FUEgetaboutit

There are plenty of sources for when to expect what at each stage after your transplant. 1 - 3 months is the ugly duckling phase, 5 months is when results become really noticeable, etc. What I'd like to know is when you guys noticed the very first signs that your hair transplant was starting to come in. I'm curious, because I'm at the tail end now of the ugly duckling phase (I hope). Admittedly, I've been checking the transplanted area far too often (about daily for the last few months, against the advice of my surgeon). I'm now at 2 months and 3 weeks out from my surgery. A few stray hairs started coming in over a month ago and are now fairly thick and dark. Today, however, I was overjoyed to notice clusters of vellus hairs coming through all throughout the transplanted area. They still seem fairly patchy, but it's comforting to see this and feel the assurance that more concrete results will start coming through very soon. When was this moment for you? Were the results patchy or more or less uniform for you?

Eh, it comes with the territory. I can tolerate it, for sure. It's not the worst thing in the world to deal with. Just a mild annoyance. Thanks for the support, in any case. My surgeon only seemed to mention the donor area in terms of how I should care for it and what to expect for shock loss, at least from what I can recall. His office has been good about responding to my various questions when I have them, though. I chose FUT because it should, at least according to prevailing medical opinion, yield 500 - 1,000 more grafts over my lifetime. I know that there is debate about this, but if there is a possibility that I'll get more out of FUT, I decided I would take the chance. The idea of a scar doesn't bother me much, as I don't like wearing my hair very short in the back anyway. I figure that if I'm going to go in with transplants, I should get as much out of them as I can. I want to have as natural-looking, dense and well-covered a head of hair as possible in the long term. (I did regret doing FUT during the week after the surgery, though. The tightness and overall weird feeling drove me freakin' crazy. lol)

Update on this one, if anyone is curious. I followed Melvin's advice and did end up making the trip. It was an all day thing, but I feel it was definitely worth it. The surgeon himself didn't remove the stitches, but it was a tech who's had some tenure at the office. She provided some assurance about the scar and the state of the grafts, and she was able to answer all the questions I had with a good amount of confidence. Unless it's really going to put you out and you feel you can swing the trip, I highly recommend going with stitch removal with your surgeon.

I'm 4 weeks out from my strip surgery. The one thing about my transplant which has annoyed me the most is the general discomfort of my scar. I'm not just talking the numbness above the scar, which is definitely the most aggravating. I'm also referring to the tenderness of the scar itself, the weird tight feeling, etc. I know that the numbness generally lasts for a few months. I'd like to know, however, how long it takes for the scar area itself to feel back to normal. That is, how long does it usually take to stop feeling vaguely sore and tender? When does the tightness usually go away? It doesn't feel noticeably tight when I'm resting, but it does feel freakin' weird and tight when I bend my neck just right. The slight soreness isn't bad, but it's ever-present, and it is annoying.

Yessir, I've been waiting for that 10 day mark. I'm sick of sleeping with mittens on to prevent involuntary scratching in my sleep. lol. I think I'm healing just fine. There don't appear to be any persistent scabs or anything that seems particularly nasty. All but a handful of the hair shafts have remained in place, and I've experienced no bleeding anywhere post-op. Still, I figure it could be helpful to get a professional, trained eye to take a look at things. Is it worth a day of PTO, 60 bucks in gas and the overall headache, though? I think I'm leaning toward no.

True, but would a local GP even have an eye for judging transplanted graft quality? I doubt it. I'm starting to question, though, what even the clinic would do if I had any screwed-up grafts. I assume it would be a big, fat nothing. Otherwise, what could they do? (I'm talking placement and whether or not grafts have taken. Of course, any old doctor could spot infections, etc.)

Damn, that's lucky! I'm stuck out here in the boonies!

If my doctor were within 100 miles, I'd go to him for suture removal, no questions asked. Unfortunately, my clinic is 250 miles away. It's not so much that I don't trust a local GP to remove the sutures. My big question is whether the clinic will likely have any useful insight for me regarding how my grafts are doing. I'm leaning towards going local. I mean, if some grafts got screwed up... what is there to be done other than to make me aware of it? It's nice to know, but I don't know if it's useful knowledge at all.

Do you think your doctors gave you any good insight about how things were coming along when they saw you? Or did they not have that much to say about your results?

I'm nearing the 10 day post-op mark since my strip surgery, so I'm about ready to get my sutures removed. However, I live about 4 hours by car from the clinic where I got my procedure. What's more, the weather this week isn't looking so great, so I'd prefer not to go on such a long trip. Not to mention the fact that I'd have to take time off from work or get a hotel for a night (if I did suture removal on Saturday). I've considered just going to urgent care locally to have the sutures removed. However, I'd somewhat prefer to have them remove the sutures at the clinic, just so they can give my grafts a quick look to check that they're doing okay. My HT doctor would not have time to take a look at my grafts, but his staff would still have some insight. I don't have any reason to believe that a large number of grafts failed or that anything else is off, but a quick verification that things are going well would give me some peace of mind. I've also considered suture removal at urgent care as well as a referral to a dermatologist to check my results. Thoughts? Should I make the trip, or is it really not worth it?

