What is Hair Transplantation and How is Hair Transplantation Done?
What is Hair Transplantation and How is Hair Transplantation Performed?
What is hair transplantation and what is the success rate? Hair transplantation or hair transplantation is the process of taking hair follicles that will not fall out for a lifetime from the areas in the nape of the neck between both ears and placing them in the channels opened in the front part. Obviously, hair transplantation is the popularly known name of the process of taking the patient’s own hair from the nape of the neck and transplanting it to the front part. The stronger and denser the hair follicle in the nape of the person, the more frequent and stronger the amount of hair transplanted to the front part.
WHAT IS HAIR TRANSPLANTATION AND SUCCESS RATE?
Hair transplantation or in other words, hair transplantation is the name of the process in which hair follicles are taken from another area in the nape of the neck behind both ears and placed in the channels opened in the shedding parts. The more the amount of hair in the nape of the neck of the person to be transplanted and hair transplanted, the success rate in the procedure will increase accordingly. Hair transplantation is actually an aesthetic operation. If the health condition of the person to be transplanted is suitable, this procedure can be performed. At the same time, in addition to the patient’s own decision before these procedures, the psychological state and motivation of the person will increase the success of hair transplantation.
METHODS USED IN HAIR TRANSPLANTATION
Two methods are commonly used in hair transplantation. If we look at the history of this process, we can say that it started with the FUT method. Fut is the name given to the procedure performed by taking a pinch of hair area with the help of a scalpel taken from the nape root within the same logic and separating that area into individual hair follicles with the help of a microscope. However, a small stitch mark would remain in the operation area. With the developing technology, procedures can now be performed at higher success rates and even without stitch marks. Today, hair transplantation operations can be performed with a method called FUE. FUE is the abbreviated form of follicular unit extraction of English origin. It is a method in which hair follicles are extracted one by one without leaving a stitch mark. The aim here is to give the person a natural hair appearance. In the operation performed with this hair transplantation method, the hair follicles in the nape are not damaged.
HOW LONG DOES THE TRANSPLANTED HAIR GROW?
After the hair transplantation operation is completed, the new roots that will sprout in the area are of course completely directly proportional to the meticulousness of the operation performed and the tissue of the transplanted area and show sensitivity accordingly. When the average of the operations performed is taken, it is seen that the hair follicles begin to become evident after the second month in meticulous and correctly performed transplants, and of course, it may vary according to other biological findings of the patient. After the fourth month, we can see that the sprouted hair follicles begin to grow slowly. It is precisely during this period that we should pay more attention to our hair than other times. We should start the care of the hair transplant operation from the first periods. We should use lotions to prevent irritation and scabbing in the area, and we need to care sensitively in daily hair washing. In operations, not only the person who performs the operation, but also the person after the hair transplantation is completed has a great responsibility.
Towards the end of the first month after the crusting of the hair is over, hair loss can be observed up to 40% in some patients and up to 80% in others. If the transplanted hair falls out at a higher rate than the given percentages, it must be protected with protective lotions and cooled to a certain degree. Again, depending on genetic factors, hair growth can be observed in approximately six months after hair transplantation.
WHERE IS HAIR TRANSPLANTATION PERFORMED?
Hair transplantation operations should definitely be performed in clean, sterile environments by a specialist in the field with medical assistance. Because, like other large and small operations, hair transplantation also has a risk of infection. In addition to being pregnant with serious diseases, the risk of different infectious diseases can be great. In layman’s terms, it may be inconvenient to perform this operation in places such as under the stairs businesses, hairdressers and beauty salons. During hair transplantation, some agents that can numb the area locally are applied. If the dose is exceeded or underused, serious problems may arise. For this reason, we do not recommend you to have this procedure done in any place that you do not think is an expert and whose references are not solid.
Hair transplantation is actually almost the same procedure as tissue transplantation performed in plastic surgery departments. The environment where hair transplantation will be performed must be as sterile as an operation environment. Hair transplantation is a surgical procedure that takes 6 to 8 hours on average.
