Washing your hair regularly is an essential part of hair and scalp health. This doesn’t stop when you’ve invested in a hair transplant. In fact, it’s more important than ever to keep up your hair-washing routine to maintain your hair health.
However, using the wrong techniques and products to wash your hair after a hair transplant operation can actually damage your newly grafted hairs. If you’re too vigorous, you can easily dislodge grafts or cause unnecessary scarring. Using an unsuitable shampoo can also lead to hair transplant infection, as well as other complications and hair transplant side effects.
Find out how to wash hair properly after a hair transplant to give your new hair the best chance of growth.
Most good hair transplant clinics will provide all the infomration you need for your first hair wash after your transplant operation and show you the right techniques for washing hair at home. They’ll also check that your transplant is healing well, and adjust or prescribe your medication if they notice any signs of infection, folliculitis, or other complications.
At the Wimpole Clinic, we invite all our hair transplant patients back 3 days after their procedure for a hair wash and to check their healing progress.
The most important thing to remember when washing your hair is to be extremely gentle. It’s easy to dislodge your newly transplanted grafts, especially in the first few days after surgery.
Here’s our step-by-step guide to washing your hair after your hair transplant:
For the first 10-14 days after your hair transplant procedure, you should aim to wash your hair daily, starting with your initial hair wash at the clinic. Daily washing removes any dried blood and scabs from the transplanted area, keeping it clean, and healthy, and making your hair transplant less noticeable.
Washing your hair using a safe method can also prevent complications like cicatricial scarring [2]. This is an inflammatory condition that damages your hair follicles and can lead to permanent hair loss.
After 14 days, your scabs should have disappeared, and your transplanted hair roots should have settled in their new positions. From that point, you can wash your hair normally using standard hair products, as you did before you had a hair transplant.
Not washing your hair may lead to hair loss, so it’s important to wash your hair frequently when you have a healthy head of hair to maintain its health and shine.
Caffeine shampoo for hair loss has been shown to be almost as effective as Minoxidil for promoting hair growth [3]. So it can be a great way to minimise continuing hair loss and promote growth in your transplanted hairs.
Despite this, you shouldn’t use caffeine shampoo until at least 14 days after your hair restoration procedure. Until then, use the shampoo recommended or provided by your surgeon.
Does Alpecin work? Learn more about the link between caffeine and hair loss.
An itchy scalp is a common side effect of hair transplantation. It can affect both the donor area and recipient sites. However, scratching your scalp is a very easy way to dislodge your hair grafts and compromise the success of your hair transplant.
Washing your hair can reduce scalp itchiness, jus don’t be tempted to scratch your head while you wash it [2]. Minimise this risk by keeping your nails cut short, taking antihistamines, and spraying your head with a saline solution.
Attentive hair transplant recovery is vital for the success of your hair transplant. If you accidentally knock your grafts while washing your hair or doing other everyday activities, you can easily lower the chances of hair transplant success.
To give your hair transplant the best chance of growth, here’s what else you need to do to take care of your grafts:
Find out more about what to expect when recovering from a hair transplant.
Losing large clumps of hair when you wash it is usually one of the first signs of hair loss. Hair loss in the shower can be worrying, especially if you’re not sure what’s causing it.
If you see hair loss in the shower after a hair transplant, this may be an expected side effect like post-transplant shock hair loss. It also could be a temporary hair loss condition like telogen effluvium, which can occur as a result of hair transplant surgery [4]. Shock hair loss usually happens 1-2 weeks after surgery, while telogen effluvium usually occurs 2-3 months later. Both conditions are temporary and should clear up on their own.
If you’re worried you may be experiencing any kind of hair loss, including male pattern baldness or female pattern hair loss, get in touch with the Wimpole Clinic team. We can diagnose your hair loss and help you find the right treatment plan to restore your hair
Book a free hair loss consultation.
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