OneHairLeft

I understand that for most the actual hairs fall out in a couple weeks, what I am wondering is what is the skin in the recipient area is going to look like for the 6 months to a year that it takes to grow in? Does the skin go back to normal after a bit or do you have to just suffer through looking kind weird for a good while? When can you go back to not wearing a hat or covering the recipient area and just look like you did before the transplant?

I have recently set up my first HT and am pretty siked about it. Tonight the wife and I went out with a group of our friends to a Japanese steakhouse and after we settled in someone asked my wife if we could come to an event and she blurts out " I don't think so that is when he will be getting his surgery" of course everyone says "what surgery?" so my wife just tells everyone straight out at the dinnner table the I am getting a HT moving hair from one part of my head to the other. Holy cow, it has been a while since my face has turned red and gotten sorta hot, I could not control my embarassment, I would have played it off if given advance notice but the suprise of it all had me a bit stunned. Amazingly, after dinner in private she claimed to not know it was embarassing, so I took it very easy on her....but damn that was truly embarassing! Now that the cat is out of the bag, I guess I will just embrace it and be thankful that there is a solution out there for guys like me with less than perfect hair!

Maybe a loose bandana would work, not really my style but it seems better than any hat.

Ok, so I am going to be a long ways from home getting a HT of 3500 grafts. I want to pretty much baby the newly transplanted hair and take no risk of messing it up post op, staying in a hotel to recover one day and then flying home. My concern is that of course I would like to wear a hat but the more I think of it it seems that the hat could damage something. I think I am just going to hang out in private a lot when I get home so that I won't feel compeled to wear a hat and risk messing up my HT. Am I off base here or right on track? What did you wear on your head the next day or even right when leaving the clinic?

How long after a 3500 FUT HT should I wait before taking a long plane ride? Let's say the HT was on a Tuesday, the soonest I should fly home after the HT is______?

Thank you for all the great comments, sincerely. I actually called Dr.Rahals office and Dr. Shapiro to discuss potential schedule and they are booked for months ahead, they both seem like terrific doctors. I did ask how much of the surgery Dr.Ziering himself would be involved with and was informed that he would personally make all the incisions and control the direction of the cuts etc.., they call the incisions spots "sites". After Dr. Ziering makes all the incisions then his staff will actually place the grafts in each site that was created by the doc himself. Do you know if having the staff insert the grafts instead of the doctor is the protocol for Rahal, Shapiro and other top HT docs or do they actually place the grafts in the sites personally?

Hello, OK up front I confess that I do have a bit more more than just one hair left , probably 38% of my head is bald and it is in the front, top middle, and crown, the front has left a little island of hair, it is pretty rediculous looking and I do a kinda sorta desent combover to blend it together, my hair is light brown or dirty blond. I have been a hair loss sufferer for nearly 10 years, I was planning for several years to do a HT and was all set money wise when the economy tanked and I sadly decided it was not the right time for me, due to family matters. Now, I have 15k saved up just for the HT and am really ready to pull the trigger on a great HT. Before I was planning to do my HT with Ziering Medical, and HOPEFULLY have Dr. Ziering himself do the surgery, I had sent them detailed photos and they told me I needed 3000 to 3500 grafts and could come back later If I thought I needed more. I was actually about to pull the trigger on this deal yesterday when I found this excellent forum and decided to pause to seek advice from this forum and its HT gurus, hoping for some excellent feedback. Please answer the following questions and add any other important commentary that you think I should know. 1. Ziering is offering to do my grafts for $4.50 each, so 3300 grafts is $15,000. Does this sounds like a good and fair price, I am concerned with quality first and price second but still don't want to get hosed on the price, is it a decent price? 2. At Ziering, what is the chances Dr. Ziering will perform the surgery? Do you know of any hack jobs by his shop? 3. Since I am in NC I noticed on this forum that Dr. Cooley is only a few hours away from me and I could drive instead of fly, it would be more convenient however I do NOT want to sacrifice quality so that being said is Ziering better than Cooley? I am willing to travel for a world class HT, is Cooley really a world class HT doctor? 4. My wife can not come with me, so can I drive away from the surgery on my own? 5. Are you awake during the surgery? 6. Will the linear scar ever go away, any pics to share of the scar a few years after a HT? I am thinking it is totally visible when swimming is this true? 7. Finally, who are the worlds top three HT surgeons? Technique wise and artistically. Thanks you for taking the time to read and resopond, this whole matter has me more than a bit anxious, I could really use some educated help and advice, if I failed to ask any important question then please let me know. Thanks a million in advance, Nervous in NC