Thanks for the confirmation! I figured. I just wanted validation that it was okay for shedding somewhat before the universally-cited 2 week mark for expected shedding.

Thanks! My experience was pretty smooth. I'm waiting a bit before I post anything, but once I have some concrete results, I will be sure to share!

I'm sure this is nothing and I'm expressing some typical post-op anxiety, but I'm 6 days out from a transplant, and I just noticed the first signs of shedding. All of the shafts from my transplanted hairs have stayed in place, from what I can tell, until today. I have a bath twice daily, patting my hair with shampoo, rinsing with a cup of water and applying Aquagel to the recipient area after patting my hair dry. I went a little deeper with the Aquagel than usual today, as there is some native hair covering my grafts, and I'm never sure I actually reach the grafts with the Aquagel. I noticed 2 or 3 hair shafts come out. How normal is it for noticeable shedding this early? I know 2 weeks post-op is the typical time for hairs to start shedding and that grafts aren't considered securely in place until about 10 days, so it worries me to see hair shafts coming out before a week has passed. Should I not bother going that deep with the Aquagel? I prodded just enough to reach my grafts through my native hairs. Again, I'm sure it's nothing. I'm sure you guys all understand my paranoia.

I'm a terrible sleeper, and I need things to be just right to be able to get a decent night's sleep. The tying of the hands seems like it would just be too uncomfortable and disorienting for me. Instead, last night I put on some mittens that I tied nice and tightly. I think this more or less worked. When I tried to do anything in my half-awake stupor, the feeling of the mittens was just out of place enough to wake me up. As far as I know, I didn't even try to scratch my head, but I think the mittens would have been a nice buffer between my hand and the grafts. (I'm also lucky that I have a decent amount of hair covering my grafts, which provides for a little extra protection.) I think the mittens should work. I didn't see a bunch of dislodged grafts on my bed, so I'll stick with them for now. And I mean, as long as I'm still seeing the transplanted hair shafts staying in place, I'll have to assume that I'm good for now, right?

Whoa, that's intense. lol. I'm 2 days post-op. That gives me an idea, though. Maybe I can wrap my hands up, or wear mittens when I go to bed? I think I may be good, so long as I don't actually scratch my grafts with my fingernails.

Yes, I do notice that my head is a little itchy around the recipient and donor areas. It's not bad when I'm awake, but I guess when I'm asleep, it's annoying enough that I can't help scratching. At least this morning, I couldn't help it. Interesting. I use diphenhydramine to help me sleep on occasion, but I never knew that it had anti-itch properties. I'll give it a try. Thanks, Dr. Khokhar!

Has anyone had an issue with, well... what the title says? I got my first transplant on Friday. Friday night was a breeze. I had no problems sleeping. But early this morning, I woke to myself unconsciously scratching my recipient area. Luckily, the recipient area happened to be covered by some hair, so I didn't end up really digging into the grafts. I didn't find any grafts on the pillow or in the bath, so I don't think I did any damage. Has anyone else had any trouble with this? I figure there's not much that can be done. I hear that wearing any kind of cap to bed can be overall harmful to grafts.

I don't have personal experience myself, but Dr. Dorin of True & Dorin told me that he uses oral minoxidil. So, it's good enough for a top hair transplant doctor in the US, at the very least.

Thanks for the insight everyone! Certainly not the biggest concern in the world, but my mind is running through every possible negative that could come about from a transplant. Neurosis at its finest. @caricatura That is correct! Once I go under, I plan on sharing the results with the forum. I agree. I like Wesley's preventative technique (at least in theory), and he seems to have enough good results and overall renown for me to trust him with my transplant. Still, it'd be nice to see more patient reviews and hear some nuanced, experienced opinions. As to Melvin's point, I don't disagree concerning honesty. I certainly wouldn't cover up my transplant from my significant other, especially considering that I want to get more down the line. Still, I don't know exactly if I would want to advertise it to someone I'm just getting to know.

@deitel130 You mean that you could feel it as in not touching it with your hands, but noticing it when you move your neck around, something like that? I'm going in with Wesley, so I assume he'll have a decent closure technique. Interesting that you don't feel it after the second FUT procedure.

I'm going in for my first transplant soon, an FUT procedure. I know that starting with FUT yields greater lifetime grafts, and I prefer longer hair in the back, anyway. I know the commonly-cited benefits and risks, and based on those, I'm sold on it. However, there is one thing I'm curious about that I can't find an answer on. I've heard people say on videos that they can feel their own FUT scars. I'm not sure how well they can feel it, and whether they really have to palpate to notice it at all. But let's say you're with a woman, and she puts her fingers through your hair. Here's my question: how likely is she to notice that you have an FUT scar by touch alone? Of course, if I'm in a long-term relationship, I'm going to reveal that I've had a procedure, and that I plan on getting more procedures in the future. So it's not something I'm going to hide forever from every woman. But I can imagine this being awkward if I'm with a woman whom I don't trust quite yet. This is probably not the biggest concern to have, but it's something to consider, in my view. Thoughts?

