Vinny1980

Hi Rod, Yeah the scar doesn't appear very thin. Yeah if the redness goes away then maybe it will look a bit better I hope.

So I am about 3.5 months in with Dr. Madhu's transplant of 3100 grafts, will post more pictures. I recently got a haircut and the barber used a #4 blade. I was a bit shocked as I had kept my hair long, but the scar is clearly very visible. I spoke to an HT doc in the area and he said it's much wider than he does on his patients. I was wondering, is this the finished product for the scar? I know the recipient area takes more than a year to reach its full potential, but what about the scar? Does it get any better after this? Or anything else i can do minus a scar revision? So far there is slight growth in the front and I am happy there, I just was wondering about the scar as a 4 blade is pretty long, I don't plan on keeping it shorter than that, but was very surprised. THanks in advance for any advice/comments. I posted the pics of the scar below.

As I mentioned briefly in my post a few weeks ago, I am a participant in this trial. Corvettester summed it up perfectly and I don't really have much to add. I am extremely excited by the technique. About the trial: Prior to the trial Dr. Wesley walked me through every aspect of his technique and the procedure itself. In fact I learn more and more about HT in general during each and every one of our conversations (wish I knew some of this prior to my first HT!). The trial was a breeze and Dr. Wesley and his staff have superb patient care. Again I am extremely excited by this technique as it appears to be an elegant solution to the drawbacks of FUT and FUE as Corvettester has already indicated.

After I had my hair transplant abroad (2 months ago), I had some severe irritation and I decided to go see a HT doctor over in the states. I saw Dr. Wesley (from this forum) and and he was just so thoughtful and incredibly helpful. He educated me about what I would be seeing post-op (I learned a lot) and also informed me that I had an infection and prescribed some antibiotics and wanted to check on my progress. Afterward when I had heard about his clinical trial to investigate transplant scar reduction and FU graft survival enhancement I contacted him immediately. I went in today and he and his staff were amazing. I mean it's FREE HAIR and it's a minor procedure, nothing like the 3000 grafts I had before. Update on my first transplant: I posted my 1 month and 2 month. Will be posting more pics in a few months as the hair is still in its dormant phase. I was patient before, but excited to quickly get to a few months later and seeing some growth!

I just wanted to post a short-update. I recently took the advice and decided to speak to a HT doctor in New York as emailing my Doctor was difficult as the response time and also it was a bit difficult to show my condition with photos. I also didn't have access to the same medications. I spoke to few doctors, but Dr. Carlos Wesley's assistant was just so nice and much more helpful than some of the other ppl I spoke to. I went in to see Dr. Wesley and he was just such a thoughtful and incredibly helpful. He educated me about what I would be seeing post-op (I learned a lot) and also informed me that I had an infection and prescribed some antibiotics and wanted to check on my progress. Getting work done abroad is great, but this experience made me realize some of the cons of not having your doctor accessible after your surgery. I will surely need some more work done after this year depending on how successful this procedure is and Dr. Wesley is at the top of my list. I feel like I really dodged a bullet here!

Thanks so much David!

Hi guys, I had a FUT transplant a month ago and have some irritation and pimples recently. I hear this is a good thing, but my transplant doctor is abroad and I live in the tri-state area. The doctor recommended Nadoxin-C but that isn't readily available in the states. I was wondering, for irritation and/or pimples what over the counter or prescriptions are given in these cases in the states for you guys who had the procedure done in the states? I went to my family doctor but he had no clue, he just looked up the ingredients of the mentioned cream and recommended a substitute of 10% sulfacetamide and Temovate (clobetasol). The problem is that he said openly that he knows nothing of this procedure and well, just googled it. Currently I'm just applying witch hazel for some of the irritation with a cotton ball and putting some neosporin on it. I am probably just paranoid but someone mentioned the dreaded word "folliculitus" on a previous post and now I can't get that word out of my head (literally). I just want this to go smoothly as I have so much riding on this puppy that I spent all my savings to get done! And well if it goes well, will look to have some more done! Thanks for all your help and advice guys.

I've just thrown up some 1 month Post-Op photos, some redness/irritation in the recipient area (hopefully will go away) and some shockloss in the donor area (also hope it goes away). Shed some transplanted hair, still have some left though. We'll see how it goes!

Yah Bay my experience was exactly the same! If you could ask him about that, that would be great. As I didn't encounter any redness or issues and then 1 month later, boom! I had some redness and irritation, which was unexpected as I didn't read that this could occur in any of the post-op information.

Congrats Bay! Hope it all worked out well for you! I'm going on 1 month now, just discovered some recent redness but hoping it will go away (but no problems for the first month for me, hoping this goes away soon!)

Hey guys, So here are some pics of my 1 month post-op (actually Day 27 to be exact). It was smooth sailing, but yesterday I noticed that the recipient area hurt a bit and then checked it out and it looked red and irritated (a little hard to see in the pics). I've lost some of the implanted hairs as the scabs slowly came off (still some left) and some shedding. I literally have babied my hair sinced the procedure, only using Johnson and Johnson and keeping it out of the sun unless I had a hat or bandana. I stopped minoxidil 2% last night, rubbed aloe vera on it, and it was still irritated. Today I thought maybe I'd try a stronger shampoo, so I used Head and Shoulders for the first time, so far it didn't seem to help and is still irritated. It's not crazy painful, but I previously had no issues. Is this normal? Should I be concerned about my grafts? I will post some better 1 month pics in my album (need a little help from my gf to take them).

