monkey

Dammmmn wb, your scar healing is awesome!

First time I stayed 14 days I think, as I wanted to still be around when the "set in" period was confirmed

Now I live here.... so HT2 was a non issue

I also liked going back each day for my hairwash, rather than risk doing it at home.

Went to see Dr P today who said "No problem, unless you got a third degree burn you will be fine" - I pushed the point that it was only 10 days (well technically 11) after surgery that it happened and he said "Yes, still, no problem! Don't worry... 15 or so minutes in the sun won't do anything, the follicles are well below inside the skin."

He then did a check of the hairs as I said I couldn't feel much and again was told "Don't worry, 4 months is very early - you will only just be starting to sprout." and that he could see some baby hairs.

As I'm sure we all would be, I'm still sceptical - but as there is nothing else I can do, and he did seem very positive - I'm just going to have to wait it out.

Looking at HT1 photos, a lot had happened at the 6 month mark - so I reckon I'll just wait it out until then before I start to panic

I'll get the HT2 photos in the next few days and start updating my site for that one too

Well slightly worrying now - at 4 and a half months, and whilst I was positive before as I could feel growth, now I'm not sure...

I checked earlier for the "hole" that was one of the reasons I had gone for HT2, and it's still there with no growth at all. This leads me to believe that the growth I have been feeling could just be the shockloss hair returning, rather than the new hair growing.

Nuts....

Yes, my left side grew much much faster than the right side on my HT #1.

I've just asked this question of my surgeon (Transmed) and they've advised not to go out in it for three months.

 

I'm at five weeks post op, and I've been suffering from a few pimples in the recipient area in the last couple of weeks. I did wonder if a bit of mild exposure to the sun - just 5 or 10 minutes late in the afternoon, might help get rid of the pimples.

 

But hey ho, I guess it's best not to risk anything.

Well living in Thailand means it's impossible not to go out in the sun.

The problem with wearing a hat all the time is, once you've put it on, gone out and got really sweaty - you can't take it off without looking ridiculous (hair all matted together and looks super super thin).

Since the sunburn episode of 10 days, I wore a hat for the next month or so whenever I went out - but after this, I did stop. Of course I keep sun exposure to a minimum, but even the local supermarket is a 15 minute walk (in 40 degrees, lol).

Saying that though, my HT this time was inside existing hair, so I guess I have a lot more protection from the current hair over someone who is doing it to totally bald scalp.

Hopefully at 6-8 months I can come back to this thread and tell everyone I'm totally fine - so ppl in the future won't need to worry so much

I started on Proscar after my first HT, but quit after 3 months due to the sides. 2 years later my sides have finally gone - and my hair is no worse off

Ok, had word back from my Dr who says if it was just a mild (up to 1st degree) sunburn then there's no need to worry.

Looking at HT1 photos, it seemed not much happened until month 5 anyway - so I guess the hair coming in now is just the shocked hair, and the real growth hasn't started yet.

It's gonna be a nervy few months though.

However, still doesn't answer the original question .. what is it about sunburn (and only in the early stages) that causes issues?

Yeah, it was a case of "ahah, 10 days are up now, I can go out - and it's not sunny, hurrah"

Doh!

Surgery on Tuesday out on the following Saturday (I guess technically 10 and a half or 11 days)

Been pondering this a bit more - and I think if I had been 100% happy with my first one, I might have let a few extra people know - but as I wasn't satisfied with the coverage, I didn't want to tell people and for them to still think it was a bit thin.

Maybe after this next one grows out, I'll feel a bit more confident to let my friends know.

Hi Dr Charles,

Well my arms went back to normal colour a day later. My head I couldn't tell you, as it was still red from the surgery (that took about 3 months to clear!)

I had found load of "I was burned but it seemed oks" ont he forum, but then one chap who said he did the same thing at 10 days and had zero growth! eek!

It puzzles me too. I don't want to tell anyone and don't want anyone to know ... but I'm not sure why! lol.

Hopefully being at the 10 day mark, I was at a "safer" point than if it had been earlier.

It would suck so much if I did kill them all though - this is my second surgery. The first one was too sparse, so this was to "top it up" - if I come out looking exactly the same, but 1500 grafts down .... damn ....

