You’ve completed your expert hair transplantation procedure from Dr. Joseph Williams, whether Follicular Unit Excision (FUE) or Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT), and you’re ready to show off your new look.
But you don’t want to damage your investment, right? We’re going to look at how to make the most of your new hair – safely and with style.
Always remember to consult with your Transplantation Specialist about after-care for your hair transplant. Every person and procedure is unique – take the advice.
When Can I Start Using Hair Styling Products Post-Transplant?
The simple answer is anywhere from eight to fourteen days after your transplantation procedure. The better answer is it depends on many different factors.
The first thing you want to consider is whether this was your first transplantation procedure, your last in a sequence, or a solitary procedure to handle a specific need, such as Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) to handle specific areas or problems with follicular growth.
Your scalp is going to need time to heal, no matter what type of procedure you receive. This means that you will need to follow the doctor’s instructions for washing your hair and scalp for those same couple of weeks anyway, so your best bet is to refrain from using products on your scalp until at least that time has passed. The healthier you keep your hair and the better you take care of your new investment, the longer you will be able to benefit from it.
The biggest problem with hair styling products is that they leave residue on the scalp and hair. They can also contain harmful chemicals that might damage not only your hair or scalp but also restrict or slow down your healing process if used too soon after your procedure.
Most of us use hair gel, hairspray, shampoo, conditioner, leave-in conditioner or shampoo, and other products to try to get that perfect look as often as possible. Just like when you look at the ingredients in your food that will go into your body, you should look at the ingredients in your hair care products to see if there’s anything you don’t want to put on your body.
Here are some of the ingredients and products that you should avoid when caring for your hair, as well as alternatives if you currently use unhealthy products.
Avoiding Unhealthy Ingredients
Mineral oil is commonly recommended by friends or old stories about haircare to maintain a shine or make hair more easily managed. DON’T use it in your hair though. Why?
Mineral oil can help hair lay down flat and stay down, but that comes at a price—it leaves deposits of minerals and oils that can build up on your scalp and along your hair. Unfortunately, this build-up can also make the hair look less healthy, which often leads to adding more of the same product on top.
Mineral oil can be hidden in hair care products under names that include paraffin or petroleum, so look out for those when choosing your products.
Methylisothiazolinone, or MIT, is another common ingredient in haircare products that tends to slip under the radar. It tends to be used to increase the shelf-life of the product, especially if it uses any organic elements, but it is a known skin irritant. In fact, it has such potential for skin damage that it is banned in products that have long-term skin exposure in much of the world.
If your procedure was a Follicular Unit Excision (FUE) or Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT), your scalp is already sensitive, so you definitely do not want to expose it to anything that can damage the skin. This could not only lead to discomfort but also damage the transplanted follicles.
MIT might also be listed as Methyl or Isothiazolinone independently, as well as MIT or CMIT, so make sure you look for variations of those terms on your haircare labels.
If you look at your current shampoo bottle, you will likely find a sodium sulfate ingredient on the label. These are common ingredients, but they have raised concerns about skin irritation and harshness in recent years. Using one of the sodium sulfate products will not only cause more irritation but might also hinder the healing and regrowth process of the treated hair follicles.
Finding Healthier Ingredients
So if unpleasant chemicals like MIT and mineral oil are in so many haircare products, what should you look for instead?
It can be difficult to find products that are perfect, but looking for these ingredients below can help counteract some of the harm that might come from other elements.
Lauryl glucoside is a cleaning detergent that is a gentle alternative to many of the harsher ingredients in shampoos.
Lauryl glucoside provides a good cleaning element while being much gentler on the skin and hair during washes. This is especially important for those who frequently wash their hair for any reason. It’s a better alternative because it will still clean the hair and scalp, both of which are important for aftercare, but also be less of an irritant and minimize the damage resulting from normal care.
Coconut oil is another natural ingredient you can either look for in haircare products or use on its own to maintain healthy hair. Coconut oil is particularly reactive to hair and is easily absorbed, and it tends to blend with your scalp oils to naturally enhance your hair’s strength, shine, and flexibility.
Jojoba and olive oils offer similar benefits, but coconut oil is the best option. Sebum is a natural oil in our scalps, and all of these have that same oil in them, so it’s easily absorbed and utilized by our own bodies in the haircare process.
Be sure to look for MIT and mineral oil when looking at products containing one of these types of healthy oils! Just because a product has coconut oil does not negate the damage that can be done by using one of those harmful ingredients alongside it.
Next time, we will cover hair styling products and more.
