The Run up to Hair Transplant Surgery

In the run up to surgery:

These are things to do in the three to four weeks preceding your op in my opinion to help.

• Sort out your story as to why you are going away for 2/3/4 weeks. Make sure you have made your story clear to those that need to know.

• Avoid all alcohol, all vitamins, minoxodil, and MSM for SEVEN days pre op. Also protein shakes and power-food bars which have added vitamins. These can all thin the blood and stop it from clotting normally for surgery.

• Avoid Aspirin, Motrin, Naprasyn, Ibuprofen and all other non-steroidal anti-inflammatories for at least a week. Tylenol is OK.

• Buzz hair short pre op in advance so people you see on a day to day basis don't notice the new buzz cut post op. (Especially FUE guys)

• If you are going to get a zero percent credit card to pay for your op, sign up the month before the procedure not the month after. They don't like a 10K balance transfer and may not give you a high enough limit.

On the way:

These are the things to pack and do in the last two or three days before your surgery and when you get to your destination.

• Take two loose hats with you (one might not fit). Or use a bandana – it’s more comfortable than the baseball hat and covers more of the head.

• Take a travel pillow, very handy. Especially on the journey home.

• Take music

• Get to bed early the night before. Aided sleep is advisable.

• Get a massage the day before.

• Stay local to the HT clinic.

• Make damned sure you've filled your Vicodin prescription well in advance of your op, as opposed to waiting until the night before because you aren’t guaranteed an all night pharmacy – not even in major cities like New York or London.

• Read the post op instructions before you have the HT. Write down any key questions and tick them off before you leave the surgery. It’s easy to forget to ask, what with the injections etc.

On the day of surgery:

• Eat a small breakfast on your surgery day but avoid caffeinated coffee.

• If you are on medication for any medical condition continue to take it on the day of the
surgery unless your doctor has told you otherwise. Make sure your doc is aware of any medication you are taking prior to surgery day; in any case he should ask you as part of the consultation process.

• Get to the clinic early in order to not be rushed as this will allow you ample time to go through everything with the doc.

• Have a list of questions for the doc that you want answering.

• Wear a buttoned up shirt for the day of surgery – it’s easy to get on and off. In fact it’s best to wear button-up shirts for a few days to avoided pulling clothes on and off over your newly transplanted head.

• Wash hair the morning of the surgery and wear lots of deodorant. It’s a long sweaty day and you don't want to be stinking out the place, nor giving yourself any extra anxieties because you are worrying about your perspiration.

• I would advise taking the pain killers regularly, even before the pain starts – though check with your doc which ones are ok/best to use.

• Have the clinic take lots of pre op pics in order to have a controlled
comparison for post op.

• Do not watch comedy DVD's during the procedure; it can result in you laughing and moving your head at the wrong time!

Immediately after surgery:

• Have the doc wash your hair the day after surgery...it reduces scabbing and you won't spend the next two weeks looking in the mirror waiting for them to fall off. He’ll also show you how to wash it properly to help reduce scabbing without damaging your donor and recipient areas.

• Never underestimate the recovery time needed. Get the absolute maximum amount of time off work. You will feel fine after a couple of days but you will look terrible. It’s not so bad if you can wear a loose cap or bandana.

• Remove all mirrors from your house, office etc. Seriously! And avoid staring at yourself in your car mirrors – especially when driving. The transplant will not grow any quicker for looking at it and initially it looks pretty unattractive.

• Sleep upright or at a 45 degree angle to help any swelling go down

• Apply huge amounts of Aloe Vera gel to both donor and recipient area but not until five days after surgery (then twice a day minimum).

• Apply Emu oil or distilled witch hazel to the healing areas to help soothe and speed up healing process; (apply from 7/8 days post op). Distilled witch hazel helps with redness.

• Take MSM (3000mg) to speed up the existing hairs growth

• Drink lots of water / fluids

• Bend at the knees for first 3/4 days

• For the first 3/4 days just put shampoo in a cup and pour it over the recipient and donor area. Then build up to a shower but shield your recipient area with your hand and dab on shampoo.

• Have a couple of beers and soak your head in a hot bath prior to staple removal (usually about ten days post op).

• Rest as much as possible

• No physical activity for ten days then build it up slowly

From two weeks post op:

• Figure out your communications strategy for when you are home. I decided to tell people on a need to know basis which meant that I told only a few.

• Stop staring in the mirror all the time

• Start up physical exercise gradually

• Start Minoxidil if you want to help speed up growth

• Stop inspecting scar/ donor area all the time! It takes months to fade.

