The Care And Feeding Of A New Hair Transplant

The day after my hair transplant, my husband went to work and I stayed home and went about my duties caring for my newly grafted head. There were dressings, ointments and sprays, which I had to apply every few hours.  (I had allowed four days after the surgery to recover, before going back to work. However, I learned later that this was not enough time. You need at least a full seven days to get back to “near normal”.)

My head looked slightly better on day two, but still disgusting. The area on the back of my head where the strip of skin was removed, had about 8 inches of stitches from one side of my head to the other- and was feeling tight and sore. The back and top of my head were completely numb and I had a perpetual headache. Red circles surrounded the areas where the grafts were inserted.

My doctor had given me a prescription for Vicoden for the pain and I rotated taking these and extra strength Tylenol as needed.

At noon, I went back to the doctor’s office to have my head shampooed by one of their medical assistants, which felt heavenly. It had so much stuff in it… the dressings, the ointments etc….that it really needed to be washed. It required a very gentle, professional touch to ensure that the hair grafts remained in place.

A laser treatment followed the hair wash, which was used to help me heal faster and to lock in the new hair grafts. You can learn more about laser treatments on Bauman Medical's website.

My head was still too gross for my husband to see, so when he was back from work I found a new way to cover the grafts with a bandana and donned a motorcycle chick look. It actually worked quite well and I even left the house later that evening to run an errand.

Starting on the second day after the surgery, I was required to wash my hair twice a day, gently and with special shampoo and conditioner. I also began applying ointment to the grafts and to the incision on the back of my head.

This was scary the first few days as I had just invested more than $5,000 in the hair transplant surgery and did not want to mess anything up. After a few days, it became easier and the washing helped to make the grafted areas look better each time.

Two days after my surgery I noticed that my forehead was starting to swell – which was considered a normal side effect. By day three, the swelling had moved to my nose, which now had a strange bubble on each side between my eyes. By day four, the swelling had expanded to my eyelids and I looked like a mutant!

I started to panic and called my transplant doctor for advice. He explained that the swelling was a normal side effect that would correct itself over a few days.  Had I iced consistently, as instructed, the day of my surgery and the day after, I could have avoided this.

The swelling slowly subsided over the next few days and was completely gone by day seven. Advice for anyone getting a hair transplant- ice ice ice- just as they instruct. Don’t take any short cuts.

A few days after the surgery, I finally showed my husband my head. He, of course, survived and offered to help me with the “care and feeding” processes, which continued for several weeks.

To my readers: This is the fourth installment in a series about my personal experience with a woman's hair transplant.

Check out the first three installments:

1) I Tried Everything Before The Hair Transplant

2) Preparing For The Hair Transplant

3) Transplant Surgery Day Is Here