Sun Exposure after Hair Transplant

[censur]

There is a lot of info about sun exposure in this thread, but no real recent discussion.

Anyway, I'm a bit angry with myself right now because I exposed myself to a bit unecessary amount of sun today.
It has been three days since my HT and I was out for quite a long walk with a duration of about maybe 2,5 hours.
I did not wear a cap because I didn't want to put any pressure on the grafts that could hurt them but I really felt I needed some air. (stupid of me)
I tried mainly walking in the shade, but on the way back it got warmer and more sunny and much harder to avoid the sun. And even the shade was warm.

When I got home my scalp and face felt somewhat warm. Looking at the scalp I could see a very slight pink color at some parts of it. But it didn't really look sunburnt (red) in a real sence.

This was in London, by the way. 17 degrees celsius here today.
I hope the effects of the sun here in April isn't as severe as in more southern countries?
From now on I'm definitely gonna wear a cape ALL THE TIME outside.

However, do you think this may have already influenced the success rate of my transplanted grafts? :/
I guess there isn't even a way to know??
What is actually the most common patient caused reason that the grafts don't grow well?
Is it caused by more mechanical reasons such as bumping your head against something or is it rather caused by things such as exposing the scalp to excessive sun post-op?

[35YrsAfter]

There is a lot of info about sun exposure in this thread, but no real recent discussion.

Anyway, I'm a bit angry with myself right now because I exposed myself to a bit unecessary amount of sun today.
It has been three days since my HT and I was out for quite a long walk with a duration of about maybe 2,5 hours.
I did not wear a cap because I didn't want to put any pressure on the grafts that could hurt them but I really felt I needed some air. (stupid of me)
I tried mainly walking in the shade, but on the way back it got warmer and more sunny and much harder to avoid the sun. And even the shade was warm.

When I got home my scalp and face felt somewhat warm. Looking at the scalp I could see a very slight pink color at some parts of it. But it didn't really look sunburnt (red) in a real sence.

This was in London, by the way. 17 degrees celsius here today.
I hope the effects of the sun here in April isn't as severe as in more southern countries?
From now on I'm definitely gonna wear a cape ALL THE TIME outside.

However, do you think this may have already influenced the success rate of my transplanted grafts? :/
I guess there isn't even a way to know??
What is actually the most common patient caused reason that the grafts don't grow well?
Is it caused by more mechanical reasons such as bumping your head against something or is it rather caused by things such as exposing the scalp to excessive sun post-op?

Our patients who have little hair on top usually don't go out in public with the red dots on top of their head for all to see. Everyone's different though. Was this a private walk and does existing hair cover your grafts at all? I doubt the rays were anything like the mid-summer sun in Arizona, US. Dr. Cole mentioned to me the other day that he knew of someone who got second degree burns (blisters) from sun exposure right after hair transplant surgery and nothing grew. Dr. Cole doesn't believe minor exposure to the sun will do significant harm, but you're right , you should have worn a cap. I doubt a little sun hurt your grafts though. Try not to stress over it.

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office
forhair.com
Cole Hair Transplant
1070 Powers Place
Alpharetta, Georgia 30009
Phone 678-566-1011
email 35YrsAfter at chuck@forhair.com
The contents of my posts are my opinions and not medical advice
Please feel free to call or email me with any questions. Ask for Chuck

[censur]

Our patients who have little hair on top usually don't go out in public with the red dots on top of their head for all to see. Everyone's different though. Was this a private walk and does existing hair cover your grafts at all? I doubt the rays were anything like the mid-summer sun in Arizona, US. Dr. Cole mentioned to me the other day that he knew of someone who got second degree burns (blisters) from sun exposure right after hair transplant surgery and nothing grew. Dr. Cole doesn't believe minor exposure to the sun will do significant harm, but you're right , you should have worn a cap. I doubt a little sun hurt your grafts though. Try not to stress over it.

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office
forhair.com
Cole Hair Transplant
1070 Powers Place
Alpharetta, Georgia 30009
Phone 678-566-1011
email 35YrsAfter at chuck@forhair.com
The contents of my posts are my opinions and not medical advice
Please feel free to call or email me with any questions. Ask for Chuck

Thank you for your reply!
The very reason why I didn't wear a cap was because I was trying to avoid the cap damaging the grafts. But I guess the mechanical strain that a light cap would have put on the grafts would have been more mild than the sun exposure was?
There you go for trying to be careful in the wrong way. :/

I was walking in a pretty private area where I likely wouldn't know anyone, which is why I didn't really care about exposing the scalp in public. I don't have any hair covering the grafted area, I have my hair at 1 mm at the moment.

Yeah, I realize that an actual burn would likely be potenially fatal for the grafts.
I don't know if I actually got a burn though?
I certainly didn't have any blisters from this, but perhaps a very slight pink coloring of the scalp. But almost not visible.

It would have been so nice if the grafts were a bit more tangible, so you could actually know right away if something has happened to them or not.
I really sucks to wait like six months to know that. Or can you actually see that somehow in advance?

