Does Cold Weather Have Any Negative Effects on Hair Transplant Grafts?

I work as a police officer in New Jersey and at times need to be outside for my job. If I were to have a major transplant procedure (5-6,000 grafts) during the winter months (such as December), how long after the last day of the procedure will it again be OK to be outside for an extended period of time (as long as 1 hour)? What I mean is, will the cold weather of December here in New Jersey have a negative effect on the newly transplanted grafts if I am outside for too long? Can I simply wear a wool head cap (after a week or two of recovery time from the procedure) to keep my head protected from the cold weather and related elements? Thanks, Jay
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I am not aware of any adverse effects of the cold air on the survival of grafts planted. They are nested well down into the warmth of your scalps warm blood supply and tissues. Just because no one knows the answer for sure and to have a little “cushion” of time, I would recommend waiting 2-3 days maybe until being outside below freezing without a hat on. With the hat, I’m sure everything is fine a half hour after you’re done. The larger threats to the grafts would be any “shuffling” effect that may occur on the grafts surface those first 5-6 days when wearing a helmet, a hairpiece, or something else that is tight against the scalp and is moving from side to side. The other minor threat to the grafts is direct blunt trauma, where you are engaged in an activity in which you are likely to hit your head (playing hockey, for example).

Mike Beehner, M.D.
Member, International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons
Member, American Hair Loss Association

Michael Beehner, MD Dr. Michael Beehner has been involved in hair restoration surgery since 1989 and has been full-time in transplanting hair since 1995. He has been a leader in the specialty during the past several years – conducting several important research projects, chairing the Examination Committee for the new American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery, serving as co-editor of the Hair Transplant Forum International, the principal journal of hair surgery in the world, lecturing at almost all of the various hair surgery conventions around the world, and authoring two chapters in the latest edition of Hair Transplantation, the principal text in our specialty, edited by Dr. Unger. In 2001 he published in Dermatologic Surgery the landmark article, “Nomenclature Proposal for the Zones and Landmarks of the Balding Scalp,” which put together for the first time a coherent system for naming all of these areas, which is now followed by all of the hair surgeons and dermatologists in the world. He has been a pioneer in the use of the “frontal forelock concept” for the extremely bald male and has done recent important research on “stretch-back” in scalp reductions and on the affect of “limited-depth recipient sites” on hair growth. For his research efforts, he was awarded the Platinum Follicle Award in 1999 by the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery for the year’s best research, and on three separate occasions has been awarded a Research Grant Award by the ISHRS. Dr. Beehner is a member of the International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons and recommended by the American Hair Loss Association. Visit Dr. Beehner's Website: www.saratogahair.com

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