RECOVERY PROCESS AFTER HAIR TRANSPLANTATION
As mentioned above, hair transplantation is a procedure performed in one day (it may vary between 6 and 8 hours). Painkillers are recommended for the patient to spend the day comfortably and for the pain at the operation site. Anti-biotic treatment is also given to minimise the risk of infection in the operated area. After hair transplantation, the treated area of the head should not touch the pillow for a few days. Friction should be kept to a minimum and accessories such as hats and berets should not be used. After the hair transplant operation, the patient is given rest for one day. The person can return to his/her daily life or work the next day. On average three days after the operation, the hair is washed at the transplantation site.
Care after transplantation is just as important. After the third day, the lotion given is applied to the operation area and the area is slightly massaged with our fingertips without rubbing. This process is done every day and the head is washed. After the hair transplantation process is completed, swelling may occur in the facial area of many patients. This is a normal situation, you do not need to worry. These swellings will go down spontaneously after a while. After the first week of hair transplantation, mesotherapy or lotion treatment should be applied to strengthen the hair and hair follicles. Shampoos and lotions containing minimum chemicals should be recommended to the patient, as these chemicals can cause serious damage to the hair and hair follicles. After the hair transplantation operation, it is necessary to protect the area, not to accidentally hit our head somewhere and not to cause damage. For this, we kindly ask you to be careful.
People who do sports can continue their sports approximately one week after the operation is completed. Our patients who want to spend time in environments such as pools and seas can enter the pool or the sea after about a week by being careful in the same way.
THINGS TO CONSIDER AFTER HAIR TRANSPLANTATION
In the article we have written above, we have tried to give brief information about hair transplantation and afterwards. In this part of our article, we will try to explain to you the issues that should be considered after the transplantation process.
We will explain all these procedures that need to be done and paid attention to day, week and month by month. In this way, we will provide more useful information about what time periods and what you should pay attention to after hair transplantation. We hope that it will take place in your memory to a great extent.
Things to be Considered on the First Day of Hair Transplantation
Footnote: All the explanations we want you to pay attention to under this heading are only valid for the first week, for your information.
Immediately after the operation, if you have to return to your home, work or hotel and the sun is shining, wear a hat as much as possible! Exposure to the sun’s rays can have very troublesome consequences for both your operated area and your donor area. Burning may occur in the area after a while, and redness may occur with the effect of this burning. We strongly recommend you to be careful. In all these scenarios, adjust the hat to be used so that it does not squeeze your head. The use of a soft hat will not harm this area if it does not compress the operation area. When resting in a shaded area, be sure to remove the hat and allow your head to ventilate.
After a successful hair transplant operation, the use of hats should be limited to the day of transplantation. It is useful to repeat, if you will not be exposed to the sun, the hat should definitely not be used. It will be beneficial not to use a hat until months after the transplantation day. This means that you will not wear a hat for about two months after hair transplantation.
Do not use any medication other than painkillers and antibiotics prescribed by your doctor!
Local anaesthesia, which is applied or injected to numb the area during the operation, does not cause you to experience any pain or burning sensation for a while. However, the effect of this medicine starts to lose its effect gradually during the day or towards night. This means that you will feel the pain of the wounds on your head. In such cases, the way to minimise the pain you experience is the medication given to you by the hair transplant specialist and the time you should use it. Therefore, do not use any medication other than the medications given to you.
Do Not Get Hit on the Head
There is nothing more damaging to the operation than the blows to the head after a hair transplant operation. In fact, after an unsuccessful hair transplant surgery, the first answer given in response to people who blame the hair transplant centre because their hair does not grow is that they “received a blow to the head after hair transplantation…”.
During the operation, you are not fully anaesthetised, that is, you are not put to sleep. You are conscious. However, despite all these, your body may be weakened in response to these procedures after the end of the operation and you may have a heavy drowsiness. You should be aware of this and especially after the transplantation process, we recommend that you go home with support. Unfortunately, many of those who have hair transplantation get hit on the head while getting into their cars or at home on the first day. Please pay attention…
Attention to First Night Sleep After Hair Transplantation!
