living_tribunal

Just now, Mycroft said:

Wow, yeah. That's a lot of early sprouting clearly visible, and three months is very early. The redness doesn't look too bad either.

The redness has subsided for the most part. I'll try to get better pics later today. The left scalp has really come in. My concerns about him overfilling the left scalp kind of came true but it still looks pretty good. I might have to change which way I part my hair. Small price to pay for a better hairline though. 

So it’s been about 3 months since I’ve had the procedure so wanted to post a quick follow up.

I did experience the temporary shedding period but it came and passed rather fast. At this point, most of the new hair is growing and thickening up. My hairline already looks a lot better and I’m starting to receive compliments. I’m sure in a month or two, with a haircut to even out the hairs, my hair will look fantastic. 
 

I really appreciate everyone dealing with my paranoia after I had the procedure, this was the best decision I’ve ever made.

51 minutes ago, Mycroft said:

 

The back squat has gotten way overhyped as a "necessary" leg movement. I promise you that you can get a hell of a leg workout without the barbell back squat. 

Check with the clinic, but I'd hazard a guess that front squats, split squats, goblet squats, and probably even Zercher squats are all better alternatives if you can't get it out of your head that you must squat for whatever reason.

 

Eh, I mean goblet, split, zercher don't do much. I can't carry dumbbells that are 250lbs lol. Front squats are great but not for your hamstrings which is always the goal. It is what it is, I'm going to just feel it out. Leg press is fine but it just doesn't tear near as much muscle as good ole squats do. They also just release so much growth hormone.

Like I said, I'll go a couple of months but I really don't think I can take a year off of squatting. I'm sure I can find a way to relieve the tension/pulling on the neck.

1 hour ago, Mycroft said:

Why not? Your physique isn't going to know the difference but your scar probably will.

That's just such a long time to take off from a full work out. Most doctors say you can resume lifting at a month in. I'll give it a couple of months for sure. But a year? That's a long time to not lift my legs properly.

It's been over 3 weeks at this point so today I'm finally going back to the gym. Dr. Arocha cautioned to not do squats for a year which I really don't think I can do. I won't perform them for the next 1-2 months but will definitely have to at some point. I can't take a year off from squats...

So for the time being, it's bench press, deadlift, and leg press.

Most of the crusting has disappeared. Thought I’d take the time to show my hair wet so y’all can get an idea of where I’m at on the nw scale before growth occurs.

As I mentioned in the first post, I’m a late nw2 and was basically a nw3 in the left temple (my left). I combed my hair that way so my hair didn’t look too bad before I did this but it was getting there since my scalp had started to thin. I’ll post some normal pictures of my hair here later.

You can kind of see the outer line of the new hairline Arocha gave me. For the most part, he filled in the areas where I was receding (which is what I wanted, wasn’t going for a teenager hairline). He certainly filled in that left temple quite a bit. Regardless, these pics with my hair wet are pretty close to how I looked before.

For my routine, I’m back to twice daily minox. I’m now covering my whole head and crown which I didn’t do before. I might resume micro needling in a month or so. We’ll see. I still want to be careful with the grafts for now though. I may microneedle my crown and center scalp soon.

Here’s to nearly a month post-op.

4 hours ago, Steeeve said:

Definitely don’t pick at the grafts. I’m not suggesting that but if you’re worried about losing grafts at this point you’re in good shape. The time that you need to worry most is really that first week and even then you would have to really try to pull them out. The first night is the biggest concern as that’s the easiest time to dislodge them. Trust me, though, if you lost a graft you would know...there would be so much blood. Like, SO much blood. 

Thank you for making me feel better 😆

1 minute ago, Mycroft said:

I totally understand why you're nervous, but it's probably not great for the crusts to stay stuck in your hair for that long either. At this point you should not be losing any grafts. I've never heard any surgeon suggest that they're anything but totally secure in your head this late in the game. If they weren't they wouldn't be getting the necessary blood supply and would be dead anyway.

True, they do all mention not to pick them as well so I'm just trying to let nature do its thing. And I am massaging them while washing my hair daily and even kind of lightly massaging them throughout the day when my hair is dry. Most of the crusting is no longer connected to the hair just stuck in my existing hair and can be combed out. Maybe just shows that it's healing. Who knows. I don't mind the uglies though. I had planned on staying inside for a while anyways.

