Hair Transplant Patient Instructions

Pre-Operative Instructions

• Ten days prior to your procedure: do not take aspirin, vitamin E, gingko biloba, or any multivitamins (as these contain vitamin E). Many medications also contain aspirin, so please be sure to read all medication labels. You may take acetaminophen (Tylenol).
• Three days prior to your procedure: do not take any anti-inflammatory medications (e.g. Ibuprofen), do not drink any alcohol, and do not over-expose to the sun.
• Make arrangements for transportation from the office after your procedure if you will be receiving any sedation. The type of sedation you receive will be decided upon by you and the doctor, but many patients choose to take an oral sedative to make the procedure more relaxing and comfortable. Procedures typically take four to eight hours, sometimes a bit longer or shorter, depending on the number of grafts.
• If you are traveling from out of town, please make the necessary arrangements for your hotel, flights, and transportation. Our office is here to assist you with your accommodations.
• If you have gray scalp hair and you color it, make sure it gets colored within three days prior to your procedure to permit better visualization of the hairs. You will be able to color your hair again two weeks later.
• Your hair in the donor area (back and possibly sides of the head) will be trimmed quite short to permit the extraction of hairs. Depending upon the number of grafts being transplanted, this may involve trimming a small area on the back and/or sides of the scalp that that can easily be covered up by surrounding hair, or require sharing the entire back and sides of your head in the case of a larger procedure (800 or more FUE grafts). You should plan accordingly and discuss this with your doctor as to what is recommended for you. The hair on the rest of your head can be any length.
• If you are having the No-Shave FUE technique, your hairs in the donor area (back and possibly sides of the head) will not be trimmed, and we recommend you let your hairs grow out to as long a length as you feel comfortable with.
• If you are also having BHT (body hair transplants using the beard, chest, abdomen and other areas of the body) being done, you must refer to the specialized instructions.
• For best healing, please refrain from smoking for at least two weeks before and two weeks after your procedure.
• Taking vitamin C 1000 to 2000 mg a day for one week prior to your procedure may help with healing. To reduce bruising, vitamin K, 100 micrograms a day can be taken starting five days before surgery and continuing for two days after.

Post-Operative Instructions

Medications: These are the medications that will be given to you by the office. If you are not able to take any of them (i.e. due to allergies) please let us know before your procedure. This will allow us to properly call in a different prescription to your local pharmacy.

• Cefadroxil – antibiotic to prevent infection. Take one pill twice a day for three days.
• Percocet – strong pain pill should you need it for the first day or two.

These are the medications that are available over the counter that will help you during recovery.

• Tylenol – mild pain pill. Take one to two pills every four to six hours as needed for any discomfort. Do not exceed 3g in 24 hours.
• Antibiotic ointment – Apply to the scalp donor area twice a day for the first five days after your procedure. DO NOT APPLY THIS TO THE RECIPIENT AREA.

Caring for and Cleaning the Scalp

• Your scalp will be cleaned before leaving the office on the day of your procedure. Often there is some slight bleeding from the back (donor site area) for the first 24 hours. For the donor area ONLY, simply apply light pressure with a clean cloth or gauze for 10 minutes.
• You may gently clean your hair beginning the second day until five days later as follows:
  • Wet your head in the shower with cool to warm water, pouring it over your scalp (Top, sides, and back) using a BOWL.
  • Using mild shampoo, lather it in your hands and gently PAT it onto the graft areas while lightly rubbing it into other parts of the scalp, including the sides and back. Alternatively, you can mix the shampoo in with warm water and pour it over your scalp using a bowl.
  • Gently rinse off the shampoo, and then pat dry or air dry.
  • Combing is permitted on the third day as long as it is performed gently and not against the transplanted grafts.
  • Continue this routine daily for the first five days.

  On the sixth day, you may begin to shower normally, letting the water hit your scalp as usual.

  • Any remaining crusts< after nine days should be rubbed off. If you experience any pain or bleeding, stop and wait two more days before you begin rubbing again. It is very important that you rub all these crusts off by TWO WEEKS.

What to Expect

• Numbness, tingling, or similar sensations along the top and back of the head is not uncommon, and totally normal. This will generally take several weeks, occasionally months, to resolve on its own.
• Swelling is normal for the first week after the procedure, and often if the frontal scalp or temples were transplanted, the swelling could come down the face making the eyes or cheeks also appear swollen.
• The transplanted hairs often will fall out with the crusts as soon as five to eight days after the procedure. Do not panic for these are only the hair shafts, while the hair follicles remain in the scalp. Most of the rest of the transplanted hairs will fall out over the next 2-3 weeks. In as soon as four months, the new hair shafts will begin to grow in a natural fashion and will continue to grow at the normal rate of ½ to ¾ of an inch a month. It can take 8 to 12 months for most of the hairs to grow in. Occasionally, it may be up to 14 months before all of the hairs regrow.
• To accelerate the growth of the new hairs you can apply 5% minoxidil (Rogaine® Foam is often preferred) once or twice daily starting THREE weeks after the procedure. If the minoxidil should cause redness or irritation of the scalp, stop using it for one week and then resume once every other day. Once the hairs begin to grow in, at around five months, the minoxidil can be stopped, and the transplanted hairs will continue to grow. The occasional patient can be sensitive to minoxidil and may experience scalp itching, chest palpitations, or lightheadedness, and in these cases, it should be discontinued.
• To accelerate healing and potentially speed up hair regrowth, patients may utilize low level laser light therapy. This therapy can be started as soon as six days after the procedure. Follow manufacturer guidelines on frequency of therapy.
• Be patient for the new hairs to grow in. As they emerge from the scalp, there occasionally will be a few acne-like pimples on the scalp. If this happens, apply warm soaks and antibiotic ointment several times a day for three days, and if not resolved, please call the office so
• we can phone in a prescription for an oral antibiotic.
• There are several ways to camouflage any evidence of a procedure during the first week before the crusts fall off. If you already have hairs in the area being transplanted, these will usually be long enough to conceal the tiny crusts. You will be given a baseball cap to wear out of the office, and can begin to wear a hat as soon as the first day after – in a loose fitting manner (though it is safest to keep the recipient area uncovered if possible). If you already have some hair, the crusts can usually be effectively concealed using commercially available color-matched powder that is sprinkled onto the grafted area. This can be applied as soon as the third day after the procedure. For most patients, there is some mild pinkness of the scalp, which usually resolves within a week. You may have your hair cut as soon as three weeks after the procedure, careful not to cut the hair too short during healing. Hair coloring is permitted two weeks after your procedure.
• Your scalp donor areas should be fully healed in 4 days. You can get a fade haircut, to blend the donor site only, as early as 5 days after the procedure.

If you have any questions or concerns following your surgery, please contact the office at (212) 970-9404. If Dr.Linkov cannot be reached and you are experiencing increasing pain, swelling, bleeding, or any other concerning symptom please present to your nearest emergency room or call 911.