When is it safe to resume sexual activity after a hair transplant?

I haven’t had any guidelines concerning when it is safe to resume sexual activity after a hair transplant. Is the delay similar to the guidelines made for strenuous exercise post op?

A general rule-of-thumb is to refrain from activity that “leaves you breathless” for 5-7 days before the hair restoration surgery. That includes high level of sexual activity and/or cardiovascular activity. This refrain will help to keep your blood from getting too thin.

As far as after the hair transplant goes, sexual activity and/or heavy cardiovascular activity can potentially “pop” some grafts out from the undue pressure created in the scalp. It can also affect the sutures and subsequent stretching in the donor zone. The next issue which any patient may want to consider is the private one nobody wants to discuss, post-op masturbation. It’s a no-no because again of the possibility of grafts popping out. My recommendation would be 7-10 days abstention. After that, the grafts are set into place and you can resume carful normal activity.

You can tell if you popped a graft by a stream or steady trickle of blood that will ooze out of the recipient site. The stream will typically run down the scalp from the effects of gravity. Also one may find a few grafts on their pillow case the next morning or two after surgery. It is not uncommon to lose one or two grafts after a procedure so you shouldn’t be too concerned if that happens. Use your best judgement and follow your physician’s post-op recommendations to the letter.

-Robert

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