A mistake you will make during sleep may cause the transplanted hair to not hold, thus reversing a successful operation. During the operation, the transplanted hair follicles are placed in channels larger in size than themselves. For this reason, even the slightest contact may cause the roots to dislodge.
It will be healthier to spend the night after the operation in a chair or armchair. Likewise, our recommendation for patients who want to sleep in their bed is that their pillows should be soft and they should not sleep on the operated area.
Patients who have only the frontal part of the head transplanted should sleep with their face facing the ceiling. But on the contrary, patients who have transplantation in both the front and back of the head, it would be wiser to spend at least the first night on a sofa without sleeping, even if they sleep.
Your sleep may be light, you may think that you will not turn your head while sleeping at night. However, it should not be forgotten that this operation takes about eight hours and you may be travelling on a long journey after this operation. Accordingly, you may feel sleepy, you may be so tired that you may not even feel that you rub your head on the pillow. We are telling you.
After the operation, a bandaged cloth will be placed in this area. This cloth may contaminate the pillow or armchair on which you put your neck or head with blood. Therefore, it will be beneficial for you to cover it with a blood-proof cloth.
Hair should never come into contact with water after hair transplantation
One of the most important issues to be considered as a result of the hair transplant operation is the protection of the hair from water. Hair washing is never done on the first day, the hair is cleaned or washed with lotion. Apart from this, while washing the face, even a few drops of water going to the operation area can greatly damage your hair. Do not wash your forehead while washing your face. If you need to go out and it is raining outside, go out with a soft and non-tightening hat or umbrella.
Strictly Avoid Smoking
Smoking is one of the body’s biggest enemies in this operation as it is everywhere else. Smoking greatly slows down the blood flow in our bodily functions. You will already lose some blood during hair transplantation, remember that the most basic nutrient source of the transplanted hair is the blood. Especially the cigarettes you smoke on the first day are not recommended and even opposed by physicians on the grounds that they will slow down the blood flow to the hair follicles. If you are addicted, at least force yourself to minimise it.
Do not consume alcoholic beverages!
Harmful substances in alcoholic beverages spread very quickly to the whole body through the blood. These harmful substances can have bad consequences for freshly transplanted hair follicles that have not yet been able to accept their place. We advise you not to consume alcoholic beverages for at least ten days or even up to the second week.
Avoid sexual intercourse for a few days
After the hair transplant operation, you should avoid sexual intercourse for the first few days. The effort and energy you spend during intercourse can tire you and damage your hair roots and roots.
Do Your Best Not to Sweat
Especially if you have had a hair transplant in the summer months and the weather is hot, one of the most important things to be considered after this operation is that you should definitely not sweat. The sweating of your head area may cause the blood clot in the area where the hair follicles are implanted to be fluid and the hair follicles to be displaced. For this reason, observe a cool weather after the operation and especially avoid activities that may make you sweat on the first day.
THINGS TO CONSIDER AFTER THE THIRD DAY AFTER HAIR TRANSPLANTATION
How Should the First Wash After Hair Transplantation Be?
We tried to help you on the day of the hair transplant operation and what to do and what not to do the day after the operation. One of the most important points to be considered after hair transplantation is undoubtedly the first wash has an important place.
Although the first washing after hair transplantation is usually done on the third day, there may be those who rarely prefer to do it on the second day. After the days following the hair transplantation, you go to the hair transplantation centre to have your hair washed, acting in accordance with the request of the person who performed the operation. The first procedure will be to remove the bandage wrapped around your head. Since the bandage comes into contact with blood during the operation, it will stick to the area and this may cause you some pain. After the bandage is removed, the hair washing process is started. A special cream is applied to both the area where the hair is transplanted and your nape area. The purpose of applying this cream is to soften the dried blood in the upper part of your head and to perform the hair washing process in a healthy way. The absorption of the cream in the applied area and the softening of the hair varies between twenty and thirty minutes on average. After the softening process is completed, you will be taken to the hair washing unit. The first wash is performed with neither hot nor cold, slightly warm water and a natural shampoo.