Regaring the weather at the time I would think it was about a grade 4 or 5 on the UV-index, which means moderate UV-rays.

[gillenator]

censur,

Got your PM and sure I can to reply to your situation.

First of all, I do not believe from your own words that you damaged your grafts. Why do I have that opinion?

Because it does not sound like you experienced "sunburn", just some overexposure to the epidermis (outer layer) of your scalp. The transplanted follicles are seated below that layer into the dermis layer. The only thing that could be a potential concern was the duration of 2.5 hours exposure yet you stated that it was partially in the shade; also the UV index was not that high.

Trust me, you would know if you had any meaningful sunburn. It would hurt and your scalp would be very sensitive to the touch. It would be more red than pink.

I did this on my second procedure in 2001. I did not know any better at the time. I had the procedure in May of that year and was laying outside in the sun at the pool. Now, I did not have anything covering my scalp and I was out in bright of the day in the summer season. I only did this one day when the pool opened.

I was working inside the clinic back then and the next day the doctor saw the pinkness of my head and pulled me aside and informed me of not doing this "ever". I tan very quickly but that still does not matter.

I never experienced any sunburn but learned from this. Anyways, my grafts grew in just fine.

You may want to consider wearing a bandana next time when you are outside and also use sunblock before you put the bandana on.

Again, I think you will be just fine and wish you a great regrowth and yield..

[censur]

censur,

Got your PM and sure I can to reply to your situation.

First of all, I do not believe from your own words that you damaged your grafts. Why do I have that opinion?

Because it does not sound like you experienced "sunburn", just some overexposure to the epidermis (outer layer) of your scalp. The transplanted follicles are seated below that layer into the dermis layer. The only thing that could be a potential concern was the duration of 2.5 hours exposure yet you stated that it was partially in the shade; also the UV index was not that high.

Trust me, you would know if you had any meaningful sunburn. It would hurt and your scalp would be very sensitive to the touch. It would be more red than pink.

I did this on my second procedure in 2001. I did not know any better at the time. I had the procedure in May of that year and was laying outside in the sun at the pool. Now, I did not have anything covering my scalp and I was out in bright of the day in the summer season. I only did this one day when the pool opened.

I was working inside the clinic back then and the next day the doctor saw the pinkness of my head and pulled me aside and informed me of not doing this "ever". I tan very quickly but that still does not matter.

I never experienced any sunburn but learned from this. Anyways, my grafts grew in just fine.

You may want to consider wearing a bandana next time when you are outside and also use sunblock before you put the bandana on.

Again, I think you will be just fine and wish you a great regrowth and yield..

Thank you for your great help.

Anyway, now almost three weeks have passed since my treatment.
My scalp in the recipient area is still quite red and also has some pimples.

I find this a little bit strange because after my other HT the redness was completely gone within two weeks.

I can't help to wonder if this has anything to do with the sun exposure that I mentioned ealier. What do u guys think?
During the evening the day when I got the sun expoure, like I said before, the entire scalp had a very slight pink color. But of course, the actual recipient area wasn't just pink at the time, it was red. But then it was only three days after the HT so that area was pretty red even before the sun exposure as a result of the treatment itself.
That makes it hard for me to know if the sun made it even MORE red.

Is there anything I can do about the redness?
Do you think it would be pretty safe to try to cover it up temporarily during the daytime with dermatch now three weeks after surgery?

[censur]

Thank you for your great help.

Anyway, now almost three weeks have passed since my treatment.
My scalp in the recipient area is still quite red and also has some pimples.

I find this a little bit strange because after my other HT the redness was completely gone within two weeks.

I can't help to wonder if this has anything to do with the sun exposure that I mentioned ealier. What do u guys think?
During the evening the day when I got the sun expoure, like I said before, the entire scalp had a very slight pink color. But of course, the actual recipient area wasn't just pink at the time, it was red. But then it was only three days after the HT so that area was pretty red even before the sun exposure as a result of the treatment itself.
That makes it hard for me to know if the sun made it even MORE red.

Is there anything I can do about the redness?
Do you think it would be pretty safe to try to cover it up temporarily during the daytime with dermatch now three weeks after surgery?

Any input on this?
The transplanted area is still as red.

[gillenator]

censur,

Sure the sun could have something to do with the lingering redness however I still think your grafts are fine. Or you could simply be a little collagen deficient in the area.

Three weeks post-op is not a very long time for the redness. Usually the guys that have it experience this type of redness for 4-6 weeks post-op. So even though you did not experience this on your first procedure, having it this time does not necessarily imply there is a problem.

My advice is to contact your surgeon who may want you to just give it more time or may direct you to use a topical steroid cream.

If the redness does not dissipate after say 90 days, then the steroid cream becomes more inevitable.

But always consult with your doctor/surgeon. A fair number of them have backgrounds in dermatology. At the same time you can get his advice regarding your sun exposure.

[gillenator]

Forgot to address your question about the Dermatch.

