Topical Retin A and Hair Transplantation?

The previous use of Retin-a will not alter the success of hair transplantion. However, because there can be a lot of manipulation to the donor area during surgery, I would recommend stopping the Retin-A (where applied to the scalp) for a full week prior to surgery. Of course, double check with your transplant surgeon to be sure he or she is in agreement.

Interestingly, Retin-a is occasionally used to help increase absorption of minoxidil in the scalp. It helps to increase the turnover rate of your cells thus sloughing off some of the top layers. For this reason it helps with anti-aging and can be a major benefit in terms of wrinkle reduction.

However we have less information about how it affects the absorption of minoxidil. Dr. Nia Terezakis did the seminal work showing use of minoxidil with tretinoin. Large controlled clinical trials have not been done to show whether there is a major difference from adding tretinoin.

 

Unless your hair is dependent upon the minoxidil, I would not advise using it. I would suggest that you speak with your surgeon.