In the first wash, foaming and rinsing should be done very precisely. After the washing process is over, drying should be done with the help of a soft towel. The towel is pressed and lifted as if lightly tamponing the operation area. In this way, you will have a smooth washing process.
Can I Travel After Hair Transplantation?
Of course, there is no harm in travelling after hair transplantation. However, provided that you are careful. Most patients who come to have hair transplantation have to return home on the same day because they prefer us from outside the city. During these journeys, many people prefer travelling by bus or plane. However, the patient should be very careful during long journeys. You should protect your hair during your journey. Relax your neck area with a pillow, these inflatable pillows will prevent you from rubbing your head anywhere. If you have the opportunity, we recommend that you do not sleep during this journey. Because during sleep, you can hit your head against the glass or somewhere else and get hit. Considering all these situations, we recommend that you complete your journey by watching the outside, not sleeping.
Renounce Almost All Sports for a Few Days
We know that it is unlikely that you will be able to play any sport within a few days after a difficult operation such as hair transplantation. But let’s face it, if such a situation crosses your mind, please remember this article and stop doing sports. Spend the first three days just resting. Do not resort to any strenuous action other than this action. This may jeopardise the operation and delay the healing process.
Do not use aspirin or any blood thinners
It is useful to repeat, do not take any medication other than those prescribed by your hair transplant specialist. If there are medicines that you have to use continuously, be sure to tell this in consultation with your physician.
THINGS TO CONSIDER DURING THE FIRST WEEK AFTER HAIR TRANSPLANTATION
First of all, it is useful to remind the following. All the information mentioned above are actually the precautions that should be applied during the first seven days. However, let’s continue to give brief advice on what should and should not be done in the seven days after hair transplantation in order not to make any mistakes.
- Absolutely no hair shaving should be done.
- Hair should not be coloured.
- Sexual intercourse should be avoided.
- Healthy and useful foods should be consumed. This also directly affectsthe healing process.
- Alcoholic beverages and smoking should be avoided.
- The head and operation area should be protected from possible impacts.
- The hair is washed after a while and a blow dryer (hair dryer) should never be used for drying.
- Instead of chemical soaps and shampoos, natural soaps and shampoos recommended by your hair transplant specialist should be used.
- Heavy loads should not be lifted.
- Healthy foods with high blood-forming properties should be consumed.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO BE CONSIDERED IN THE FIRST MONTH AFTER HAIR TRANSPLANTATION
Approximately one month after the hair transplantation, the prohibitions gradually begin to be lifted. It is still recommended that you do not continue some of the harmful habits mentioned above. It is obvious that these harmful habits will harm our body as before. However, we would like to remind you that there is no research that it does not affect much after the first month. So, what are the things we need to do after the first month? Now we will explain them to you.
Shock Spill Process
One of the most important components of the process after hair transplantation is the event called shock loss. Shock loss is an expected step of this process and occurs in almost many patients, there is no cause for alarm. It usually occurs in the second and fourth weeks after transplantation. However, it is also observed to occur at longer times.
Shock loss is the event of hair loss again after the transplantation process. However, it is useful to reiterate, there is no reason to be afraid. This loss is not permanent. Even if the upper parts of your hair strands fall out, the roots will still remain alive at the bottom. After a temporary sleep phase, they will sprout again.
Please do not be afraid and do not interfere with your hair during this loss. As we said, this event is expected and you should not worry. Do not use any chemical shampoo, cream, lotion, serum, etc. for early hair growth! After the shock spill, you can wait patiently for your new hair to grow.
Acne and Pimples?
Pimples may appear in this area due to both the effect of the operation and an oily body. While it is obvious that we will not physically affect any pimples that appear on our body, never touch them after such an operation. Do not try to pop them either. If you think it will create a big problem for you, contact your specialist who performed your hair transplant operation. If this is not possible, show it to your nearest dermatologist and get comfortable after the examination.
