rsn

I get my impression my doc is a bit informal about when exactly to cut the sutures. He says his protocol is to cut the first sutures in one week, and then to cut the second sutures in 2 weeks. Now, I know for a fact that if you leave sutures in too long then you get scarring in the holes where the sutures are. This causes a railroad track to appear with dot scars on both sides of the long scar. Then again dot scars are really small and probably would not be seen under hair. I want to do whatever will minimize scarring, cognizant that the line scar is the big issue. So after what day should I let the doc cut the first sutures and at what day should I let him cut the second sutures?

My doc's written instructions says to shampoo 24 hours after the HT. The nurse said to shampoo twice a day. The written instructions says you will get less scabbing if you shampoo. The nurse claimed that this is so because keeping the area clean causes less infection. Personally, I have read a lot that says scars are always less if you keep the area moist with neosporin. And I would think neosporin should stop any infection. So what do you guys think about not shampooing and leaving a heavy layer of neosporin for awhile, possibly 1 2 or 3 weeks even?

I am nervous about destroying a newly tranplanted graft. So after how many days is there nothing to worry about with shampooing hard, and using a regular shampoo for that matter instead of a gentle one?

Well, the swelling went down. I don’t think anymore it was botched. My ears stopped pointing. I thought my face had been permanently changed, but it looks like it was all temporary. My big regret now is that maybe I should have gotten a mega session. Also my doctor did not stress scalp exercises, and I only did them for one week before, so I am now full of regret wondering whether he could have done more in this session had I only done them. But many surgeons I saw laughed at the exercises, so I only did them for one week before. I just had a 2700 surgery. I am a Norwood VI, and have heard I really should get a grand total of a minimum of 6000 grafts. Honestly, I would like as much coverage as possible, so I would even want 7,000 grafts. So first I am wondering if I should have gone to someone like Hasson and Wong to begin with and tried to get a 6000 graft off the bat. It is too late for that. But I am still going to have one more session, and want to explore getting 4,300 in one shot or possibly getting two small sessions or even getting less coverage and settling for one more small session, and ending it.

aaron, if laxity exercises are so beneficial, why do many doctors laugh at it?

Some doctors I have spoken to laugh when I bring up laxity exercise. They shrug their shoulders and say "well, I guess it can't hurt." But I have a read a lot of people here say there is solid evidence that laxity exercises work. Can someone give me a web link and citation to some study? Also can someone give a web link or citation to exactly how many extra grafts you can expect to get from it? I have no idea if you can expect 100 extra grafts or 2,000 extra grafts. All I know is I have tried to do it. Hasson and Wang's web site says to do it a half hour a day for a few months. That is really really a lot of work. It is tiring. And doing that for say 2 months would be 30 hours of work. What a waste that would be if the doc's saying the exercises don't work happen to end up proven right one day. Also from what I understand every time you yank a hair out of your scalp there is some chance you permanently damage the root, and the hair will never grow back. I would think doing vigorous laxity exercises would cause at least some damage this way.

A couple of doc's I spoke to recommended two sessions of about 2,900 each. One doc I spoke to recommended one session of 4,000. I have every faith from what I have read that Hasson and Wong would recommend one mega session of 6,000. I am a Norwood V who will eventually be a Norwood VI. What are the pros and cons of two small 3,000 sessions versus one 6,000 session? This is what I have gathered: one megasession will leave a smaller scar, cost less, and have only one recovery period. Two smallers sessions will lead to less shock loss and a higher yield. Am I correct here? Are there any other pros and cons to two small sessions versus one mega session? Do the superstar docs represent that they can pack in just has high density with just as good yield in a mega session versus two smaller sessions, and only the less famous docs say you will get more yield with two sessions?

Had a transplant today. My first. The doctor was planning to do 2800 FUT, and we had agreed on the price for it. After I took valium, he asked me if I wanted him to try to do more, and told me it would be $3 for each graft he could get above 2800. I told him yes, to do all the grafts he could. He said I have pretty dense donor area so he might be able to more. As the surgery went on a few hours, I could hear him chatting with the tech's things like "no I'll never get more out of here. I'm going to try the other side." In the end he said he could only get 2764 grafts. As I was leaving, I told him the donor skin felt extremely tight. It actually felt tight for the second half of the 7 hour surgery. He said that yeah, he had to make it tight to try to get as many grafts as possible. Anyway, once I got home I took a look in the mirror to see a disaster. The top of my forehead is pulled back, making my receding hairline recede even more. It is clear he took out a very big strip and it stretched my skin when he closed. It looks much worse than I can communicate. The top of my ears are now pointing outward. (This is because the skin on the bottom of the scar is yanking the bottom of my ears inward, so the top of my ears get pointed outward.) My entire face looks appreciably wider. Faces are supposed to be oval, and now my face is really wide. Did the doc botch things by taking too wide and too long a strip? Or is this what everyone looks like the day after, and it goes back to normal after a few days? I am hoping like hell, my face does not look like this forever.