• Forget about your HT now for at least 4/5 months

• Take some clear photos to compare your situation at various stages

• Use sun screen on the graft for the first four months if the weather is warm and sunny. If you get too much exposure you could peel really badly and have redness for months.

• Use concealers in areas once hair is long enough to help bulk up and disguise lingering redness.

• Wear a hat to buy you valuable days.

• Grow hair long pre op to help disguise areas worked on.

• Take a holiday post op and take yourself out the loop for 3-4 weeks

• Take sick leave right before your holiday comes to a close to buy you valuable days

Travel Tips for the HT traveller:

Over the many years that I travelled for my HT's and helping others who have chosen to hop on a plane overseas we have learnt a few tricks of the trade you would say to make travelling as easy and problem free as possible. It's a daunting task to get a HT never mind travel thousands of miles and also across different time zones, so hopefully the tips below will help the many who intend to venture overseas to their chosen clinic.

Outbound:

1. Keep well hydrated at all times. Drink as much water as you can as travelling can dehydrate you making you feel over tired at the other end. Avoid alcohol!

2. Get a massage the day before.

3. It is a long day from start to finish before you get to your hotel so travel in something comfortable in order to make the journey more enjoyable.

4. Make sure you have all documents in order a few days before:

• Check passport is up to date and has appropriate time still left on it (minimum 6 months)
• Flight info/ tickets are ready (checking in online is always a good idea as takes stress out at airport)

• Additional passenger info all filled in online (airline require this)
• Your online visa filled in
• Travel money - (always good to have $ in your wallet for taxi/food/drinks etc)
• Hotel info to hand when you arrive to give to taxi driver.

6. Travel with good time to spare – go at least one day before and schedule the flight so you get the opportunity of a good night sleep the night pre op.

7. Stay local to the clinic so that you can easily get there from the hotel and in good time. If you can make time, do a reccy the night before so you know exactly where the clinic is. Often you need be there early i.e. 7.30am, particularly if it’s a longer op.

8. On entering the US /Canada you will be asked for the reason of travel - simply inform them ‘leisure’ as this will save a great deal of time at customs.

9. Travel light if possible. If returning home within a few days then try to only use hand luggage. It saves a great deal of time waiting around in the baggage collection area. After several hours on a plane you will just want to hit the shower at the hotel.

10. Travel accessories to help pass the time: a couple of books, charged ipod or iphone, magazines – anything to kill an hour or two.

11. The best airline in my opinion is Virgin so if you have a choice fly with them; their 1000+ movies, large seats, free food and drinks make the journey much shorter ;-)

Return:

1. Make sure going through customs nothing on you is going to bleep – i.e. belt, money, phone, rings. This way you will sail through the security without having to remove your hat. Bleep and your hat will have to be removed possibly. If this happens however just inform the guard you have just had ‘head surgery’ and you are more than happy to remove the hat but request a private room. You will more than likely just be asked to move on ;-)

2. Take a travel pillow, very handy.

3. Drink lots of water. Keep well hydrated all the time.

4. Ideally get a night flight home. Because you fly through the night, you will sleep on the plane and arrive home in the am, so your body clock will adjust better. (This applies mostly to UK/US travellers.)

5. Travel in comfortable clothes e.g. tracksuit

6. Ask your doc for a sleep aid as then the flight home will be a breeze once you are on the plane ;-)

7. Get picked up from airport at home so that there is a friendly face once you touch down and you do not then have to drive on top of the journey.

8. Stay rested all day on return but try stay up till late afternoon /early evening as this way you will get your body clock back in line very quickly. It might require a little bit of fighting but well worth it.

9. Be aware that the travelling can be a mission anyway even without the HT on top, so keep rested and be aware of the post op blues once home. You will be tired both emotionally and physically so respect it and rest up.

Travel Tip from another HT vet
My tip to anyone travelling long distances is to fly home the day after surgery! At one day post-op I had no swelling and no pain because my head was still totally numb! I flew home four days post-op and my head looked like a balloon and the anaesthetic was beginning to wear off which made for a long and uncomfortable flight home!!!!!

Airport Security

The best way to do it is to make sure there is nothing on you to slow down your smooth passage through security. Remove all items such as watch, keys, change, bangles, chains – anything that could cause a bleep.

As you walk through remove your cap casually and calmly. They will not specifically be looking at your head at all... you will be ultra paranoid .They will maybe glance and then once you’re through that vital 10 seconds, just casually pop the hat back on.
You will never ever see the security guy again so who cares if he suspects; and the people behind you will be too stressed out taking all their own crap off and sticking it into the machine for scanning.

Another alternative is you can always ask for a private room; but to be honest, it’s just not needed!