Physical Activity Limitations After Hair Transplant
Question:
I am a 40 year old man. I had a hair transplant 15 days ago and have my sutured removed 5 days ago. I am generally very active, but my doctor said that I can not exercise intensively for first 3 months after surgery. When do you usually say is safe to resume heavy exercise.
Thanks A lot!!
Answer:
Dealing with daily activity and sports after hair transplant surgery is a concern for many patients who are physically active and want to get back to their normal routine as soon as possible. There are two areas of concern after a hair transplant surgery. First, you may lose newly implanted grafts when doing contact exercise like wrestling. This can only be problematic within the first 4 days after surgery. Research has shown that after this period the hair graft is completely healed and infused in surrounding skin. Usually even pulling the hair after this period of time doesn’t have an adverse effect. The follicle stays in place and is capable of making a new mature hair.
The second concern is with the donor area, which is primarily closed by sutures or staples. Using Laxometer can help up to close donor wound with not much tension on the wound edges. The healing of the donor incision follows the general wound healing rules. The process of healing starts from the moment the wound is closed. The wound heals primarily within a few days from the time of hair transplant and any vigorous activity should be avoided within the first two weeks. After two weeks, the wound is practically healed, but the strength of this newly healed wound is nowhere close to normal skin. The wound needs a few months to get back to its final strength. However, regular aerobic exercise is not contraindicated even the day after surgery.The activities that you should be avoiding are: Anything that increases the tension between the edges of the healingwound in the donor area, such as weight lifting and other exercises which involve intense bending of the neck. You should wait at least 6 months for this type of exercise in order to prevent opening of the wound or widening of the final scar.
Tags: hair transplant surgery, hair transplnat surgery, laxometer, physical activity after hair transplant
May 11th, 2008 at 12:46 am
[...] are some limitations in patient’s physical activities after hair transplants. Some clinics recommend very strict rules for physical activities. It is preferred that patient [...]
May 14th, 2008 at 7:25 am
Hello my friends
November 24th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Why don’t you give it a few more weeks and start with more gentle activities at least 4-6 weeks after hair transplant.
December 3rd, 2009 at 11:22 am
People has different healing potentials and even one person’s skin may react differently from one procedure to the others. It is difficult to predict the size of the donor scar even in the patient with previous hair transplants of the same size.
However, the tightness that you mentioned should go away after a while. Eight to ten months after a hair transplant should be a good time to go back for evaluation of your donor scar by your hair transplant surgeon.
June 12th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Hi Dave,
I noticed your problem about tightness in your neck and donor area. I had a hair transplant 4 weeks ago and am having the same problem. Whenever I tilt my head just a little, I feel the neck skin pulling on the donor scar. It drives me crazy and has limited my activity.
I’m wondering if your similar problem went away. How long did it take until the back of your head and neck were as they were before the surgery.
August 24th, 2011 at 1:41 am
You are right RG,
Give it a break for the first few days and then start with mild exercises after hair transplantation. You can do most moves except any phycial activities that bend your head or any position that increases the stretching of the scalp skin on the back of head.
After the first few month from your hair transplant, you can almost do everything without the risk of running complications of hair restoration.