Why Was I Advised to Avoid Drinking Alcohol before Hair Transplant Surgery?

This question, from a member of our [tag]hair loss[/tag] social community and discussion forums, was answered by Coalition hair transplant surgeon Dr. Alan Feller:

I was told that I could not drink alcohol before my [tag]hair transplant[/tag]. Why not? And how long do I need to avoid drinking? I’m going to be in a wedding party just before my next vacation time when I can do a transplant, but how can I do that if I can’t enjoy a drink or two? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

That’s a good question, and an important one. You should not drink alcohol starting 10 days before your [tag]hair restoration[/tag] procedure because it impairs the ability of your blood to coagulate or clot. I have had patients who have ignored this instruction and they tend to bleed more during the procedure making it harder to keep the [tag]follicular unit[/tag] grafts in their recipient sites and making the procedure take a lot longer than it normally would.

Interestingly, I’ve had patients come into my office for a procedure drunk! As you can imagine he was asked to come back another time.

Dr. Alan Feller
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David