An Abersoch man who ignored a no-sex rule said his face and head blew up 'like a balloon' after a hair transplant in Turkey.

Ruben Owen, 24, woke up to discover his face and head had swelled up and looked like it had been "stung by 100 bees".

After the procedure he was told to not engage in high intensity activities to avoid sweating such as sex, sunbathing and exercise for at least two weeks but he ignored the specialist's recommendations, had sex and woke up with a swollen face and tight scalp.

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.

Left: Ruben Owen said his head swelled up when he ignored advice after a hair transplant. Right: Ruben Owen laughs about the incident now
Left: Ruben Owen said his face and head swelled up when he ignored advice after a hair transplant. Right: Ruben Owen laughs about the incident now (Pictures supplied)

"No joke, I thought I’d caught something. I was actually googling STI symptoms and panicking.

"Turns out it was just my own fault - definitely learned my lesson the weird way.”

Ruben flew to Turkey for the hair transplant in November 2022.

He said he was concerned about 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.

Ruben said: "I was doing some modelling work for their social media so I got the deal for a really good price.”

But the social media influencer said he ignored after care advice and it took a week for his cranial swelling to go down.

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."