Aftercare instructions: what to do, and from when

This is the instruction sheet, written as a page so you can read it before you travel rather than in a hotel room with a folded leaflet. It is organised by activity, not by day, because that is how the questions arrive: not “what happens on day 7” but “can I wear a hat”, “can I go to the gym”, “when can I dye my hair”. What the scalp looks like on each day is a different page, the recovery timeline.

Two rules sit above everything else. Do not scratch, and do not let anything press or rub on the grafted area for the first ten days. Almost every avoidable problem after a transplant comes from one of those two.

Activity	Allowed from	Why that date
First wash	day 2 or 3, done at the clinic	grafts are anchored by 48 hours
Washing at home	daily after the first wash	crusts must soften and lift, not be picked
Sleeping flat	after 3 to 5 nights	pressure on grafts and forehead swelling
Loose hat	once the clinic says so, usually after the first days	contact is the risk, not covering
Helmet, tight cap, headphones over the crown	day 14	pressure and rubbing
Gym, running, sweating	day 10 to 14	sweat and salt in open graft sites
Contact sport	later than day 14, ask	any blow to the donor or recipient area
Direct sun on the scalp	shade and a hat for a month	healing skin marks and burns easily
Alcohol	after one week	affects bleeding and swelling
Sea, pool, sauna, steam	after the crusts have gone and the clinic confirms	water and heat on open sites
Clippers on the donor area	day 14	skin is healed by then
Clippers or scissors on the recipient area	ask, and expect a later date	grafts sit shallow
Hair colour or bleach	ask, and expect to wait weeks	chemistry on healing skin

Washing

The first wash is done at the clinic on day 2 or 3 and you watch it so you can copy it. After that you wash every day, and daily washing is what removes the crusts: skipping washes to be careful is the most common mistake and it leaves crusts sitting for weeks.

The method is soak, foam, rinse, pat. Apply the lotion or foam supplied and leave it on the grafted area for the time you were told, without rubbing. Rinse with a jug or a low-pressure shower held away from your head, using lukewarm water rather than hot. Never point a shower head straight at the grafts in the first week. Dry by patting with a clean towel or by letting the air do it, never rubbing, and never with a hot hairdryer.

From around day 10, once the crusts have gone, you can wash normally and let water fall on your head again.

Sleeping

Sleep on your back with your head raised for the first 3 to 5 nights. Two pillows and a travel pillow around your neck, or a reclining chair if you have one, do the job. This limits forehead swelling and keeps the grafts off the pillowcase.

Use a clean pillowcase, change it daily in the first week, and put a dark towel over it if the small amount of oozing in the first two nights bothers you. If you wake up on your side, do not panic, just go back onto your back.

Hats, helmets and anything that touches your head

Covering the head is not the problem; contact and pressure are. A loose hat that sits above the grafted area is allowed early, and it is the most useful item you can pack. A tight cap, a beanie pulled down, a motorcycle helmet, a hard hat or over-ear headphones resting on the crown are all off until day 14.

Do not pull a t-shirt or jumper over your head in the first week. Button shirts exist for this fortnight.

Sweat, gym and sport

Nothing that raises a sweat for 10 to 14 days. Sweat is salty and the graft sites are open wounds, and heavy exertion also raises blood pressure in a scalp that is still settling. Walking is fine from the start and is good for you.

From day 10 to 14 you can return to the gym and to running. Contact sports, heavy lifting with a bar behind your neck, swimming and anything where a blow to the head is plausible wait longer, and are worth one message to ask about rather than a guess.

Sun

Keep direct sun off the scalp for a month. Healing skin burns fast, and a burn on grafted skin is one of the few things at this stage that can affect a result and leave marks. Use shade and a loose hat rather than sun cream on the grafted area in the early weeks: read the label with the clinic before putting any product on new grafts.

Alcohol and smoking

No alcohol for a week. It thins the blood, worsens swelling and interacts with the medication you were sent home with.

Smoking is not banned, but every cigarette narrows the small vessels that have to feed new grafts, which is exactly the circulation the result depends on. Cutting down for two weeks either side of surgery is the cheapest thing you can do to help your own outcome.

Swimming, sauna and steam

Sea, pool, lake, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room are all out until the crusts have gone and the clinic confirms the date at your check. Chlorine and salt water on open sites are an infection risk, and heat increases swelling.

Haircuts, clippers and colour

The donor area can be clipped from around day 14. The recipient area is different: transplanted grafts sit shallow and a clipper can catch them, so scissors only and a later date, confirmed with the clinic. Do not let a barber use clippers on the top of your head without telling him what you have had done.

Colour and bleach wait weeks, not days. The chemistry is harsh on healing skin and there is no reason to hurry it.

Medication and itching

Take what you were prescribed, for as long as you were told, including the full antibiotic course if one was given.

Itching starts around day four and peaks in the second week. Do not scratch. Wash as instructed, keep the area moisturised with whatever the clinic supplied, and if the itch is unbearable, message the clinic rather than improvising with a product from a pharmacy shelf.

Finasteride and minoxidil are a separate subject: they protect hair that was not transplanted, they are a prescription decision with a doctor, and the timing after surgery is covered on finasteride and minoxidil after a transplant.

FAQ

What happens if I knock my head or a graft comes out?

In the first three days a graft can be dislodged, and you would see a small bleeding point. Press gently with clean gauze for a few minutes, do not rub, and message the clinic with a photograph. After day 5 grafts are much more secure, and after day 10 an ordinary knock is unlikely to displace anything. One or two lost grafts out of thousands does not change a result; concealing it and hoping is what causes problems.

Can I use a hairdryer, wax or gel?

No heat and no product on the grafted area until the clinic says the scalp is healed, which is usually after the crusts have gone. A dryer on cold, held well away, is tolerable in week two if you need it. Styling products go back in once the skin is closed and the transplanted hairs have shed, which in practice means you will not need them for a while.

Do I need to do anything after the first month?

Take a photograph a month, keep an eye on the donor area, and turn up to the photo check-ins through the 12 months of follow-up. There is no daily routine after the first fortnight. The work in months 2 to 12 is patience and, if it was recommended for you, medication for the hair that was not moved.

Who do I ask if something is not on this page?

The clinic, not a forum. Your case has details that a general instruction sheet cannot cover: your medication, the size of your session, whether your work involves a helmet, whether you are flying somewhere hot. Sending a photograph with a question costs nothing and takes a day at most to answer. The details of the follow-up calendar are on your trip to Tirana.

Clinically reviewed by the treating surgeon. Last reviewed 25 September 2026.