Gwynedd man's head 'blew up like balloon' after 'ignoring hair transplant sex advice'

North Wales Live

4 days ago

A Gwynedd social media influencer claims his head swelled "like a balloon" after ignoring advice to abstain from sex following a hair transplant in Turkey.
Ruben Owen says he was left frantically searching for STI symptoms online after he chose to ignore the aftercare instructions following his hair restoration surgery.
The 24-year-old, from Abersoch, had undergone the procedure in hopes of restoring his thinning hair and was advised against high-intensity activities, including sex, sunbathing, and exercise, to prevent sweating and complications for at least two weeks.
However, Ruben's decision to flout the specialist's guidance not to engage in sexual activity resulted in him waking up with a swollen face and a tight scalp.
According to online medical advice, activities that raise heart rate and blood pressure can cause freshly healed incisions to reopen, while sweating may aggravate the transplant site and heighten infection risks, reports the Manchester Evening News.
The initial panic led Ruben to consider he might have an STI, but he quickly realised it was due to the hair transplant. It took one week for the facial swell to go down, he said.
He said: "I wake up and my head's 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."
Ruben says he flew to Turkey on November 2022 at the age of 22 to undertake the popular hair treatment. He said he was having concerns with his hair line and 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 was done. Hair transplant surgeons generally recommend abstaining from sexual activity for at least seven days post-procedure. But Ruben claims he 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 things of what 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 the night time. Woke up the next day and my head was just absolutely massive. When I woke up I was like 'oh my god what is going on, is it an STI?'.
"I was quite panicking to be honest. I went to Google and was worried for a bit."
He said his face ballooned on the left side of his head. His normal head size only came back one week after the transplant surgery, he claimed.
Ruben said: "I was told there was nothing to worry about too much 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."
He said he learnt the lesson "the hard way" but it is now motive for a laugh 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."