18 minutes ago, Steeeve said:

At this point those grafts are really safe and secure in your scalp. There is very little you can do to damage them unless you’re getting a sunburn or hitting your head really hard. If the scabs are completely off your scalp that’s probably okay. You can afford to start rubbing a little more vigorously, though. Just not too much. 🙂 The shedding of some grafts is inevitable. I mean, even if you lose the majority of them via the initial shed the odds are in your favor of them growing back faster due to the PRP.

Well losing the graft means that it won't grow hair altogether. Losing the hair from a graft however is no problem. I remember reading somewhere how to detect if the hair contained a graft or if it's just a hair. 

Regardless, everything I've read says to not pick and to just carefully massage while washing your way and let the healing do its thing. Still trying to be careful, just don't want to lose any grafts. 

I know I sound pretty paranoid at this point but it's a product of not knowing if anything is wrong and not being able to confirm if any of the hairs that have come out contain the graft. 

I suppose time will tell but even then you don't know if you could have done anything better.

I really want to thank everyone for the help! This is newfound territory for myself and the experience from everyone here has really aided everything from my procedure, to doctor, to post-op care decisions. You've all certainly quelled my anxiety as well. I think the mental games are worse than the pain for hts. Feeling confident that things will start looking good in 2-3 months.

While applying minox and another time when scratching my head, I noticed transplanted hairs with crust on them come out. This is why I need to be careful being harsh on the transplanted hair. I know that these hairs most likely didn’t contain the graft but I just can’t be certain. I don’t want to see any of that. 

16 hours ago, Steeeve said:

Everything is looking on point, however, I would really start working to get those crusts off at this point. There’s a video I was going to try and share the link for; I think it was SPEX’s YouTube page, where he shows himself massaging the grafts off of his scalp. I couldn’t find it but I believe it is also on your post op instructions that Dr. Arocha have to you but you should be totally good at this point to try and gently pull those scabs down off of your scalp. 

I’ve been massaging the crusts to get them off, and for the most part they are disconnected but just stuck in my air. I just don’t want to pick them off. I don’t mind how it looks just want to be cautious per some other people’s comments regarding taking grafts out when picking them.

I’ve also started using nizoral to speed up getting rid of them. I might comb my hair to see if that helps. 

Just a quick update. Been washing my hair every day and massaging the grafts when I shampoo. I’ve also resumed minox both on my existing hair and the new grafts.

The crusting has gotten a little crazy. I’m not concerned but it’s interesting that all the crust is coming off so late. Not sure if I should be worried however since I’m 2 days away from week 3. The crusts are for the most part not connected to the graft anymore but stuck in my existing hair. I don’t want to pick them out or anything so my plan is to just keep shampooing daily and massaging the grafts with the suds.

Here are some pictures.

Thank y'all for making me feel better lol. It seems like the hair is still there. I must admit, it's very bizarre running my fingers through my scalp. There is my normal hair and then this big thick patch of stubs. 

I have noticed a lot of scabbing coming loose. It looks more like crust and is just caught up by my hair/barely hanging on. I have started to work shampoo into my grafts and lightly massage them. I'm shampooing daily at this point as well. I don't want to pick the scabs/crust, just let it come loose and work it's way out on its own by shampooing and massaging. 

Kind of having a little freak out. Was celebrating thanks giving and a little nephew of mine hit my head smack dab on the grafts with a tether all. It wasn’t too hard but am still nervous. Really hoping this didn’t knock out any of the grafts. I’m on day 13 at this point

5 hours ago, Mycroft said:

Looks about right so far. It's obviously harder to tell with unshaven transplants but you look like you're doing a fine job of cleaning in these photos.

Have you mentioned how old you are? Didn't see that in the original post.

I’m 29. 

I felt comfortable enough slicking back my hair in the shower, was very nervewrecking. Here is where I’m at 11 days in. 
 

It’s hard to see the grafts since he really worked them into my existing hairline. I don’t see much scabbing but I feel it. It’s kind of weird, I was shampooing my hair and there is just this thick patch of stubs that encase my hairline. I’ve also allowed the shower water to come into contact with the grafts slightly. 
 

I’m most likely going to start minox again next week. I just want all potential scabs/open wounds to be healed before applying minoxidil to them.

Here’s to the wait game.

I'm feeling a very weird tingling in the right side scalp. Not sure if it's good or bad but it's not present in any other transplanted regions.

