My head swelled up like a balloon about to explode after I ignored strict no-sex rule from my doctor
Ruben Owen, 24, who'd just had a hair transplant in Turkey, woke up to discover his head had swelled up and looked like it had been "stung by 100 bees".
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The social media influencer from Abersoch, Wales, was offered a hair transplant to rejuvenate his lost locks.
After the procedure he was told to abstain from high intensity activities that would cause him to sweat, including sex, sunbathing and exercise, for at least two weeks.
But he ignored the specialist's recommendations when in came to sex - only to wake up the next day with a swollen face and painfully tight scalp.
Advice from hair transplant clinics suggests that a jump in heart rate and blood pressure from sex can reopen healing incisions, while sweating can irritate the transplant area and increase the risk of infection.
In a panic, Ruben initially thought he had a sexually transmitted infection (STI) - but soon realised his post transplant romp was to blame.
It took a whole week for the influencer's face to shrink down to its normal size.
Ruben recalled: "I wake up and my head had blown up like a balloon - face puffed, scalp tight, and it looked like I'd been stung by 100 bees.
"No joke, I thought I'd caught something. I was actually googling STI symptoms and panicking.
"Turns out it was just my own fault for going too hard too soon - definitely learned my lesson the weird way.
"The left hand side was bigger than anything, to the point it didn't even look like I had been punched - it genuinely looked like my face was going to explode."
I had a hair transplant at 27 & my head ballooned like a watermelon - everyone says I looked like Megamind
Ruben flew to Turkey on November 2022 at the age of 22 to have the popular hair treatment done.
Feeling self conscious about his hair line, he was offered the procedure for free in return for a modelling session for the clinic.
In total, he spent £800 for the flights to and from Turkey and returned to Wales the day after the procedure.
Hair transplant surgeons generally recommend abstaining from sexual activity for at least seven days post-procedure.
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But Ruben decided "not to listen" to his surgeons.
He said: "I was doing some modelling work for their social media so I got the deal for a really good price.
"It all went OK, they went through the after care and things you are not meant to do.
"I didn't quite listen about the sex part and because of that my face just went quite enormous.
"I had sex at night time. Woke up the next day and my head was just absolutely massive.
Hair transplant aftercare DON'Ts
You need to be very careful with your transplanted hair for the first twi weeks after your operation as the grafts will not be secure.
You may be told to cut down on exercise in the first month to reduce scarring.
It's common after a hair transplant to have:
A tight, achy and swollen scalp for a few days
Temporary scabbing where the hair was transplanted
A single scar or a number of very tiny scars
A hair transplant is generally a safe procedure, but as with any type of operation there's always a small risk of:
Bleeding
Infection
An allergic reaction to the anaesthetic
Your surgeon should be able to treat these problems quickly.
There's also a small risk the transplant will not take and the hair falls out, or a noticeable scar may form.
What not to do after having a hair transplant:
Don't scratch, scrub or rub your scalp
Don't go swimming immediately after a hair transplant
Don't do high-impact exercise (avoid head sweat!)
Don't bump or hit your head
Don't drink alcohol or smoke
Don't expose your scalp to direct sunlight
Don't dye your hair
Don't overstyle hair with styling products that are hard to remove
"I was told there was nothing to worry about and that it should go down which it did eventually, because I was going to go to A&E.
"I looked like something out of a film - it was something else."
Ruben said he learnt his lesson "the hard way", but now ordeal is something to laugh about with his friends.
He said: "It is one of those stories that still gets brought up, and to me it is too good not to share.
"This is one of them things that I look back on now and it was really stupid I hadn't listened but it was really funny."
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