Hi guys,

I am considering HT but wondering if I would be able to work after let's say 2-3 weeks (i'm a teacher). I consider about 3000 grafts. The problem is that I usually keep my hair very closely cut or shaved, so having a visible scar in the back would look quite bad and everybody would know i had surgery. Can anybody show me some pictures, short hair, after the first 1-2 months (both implant area and the donor area). Would there be any signs after the first month that i had surgery (other than hair growth).

Thanks

If you keep your hair shaved, then yes the scar will be noticeable months after the HT. I currently keep mine at a 2-3 guard and have to put dermmatch on the scar to keep it from being completely obvious. Check out my post where I posted pics of my hair cut short with the dermmatch on the donor scar. The hair is obviously indented but the red scar is covered.

Concealer on Donor (w/pics)

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2008 Dr. G – presumably 1,000 grafts / 2,142 hairs
2009 Dr. Paul Shapiro – 2,348 grafts / 4,258 hairs
2011 Dr. Paul Shapiro – 1,999 grafts / 3,624 hairs

My Hair Transplant Journey with Shapiro Medical Group

Hi Bruce

Have a look at this link:

http://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/

Many patients (including myself) have posted pictures there.

3000 grafts is quite a large surgery. From what I've seen, it takes 3 or 4 months to look relatively normal. Only a lucky few are undetectable at the one month post-op stage.

I cut my hair short just before my 3 and 4 weeks pictures so you can see how things look for me.

To be honest, if you have short hair, the scar is going to be visible. Using a concealer like dermmatch can do an excellent job of hiding the evidence though. You can look at aaron1234's blog for an example of this.

One other factor to consider is shockloss. If you have no shockloss at all, then you'll probably be in good shape, but many people have some shockloss in the donor area. If you have shockloss, then concealer will help. Also, you could just grow the hair longer to hide that area (this is what I'm doing).

If you post some pictures, then I'm sure more experienced members of the forum can give you some advice (since hair type/colour/density) will also play a role.

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My Hair Loss Web Site

to be honest 3 weeks is not enought IMO to expect to look normal agian, it took that long just for my scabs to fall off completly, and then i have redness in the donor area that didnt completly go untill 6-7 months mark, it all depends on how fast you heal, and aslo if your of fair complextion. the best thing to do if you are seriously concerned about people not finding out, is think of an excuse that would be beliveable, i personaly thought of one well before my transplant, i said i was off to help a friend do some work (DIY) and that i would be away for about 2 weeks. then after the transplant i phoned family up and said im in hospital ive had an acsident and said i spilt some paint stripper on my head and it burnt all my scalp becuase i hadnt washed it out properly. but i had FUE so no scar for me. to this day they dont know any diffrent and for the people who say my hair looks diffrent i just say its got darker becuase i damaged it and they still dont suspect anything

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Dr A. Armani 2500 Fue
Dec 2008

Proscar X1 Day
Monixodil X2 Day
Msm Daily