How Soon Can I Wash My Hair After a Hair Transplant?

Hair transplant patients often have questions about their procedure. And they also have many questions about after their procedure. One of the most frequently asked questions is how to wash your hair after hair transplant surgery. This is very important. The outcome of your hair transplant doesn’t just depend on the quality of your hair restoration technician. It also depends on how well you take care of yourself in the days afterwards.

At Nashville Hair Doctor we want to help you make the best of your hair transplant. Our team has over 20 years of experience in hair restoration, and we asked them their advice on how to wash your hair after a NeoGraft Hair Transplant.

How to Wash Your Hair After a Transplant

Nashville Hair Doctor Tips for Washing Your Hair After Hair Transplant Surgery

1. Wait 48 hours before you wash your hair after hair transplant surgery. Of course you  can take a body shower before that, but keep your hair dry. Have you ever made fun of your wife or girlfriend for wearing a shower cap? Now it’s their turn!
2. Starting on Day 3 after your hair transplant, you may begin to wash your hair. Be very gentle when washing your hair for the first 5 days. A gentle hair wash will not hurt the newly implanted follicles, but be careful. Too much scrubbing might dislodge a graft, which you don’t want.
3. Don’t let your head go directly under the shower head. A lot of shower heads pack a powerful punch, especially if you have a massage shower head. Again, gentle is the name of the game. A rain or rainfall shower head that distributes the water over a wide area is best suited for the task.
4. The best way to make absolutely sure your’e as gentle as possible is to fill a cup with water and pour it over your head.
5. The washing itself should also be done very gently. The best method is to squeeze a little shampoo into your hand, lather it up well between your hands, and then carefully rub it into your hair.
6. Our Hair Doctor team prefers this method: Put a little shampoo in the bottom of a cup, fill it up with water, and then pour the bubbly solution over your head while gently massaging your head. Repeat this a few times depending on how much hair you have. It’s unlikely you have an unwieldy mane of it, or you wouldn’t have needed a hair transplant in the first place!
7. Some itchiness is common for a few days after a hair transplant. The donor area, meaning the place where your follicles were extracted from, will initially be covered by small red dots. These dots will begin to scab over after your surgery. If you are bothered by any itching, you can apply conditioner to the donor region. This helps relieve the itching.
8. If any scabs remain after 7 days, you can apply conditioner to the recipient region. Gently massage in a circular motion to help encourage the scabs to fall off.

We hope that our tips help you with the question of how to wash your hair after hair transplant surgery. Please also check out our Tips on How to Prevent Swelling after a Hair Transplant. If you have any other questions, please contact us.