There could be too much contrast and make the area more noticeable. You really won't know until you try it. If there is not much exisiting hair in the area, the Dermatch may cause eye drift.

Another option is using a spray on foundation that many women use on their face. It's very hard to notice that it's make-up. The only issue with this is if you use it in an area that already has existing hair, it will stick to the hair.

If the redness looks like sunburn, others will think the same.

Probably the best thing to do is to simply let others know you were in the sun too long "only" if they ask. Chances are, others are already thinking that you got a tad bit sunburn.

[35YrsAfter]

This thread has been inactive for a while but I thought I'd share a new treatment available for actinic keratosis.



AKs are considered precancerous lesions caused by years of sun exposure. I have had a few pop up myself and found an effective treatment, but now according to a friend with a Ph.D in pharmacology, there's an even better treatment than 5-fluorouracil. It was recently approved by the FDA and it's called Picato. 5-fluorouracil cost about $90 for a little bottle, treatment takes between 4-6 weeks and treated areas become very nasty looking for several weeks. My friend has had a lot of AKs as well and began treating his skin with Picato. It treats AKs in 2-3 days as opposed to 4-6 weeks with 5-fluorouracil. My friend's skin looks younger because Picato got rid of all of his age spots along with the AKs. The downside is, two little tubes of Picato cost him $500.

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office - forhair.com - Cole Hair Transplant, 1045 Powers Place, Alpharetta, Georgia 30009 - Phone 678-566-1011 - email 35YrsAfter at chuck@forhair.com
The contents of my posts are my opinions and not medical advice
Please feel free to call or email me with any questions. Ask for Chuck

[gillenator]

I have read that individuals with little pigmentation or those who are very fair-skinned so-to-speak are more prone to these lesions.

I don't think that Picato is covered by most insurance plans? Yet it sounds very promising.

[gillenator]

Donate?...

[gillenator]

This is not the place to promote or collect donations in a patient discussion/help forum.

[gallovolador]

Is there any evidence of which part of UV radiation damages grafts after hair transplant?. Is it UVA or UVB or both?. It is an important issue because most of cream sun blockers do not protect against UVA, also when indoors UVA passes because glass does not block UVA radiation.
I had a bad experience just one month post: I was inside airport building where walls were glass walls, I thought that type of glass would block most of UVA radiation and I exposed myself to direct sunlight on scalp for around 15 to 20 minutes, I never had any redness because redness is due to UVB and glass block it effectively but I had massive shedding that night and day after, much more than shedding experience on previous days. I concluded that UVA radiation damaged my one month grafts, because UVA gets deeper into dermis. From my research I found out that that type of special glass (insulated glass unit to reduce noise and save energy cost) block around 50% of UVA thus I guess that my 15-20 minutes exposure was similar to 10 minutes outside exposure.
Could someone gives a feedback about it?.
How can we know if we get damaged by UVA exposure if there are never signs of it in skin?. Do HT Drs use any special surgery lamps that do not emit UVA radiation during surgery?.
When Drs recommend sun cream protection SPF+35, do they take into account that most of it do not block UVA?.
I hope I did not ruin all my efforts with this 20 minutes close to this glass walls, in about eight months I promise I will come back here to tell if my result could have been impared by this.
Any help on this will be much appreciated.

[gillenator]

There are considerable differences of opinion regarding the exposure of the scalp following a HT procedure. And although I am not the most knowledgeable on the scientific side, I can tell you that even though your recent exposure may have appeared detrimental, it is unlikely that you did any damage to your grafts.

It is more the direct exposure to the UVA rays that can cause significant burn to body tissue. Unless you experienced this, you should be ok. The grafts are placed deep into the dermis layer of scalp tissue where the blood supply exists and that's where the newly implanted grafts/follicles re-connect to the blood supply. At one month post-op this probably already occurred otherwise the grafts would have perished without a blood supply, and necrosis occurs.

Most of the time, a first degree sun-burn will not do much damage. But it's the more 2nd degree and higher burns that can do damage below the epidermis.

Still, to be on the safe side, most docs do not want their patients exposed directly to the UVA rays for 3-6 months, and some docs even feel 9 months.

And many docs advocate covering the scalp (cap or hat) rather than using a sun block because as you already know, sun block is not that effective other than for very short periods of time. So it's best to not expose the scalp to direct UVA rays for more than say 7-10 minutes depending on the forecasted UVA rating.

I think you're going to be fine even though you experienced some additional shedding.

[censur]

Hi!

I know now that it's certainly not recommended to expose the scalp to sunlight directly after HT.
I am now planning for another HT and also a holiday in Asia. I may undertake the Asia trip either before or after I do my HT.
Are there any restrictions or recommendations regarding sun exposure the weeks BEFORE the HT as well? Or is it mainly the months following the HT when it's important to avoid the sun?

If I wear a baseball cap on my head basically all of the time when I'm in the sun, I should be alright, right? Almost no UV-rays get through the baseball cap?