Hair transplant is a surgical procedure — a long one, often 6–10 hours — and your general health affects both the safety of the procedure and the quality of the result. Medical clearance ensures you're safe for surgery and helps your surgical team plan for any health conditions that could affect graft survival, wound healing, or anesthesia management.
Why Screening Matters
Unlike cosmetic surgeries under general anesthesia, hair transplants are performed under local anesthesia — which eliminates many anesthesia risks. But the procedure still involves blood loss (minor but real across thousands of graft sites), hours of sitting in one position, local anesthetic injection (lidocaine doses approach maximum limits in large sessions), and wound healing across hundreds to thousands of recipient sites.
Conditions That Require Planning
| Condition | Impact on Hair Transplant | Action Needed |
|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (controlled) | Impaired wound healing; infection risk | A1c below 7.5; blood sugar monitoring day-of |
| Hypertension | Increased bleeding during extraction/placement | Blood pressure controlled before surgery; may need medication adjustment |
| Bleeding disorders | Excessive bleeding during procedure | Hematology clearance; surgical plan modification |
| Autoimmune conditions | May affect graft survival; disease activity risk | Rheumatology clearance; stable disease required |
| HIV/hepatitis | Standard precautions; doesn't contraindicate | Inform surgical team; viral load assessment |
| Heart conditions | Sitting tolerance; local anesthetic metabolism | Cardiology clearance for procedures over 4 hours |
Medications to Discuss
Blood thinners (aspirin, warfarin, Eliquis, Plavix) — typically stopped 5–10 days before surgery per prescribing doctor's guidance. NSAIDs (ibuprofen, naproxen) — stopped 7 days before. Supplements that thin blood (fish oil, vitamin E, ginkgo, garlic) — stopped 7–14 days before. Minoxidil — typically continued up to surgery; some surgeons pause it 3–5 days before to reduce scalp bleeding.
Getting Cleared
Complete your medical clearance at home before traveling to Colombia: get blood work done (CBC, metabolic panel, coagulation studies if on blood thinners), obtain clearance letters from relevant specialists (cardiologist, endocrinologist, hematologist as applicable), send results to your Colombian clinic for review 2–4 weeks before travel, and bring your medication list (with dosages) to every appointment.
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