Do I Need to Use Minoxidil After a Hair Transplant?

You’ve had a hair transplant and boom: full head of hair. Right? Well, that’s not always the case. In fact, ironically, a hair transplant can cause hair loss due to the stress of the procedure. Plus, hair loss can continue even after you’ve had a transplant. 

To help, you can use minoxidil after a hair transplant to reduce hair loss, speed up hair regrowth, and keep your new hair and existing hair for longer. 

Below, we dive more into how to use minoxidil before and after a hair transplant.

Minoxidil, or the brand name version Rogaine®, is a hair loss treatment. 

You can get minoxidil as a:

• Foam

• Liquid solution

• Oral tablet 

It’s approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat androgenetic alopecia — aka male pattern baldness or female pattern hair loss. 

Minoxidil is prescribed off-label for other types of hair loss, including:

• Alopecia areata — when your immune system attacks your hair follicles

• Hair loss caused by chemotherapy 

• Hair loss caused by a hair transplant 

It’s not entirely understood how minoxidil works, but it’s thought that it encourages your hair to enter the anagen phase — or the growth phase — of the hair growth cycle. It might also extend the anagen phase and promote blood flow to the scalp. 

You don’t need to use minoxidil after a hair transplant, but it can help reduce hair loss caused by the transplant, speed up regrowth, and prevent further hair loss in your current hair. All this means you get fuller, thicker hair and make the most of your hair transplant procedure. 

Here are more details on those benefits. 

“Shock Loss” Prevention 

Hair transplant surgery puts a lot of stress on your body and this stress can cause hair loss. Oh, the irony. 

Hair loss can happen two to four weeks after your transplant, and it can affect both your transplant results and your non-transplanted hair.   

Hair loss caused by stress is known as telogen effluvium. The good news is telogen effluvium is temporary, and one of the ways to mitigate it is by using minoxidil. 

Minoxidil can increase blood flow to the hair follicles that might be shutting down until the “shock” of surgery has passed.

There aren’t many studies on minoxidil and hair transplants, but we have a few older studies to go off.  

For example, one small study had participants use a 2% minoxidil topical solution four weeks before hair transplant surgery. They paused treatment for three weeks while getting their transplants and then started again and continued using minoxidil for three months. 

The results were promising at the end of the experiment. In 74 percent of hair grafts, partial or total hair was still growing without any telogen effluvium caused by the transplant.   

Accelerated Regrowth

As mentioned, minoxidil can extend the anagen phase of the hair cycle.

This basically means you’ll get better mileage out of your hair follicles before they lapse into the rest phase of the hair cycle, meaning your fresh hair will grow longer and for longer.

In one study, participants started using 3% minoxidil 48 to 72 hours after hair transplant surgery. Two out of the twelve participants saw hair growth in their transplant grafts without any shedding.

Another two participants saw hair regrowth less than four weeks after their transplants — it can take three to five months (yes, months!) for hair regrowth to start in people who don’t use minoxidil.  

Reduced Future Hair Loss 

Hair transplants might not be worthwhile if, after all that work, you’re stuck with the same hair loss problem.

Many of your transplanted follicles may have better resistance to the causes of hair loss. For extra insurance, minoxidil’s benefits can also act as a preventative shield against what caused you to lose hair in the first place.

Minoxidil can also help to stop you from losing your current hair.

Yes, you should stop taking minoxidil before a hair transplant. Some experts say you should stop taking minoxidil three days before surgery, while others say you should stop one week before.

Stopping minoxidil can prevent excessive bleeding. 

Your hair transplant surgeon or healthcare provider can give you personalized advice and tell you when you should stop taking minoxidil. 

There’s no set rule for when you should start using minoxidil after your hair transplant. Some experts say you should start using minoxidil between five and seven days after your transplant surgery.

Your healthcare provider or transplant surgeon can let you know when it’s safe for you to do so. It may be a couple of days or several weeks post-transplant.

How long you have to wait to restart minoxidil can depend on:

• Whether you’re using topic or oral minoxidil

• How fast your scalp is healing

• How irritated or at-risk your scalp looks 

Has all this minoxidil talk left you wondering, “what will happen if I don’t use minoxidil after a hair transplant?” Don’t worry, you’re not doomed to hair loss. 

You may experience some telogen effluvium two to four weeks after your hair transplant procedure. New hair should start growing back in three to five months, though.

Depending on what’s causing your hair loss, you may also notice hair loss over time in the areas where you didn’t get a hair transplant.

Unfortunately, there’s no official guidance on how long you should use minoxidil after having a hair transplant. Your healthcare provider or transplant surgeon may give you some guidance here.  

In general, the benefits of minoxidil tend to wear off when you stop taking the medication. So, to hold on to as much hair as possible — both transplanted and original hair — you may want to take minoxidil for the long haul.

There aren’t many studies (and no strong ones at all) showing that hair growth treatments can improve your hair transplant results.

But none of the existing treatment options for hair loss are contraindicated (known to be bad when used in combination with) hair transplant surgery.

Once again, you should ask your provider what’s right for your needs. But generally speaking, your hair transplant might benefit from:

• Finasteride. Topical and oral finasteride offer numerous benefits for men with androgenic alopecia, with clear advantages even to transplant recipients. This hair loss medication is also safe to use alongside minoxidil, especially in prepared formulations like our topical finasteride & minoxidil spray.

• Biotin. For people with a biotin deficiency, biotin gummy supplements can help correct the problems associated with low levels of the B vitamin, like weak, brittle, and slow-growing hair.

• Hair care solutions. Medications and supplements are great, but did you know you can improve the look and feel of healthy hair with volumizing shampoo and conditioner and thickening shampoos with saw palmetto? Check out our offerings to learn more.

Hair transplants are complex procedures, and the recovery can be just as complicated (and sometimes, slower than you’d hope).

But is minoxidil required after a hair transplant? It’s not, so if you’d prefer to avoid medication, you don’t need to take it. However, minoxidil can help speed up your hair loss treatment. 

Here’s what to keep in mind:

• Minoxidil can improve hair loss after a hair transplant. It can reduce the chances of stress-induced hair loss, speed up hair regrowth if you lose hair, and help you hold onto existing hair. Win-win all round.

• There are no set rules on when to start and stop using minoxidil. You may have to stop using minoxidil a few days before your transplant surgery and restart treatment a few days or weeks post-surgery. But your surgeon or healthcare provider can assess your personal situation and let you know a timeline that’s best for you.

• There are plenty of hair loss treatments to choose from. There’s topical minoxidil foam, minoxidil liquid solution, oral minoxidil, and other treatments like finasteride, supplements, and hair-boosting shampoos and conditioners.

Want to learn more about minoxidil? Check out our guides to how long minoxidil takes to work and how to apply minoxidil for the low-down.