How you sleep in the days after a hair transplant matters more than most patients realise. The recipient area — where grafts have been implanted — must be kept elevated and protected from friction against pillows to prevent graft loss and swelling.
The standard advice from most surgeons is to sleep on your back with your head elevated at 45 degrees for the first five to seven days. This reduces post-operative swelling and keeps the hairline area away from direct pillow contact. Many patients find it easiest to prop pillows behind their back or use a travel neck pillow to keep the head stable through the night.
Avoid sleeping on your side or stomach entirely for the first week. Even brief contact between the recipient area and a pillow during the night can displace grafts that have not yet anchored.
Use a clean pillow case — changing it daily during the first week is ideal. Blood and serum secreted from the scalp in the early days can become sticky and increase the risk of grafts catching on fabric if you move during sleep.
From week two onwards, most patients can begin to return to their preferred sleeping position, though the side of the donor area is generally more comfortable than the recipient zone for several more weeks.
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