Curry30

Awesome! Sounds like your new hair will be here soon

Do you mind posting a photo? Also I'm curious to see what the scarring on your donor area looks like.

Happy Friday!

I tried Rogaine for a couple years but admittedly, I was not as consistent or diligent with applying it than I should have so I never really saw and benefits. Because Rogaine works best in the crown area and my hair loss was also in the front, it was never going to be a long-term solution for me.

I was on the painkillers and antibiotics Dr Diep gave me for the first 7 days but I'm off them now. I take some tylenol before bed as it's still uncomfortable to sleep on the donor area. I also just started on Propecia and will start Rogaine on day 14. Hopefully this full assault on my hair loss will lead to great results in a few months!

Congratulations on your procedure. Its a huge step! So I asked the same questions to my Dr. and forum members. Here is what I chose to do. During my follow up session with Dr. Diep (It was quite late as our schedules did not align, Post Op day 9) he stated to me that around day 3-4, the follicles are set and not going anywhere. HIs instructions are by day 7, you can start with your normal shower routine. With that being said, he is giving us a few extra days buffer. He also stated that if you leave the scabs for long, they could have a negative affect on your growth process. With that being said, around day 10 I started to soak my head under lowered press water in the shower. I did that for about 20 minutes. Then I lathered my hair with organic shampoo and left it on for about 10 minutes. After that I raised my hair with water. By that time the majority of the scabs should be soft and loose. I then gently dryed the donor area with my towel applying slight pressure. My scabs in the donor area fell off quicker than the recipient area because I used more pressure with my towel. With that being said, the way I dried off my recipient area is i put the towel over my head and just pulled it forward using no pressure with my hands but only with the pressure of the towel on my head. By the 3rd or 4th day of doing this, all the scabs were gone.

 

Good luck. Are you on any meds?

Thanks for the advice. During this morning's shower I soaked my head for 15-20 minutes under warm water and the crusts on the recipient area softened up. I then lathered up with shampoo and gently massaged the area with my fingers for a few minutes and it worked well! at least half of the crusts fell off and a minimal amount of hairs came out (I'm hoping that it was just the hairs and not the follicles themselves)

I'll continue doing the same for the next few days until I'm crust free. Like you, I need to go back to work early (day 11) so the sooner these crusts are off the better

Thanks! This is very reassuring

Washing my hair normally for the first time and running my fingers through the donor area was nerve wracking. I have to admit I freaked out a bit when I saw a few hairs come out with the scabs so I probably freaked out a bit. I'll follow your advice and stay the course the next couple of days knowing it takes a few days to get the crust off.

You guys are awesome, reading your experiences has kept me sane through this first week!

Hi there!

I've been following your thread (and recedingazn's as well) because I'm just a few days behind you. I had a similar FUE procedure done with Dr Diep on Feb 11 and reading your experiences has been incredibly helpful through the process.

Question: I'm on day 8 now, which is the first day I can start washing my hair normally. I still have a lot of crusts in the recipient area and the instructions from the Dr say I can soak my head for 20 mins in the shower and massage them off, but I'm paranoid that this will dislodge the grafts. What was your experience in removing the crusts and do you have any tips?

Thanks!