - antibiotics may be required. However, over-prescribing of unnecessary antibiotics is unethical and can be harmful.
How we help
In terms of our after-care input, Dr Kevin McDonald who performs all our surgeries sees every patient back at the clinic after one week to check that everything is healing nicely. With the help of the lovely fresh air, the scabs should be well formed by this stage. Dr Kevin will remove them and administer PRP (platelet-rich plasma) treatment via injection. This treatment uses a patient's own blood cells to accelerate healing in the recipient area. A week post-surgery is the best time to receive this treatment as the hair will have settled into its new environment and now just needs a little nudge to start growing. We call PRP treatment follicle fertiliser!
After this initial follow-up consultation, patients are brought back to the clinic for 2 more reviews - one at 6 months and a final review at 12 months. Regrowth of the hair typically starts around the 4-month mark and by 12 months the hair should have fully regrown. In the interim, patients have unlimited access to Dr Kevin and the team for any questions or concerns they may have. This can be via email, text, phone or video call. All of the follow-up reviews and consultations are included in the package we provide, there are no hidden costs. We pride ourselves on exceptional after-care and want every recipient of our treatments to feel comfortable and informed so they can enjoy their new lease of life.