Will Smoking Cigarettes After Hair Transplant Surgery Negatively Affect the Results?

This common question, asked by a member of our [tag]hair loss[/tag] social community and discussion forums, was answered by Coalition [tag]hair transplant[/tag] surgeon Dr. Timothy Carman: 

I’m a long-time cigarette smoker who is now undergoing [tag]hair transplant surgery[/tag]. I’ve heard various things about the effects of cigarette smoking on hair transplant results, and I’m wondering if smoking after the surgery will actually harm the newly implanted grafts? Will smoking cigarettes after [tag]hair transplant surgery[/tag] negatively affect the results?

Dr. Carman:

Has anyone ever seen the disheveled homeless gent on the street, in obvious poor health, with a great head of hair? Yes.

Bottom line, your genetics are at play here. The vascular neogenesis (formation of blood vessels) must necessarily occur in the first few hours after transplantation, otherwise the follicles would not survive. That being said, the vasoconstrictive activity and decreased oxygen supply along with carbon monoxide presence associated with cigarette smoke may or may not affect your hair’s lifespan (again, depending on your genetics).

My perspective on this would be: why, after putting in the effort to improve the quality of your life by improving your appearance with [tag]hair transplantation[/tag] would you partake in utilizing an acutely addicting behavior such as smoking which clearly has been shown to significantly affect your health, but your appearance as well? Just a thought, and my two cents. Grow well.

_______
Blake – aka Future_HT_Doc

Editorial Assistant and Forum Co-Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning

Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the Hair Restoration Forum

Follow our community on Twitter

Watch hair transplant videos on YouTube