waitforanagen

I would recommend using a copper peptide spray (e.g. graftcyte) in these early days (if your doctor hasn't already).

I had redness for a long time as well. I use a little green tinted redness concealer with a mineral foundation over top and it did a pretty good job.

However, you are seeing lots of pimples and your scalp is inflamed and/or sore contact your Dr ASAP!

Hi,

I am about 5 months post op and need to have an EEG done for a sleep study. I am worried about the "glue" they use to put the electrodes on your head damaging the follicles or ripping out the the new fragile hairs I have growing (leaving circular bald spots everywhere).

Just wondering if anyone had any insight or experience with this... should I be concerned?

I should also mention, at 6 weeks or so I tried prescription 2.5% hydrocortizone for a week - made no real difference.

Funny thing is, I was prepared for about everything, researching the hell of it before doing it. I never anticipated having a red scalp for soooooooo long.

Hate to be the pessimist but... is there anything that could be done that would hide that scar well enough to have your head shaved down like that? The scar doesn't look all that bad to me(unlike Jeremy Piven's :-) ). If you do FUE, wouldn't you still have to let your hair grow out a bit???.

Of course, I am far from an expert, I just cant see how you get that scar into a state that it won't be noticeable with your head shaved.

With strip (or large FUE), I kind of figured you are committing to have your hair at least 1/2" or so long the rest of your life.

!'m 4 months out and my scalp is still discolored.... not red just a bit more pink than the rest. I still use concealer on it.

I would give it another month or 2 before getting really worried about it.

Just curious, are there any theories as to why you has such a poor result? i.e. the storage solution the grafts were held in, bad "cutting" of the strip (transection) etc....

I'm about 3 months out and notice the same thing. I have some hairs growing fast and thick and others not so much (post shed). It seems to be normal. The hairs start out thin and grow thicker.

I suspect in your case, some of the follicles are still in an anagen phase while the rest (most) are in a catagen phase.

Don't get too attached to them, most/all will be falling out soon :-).

Granted I am not an expert but... @ 23 with very early hair loss, are you really a good candidate for HT at this point? From your video you hair looks pretty good.

I would seriously consider waiting until your late 20's, at least, to determine what your balding pattern is going to be. Donor is limited and if you take 2000 grafts and densely pack them into your 23 year old hair line, you may end up with an "un-natural" looking balding pattern later in life.....and not enough donor left to make it look right (e.g. density).

Just my 2 cents....

IMO, If you are having hair line work with 2000+ grafts concealing is not all that realistic.

With that many grafts, someday day, months after the procedure, you are going to have little stubbly hairs popping up where no hair was before.... so the gig is up then.

My primary objective was not to look too ridiculous. e.g. bright red scalp with sawtooth pattern running across my head.

Now at 3 months, I have pretty good growth (hair about 1/2" long) and anyone with any capacity to reason can figure out what I did. Though, interestingly, I haven't had one person ask me about it...including family.

Unless you want to shave your head down really short, the FUT scar is generally not an issue.... easily concealed from day 1 with ~1 inch long hair around the back. This presumes good scalp laxity and good surgical technique.

My advice would be pick the best method that will give you the results you want 1 year from now. Immediate post-op concealment, though important, should be on the bottom of the list of factors determining the type of procedure - IMO of course :-).

3 months for me. I can hide it pretty good though with concealer at this point.

One thing worth noting is that it is not guaranteed you will have shock loss - I didn't. I could be wrong, but I think most people do NOT have shockloss.

I'm trying to honor your request to not debate FUT -vs- FUE :-) but.... a few things to consider (you probably have)

I just don't understand why people want FUE for large cases (2000+ grafts). Is the idea that you can always shave your head down in the future if things go "wrong"? I would think with that number of FUE grafts, you wouldn't do this anyways as it would look weird with little tiny pinprick scars everywhere. By having a HT I feel that I've committed to having my hair at least 3/4" long anyways - so that will cover up the FUT scar. This presumes that you have good laxity and that is not a concern.

So, enough said on that but if "consealing" your HT is a primary objective, I think FUT is the better option - provided your hair is long enough in the back. I would suggest letting it grow out at least an inch in case you experience shock loss from the donor site (plus they have to shave a small strip in the donor area down).

"Consealment" has been difficult/impossible for me as I am a NW6. On top of that, my scalp stayed redder MUCH longer than 3-4 weeks. It can be done though, with green tinted concealer and some sort of powered mineral "foundation" (sure there are other ways). At 3-4 weeks I used an *electric* razor to shave down any transplanted hairs that did not fall out on their own.

Me personally, I would use FUE to fill smaller areas, e.g. touch up.

