What to Expect After FUE Hair Transplant Surgery

After your hair transplant surgery, you’ll want to follow specific instructions to protect the new follicles. Your doctor may also give you special instructions on how to wash your hair to avoid damaging the grafts.

You will notice scabbing on your scalp, where the follicles were harvested and placed. It is normal and shouldn’t cause you any discomfort.

Day 1

After a FUE hair transplant, you may experience forehead swelling on days 2 and 3. Avoid touching, scratching, or rubbing the area. Elevating your head while sleeping is essential to reduce swelling.

The surgeon shaves the back of your scalp and then removes individual hair follicles. These are then transplanted to areas of the scalp that are balding or thinning. The grafts will resist male pattern baldness, so they will continue to grow.

Some of the transplanted follicles may begin to shed within a few weeks after surgery. This is normal and doesn’t mean the follicles have been damaged.

Day 2

Most pain and swelling should have subsided on the second day after your hair transplant surgery. You should avoid touching the transplant area or bumping it to prevent dislodging any grafts that haven’t “anchored” yet. To encourage this process, you may also want to sleep propped up with a rolled-up towel or travel neck pillow.

You can start to rewash your hair, but be gentle and follow our instructions for how to do so. At this point, your transplant site should be scab-free and look much like it did before surgery.

Day 3

By day 3, most of the swelling should have subsided. The red scabs from the surgery should have started falling off, and your new hair will start taking hold.

You can resume washing your hair, but you should wash it with a mild shampoo. Avoid using harsh soaps, power showers, or hair dryers. These can dislodge the newly planted follicles or cause them to heal incorrectly, negatively impacting your results.

You will also continue to take your painkillers and antibiotics as directed to prevent infections and discomfort. Your surgeon may also prescribe additional medication to assist your hair regrowth.

Day 4

At this point, the graft sites should be healed enough to begin growing new hair. Your forehead or back of your head might still be swollen, though, and there may be red scabs where the surgeon worked.

FUE uses micro punches to extract individual hair follicles from your scalp and implant them in areas where you have thinner or no hair. It has become more popular than the classic follicular unit transplantation (FUT) technique, which left large scars and caused the “hair plug” look.

You can resume most of your everyday activities now, but you should avoid bending over or doing anything that makes your head go down. This can reduce blood flow to your grafts and prevent them from healing properly.

Day 5

By day 5, swelling and redness should be significantly reduced. The scabs should be ready to be removed gently by thoroughly soaking and lightly rubbing them. Itching may also occur at this stage, and we advise patients to avoid scratching the scalp or picking at the scabs.

This is a crucial time as new hair growth forms. This results from the transplanted hair follicles taking nutrients and water from the surrounding area.

It’s essential to sleep in an elevated position during this period, as sleeping on your stomach can cause the grafts to become dislodged and fail to grow fully. We recommend using a travel/neck pillow to elevate your head at night.

Day 6

The transplanted hair follicles will start to grow again once they are nourished by blood vessels. This process can take a few months before you see results.

At this point, you will be able to rewash your hair. However, we encourage you to use a special shampoo to avoid damaging the transplanted area.

It would help if you also protected the transplanted areas from direct sunlight, as sunburn can damage the newly re-grown hair follicles. You can go to the beach or other outdoor locations, but wear a hat or sunscreen to avoid exposure.

Day 7

By the seventh day, most of the swelling should have subsided. Some lingering discomfort may occur but should be controlled with over-the-counter pain medication. Scab formation at both the donor and transplant locations is normal and will eventually fall off independently.

On this day, the light dressing will be removed. You can wash your hair using a special shampoo. It is essential to avoid scratching or picking at the scabs, as doing so can endanger their survival.

You can also resume light physical exercise at this point. Rigorous exercise should be avoided for four days.

Day 8

By this time, the scabbing from your FUE hair transplant should have been entirely removed. During this period, washing your scalp with a special shampoo and carefully rubbing the area is essential.

Your surgeon will use this time to check the condition of your grafts and incisions. They will also spray the scalp to accelerate healing and protect the grafts from scabbing.

After about four days, you can wash your hair normally. However, it is essential to avoid direct trauma to the transplanted areas. This is especially important if you have a physical job.

Day 9

You can wash your hair on this day; rinse and not scrub. Also, you can resume light exercise like walking and going to the gym if it’s manageable.

This is when you can start to see the results of your FUE hair transplant. However, remember that every patient is different, and it may take four, five, or even six months to see new growth.

You can start seeing some scabs fall off around this time, especially if you have followed our post-op instructions. It is normal and not a sign of an infection.