Why You Should Protect Your New Hair Transplant from Sun Exposure

The following thorough response to a question from the Hair Restoration Social Community and Discussion Forums, was written by forum member “Gillenator”.

I’ve read that you should not overexpose a new hair transplant to the sun. I’ve also read that glass stops UVB but not UVA. Which is the most harmful to the grafts?

Graft survival is dependent on the transplanted follicles getting established to a new source of blood supply. Without that occurring, whether from damage from UVA or not, they will perish.

So the risk of UVA rays is the potential of sunburn and/or exposure beneath the outer layer of scalp tissue damaging both the graft tissue as well as the underlying follicles.

My understanding is that the healing process in the deeper layers of scalp (dermis) are slower than the epidermis outer layer.

This is why wearing a cap or hat that fully covers the hair transplant recipient area is recommended when exposed to the UVA rays for more than 10 minutes in duration. The higher the UVA rating implies a quicker burn ratio yet a full cover with a cap/hat prevents this potential damage from occurring.

Most hair restoration physicians will want their patients to avoid direct exposure to UVA rays for at least 3 months post-op, some feel 6 months and still others 9 months.

I believe this is due to giving the transplanted follicles enough time to fulfill a complete resting cycle and enough time for all of the follicles to manifest into an ongoing hair growth cycle that produces full regrowth of the shafts.

Gillenator
Supporting Hair Restoration Physicians: Dr. Glenn Charles, Boca Raton, FL – Dr. Jerry Cooley, Charlotte, NC – Dr. Jim Harris, Denver, CO – Dr. Robert True & Dr. Robert Dorin, New York, NY

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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.

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