Either way you go, I would suggest using a copper peptide spray on the receiptent area..... and use it quite generously for the 1st 3 days. For me at least, this reduced scab formation significantly and most of my scabs were gone about 10 days post op (believe it or not).... and now at 3 months post op, I have a significant amount of growth. Hairs on the top of my head are about 1/2" long now.

Of course, there are other factors that influence this, notably good surgical technique, e.g. using different/matching blade widths to ensure the grafts fit snugly - reducing exudate. And of course, every individual is different :-).

Either way, good luck. I can only advise that you make the most informed decision you can, pick the best surgeon you can and then go with it. You can analyze this to death and be paralyzed with indecision. Ultimately, even if you "fail" at consealment, you are only going to look "bad" for 6 months or so.

Growing a little concerned about my donor scar. Standard FUT, trichophytic closure, about 3 months post op.

The scar along the back of my head is raised and red.... while along the sides it is flat (but still reddish).

I have had the same issue with other scars on my body (e.g. prior surgery) where the scars are red and quite raised many,many years post op.

I will of course ask my Dr about it but, is this normal? Will the scar shrink back flat over time?

Anything you can do about it anyways?

I would still wait. The problem is you have a finite amount of donor hair and you don't want to be "chasing" your hair loss as it gets worse.

For example, you put in 2000 grafts and fill in the top of your head and your hair loss continues. Then the "sides" of your hair drops down (NW6-7 pattern). That is, the top of your head's hair separates from the sides. You will have an "island" of hair at age 38 that would not look natural. Now you have to fill that in, plus fill in whatever else you've lost in the meantime.

I would visit a reputable ht surgeon and get a consult. But in my inexpert opinion, I would wait until age 35 or so such that your balding pattern is stable and somewhat predictable. You have a limited amount of donor, so use it wisely. Keep enough in the "bank" so you can fix up problems that may occur later in life, like in your 40's or 50's.

I would also advise waiting. You are looking like you will become a NW6.

I went through the same thing at 26, when I 1st considering a HT. At that time I looked like a NW4 or NW5 but by my late 30's I am easily a NW6.

3500 grafts for Norwood 4 seems like a lot to do initially....especially since you are in your early 30's.

I am guessing without seeing pictures but how about doing 2000 initially? Then revisiting it late in your 30's when your balding pattern should be pretty stable.

But don't go cheap, make sure you get a well known and highly qualified surgeon.

Just curious, what is "good" density? i.e. 80 FU/CM 70 FU/CM etc.... just wondering what the ranking would be....

The scalp is so vascular that it is rarely any kind of infection. If they get painful or annoying I lance them and pop'em.

Nothing to worry about... same thing for me about 10 weeks... I get pimples from time to time. Nice to know someone is about as pink as I am right now :-). 4500 over that area is pretty good density.... I would guesstimate about 35 FU per cm.

Yikes! that is a bad scar...... hope you didn't use the same Dr as Jeremy Piven!

Hopefully you will get some hair growth through it.

Amphetimes are vasoconstrictors.... and honestly I would say it would based upon the dose. The problem with this is there is no USP protocol for making a standard dosing of meth. So I don't know if you would get a real scientific answer. I would guess the advice would be similar if someone was taking Adderall for ADD.

I would stay off the meth for another month or 2 for sure..... if not the rest of your life. Or see if Adderall will get you through. At least with it you could get a standard dosing.... Both drugs carry risks of sudden death and as such would deprive your newly transplanted hair follicles of blood supply.

No kidding.... I am 2+ months and still red... red enough I have to still use concealer (I am a fair skinned person who burns easily in the sun).

I am kind of glad I didn't know it could take this long as I probably would have been too scared to have the procedure done :-)

I hope it goes away and my scalp is not permanently discolored.

I am a Norwood 5.

FWIW, from your pic, you look like a Norwood 7.

Wow, 22 1st HT.

I personally would be trying to predict what my baldness pattern is going be... if possible. Otherwise I think you would end up chasing your baldness and end up running out donor by 40.

Losing your hair in your 20's really sucks... I know I was looking at HT at 26 but I waited until my pattern was well known (stable). Unfortunately, I netted out at a NW6 - which I would have never thought at 26.

My advice is to wait as long as you can but since you already had a HT you may need to do something to keep from looking un-natural (i.e. not a progressing Norwood pattern). You don't want to end up at 40 with thick, dense, lush 1-2 inch hair line and then be bald all the way back into your crown..... with no donor to make it look "normal" - donor is finite.

But see an expert, well respected surgeon.... Be sure to see one that will have no problem in telling you walk away and wait.... (and be willing to accept that).