Can I Spray My Grafts with Regular Tap Water Instead of Saline Solution after Hair Transplant Surgery?

The following [tag]hair loss[/tag] article was written by Coalition surgeon Dr. Alan Feller, and presented on our Hair Restoration Social Community and Discussion Forums:

I’m 8 days post op. Ran out of saline solution today, so started using tap water in its place. In the post-op care instructions it says this is OK.

I’ve noticed a tingling sensation when I spray water on the recipient (maybe even a very very low level mild burning sensation). I never noticed this with the saline solution. Should I stop altogether with the spray, or just carry on with the water?

I usually have my patients wash with shampoo and tap water the day after their [tag]hair transplant[/tag] surgery. It’s not a problem for the grafts. The issue isn’t the potential drying out of the grafts, if that were an issue a few sprays per day of saline would not help.

The point of spray moistening the scalp post-op for the first few days is just to soften the crusts a bit to allow them to come off a bit easier. But it’s not necessary. A shower once per day with shampoo will do the same thing and provide the mechanical cleansing necessary to encourage those scabs to come off.

By the way, the tops of the [tag]follicular unit[/tag] grafts are not alive. So when it falls off in the form of a crust it is meaningless.

The tingling is probably coincidental as stunned nerves are probably waking up and firing. It will usually sort itself out in time.

Dr. Alan Feller
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David
Editorial Assistant and Forum Co-Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q & A Blog.