The whole point of undergoing a hair transplant procedure is so that you can style your hair in all the ways you used to love. But should you avoid certain hairstyles after having surgery?

There’s good news and bad news for those that can’t wait to grow out longer, fuller hair and style it in any way you choose.

The bad news is that for FUE, the hair will usually be trimmed very short order to properly excise and transplant the follicles. This means that you’ll have to wait for the hair to grow out before you can style it again.  And with FUT or FUE, the newly transplanted hair is not going to grow for 6-9 months, so you’re going to have to be patient for your new improved hairstyle.

The good news is that you don’t have to wait very long to get back to the salon.

How Long After Hair Transplant Can I Style My Hair?

While most FUE transplant procedures require cutting your hair down to a very short length, as least in the donor area, there is usually the question of ‘When can I get my hair cut?’  Understandably, patients want to style the hair and get back to “normal” as soon as possible. You need to hold off doing anything drastic to your scalp until the donor and transplanted areas have completely healed after a hair transplant.

Being impatient and heading to the salon too early can result in the follicles not embedding themselves properly into the transplanted area and could cause those follicles to fall out and never grow new hair.

In general, you’re going to want to wait at least 10-14 days before you do anything to your hair in terms of styling and products, but you can also get a simple haircut to even things out during this time.

During the first few weeks after your transplant, your doctor will have explicit instructions regarding care and cleaning of your scalp. Please follow your doctor’s advice. If you fail to follow their advice it could lead to transplanted follicles falling out or even infection on your scalp. The last thing you want to do is have to redo the procedure or have to take medication to help clear up any complications that may arise because you got impatient.

Remember, the reason you’re having a hair transplant is because your hair was already thinning, you can wait another few weeks for things to fully heal before trying anything new.

After 2-3 weeks, the stitches from a FUT procedure should have dissolved or been removed so your doctor will probably say it’s ok to start using styling products in your hair as well has it being ok to get a haircut.

You’ll still want to avoid blow drying, or using heat on your hair, as well as hair dye, bleach or perming products for at least a month after your surgery.

The other thing you may notice after your surgery is that the hair in the new grafts that have been placed on your scalp will start around 2-4 weeks after the surgery. This is normal. The roots or “bulbs” of the follicles that were transplanted remain in your scalp and will begin to grow new hair within the next 3 to 6 months.

With that being said, depending on the type of haircut you’re looking for, you may have to wait a little while before the hair is long enough to even warrant going to the barber or stylist.

Once your hair has grown out and is completely healed, there is no concern over the type of hairstyle you wish to maintain with your newly transplanted hair. You can go back to treating your hair exactly as you had done when you had a naturally occurring full head of hair without any worries.

If you are concerned about what you can and cannot with your hair after your hair transplant, be sure to reach out to your doctor for more information. Typically, once your scalp has completely healed, and your doctor has given you the OK, you can go back to your normal hair routine.