Alcohol and hair transplant
Sept, 01 2020 | By Dr. Sangay Bhutia (Hair Transplant Specialist in Delhi)
Hair transplant is a procedure meant to enhance the aesthetic profile of the patient and nobody will want that there is suboptimal result. So, it is very important that one should strictly follow the pre-operative and post-operative instructions because the result depends on both, the surgery as well as care taken before and after surgery. One such instruction which is often emphasized upon is avoiding alcohol before and after surgery. This may be difficult for some patients but nobody will want to jeopardize the result for not avoiding alcohol for some time as advised by the doctor.
For how much time one needs to avoid alcohol?
One should avoid alcohol as much as possible but it is always good to stop taking alcohol seven to ten days before hair transplant and should continue to avoid it for the time the body is healing from the procedure, for 2-3 weeks after the surgery. Some surgeons say that two days of avoidance is good enough but at our center we tell our patients to avoid it for 7-10 days before surgery.
Why it is important to stop alcohol before and after hair transplant?
The effects of alcohol on body are multiple and from surgery point of view one should remember that alcohol consumption causes prolonged bleeding time and blood takes more time to clot. This may be due to the impaired platelet count caused by alcohol. It is a common knowledge that alcohol affects the liver and may cause damages to this vital organ. We should also know that platelets and clotting factors are produced by the liver so it causes problem in clotting the blood. The prolonged bleeding is not desirable for the procedure as may cause problem in getting the desired result. It increases blood pressure and prolonged intake affects the heart also.
Another important aspect is that alcohol consumption is related to deficiency of certain nutrients which can affect not only the general wellbeing of the person but can also cause problems in healing during the recovery phase after the hair transplant. Alcohol consumption causes direct malabsorption of certain nutrients like vitamin B1 and folic acid, it also hampers the absorption of trace nutrients like zinc, selenium, magnesium. It also reduces the production of protein from liver.
It is not a good idea to take alcohol before surgery instead one should stay well hydrated. Alcohol also induces a state of dehydration and one should have water to stay hydrated or can take other healthy options like juices.
Alcohol intake may also cause problem with the medicines and anesthetic agents used during the procedure so to avoid unwanted reactions it is always good to stop alcohol intake as advised by the doctor. The intake of alcohol also interferes with the pain-relieving medicines and the requirement of medicine for this purpose may increase during and after the procedure.
So in other words it is very important to follow every instruction provided by the treating doctor and the consumption of alcohol should be avoided to have the beneficial effects on overall health in addition to the desired results which one expects after hair transplant.
