A loose cap from day five, lowered vertically and never dragged. Motorcycle helmets wait four weeks, and the sun is the real reason you want a hat at all.
Until roughly day ten the grafts are held in place by a clot rather than by tissue, and anything that drags across them can pull one out for good. For that reason we hand out a wide, loose surgical cap for travel and sun from day five, with instructions that it is never pulled on or off in the usual way. Before day five, nothing touches the recipient area at all.
There is a correct method and it is worth learning properly. Hold the hat open with both hands, bring it straight down over the head without letting the rim brush the front, and settle it so no fabric presses on the recipient zone. To remove it, lift vertically with both hands. Never drag a cap forward from the back, never pull a hoodie over your head, and wear button shirts for two weeks.
A full-face motorcycle helmet is the worst case: it is forced down over the recipient area under pressure and it traps heat against the scalp. We ask for four weeks minimum, and longer when the fit is tight. Cycling helmets with adjustable straps can return at three weeks, and hard hats at work at three to four weeks with a clean cotton liner changed daily. Sweat inside a helmet is how folliculitis starts.
Newly transplanted scalp burns easily for about three months, and sunburn over a healing recipient area causes prolonged redness and occasionally a lasting pigment change. Sunscreen is not the answer in the first fortnight, because creams should not go onto grafts, so shade and a loose wide-brimmed hat are the entire strategy. From week three a high-factor sunscreen can be used normally.
Yes, from day five, provided it is loose and wide enough not to press on the grafts. We give you one and show you how to put it on before you leave the clinic.
A cool dryer from week three. Tight beanies press directly on the recipient area and rub as you move, so leave those until week four at the earliest.