Hair transplant surgery is a very good chance for those who are bald or have a severe hair loss problem. However, this operation might have some side effects for you. To illustrate, the side effects you may encounter after the hair gratification surgery can be listed as bruising around the eyes, bleeding, infection, the lack of sensation on the treated areas of the scalp, itching, and lastly swelling of the scalp.
If you experience swelling after the hair transplant surgery, just keep the calm attitude since it is quite normal to have swelling on the forehead as a common side effect of hair transplantation.
It is quite usual to have swelling on forehead starting from the second or the third day after the operation. Within a week, the problem might go. If it stays more than a week, now it means you are in trouble. That means you should call your doctor as long as possible.
Is It Certain to Experience Swelling After the Hair Transplant Surgery?
Being one of the side effects of hair transplant operation, swelling is not a disadvantage that everyone experiences. Although it is correct that it is one of the common side effects, it does not mean that every patient suffers from the same consequences at the end.
Even if you experience swelling after the hair transplant surgery, it does not mean that you will experience it at the same level as others. In order words, each patient undergoing hair transplant surgery will have their own story.
While some patient might tend to have swelling limited only to the site on the hair scalp in which the donor grafts were placed and transplanted, some might face in the wider area penetrating until the forehead, the temples, and even the eyes.
The best thing you can do before the hair transplantation surgery is not to affect yourself psychologically against the worst result. You may one of the lucky ones to have limited swelling or even no swelling.
You should think positively as much as you can do so that you feel more comfortable and have the operation in a peaceful atmosphere.
You should be aware of the fact that this swelling part of the operation is simply a reaction of your body to the healing process, which is just a temporary situation. In other words, it is not something to change your mood and affect your psychology in a negative way.
What Should You Do to Prevent Forehead Swelling After Hair Transplant?
- You can use some prescription medications that are recommended by your doctor or any expert for hair transplantation. They can suggest you some certain medicines and anti-inflammatory drugs so that it can help you to reduce swelling and the pain of it.
What is important here is that you should follow the prescriptions and the suggestions by your doctor. The dosage can vary from the patient to patient; for some low dosage of is enough when it comes to reducing forehead swelling while it is the opposite way around for some other patients.
- Your position is important to keep your head properly. You should keep the head elevated so that you can minimize the possibility of swelling. The optimum position is at an angle of 45 degrees.
Especially when you sleep, this position is so important. You need to use more than one pillows so that you can elevate your head properly. By doing so, you will feel more comfortable and make the possibility of infection and any damage lower for the transplanted follicles.
- If you are a fan of any sports such as cardio, swimming, or even going to the gym regularly and you can not spend even a day without doing sports, here is an unpleasant warning for you and your friends. You need to give a break for a while after the hair transplant surgery. You doctor might allow you to do some after a week but the best thing you can do is to stay away for a while.
You might give some serious damage or increase the swelling if you continue a physical activity you used to do regularly. If you insist on doing it, your sweating might end with infection risk and you might even face blood clots.
- You need to stop using some certain drug not to make your blood thinning. As an example, aspirin, ibuprofen and their derivatives are in the risk categories to use after the hair transplant surgery. At least during the first week, you should avoid since it might have resulted in the increase of blood flow to the hair scalp, and at the end swelling risk might get higher.
- You can use a light cream or moisturizer so that you can avoid tugging on the delicate facial skin, which is optional to use or not. It is okay at least to try this method since it works well for some patients very well.
- Unlike some certain drugs such as aspirin, ibuprofen and their derivatives, the usage of some steroids may help you, depending on its dosage recommended by your doctor. For example, Kenalog, Medrol, and Triamcinolone are useful when it comes to reducing the swelling in the forehead you have after the hair transplantation surgery. The form of steroids is injections, which makes applying easier.
- You can use the cold compression techniques around your eyes when combating swelling on the forehead. It is because of the affection of swelling around the eye area. Having cold compressions might decrease the blood flow since it constructs the tiny blood vessels present in near the eyes.
However, you should be very careful not to damage the transplanted hair when applying the cold compression. The heat should be optimum since too cold one might hurt you.
- As another method of cold compression, you can use ice cubes. As one of the powerful anti-swelling agents, ice works well for the swelling problem. The best and less risky way to apply ice cubes is to apply it with an ice pack. A frozen bag of peas above your brows might also work well for you if you do not have an ice pack.
