After PRP Hair Treatment: Washing, Exercise and the First 72 Hours

After PRP for hair, leave the scalp alone for the rest of the day and wait until at least the next day before washing it; some clinics ask for 24 to 48 hours. Avoid heavy exercise, saunas, steam rooms and swimming for a day or two, hold off colouring and chemical treatments for longer, and ask the clinic which painkiller to use, because many anti-inflammatory painkillers act on platelets. Report spreading redness, increasing pain or a fever.

Your clinic's written aftercare sheet comes first wherever it differs from what follows. This is the general picture, with the reasons behind each step, so that the instructions make sense rather than feeling arbitrary.

The first 72 hours at a glance

University Hospital Zurich's dermatology department gives similar guidance for patients after PRP for hair loss: no hair washing for 24 to 48 hours, no sport, bathing, sauna or sunbathing in that period, and no harsh hair products or chemical treatments for a few days.

The first few hours

Expect the scalp to feel tender, tight or bruised, with some redness, mild swelling and a few pinpoint marks where the needle went in. A little dried blood in the hair is normal; leave it for the first wash rather than picking or scrubbing at it. A dressing is not usually needed, and most people go back to work the same day.

• Hands off. Avoid rubbing, scratching or pressing on the treated area.
• Caps and helmets. Keep them clean and loose. A helmet can feel sore on a tender scalp, so use a clean liner.
• Sleep. No special position is usually needed. A clean pillowcase is sensible. Mild puffiness of the forehead the next morning is occasionally seen as fluid drifts down, and it usually settles within a day or two.
• Alcohol. Usually avoided for the rest of the day, and some clinics ask for twenty-four hours.
• Smoking. A 2022 review in Drug Design, Development and Therapy lists smoking among the factors that can weigh against PRP, and smoking slows skin healing in general, so avoiding it for at least the rest of the day is sensible. If you smoke, mention it at the consultation.

When and how to wash your hair

Most aftercare sheets ask you to wait until the next day before washing, and some ask for up to 48 hours. The many small injection sites close quickly, and leaving them undisturbed for the first day keeps irritation and the chance of infection low.

When you do wash:

• use lukewarm water rather than hot, and a mild shampoo;
• work it in with your fingertips, not your nails, and do not scrub the treated area;
• rinse gently, then pat dry with a clean towel or let the hair dry in the air;
• if you use a hairdryer, keep it on a cool or low setting and away from the scalp for the first few days;
• ask before going back to a medicated or anti-dandruff shampoo.

Exercise, sweat, heat and sun

Walking and ordinary daily activity are fine on the day. Heavy exercise, running, sport and anything that makes you sweat a lot are usually avoided for one to two days, and some clinics ask for three. Exertion and heat can make throbbing and swelling worse, and sweat carries salt and bacteria onto small wounds.

Swimming pools, saunas, steam rooms and long hot baths are left for the same period or until your sheet allows. Pool water and steam soften the skin and reach fresh injection sites easily.

In a Gurugram or Delhi summer, plan the rest of the session day somewhere cool, and leave outdoor sport and long commutes in the heat for another day where you can. The same applies to a cricket match, a long ride or a sweaty day at a family function.

Keep direct sun off the treated scalp for the first day or two. A loose, clean hat, shade or an umbrella works; sunscreen is a product too, so ask before applying it to fresh injection sites. Redness and swelling settle more comfortably out of the sun and heat.

Hair products, colour and styling

On the day, keep every product off the treated scalp: gels, waxes, sprays, serums, dry shampoo and hair oil. Fresh injection sites are small wounds, and anything not on your aftercare sheet can irritate them. Ask the clinic when your usual products can go back on.

Colouring, bleaching, henna, straightening, keratin and other salon chemical treatments wait longer. Advice varies between clinics from a few days to about two weeks, so ask the clinic that treated you, and tell your salon you have had scalp injections. If you colour your hair regularly, plan those appointments around your sessions with the clinic's advice.

If you use minoxidil or another prescribed scalp treatment, ask when to restart it. It is usually paused only briefly around a session, and the course itself continues; minoxidil and finasteride in India explains why stopping a hair loss medicine lets thinning resume. Never stop a prescribed treatment because of PRP without asking the doctor who prescribed it.

Painkillers and other medicines

Most people do not need a painkiller after PRP; the tenderness is usually mild and fades within a day or so. If you do need one, ask the clinic which painkiller to use.

The reason is that many anti-inflammatory painkillers, including aspirin and common tablets for headache and body pain, act on platelets, the cells the treatment is built on. Cleveland Clinic notes that providers may ask patients to stop anti-inflammatories and blood thinners before PRP, and a 2024 review in Cureus found that no agreed guidance yet exists on how long to avoid them. Many combination tablets sold for colds, headaches and body pain contain an anti-inflammatory, so check the label or ask before taking one.

Never stop a prescribed aspirin or blood thinner on your own to have PRP. Those medicines protect the heart and circulation, and any change is a decision for the doctor who prescribed them. Other regular medicines carry on as normal unless the clinic tells you otherwise.

When to see a doctor: reactions to report

Tenderness, mild swelling, redness, pinpoint marks, a mild headache and a bruise on the arm are expected and usually settle within a day or two. Contact the clinic promptly if:

• redness, heat or swelling spreads, or is getting worse rather than better after the first two days;
• pain increases instead of easing;
• you notice pus, a weeping area or a hard lump that does not go away;
• you develop a fever or feel generally unwell;
• a rash or blisters appear on the scalp or forehead;
• bleeding from an injection site does not stop with gentle pressure;
• you notice heavy shedding or new patches of hair loss.

Seek medical help the same day for swelling around the eyes with fever, a severe headache unlike your usual ones, or any change in your vision. Difficulty breathing, or swelling of the lips or tongue, is an emergency: call 112. PRP side effects and who should avoid it explains which reactions are normal and which are not.

Getting it assessed

Consultations are available at our clinics in Sector 39, Gurugram and Rohini, Delhi, and are carried out by registered medical practitioners. Written aftercare is given with each session, and you can ask about anything on it before you leave. PRP hair treatment in Gurgaon and PRP hair treatment in Rohini explain how a course runs at each clinic, and how many PRP sessions hair usually needs explains how the next sessions are spaced and reviewed. Similar aftercare generally applies after GFC treatment. When PRP is combined with scalp microneedling, the skin barrier is opened more widely, so follow that sheet closely; whether microneedling works for hair loss covers that combination.