The patient care guide from the NOVA Capillaire Center
One day at a time.
After your transplant, follow the steps corresponding to your day.
Count the days after your last transplant day.
Important - LANDMARK AND HYGIENE
Wash your hands. Never touch the donor area (back and sides) nor the grafted area with unwashed hands. Before any necessary care contact: wash with soap and water for 20 seconds, between fingers and under nails. Rinse and dry with a clean towel. Same rule applies to your caregiver.
Eyeglasses or sunglasses: clean arms.During the first days, clean and dry the arms before wearing them, with clean hands. Avoid any support or rubbing on the operated areas.
During the first ten days: clothes open at the front.Do not wear a t-shirt, sweater, or other garment pulled over the head. Choose a shirt or top fully zipped at the front, to avoid rubbing the grafts.
Do not scratch the operated areas, even if itchy. Do not pick at scabs.
Day 0 — The day of your transplant
On the evening of your final transplant day, have someone close to you take you home or take a taxi. Do not drive yourself.
Spray the grafted area
After the procedure, every hour until bedtime · La Roche-Posay thermal water.
How to do it?
Spray without contact with the grafts.
Wash your hands before preparing the care.
Spray theLa Roche-Posay thermal water on the area where hair has been implanted, without touching the grafts.
Repeat every hour until bedtime, as indicated on your prescription.
Keep the dressing in place
This evening: do not remove the dressing or wash the operated areas.
What to do this evening?
Illustration: keep the dressing in place until the next evening.
Leave the dressing placed in the center in place tonight.
Do not apply Cicaplast under the dressing. Care of the donor area begins tomorrow evening, after removal.
For your medications, follow your personal prescription. In case of omission or doubt, contact the team before changing a dose.
Set up your sleeping position
For this night: elevated position as shown in the photo.
See the position
Illustration: torso and head elevated, travel pillow and side supports, without pressure on the grafts.
Settle into the elevated position shown by your team and illustrated here.
Use the recommended travel pillow and two lateral towels to limit head movements during the night.
Avoid any support or rubbing on the grafts.
Your evening medications
Only the doses prescribed on your personal prescription.
See evening medications
Pyostacine 500 mg, if prescribed: take the dose planned with dinner. These are tablets, not capsules.
Arnica 9 CH, if prescribed: take the evening dose prescribed on your prescription. Treatment begins on the first operative day.
Dafalgan 500 mg: only if necessary for pain, according to your personal prescription.
Do not take an already administered dose at the center. In case of doubt, check with the team or your pharmacist.
How to prevent edema
Keep your head elevated, avoid bending over, and rest. These precautions do not eliminate all risk of swelling.
Position and prevention advice
From the first night, sleep with torso and head elevated about 30° as shown in the photo. This position is an important precaution to limit edema but does not guarantee absence of swelling.
From the first night, elevate torso and head about 30°, as in the sleeping photo.
Drink water regularly, without excess, except medical restriction. Do not massage your forehead or operated areas. Simple edema is usually temporary: the body gradually reabsorbs the fluid.
If swelling is significant, painful, worsening, or accompanied by fever: contact the team quickly. Vision loss or difficulty breathing requires urgent medical assistance.
Keep your phone at eye height and head straight. Do not bend down to look at the screen and do not strain your neck backward.
If the grafted area bleeds
Do not rub or scratch the area. Contact the center quickly for guidance on what to do, without risking displacing grafts.
If bleeding is heavy, does not stop, or is accompanied by faintness, seek urgent medical help: call 15 or 112 in France, without waiting for the center’s response.
To keep in mind today
To get home tonight, have someone accompany you or take a taxi. Do not drive yourself, whether your transplant took place over one or two days.
Do not scratch your head, even if it itches. Do not pick off the scabs.
Never touch the operated areas with unwashed hands.
Protect the operated areas from shocks and friction.
Do not remove the dressing tonight: its removal is scheduled for tomorrow evening.
The next milestone
Tomorrow, Day 1: spray 4 to 6 times during the day; in the evening, remove the dressing and begin care of the donor area.
Something worrying you?
Do not wait for your next follow-up to ask for help.
Your prescription and your team’s personalized instructions remain the reference.
A guide intended for patients of NOVA Capillaire Center
This guide is intended only for patients operated on and followed up by NOVA Capillaire Center, to whom the team has indicated it for use. Its public access does not make it suitable for every situation. It supplements, without replacing, your personal prescription and your surgeon's instructions. In case of discrepancies or doubts, contact your team before changing your care.
If you were operated on in another center, do not follow this protocol without your surgeon’s agreement. This guide is not an individual prescription and does not replace a consultation. In case of complications, seek medical advice promptly; in an emergency, call 15 or 112 in France.