You should apply this one regularly. What does it mean? It is not one time in a day just like taking medicine but you should apply your ice pack around 10 minutes for every hour. Regular application is important here for the best and the most effective result to your swelling problem.
- Here is an interesting suggestion to fight with swelling after the hair transplant surgery. You can use fresh pineapple to prevent swelling. It is effective with the natural contains that works as an anti-inflammatory that can truly be preventing.
- A packet of frozen peas and an ice pack on your forehead can be used against the selling on eyes as a side effect of the operation. It helps you to alleviate the swelling around your eyes.
- Regardless of the way to fight with swelling, you should not touch the transplanted area especially to itch. Indeed, it is better not to touch the transplanted area for the first two weeks after the hair gratification not to disturb disturbing this area.
That is why it is helpful to use some spray to water and make the area cool since you can not touch with your hands.
- If you realize that the appearance during the healing process bothers you a lot and affect your psychology, it would be a good idea to take some psychological support from your doctor. Not everyone can handle this process alone. There is nothing here to feel shame about.
Other Suggestions to Minimize Post-Surgical Side Effects
- Your doctors might suggest you to use an antibiotic to help prevent infection but you should consider that you should use it after it is finished all the tables. For the pain killers, moreover, the time you can is important. For example, for some of them, it is okay to take two tablets between every 4 and 6 hours.
- You should arrange your eating habit accordingly after the surgery. Especially alcohol as a reason for thinning the blood and causing bleeding at the end is not allowed during the first two days. For other food materials to consume, there is no restriction but you should be very careful not to eat too much since it might hurt the stomach and make it upset.
The side effects of the hair transplantation are already hard to handle so you do not want to fight with another problem related to your stomach. You should consume light ones to digest easily.
- You might feel uncomfortable because of the itching and swelling. It makes you feel to bend over and engage in any lifting. Yet, it is now allowed to do so for at least two days after the hair transplant surgery since it might lead to bleeding. It can even make the swelling spread and bigger.
The best thing you can do is to keep not only your head but also upper body elevated above your heart level. It might be hard during the day but you should follow this guide when sleeping carefully as much as possible.
- Sleeping part is the most dangerous and risky time after the hair transplant surgery. You can use more than one pillows during the first week. By doing so, you can be successful to protect your head and prevent swelling of your forehead.
- For the next day after the hair transplant surgery, you can wash the back of your head early morning. The water should be warm; too hot or too cold water might hurt you and cause swelling more.
Afterward, you can see some blood blots. It is quite normal because of the surgery effect. You can clean the area and dry. Then, you can spray the implanted area with a solution. It is better to use a bottle and apply this every two hours for the best reasons. This application will reduce the feeling of itching at the same time.
- It should be avoided to smoke during the first week after the hair transplant surgery. Just like alcohol, it also might lead to thinning the blood.
- Taking a shower might be also dangerous. for the first week, you should arrange carefully the heat of the water by making it not too hot and not too cold. However, for going to the bath and sauna, it is now allowed for the first 3 months after the procedure for your good.
- Like too cold and too hot water, you should protect your hair scalp from the sun. When you tan in the sun, the swelling part might be bigger and get itchier.
The same condition is valid for the solarium as well. During the first 3 months, you should follow your doctor’s suggestions to have a successful result of the hair transplant operation.
- As the last advice to do for the post-operative care, you should be very careful not to lift a weight. Even doing some chores might make you tired. it is better to stay away from all the heavy work and take a rest during the first three weeks after the surgery.
It might be seen innocent from the beginning but you would bother the healing process of the hair transplantation. That is why it is better to work in at a minimum level not to make yourself tired.
Bruising Around the Eyes After the Hair Transplantation
When you experience bruising around your eyes after the surgery, just keep a calm attitude since it is normal to observe 20% of the patient undergo a hair transplant operation. For the ones who feel more strong will surely have an easy process than the others. For this one, you should have a positive thinking style about your operation period.
Together with the busing eyes problem, you can experience soreness and the stretching of the skin at the same time. They all are the possible side effects.
It can be effective to take some medications and anti-inflammatories to reduce the pain around your eyes.
Alternatively, you can apply a cold compress to the area of bruising. It lasts generally around four or five days and completely gone within a week.
If it takes longer than this time period, you should consult with your doctor about what to do. They might recommend you some other medications, or the reasons for bruising eyes might be because of some allergic condition for you. if it is so, you will need some other treatment ways.