Itching on the Scalp
In the first month after hair transplantation, you may witness really uncomfortable and sometimes unbearable itching. The water process is one of the major steps of hair transplantation. Many patients also experience this uncomfortable situation. Most people who scratch their hair say that their hair comes to their hand after scratching. For this very reason, you should endure this pain and protect this area against possible irritation. If you cannot stand it and scratch it, do not scratch your nails back and forth. You may have two or three strands of hair between your nails, which may upset you. After all, you know the cost of a single hair follicle. Each hair follicle should be precious to you. Take good care of them.
Redness on the scalp
One of the situations that disturbs people more than enough is undoubtedly the rashes on the scalp. Although this disturbing condition does not appear after three and four weeks in some patients, it may last for months in some patients. Generally, in cases where the scalp is exposed to sunlight, the redness may prolong this period. You can minimise this redness by not being exposed to sunlight with the use of hats and umbrellas.
If the redness does not go away for a long time, consult your specialist. We regret to remind you that this rash can sometimes last for months.
Shampoo Use After Hair Transplantation
One of the most common questions after hair transplantation is the use of shampoo. We would like to remind you that after hair transplantation, there is no shampoo, soap or any chemical soap that provides fast hair growth and hair growth. Therefore, protect yourself from these situations that may abuse your goodwill.
The shampoo to be used after hair transplantation must be strictly natural and completely herbal. We do not need to give brand names, but there are many herbal products sold at reasonable prices. Do not worry about finding a special shampoo of your own after hair transplantation, it will be enough for you to stay away from any non-chemical shampoo after this procedure.
Massage After Hair Transplantation
After hair transplantation, one of the most important factors that will ensure that the hair follicles and roots are nourished and strengthened is to have a hair massage. After the shock shedding effect we mentioned, a light massage on the operation area causes the blood in the body to flow rapidly. Thus, hair follicles reach the blood they need for their development faster. As a result, you can say hello to healthier and more vibrant hair.
You can also apply the hair massage yourself. You also do not need to spend extra time. While sitting at home and watching your TV, you can do this massage in any of your gaps. We can even say that it can be of great benefit to you if you make it a habit.
Hair Shave
Another important issue to be considered after the operation is appropriate and timely hair shaving. Two or three weeks after the hair transplantation process is completed, you can shave if the operation area is not intervened. It will be better to use scissors in this process. Since your hair is not yet fully attached, the hair should not be shaved for the first weeks! However, after the shock shedding effect occurs and the hair starts to grow slowly, shaving can be performed. This will be valid from the third month on average.
MY HAIR GREW AFTER THE HAIR TRANSPLANT OPERATION, SO WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW AND WHAT SHOULD I PAY ATTENTION TO?
Approximately six months after a successful operation, the hair grows completely and grows to some extent. However, it is worth remembering that the time needed for the hair to complete its development is approximately twelve months. If you follow the information we have explained above and follow all the recommendations, you will already have healthy hair.
After all these stages, you can continue your life as before, from where you left off. However, there are still some situations and recommendations that you should pay attention to. How should hair care be, we will now examine them.
What should be considered in hair care after hair transplantation?
It is of great benefit to wash your hair every two or three days, not every day.
Use the most suitable shampoo for your hair and skin structure (dry hair, oily hair, normal hair, etc.).
After applying your shampoo to your hair, massage your scalp with your fingertips to act on the scalp and rinse your hair thoroughly after this process.
Nourish your hair with natural and herbal masks.
Instead of heavy and unhealthy foods, pay attention to fruit and vegetable consumption.
Use natural and herbal shampoos instead of chemical shampoos.
Do not use materials such as hair styling gel, hair styling gel, hair conditioner, spray. If you have used it, wash it at night.
Dry your hair with a towel if possible. Avoid excessive use of blow dryer.
Drink plenty of water for your hair to maintain its own moisture and for your health.
You can now gain the habit of doing sports.
Massage your hair at almost every opportunity you find.
If you dye your hair, please avoid chemical dyes and use herbal and natural dyes.
Finally, we would like to remind you that there are unfortunately no conclusive findings and results that shaving hair helps hair grow thicker or revitalise hair follicles. Therefore, enjoy them!
If you have any questions you want to ask, you can be sure that we will answer them with pleasure. Thank you.
