Washing hair after FUE transplant

I think the when depends on whether you had Acell applied to the donor area or PRP with or without Acell to the recipient area.  If you had Acell and PRP, wait 48 hours.  If not, you can wash the next day.  The key is to avoid dislodging the grafts when you wash.  You also must realize that blood vessels are growing back to the grafts over the first 4 to 6 days so you want to be as gentle as possible.  In other words, don't move the graft so much that you break this early, delicate connection.  You have not lost a graft unless you see bleeding the day after surgery when you wash. If you see bleeding, this is a sign that you dislodged a graft.  If there is not bleeding, you did not dislodge a graft.  Still, for the first week you want to be delicate so that you also do not break the circulation that is forming to the grafted hair follicle.  

You did the right thing, and every patient should receive detailed instructions from their surgeon on how to perform the correct washing. I recommend to all my patients to do their first cleaning about 18 hours after completing the procedure. We suggest using a special sponge we provide to lather up a very mild shampoo and just squeeze that lather on top of the grafts. Let it sit for a few minutes, then rinse gently with water from a cup. We recommend doing this process twice a day for the first 5 days. Starting on the 6th day after your procedure, you can get in the shower and use your fingers to start scrubbing the scalp normally once a day with shampoo. Hope this helps!

Dear Iz877Thanks for the question. Do not wash your hair during the first 2 days after your transplant. Instructions for washing your hair and transplanted hairs on Day 3 through Day 14: 1- You may wash your hair on 3 days after surgery The goal of the washing is to clean the clots and crusts in the hair transplant areas of the scalp. I wish you all the best.

Washing your scalp after an FUE hair transplant should not affect your grafts. As long as you are not irritating your skin, avoiding harsh water pressure and applying a mild shampoo approved by your doctor, your implanted grafts should be just fine. Following surgery, it usually takes about 7-10 days for the surgical wounds to close. Be sure to continue following your doctor's hair transplant after care instructions. Also, here is an article about timeframes and what to expect after surgery.

It seems ok in my opinion how you handled your washing post op. If you didn't do anything they would be fine. So shampooing/approved lotions can only be a benefit.

Hello,Washing your hair after a hair transplantation is an important to survival.  We usually have our patients start spraying hair with lactated ringers with liposomal ATP as well as other growth factors twice a day to help your hair process start ASAP.  Actual hair washing usually takes place several days after the procedure.  There are several advantages to this approach:
Healing improvedDecreased inflammation and rednessImproved blood supply and uptakeBest,
Anil Shah