How long after facelift is it safe to color hair, should hairdresser put anything on scar before color?

Thank you for the great question. In my practice, we ask patients to wait 6 weeks before coloring their hair. This prevents irritation of the incision lines and avoids the possibility of some of the chemicals getting into the incisions. If you wanted to be extra cautious, you could place a thin coat of vaseline or aquaphor on the incisions before the color is applied. Take care and best of luck!

Hair color chemicals can be very irritating to the skin. Depending on the product, they may include ammonia, peroxide, and other organic ingredients with varying degrees of tissue toxicity. Facelift incisions should not be exposed prematurely. I recommend avoidance of hair dyes for about 4 to 6 weeks after surgery depending on healing and ultimately the advice of your operating surgeon. Best wishes!

You should be able to color your hair four weeks after a facelift. Instruct your hairdresser to use caution around your ears with the chemicals and moving your ears around during washing and cutting your hair. It is important to follow the postop instructions of your own board certified plastic surgeon or facial plastic surgeon.

We recommend that the patient wait 6 weeks after surgery. The incisions behind the ear must be well healed so that the chemicals do not harm them.

Hi and thank you for your question! As you can tell, you will probably get some different answers to your question depending on who you ask. In my practice, patients are instructed to wait atleast 2 weeks before they can get their hair colored to ensure that the incisions have completely healed over with new skin prior to using any chemicals that might impede such healing. Of course, exercising caution and waiting as long as possible is always advised if possible. Hope that helped! Best, Dr. Roy.

In our practice we advise waiting at least 4 weeks after facelift surgery or any surgery with incisions near the hairline before having your hair colored. The chemicals involved can be irritating to the incision lines.

Coloring hair after a facelift typically can be done within a month. It is best to check with your plastic surgeon, as this guidline can vary. In my practice we have a protocol for this: get the hair colored a few days before surgery, and then resume the usual hair coloring schedule about 3-4 weeks. At this point of healing the typical chemicals used in a salon should not damage the incision. For patients with sensitive skin, the stylist can protect the incision with lotion that they use to protect the skin from getting stained form hair dye.

It may depend of the placement and extent of your incisions; if there are incisions in the hairline (temple, mastoid hairline) I would suggest 3-4 weeks. However, if your incisions are only in temple area and behind the ear (not within hairline) 2-3 weeks may be sufficient. This is something that you would like to communicate and clear with your surgeon. Good luck.

Hello, thank you for your inquiry. Usually 4-6 weeks after surgery is recommended. The longer you can wait would be best, I usually suggest my patients approx 6 weeks after all depends how they are recovering. I suggest consulting with your plastic surgeon first. Best of luck!

This is something you should discuss with your surgeon who knows you best. For my patients, I want them to wait 4 to 6 weeks depending on how they are healing, the skin needs to be completely healed. Good luck.

How long after a facelift is it safe to color my hair?

How long after a facelift is it safe to color my hair?

Answers (23)

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