Okay, so I've been scouring this forum for results posted by Dr. Wesley's office, and I've noticed that you're pretty skeptical of his abilities. I've looked into doctors in New York including Bloxham, Shaver, Dorin and Wesley. I'm leaning towards Wesley now. I was really apprehensive when I saw his results because I thought the same thing as you seem to think. For NW 2/3 recession, he gets pretty meager coverage for the numbers of grafts he uses. But the specific technique he uses actually has a unique appeal compared to a lot of HT docs, at least to me. His whole thing is not just covering the already-balded or very obviously thinning portions of the head but to cover those parts AND go into the less obviously balding areas, for example, a thinning forelock. The idea there is to treat these areas preventatively so that when they do thin further, they don't go through an ugly, obviously bald phase. In my case, my forelock is definitely thinning, but it doesn't look that bad right now. Though I can definitely tell my forelock is thinning in the front and thinning even more obviously in the rear, it looks decent right now with good styling. Worse, and much more noticeable, is the recession in my temples. Dorin is reluctant to cover the forelock and Shaver all but refused to touch it. This is partially due to the dangers of shock loss, which Dorin emphasized more (I think exaggeratedly). Shaver and Bernstein have more of a philosophy that hair transplants are to treat a problem that's already present and not as a preventative method. i.e., they need to wait until your hair is very obviously thinning to work on it. This is all well and good, but I don't want to be one of those fools who, in a few years, when my forelock's thinning does become much more noticeable, which it will, medication or not, ends up with two weird-looking thick hair horns on my temple with shabby, diffuse forelock hair. I'd rather treat it all now and deal with the inevitable up front. Not sure how much you've researched Wesley, but you seem like the most openly Wesley-skeptical member of the forum. I figured I'd tell you what I've learned about him, as I assume you're basing your opinion solely on the pictures his office posts here. Not sure if you have any further insight into his process or secondhand experience from his patients, but if you do, please share. If there's good reason to be skeptical of Wesley, even knowing how he performs his surgeries, I'd like to hear it. I'm hoping to finalize my decision relatively soon. I'm not sure why his representatives don't make his technique a little clearer in their posts. lol. Here's a video he showed me explaining his process: As to this specific post, I can see 2400 grafts being used to cover the receded parts AND fill in the remaining forelock. 2400 is pretty much what you would need to decently cover the entire forelock.

Thanks for the thoughts, everyone. Anyone have any experiences with a preventative-style surgery? Any regrets? Anybody wish they had done a surgery like that? I'm leaning more heavily towards preventative. I understand that finasteride typically works very well, but I figure a preventative surgery is the best method for someone who wants to ensure he doesn't go through an ugly balding phase. If I stay on finasteride, it may keep my hair looking good enough for the rest of my life, but there's a not insignificant chance that it'll yield to worse balding down the line. A preventative surgery seems like a costly and extreme, sure, but likely very effective solution. I know it's a last resort, but the odds are too good for me (even if they're relatively small) that my balding is going to progress.

Yeah, I definitely don't want the horn hair thing. Though the one thing I'm considering is that maybe if it starts to thin a bit more in the forelock after transplanting the receded parts, I can get away with styling my side hairs to hide the thinning. Then I can fill in those parts with new transplants. I'm not thrilled with that idea, though. I am taking finasteride at this point to help soften the blow of any shock loss. Minoxidil, too.

I wanted to get people's opinions and, if you've got 'em, experiences with two different styles of hair transplants I've noticed. Let me try to illustrate with an example: Say you've got a receding hairline and you're thinning on top. The thinning isn't so bad, but it's obvious you're likely going to lose a decent amount of hair there in the future. However, what's really bad is the recession. It's really nasty. Here's where the two methods differ: Restorative transplant: This is pretty much what every HT doc does. They'll fill in the parts that are totally bald or thinning pretty noticeably. These docs WON'T go into the thinning-but-not-so-bad areas on top out of fear of provoking shock loss, or because they think it's poor planning to fill in an area the future appearance of which is just not clear at this point. Preventative transplant: A lot of HT docs either discourage this and some just outright won't do it. This involves going into the thinning-but-not-bad areas and restoring their density to the natural area's density. If and when you lose the surrounding natural hairs in the transplanted areas, you won't have a really bad balding phase there. It may look thin later on in life, but never straight-up bald. Here's me, as an example. I've had some docs (including @Blake Bloxham) suggest a preventative transplant and some docs advising against it, only focusing on the balding or bald areas at the edges. I like the idea, as I'm sure I'm going to lose more hair in the future. It doesn't look bad when it's grown out, but I really don't want to go through that ugly balding phase. Anybody with any experience with either have any pros or cons for each? Did you wish you had done the other type instead at any point?