The only thing I have in my favour here is obviously it was within a previously transplanted area, so there was some other hair to give protection. It also wasn't a bad burn, obviously I couldn't feel my head, but my arms were a little "tight" rather than massively red and blistered.

I would still like to know though why it's so important the first X weeks / months - what changes after this?

TBH I don't know. I had evil shockloss after surgery, so the new growth I can feel could just be the shocked hair growing back.

I guess I won't know until 8 months or so .... it's so annoying though, it was cloudy when I went out, so didn't take the hat - then once I'm out in the open, clouds clear and we're in 42 degrees sunshine Must have had 3 or so x 20 minute exposures ...

Been wondering about this.

So I made the cardinal mistake of going out in the sun 10 days after surgery and getting a mild burn. 4 months out now and I don't know if I've fudged things up, but it got me thinking... why is sunburn bad?

If the grafts are all secured, why should they be burned to death? Surely this would then mean it could happen to any hair folicles, even old ones?

Just wore my baseball hat as normal. Had to take it off once for the photo at customs, but that was all - then just put it on again

Thank you Dr Cam

Just a quickie.

When hair that was shocklost grows back, does it come in thin and wirely like how the newly grown transplanted hair does - or does it grow as the normal soft hair?

I'm three months out now and feeling quite a bit of stubble - just don't know if it's my shockloss hair returning (I had it bad) or the new grafts?

Or do they just feel the same?

Hi Bill,

Yes - all those settings are the same, and the cookie is there. I don't have this issue with some other sites though. Appreciate this is gonna be really hard to troubleshoot, and if I am the only one having the problem, best just leave it - I'll log in each time.

I'll give IE a shot though, see if that helps.

Hi Bill,

Windows Vista

Firefox 3.6.3

Logging in from main homepage, ticking box, and just closing browser after (not logging out from the link) - yet when I load browser back, logged out. Cookies are on.

In case of cookie corruption, I did clear them manually using the Web Developer toolbar, but alas to no avail.

Same here, remember me has never worked.

Tried logging in from both the main page and the forum page.

Hi Maxxy - I just would hate for darren to fall into the same situation I did. If he is already worrying about side effects now, then there's a much higher change he will have problems - a lot of it is psychological.

Also it sucks that there is no test for if you will be affected, once you've started taking it - you can't do anything about it if it all goes pear shaped.

Saying that, if you did change your mind - I would keep the dosages very small. I wish I had started on say .25mg instead of 1.25mg - it might have been the difference between happy and very sad!

Darren smith,

 

I think writing off Finasteride without at least trying it is a mistake and as I have said many times in the forum, I believe having a transplant without first stabilizing or dramatically slowing the loss is something you will only regret.

Maxxy - I think that's a dangerous thing to say - a lot of people for sure have no side effects, but a large amount of people do. You really need to weigh up the pros and cons before you do it, not just "give it a go"! Believe me, you will regret losing the function of your man bits a lot more that you would about losing some hair!

I would also say definitely don't take it if you have a "worrysome" or slightly negative mind - as this will play havoc with you.

If you have the patience, then I would try the Minodoxil foam - this seems to have no sides? But I couldn't be doing with the hassle of that everyday.

As for me - first HT was to lower my hairline by about 1.5cm, get rid of the widow's peak and also create some temple points. Second one (2 months ago) was to build up the density in the newly transplanted frontal area.

I will create one of these blog things once I get a proper internet connection - maybe a week or so

You've got to factor in possible shockloss too. My last procedure was inside my current hair, so I thought I'd be safe with the redness (first one, redness lasted about 3 months!) - however I got some nasty shockloss and it's very obvious I have a red head.

2 months and a day out now - I reckon it'll be another week or two until the red has gone ... but the shockloss .... gah...

Hi Darren,

I also didn't want to take Propecia - but it was strongly suggested I do by my surgeon, so I did.

Big mistake Cue 2 years of getting back to normal... shudders.

Anyway, in those 2 years my hairline hasn't really receded anymore (a tiny bit at most) and I just had a "top up" HT now.

I know it could all go horribly wrong for me, but I'm very optimistic that there will be a better solution here before I need to worry about HT #3.

Just wish I had stuck strongly to my beliefs in the beginning! I only took it for 3 months!