A hair transplant procedure would only be completely successful if patients follow postoperative instructions. One important instruction you need to follow is to avoid sun exposure following a hair transplant procedure for several months.

Your scalp would need more time to heal itself and for the hair follicles to get more acquainted with the new scalp area, especially after a hair transplant surgery. Sun exposure can damage not just your skin but more so, the hair follicles.

So, this is the time to exercise patience and cautiousness. You cannot rush successful results because hair transplants need time to recuperate and heal for several months to 1 year.

Damaging Effects of Direct Sunlight Exposure after Hair Transplant

Direct sun exposure can damage the scalp and the hair follicles, especially after a surgical procedure or trauma. Below are the harmful effects that direct sunlight can do to your newly transplanted hair.

Damage to the Recipient Area

For an FUE transplant, heat exposure can severely damage the recipient area or the region where the grafts are implanted. This is why exposure to direct sunlight must be avoided, especially in the first few months following a surgical procedure.

Render Chromatophores Inactive

Specialized cells responsible for skin pigmentation known as chromatophores won’t be activated yet, especially after surgical trauma and under direct sunlight. Avoiding direct sunlight would enable these specialized cells to rejuvenate and completely heal.

Inaccuracy in Graft Attachments

Damage to hair follicles is imminent, which would result in inaccurate follicle graft attachments.

Scalp Hypersensitivity

Extreme exposure to UV rays can trigger hypersensitivity of skin or scalp. This could lead to rash, redness, or infection in the incision site.

Failure in Hair Transplant Procedure

Heat damage will occur at the deeper or inner layers of the skin, which could take time to heal. The hair follicles would then be damaged, which would result in a failure in the hair transplant procedure. This is the worst that could happen at this point.

Alopecia

Skin erythema happens, which could result in more hair loss or alopecia.

Hair Discoloration

Photo-yellowing of the hair can occur as a result of sunlight exposure and harmful ultraviolet radiation. This could change your hair colour to a much lighter shade and could also lose its shine and strength.

Graft Damage

UV radiation would usually be more damaging to a newly incised skin or fresh out of surgery which would result in damage in grafts

Scarring and Skin Discoloration

Skin discolouration and even scarring could happen with heat damage.

You have to take note that sun exposure isn’t harmful if you would only be just walking out to get to your car, but you do have to wear a protective cap while you are out in the sun. 

Being out in the sun for long hours like when playing basketball or golf though, is where the sun damage happens. Avoid wearing sunscreen during the first few months because your skin hasn’t completely healed yet.

While hair transplant procedures have high success rates now because of advanced procedures like DHI and FUE, the patients must always follow postoperative care instructions to minimize complications and maximize the successful results from the surgical procedure.