How to Prepare Your Scalp for Hair Transplant Surgery: Hibiclens Shampoo?

This comment, addressed by Coalition hair restoration surgeon Dr. William Lindsey, was shared by a member of our Hair Loss Social Community and Discussion Forums:

I had a small (by today’s standards) hair transplant back in the late 90’s and part of the pre-op instructions included using Hibiclens as a shampoo a few days before surgery. I have never seen Hibiclens mentioned in this forum and was curious if any doctors still suggest using it either before or after hair restoration surgery?

We used to Hibiclens shampoo for hair transplants, facelifts, skin reconstructions, everything. Good stuff. And it discolors less than iodine soap. Going back 10 years or more we used Physohex for everything. It was great soap, killed all bugs! But it was taken off the market.

From a practical standpoint nowadays, we usually just wash with alcohol or surgical soap, then rinse with water. The scalp’s blood supply is so good, it is statistically difficult, although not impossible, to infect the scalp with a clean case (which is what hair transplant is–not a sterile case).

I have yet to have an infection in a non-smoker, but as many folks know, I do give 5 days of post-op antibiotics to everyone.

I ask people to take a shower the night before or the morning of hair transplant surgery. Occasionally we have someone who appears to not have showered in some time and we just do our usual cleaning. So far we have not had a problem.

William H. Lindsey, MD, FACS

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David (TakingThePlunge)
Editorial Assistant and Forum Co-Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q & A Blog.
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