Preparing for Hair Transplant Operation

Use of alcohol should be ceased at least 1 week in advance of the operation.
Use of blood thinners like aspirin should be ceased at least 1 week in advance of the hair transplant.
Chemical products like hair lotions, hair gels or hair conditioners should be avoided.
If the patient to undergo a hair transplant is a disease carrier, the surgeon should necessarily be informed.
If the patient to undergo a hair transplant has an ongoing medication for disorders such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiac or ulcer, the surgeon should necessarily be informed about this together with the names of the regularly used drugs.
Hair should be washed prior to operation.
On the operation day, the patient is advised to wear clothes that would be easy to wear and take off (like a shirt with buttons).
As smoking could have an adverse effect on operation, the patient is advised to stop smoking one week, or at least a few days in advance of the operation.
The patient should avoid caffeinated drinks on the operation day and a day before the operation day.
The patient can have breakfast or a meal prior to operation.

Patients who have followed all these advices prior to coming to the clinic are immediately taken to the operation room. Hair transplant takes 6 to 9 hours including the preparatory stage. A lunch break is given between the extraction and transplantation processes. Once the patient has had lunch and met other needs, the operation is continued.

Postoperative care

The first lotion and hair wash procedure are applied on the first day following the operation. The patient is informed about the procedures to be applied during the first 10 days and 1 month and the issues to be watched out. Lotion should be applied twice or three times a day for the first 10 days until the flakes of the transplantation area fall off. Hair is washed three times a day for the first 10 days following the operation. From the first ten days until the end of the first month, hair is washed once a day. Application of lotion for the first 10 days is important for the removal of the flakes. The lotion and shampoo given by the surgeon are applied in the washing process as instructed. The palm of the hand and fingertips should be used with gentle pressures, use of nails should necessarily be avoided.

After the washing, dry your hair using a clean towel without rubbing. Avoid using a hair drier but if you will, do not keep it close to the head and do not use hot air blow.
We advise that our patients avoid wearing narrow neck or turtleneck jumpers and prefer shirts or pullovers with buttons, instead.
For the first one week following the operation, we advise the patient to use the neck pillow we have provided. The patient can start using regular pillow after this time.
For the first month, the patient should not stay under pressurized water during shower and the transplantation area should be protected from pressurized water.
The flaking of the transplantation area stops approximately 10 days later. If the flaking takes longer time, hair growth is delayed. The surgeon should be consulted if flaking persists more than 15 days.
The patient should avoid sea or pool in the first month and protect the transplantation area from intense sunlight.
The first hairs growing in the hair transplantation area can start falling starting from the 3^rd week. It is called a SHOCK hair loss. This is a normal process indicating not the failure but the success of the operation, indeed. patients who have undergone the SHOCK hair loss process start to grow permanent hairs from the transplanted grafts at the end of four months at the latest.
Transplantation area should be protected from any impact particularly for the first two weeks following the operation.
For one month, the patient should avoid vigorous exercise and any other physical activity that could elevate blood pressure and cause sweating.
You should avoid stressful environments. Stress is one of the key reasons for hair loss. If you have lost your hair due to stress mostly, you should particularly avoid stressful environments.
You should avoid sexual intercourse for a few days following the operation.
As you will need to take antibiotics for the first 5 days following the operation, you should necessarily avoid alcoholic drinks. As alcohol will directly get into your circulation system through blood, it would be harmful for your recently transplanted hairs.
You may feel some pain and fatigue after the operation. Your complaints will soon disappear if you take the drugs instructed by your surgeon and have a rest for the first two days.
You should lie on you back for the first three days and protect the operation area from impact as much as you can. Patients who return to their daily lives following the transplantation can have some edema first in the forehead and then in the whole face. The main reason for this swelling is that, when the patient returns to daily activities instead of having rest for two days, the local anesthetic agent used during the operation moves down with the effect of gravity, causing swelling.
The dressing on the donor neck area should be removed on the second day following the operation and should be redressed by applying a special ozone lotion to facilitate wound healing.
Transplantation area does not require any procedure after the second day of the operation. You should only the drugs and solutions instructed by your surgeon.
Avoid contact with sunlight for the first three days. If you have to, use a soft head wrap or a bonnet which is not tight.
We advise you to avoid using caps that would damage the transplanted grafts or that would be tight for your head, particularly for the first few weeks.
You should avoid too hot or too cold environments. You should prefer warm water when having a shower. You should avoid Turkish bath, sauna, pool or sea. Such environments will increase the risk for infection and will reduce the potential success of the operation.
For the first few months, you should use antibacterial baby shampoo with low chemical content. Such shampoo will kill the bacteria and microbes on your scalp and facilitate the growth of hair grafts.
The scars of the scalp will disappear and flakes will fall after the first week. The incision or wound scars will be totally gone in time. You don’t need to worry about them.
There may be some redness or pimples in donor and transplantation areas in the early days following the operation. If you use your drugs regularly and pay attention to the rules of hygiene, these will be gone soon.
Your surgeon will give you a special solution for use after hair transplant. You should use the special solution with care particularly for the first 10 to 15 days. You should apply the solution with the palm of your hand. Keep it on your head for 20 to 25 minutes and wash with warm water. After that, you should wash your scalp with PH 5.5. antibacterial shampoo (baby shampoo). You should be gentle and apply mild pressure only. You should avoid rubbing.
You will be instructed in details about everything you should do after the operation.
The hairs on the transplantation area can start falling 10 to 15 days after the beginning of the washing. We call it SHOCK hair loss. While some patients undergo this process, some others do not. If you develop it, you don’t need to panic or think that your hair transplant has failed. This is a normal process. In 4 months at latest, new hairs will grow from the grafts transplanted 0.5 cm under the scalp.
Transplantation area should be kept clean and hygienic following hair transplant. You may have itching on the scalp for the first 10 to 15 days. This is normal. Please do not scratch with your nails.
You should necessarily avoid using chemical products such as hair gel, spray or brilliantine on the transplantation area for the first 6 months.
You can have a scissor haircut 2 weeks after the operation. On the other hand, electric shaver can be used after 1 year only.
We advise you to have RPR on the transplantation area in the first year after the operation and preferably in 3-4 month intervals.