Overall, I think I've made it past the sensitive days following the operation and the grafts that are currently present are secure. I have become more comfortable feeling them and it's a little crazy! Just thousands of thick stubs surrounding my hair line. I will try and get a picture soon but am still a little timid to comb my existing hair off of them.

I am also starting to pat shampoo on top of the grafts and even lightly work the suds in. I even let the shower head water come into contact with the grafts momentarily! I'm just going to slowly ease into treating the grafts like my normal hair and will probably be at that point in about a week. I'm hoping to restart minox soon as I haven't done it in 3 weeks at this point.

Pics soon!

17 hours ago, Westview said:

I have also heard of people having excessive shock loss after PRP and saying it wasnt worth it

Interesting, I’m sure that’s possible for some. The data seems strong however that it dramatically decreases time to density: 

“In PRP treated group, after 1 month 60% of thepatients (n = 12) showed >75% density in comparison to none in non-PRP group." ... "After 6 months of hair transplant, all the patients (n = 20) had more than 75% follicle growth, wherein non-PRP group only 20% (n = 4) of patients showed more than 75% growth and rest 80% of the patients had follicle growth in the range on 50–75% [Figures [Figures33 and and4].4]. "

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5064679/

@Steeevedid you use minox before the transplant? If so, when did you return to using minox? Trying to think about how safe it is to apply minox to the wounds and grafts.

45 minutes ago, Steeeve said:

That’s best to do up until day 8 or 9. I believe I was massaging the grafts gently at day 8 while bathing. 

I was putting bacitracin on day 2 or 3. I had a small infection on day 2 and Dr. Arocha instructed me to. I would take a latex glove and very gently apply it.

I don’t think it’s going to hurt you to not have been doing it, though. My applying it was mostly due to the infection.

Reading online it seems somewhat optional. 
 

I did a slightly more aggressive hair wash, I massaged the middle of my scalp as normal and used the shower head but still didn’t touch the grafts.

I finally parted my hair a little to see the grafts and I don’t have any scabbing at all. Not sure if that’s normal or not, it may have been all of the misting. I’m hoping I didn’t mess anything up, still so nervous.

Shoot, reading over the post op care instructions again it appears I missed something. I was supposed to apply the bacitracin ointment to the transplant area 3 days after surgery. @Steeevedid you do this? 
 

It still recommends to not touch the grafts while washing your hair until after the 7th day. I’ll wash my hair tonight with normal shampoo while taking it very easy on the grafts. I’m an absolute moron for missing that last line on the post op sheet.

22 hours ago, baldiee said:

I've done PRP with Dr. Arocha and did not see any improvement. Maybe it's just me, but it's not worth the money in my opinion considering I paid a little over $2,000 for the procedure. Since then I've consulted with other hair transplant surgeons and I've been advised not to do PRP anymore. (Maybe because I have an aggressive/diffuse hair loss that it's just not worth it long-term). Just stick to oral medications (finasteride - if you are lucky and don't get side effects) or solely hair transplant (acknowledging you may need to undergo multiple surgeries to keep up with the hair loss). 

There have been strong studies done on prp in combination with transplant. I posted them above. Anecdotally, it also looks like the prp + transplant results @Steeevehad were awesome. He kept a majority of his grafts without the terminal period and had strong density at only 2 months in. 
 

We’ll see how it goes but I’m happy I decided to go with prp. I’ve been on finestaride and minoxidil for over a decade and am willing to invest in more to get some hair back at this point.

I should clarify, I meant washing to the degree where I work the suds in over my scalp. I’ve been washing my hair but just by lathering my hands and the cup and working it into the back of my head and letting the suds work themselves onto the front of my scalp.

On 11/20/2020 at 1:52 PM, ciaus said:

 

The grafts are secure by day 9, even when trying to pull them out

https://www.bernsteinmedical.com/research/graft-anchoring-in-hair-transplantation/

 

Then I have another day to go it seems.

On 11/20/2020 at 1:06 PM, Steeeve said:

I really encourage you to start washing those grafts soon and not wait another week. Leaving the scabs on for too long can be damaging to the grafts. They’re pretty secure by now. I would reach out to the clinic with any concerns but it’s probably okay to start washing them in the next couple of days. 

I wash them but just by pouring soapy water on top of them like most instructions tell you to do. I read that the grafts aren’t 100% secure until day 14 with most of them being secure by the 9th day. I have been washing to the extent that I don’t touch the grafts.