Preventing Excessive Bleeding

 Preventing Excessive Bleeding

It is very common that hair transplant patients wonder why their specialist asks them many questions related to their personal life-style including habits and practices. Well, the answer is quite simple which is “to eliminate any possibility of excessive surgical or post-surgical bleeding that could be caused by bad habits like smoking”.

As natural as the procedure is, it sometimes happens that a hair transplant patient may experience some minor side effects like slight bleeding. However, sometimes a patient may experience excessive bleeding due to many risk factors that must be considered before the procedure takes place.

• Excessive bleeding risk factors

As we mentioned earlier, bleeding is a normal minor side effect to hair transplant procedure. What we mean by normal here though is the type that comes as a result to a medical intervention not the excessive type that goes beyond the normal level. As for the latter, three risk factors are:

• Alcoholic beverage consumptions:

  

Besides being very dangerous for heart and liver, alcoholic beverages are a primary reason behind surgical and post-surgical bleeding. The Ethanol element in alcohol affects blood platelets, which leads to blood thinning.

To avoid that, patients are usually asked to stop consuming alcoholic beverages for a few weeks prior to and after the surgery.

• Smoking:

  

It is well known that smoking increases risk of many serious diseases related to the heart, lungs and arteries. This killing habit is also marked for its damaging effects on blood circulation, which increases the risk of excessive bleeding.

Similarly, the nicotine and other elements contained in tobacco may lead to hair transplant failure by reducing blood vessels elasticity in the skin, which causes blood supply problems- the thing that might lead to hair transplant failure.

It is also important to remember that second- hand tobacco smoking could lead to similar effects in the long term. As for hair restoration, patients are usually asked to stop smoking for a few weeks prior to and after the procedure.

If you are a heavy smoker, do not forget to discuss your condition in details with the specialist so that you can set a proper plan that works best with your situation.
 

• Blood thinning medications:

  

As a hair restoration patient, it is very important to remember that some types of prescribed and not-prescribed (over–the-counter) medications like Aspirin could lead to excessive surgical and post-surgical bleeding.

This effect could be dose-related, or due to the nature of the medication itself. This latter case is well-known among people who have suffered strokes, heart attacks or other conditions in which they had to use ” blood thinning ” drugs like Warfarin (Coumadin) and Plavix.

As these drugs and many others are prescribed to avoid blood clots through thinning blood, they are considered as a risk factor when it comes to hair restoration patients.

• Prior to hair transplant procedure

  

Before undergoing a hair transplant procedure, you will have to engage in a conversation with your specialist in which he/she will be able to figure whether you are at a risk of excessive bleeding or not.

Based on many factors including your medical history, smoking and alcoholic beverage consumption, your specialist will determine whether you are at a risk of excessive bleeding or not.

Consequently, you should expect questions related to your intake of medications, smoking intensity and duration, alcoholic consumption etc. Accordingly, you will be expected to be forthcoming at providing the correct answers in order to help your specialist set you a proper plan that eliminates any possibilities of surgical bleeding.