DHT1212

Who cares other than the person doing the HT? Why do you care? If it's something you want to do, then go for it. Some guys don't want their girlfriends/wives to get breast implants - some do.

Day 9 now. Doing a lot better. Regardless of the doctor - for me my body responded when a cm of scalp was removed and relocated with 2k plus pin holes. I expected it! Again, my most comfortable level is 0 pain on 0 pain meds. If I have to take Vicodin then there is a reason I'm taking it: pain. Basically, during day 7-9 pain is definitely low. At night, sleeping is painful and continues to wake me up. It is what it is. My goal is to be able to function 100% without pain meds. On day 9 minimal pain during the day, but sleeping at night at times is painful. I have searched the forums and this actually seems to be a fairly common experienced. In any event, looking forward to the results!

Thanks guys. I should clarify, the procedure was mostly painless, it was pretty much the next couple of days and nights. However, a massage during would have been great. It's now day 7 - feeling better, but sleeping on the donor area still gets me up. As for the days immediately following, there was no way I would have been functional at all. I have a fairly high pain threshold tolerance, so, I was pretty surprised on day 1-5. I'm on some more antibiotics and feeling better.

I’m 5 days Post-Op. I had 2300 grafts done via FUT procedure. As I looked into doing the procedure, I found forums very helpful. In general from everything from home improvements to automobiles, forum testimonials can often times be based in fact, but many times based in personal bias. The difficulty for the reader is determining who is being subjective and who is being biased. For example, go to a BMW forum and tell them the new Boss Mustang will beat the M3 around Laguna Seca. Impossible or Fact? In any event, what I heard and the most popular version of the FUT experience is no big deal. I think I have seen two videos on youtube where patients documents their first 7 days. Most say day 1 and 2 are moderate and the rest is clear sailing. Basically, painting the experience as a walk in the park. I laugh at these videos- now. Immediately after surgery, the best word I can think of to describe how I felt was: crappy and in pain. For me it was sitting in a dentist chair for 9 hours. The time goes by fairly quickly and the chair is comfortable, but nonetheless sitting there for 9 hours is not the greatest experience in the world. Root Canals are easier because they are over more quickly. I think the biggest surprises is the pain level and how incapacitated you are following the procedure. Day 1 and 2 are hardly tolerable without Vicodin. Forget about turning your head, bending over, or not being on Vicodin. At night, I did not get Ambien and maybe that’s the difference maker, but in 5 days I have yet to make it through the night without waking up with severe pain in the donor location. Vicodin controls pain, but you are basically high 24/7. Maybe I like to be up and around more, but sitting around doing nothing for 5 days is driving me crazy. For the last week I have been basically taking Vicodin 24/7. Prior to this procedure I had probably taken 5 vicodin in my life and hate pain meds. On top of all this, my hair is about .8 inch long and the donor strip is clearly visible as are all the scabbing. Hopefully, in the next couple days I’ll be ready to go back to work. But this procedure is visiable on day 5. I'm hoping stitches removed and I'll be good to go. The swelling is way down in the donor area on day 5, and I feel that I'm healing well. Would I do it again, sure. But, I would have like expectations of what to expect to be less sugar coated. Some posters on this forum really prepared me for what to expect, and I am very thankful for their posts! In any event, I’m not saying don’t do it. Do it, but just be ready to take some time off work (2 weeks min.) and be ready to sit on your errse and don’t go home without a lot of Vicodin 7.5mg. Pain IS normal, as they removed a chunk of your scalp. Sleeping through the entire night is NOT normal. And having all types of worrying about pulling out the grafts is normal as well. In the end, I'm definitely glad I did it - with hopes of good results. However, this ain't like getting a cavity filled. You Tube Video I was thinking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5mvVQfw8x0 Actually pretty funny..around day 5. "It's 5:45 a.m. - No problem sleeping" Classic....

Sounds good, you have to be excited for the results. I'm about day 4. For me, pain is way down and I can turn my head again. Feeling good again. I'm definitely laying low. I'm a little concerned about where I'm gonna be at in another week. Any problems with returning to work at week 2?

JM - Thanks for your posts. Really let me know what to expect in terms of aftercare and pain management. How are you doing now? I'm not sure how you did it with only Advil! I've got a pretty high pain tolerance, but I was on the phone the next day requesting better pain meds. Kudos to you!