Using Toppik After Hair Transplant

I am seriously considering hair transplantation surgery and had a couple questions. Realistically, what is the average time it takes for any seriously noticeable signs of surgery (swelling, redness, etc..) to disappear? Also, I currently use Toppik to conceal my current hair loss and was wondering how long after the surgery I would have to wait until I could continue my use of the product. Thanks for your help.

Most signs of surgery should be gone in about a week or less provided that good aftercare is done, including careful but thorough washing of the scalp. Swelling has not been a problem anymore in most of my practice with better medications that I use, but it does happen in about 5% of patients and will almost certainly be gone in 6-7 days (worst case in less than 1% of patients, some black and blue may persist up to 2 weeks). The use of Toppik and other scalp coloring agents can be safely used once the crusts are gone from the recipient area (with good aftercare, that would be a week or so).

Redness is rare, but it occurs in people who are have what I call ‘Histamine Positive Skin’ which means that the body produces large amounts of histamine at the point of injury. You can tell if you are Histamine Positive by using your fingernail to scratch your forehead. Those who are Histamine Positive will develop a red streak at the point where the scratch was produced within a minute of producing the scratch and the redness from the scratch will last hours. Treatment in the after care for people who are Histamine Positive should be started with the transplant when the patients qualify for this treatment, although it may not reduce all of the redness, which might last a few weeks with a pink coloring to the skin. The whiter the skin, the more the pink color will show.