Take a sip of your cold drink, lay on your back and enjoy the sunlight. There is nothing like dipping into the pool when it gets too hot. Unfortunately, you will have to wait for a little more if you went under hair transplant surgery lately. In this article, we will answer the question “When can you go swimming after a hair transplant?”
What is hair transplant surgery?
There might be a number of reasons for hair loss. These are aggressive diets, stress, and hormonal diseases. If you lost your hair permanently, the best solution is hair transplant surgery.
Basically, the doctor moves healthy hair to the bald areas in hair transplantation. This procedure requires a medical office. After cleaning your scalp, the surgeon numbs an area of your head with local anaesthesia. Then, he will use a scalpel to make small incisions and takes strip grafts from the donor area. These grafts may contain one to three hair follicles each. Next, the doctor separates the grafts into small sections and implants the hair on the bald areas.
A hair transplant procedure can take four to six hours, depending on the technique. The size of the balding area is also very important.
Recovery
Recovery time depends on the method, and it is as important as the process itself. You should follow your doctor’s advice strictly.
When it comes to swimming after hair transplant surgery, you should wait until your doctor tells you so. There are a few reasons for this;
- Pools have chlorinated water, and it keeps bacteria and viruses under control. Even they are necessary for the pools; they may ruin your newly implanted grafts.
- Ocean and freshwater have a number of potential contaminants in it. This makes the risk of post-surgical infection high. Some doctors claim that saltwater makes the healing process faster, which is true, but in terms of infection, it is impossible for you to protect your head.
- Even if the water is pure and clean, when saltwater and sunlight come together, they will still damage your scalp.
When can you go back to swimming?
Hair transplant surgery is quick, safe and recovery time is not long. However, It is always a good idea to give your scalp some time to heal. You need to wait approximately four weeks until you go back to swimming. When your scabs along the scalp fall down completely, you will be ready. Before you head in for a swim, you need to ask your doctor for his permission first.
After you start swimming, there are still some things that you need to be careful about. As an example, some diving techniques may strain the area, such as head down positions. You should also avoid any activity that causes pulling along the hair.
When it comes to hair transplantation post-operation care is vital. Listening to your doctor’s advice will get you the results you want.