Thanks Marie, at this point what is done is done. Dr. Madhu seemed like an honest respectable guy, but it is a bit of a transplant shop (get in, get out, Next patient) and follow-up care is limited when you are finished. The hairline is a bit uneven, but I think that is me being a perfectionist and also I am sure it was made that way for a reason. You also get what you pay for and I think he did a great job at a great price and I am confident it's going to turn out great. But I will keep you posted with photos and when the results are positive, I won't be complaining ;-)

Thank you Mattj! Actually, now I'm day 18. I think I confused the brittleness with scabs. As I looked in the mirror at first I thought it was dandruff then I realized that it is possibly be scabs in the recipient area. I was extremely gentle with the area, baby shampoo and the cup of water technique. I guess now maybe I should be rubbing it a bit more (I know grafts are in place after day 10, but I am paranoid). Would you guys advise that? I know some ppl say take two showers a day, etc. When is the ideal point to start really shampooing deep into the recipient area?

Thanks guys, yah I think it's just due to the numbness and the implanted hairs are short and pointy and I didn't shave my head so I am comparing them to the longer softer hairs possibly. I have used the coconut oil and will re-start the aloe vera and I think the area is ok, but will probably cut down on the minoxidil 5% to once a day for a few days just to be sure my scalp isn't super irritated by it. Thanks for your thoughts guys! All help and advice is greatly appreciated.

Hi Aaron, I just meant the recipient area, feels pretty brittle.

Hey guys, I'm now at day 16 and the recipient site just feels so brittle, is that normal? I just got a full bottle of coconut oil as it seems to be a bit better than the aloe vera as it is a bit greasier and the recipient area just feels so brittle I feel like this might be better at trying to soften it up a bit. Any thoughts?

Hi NewHair, which spray are you talking about? the minoxidil foam or saline or something else?

Hi, I am on day 15 today. Still having a bit of shock-loss in the donor area and covering that up with Mane. My scalp was getting a bit dry and I'm only using baby shampoo still, so I got some aloe vera today. I currently also am using Minoxidil 2x a day and debating whether to scale that back if it is drying out the recipient region. I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations on whether the Rogaine Foam is more/less effective post-FUT or had experiences of it drying out the recipient area? If that was the case, did you have a workaround? I would still like to use it 2x a day, as I want to do everything with my power to ensure maximum yield as I put so much effort into this. Thanks.

Depends how much money you need with the limits you bank will instate. But foreign banks meaning if I use a citibank card at another bank's atm in India instead of a citibank ATM, you will have to perform 4 10K transactions to get 40K if your bank has a 40K limit (that is Indian banking regulation) as I stated previously. I personally spanned it over a few days, but that's also as I love to walk around and go the bazaar and talking to ppl so I'd it up an ATM whenever one would be next to me (they are a few by the hotels i mentioned and one just to the left of Dr. Madhu's office). I was told before that I wasn't a candidate for HT, so I wasn't comfortable doing a direct transfer and wanted to pay after I met everyone, which I did and became instantly comfortable. But in my opinion, a very professional atmosphere and if I plan on having a second procedure I might strongly considering a bank transfer instead if it works out more cheaply, but that varies by your bank. I called all my banks before hand, and I would recommend you do the same as each policy could differ. best of luck bud, keep me posted on how it goes, and always looking for tips

Can i add a quick question related to this topic? Does anyone have any believable stories about the scar? Personally, well I don't know, I just worked hard on keeping this a secret so it's day 12 for me too and well I plan on lying about it. I just don't want to get caught, the issue is that it's a pretty clear and defined incision. So a cool story about how I was on vacation and got hurt would that cut it? I know honesty is the best policy, but well I'm usually the guy who tells ppl that I'm all personality, mr. not materialistic. But this has plagued me for 10 years and I never got over it, so well I did it. I just well don't want to get flak about it. So I want to lie, because I never wear baseball hats or fedoras or bandanas and now i'm doing all those things and having fun with it. But I'm stir crazy and have been actively avoiding my friends (they still think I'm on vacation) and the weekend is fast approaching and I'll be at day 15 by then. Any advice on lying (sounds bad I know)

Thank you for all the information guys, this has been very helpful. I have absorbable sutures, I guess I will try to sleep in a way to take the pressure off the area now. Thank you all again for your responses/advice, since I haven't told anyone really, this community has been invaluable helping me through the process!

Every morning I wake up and my scar(donor area) still really hurts a lot. Throughout the day the pain isn't that bad. But every morning I wake up, it really hurts. I still still with 2 pillows at like a 30+ degree angle. Is this sort of pain normal at this point, as it really hurts a lot? And if so, if it subsides throughout the day, is there something I should be doing prior to sleeping?

Hey guys, I posted a few pics although its tough to do by myself and with my phone, so apologies if the quality is poor. I also I put in my pre-op pics as well. Excited, as its the end of Day 7 so I am about to start applying Rogaine. Just really excited to do anything to encourage these guys to stay with me and grow strong. The scar area has been on and off pain though, but I've been putting neosporine (neosporine+pain relief) on it which, provides some pain relief, especially at the knot areas. Let me know what you guys think!

Thanks NewHairPlease! Quick question, what have you heard about Vitamin E, is it any good?

Hi all, I have two questions. Dr. Madhu suggests using Minoxidil after day 8 or 10 I believe post-op. He also advises on using coconut oil 1 hour prior to washing your hair for the first few days. 1) Any thoughts on coconut oil? 2) I was just wondering if there were any studies done on Minoxidil use post-HT (FUT). Dr. Madhu advises using it after day 8-10. Dr. Bernstein's site has mentioned that it can be used after a week, but says that if it causes irritation that it can disturb the grafts and I read a few posts (not sure if they are from credible sources) that Minoxidil use post-op can encourage and can result in better yield. What are your guys' thoughts on both of these? I am still within my first 10 days Post-Op so I really want to do whatever I can on my end to ensure that my little buddies (grafts) are comfortable and happy so that they come back for good and are strong and healthy.