Messi

Thanks for your response.  Actually, as I mentioned, the doctor said NOT to do anything and just let the scar heal with time.

Hello HT Community Members,

I am curious to hear what FUT patients do to take care of their scars (i.e. promote faster healing, minimize redness, etc.) after an FUT procedure.

Has anyone been told NOT to use any topical treatments (i.e. aloe vera, etc.) and basically NOT do anything and just let the scar heal by itself by leaving it alone (and not even gently massaging the area around the scar, etc.)? 

Any and all your suggestions and comments are greatly appreciated. 

10 minutes ago, NARMAK said:

Thank you for feeling comfortable to name the doctor. If it's Dr Blake Bloxham, there's a few guys here who have been i believe to him recently however, and i do say this with all respect, i do find it strange to recommend a recipient area wash one day post-op at least if it's been told to you to do in the way it was done. 

I think it's personally better to err on the side of caution. Whilst i do strongly believe in following your doctors post-op instructions, if the vast majority aren't advocating full head washes before say days 5-7, i would have to be even significantly more careful because i genuinely do believe the hair isn't anchored enough only one day post-op. 

Thanks for your message again.   In addition to Dr. Bloxham, Dr. Bernstein also advocates for washing your head the first day post-op.  But I do see your point about being very cautious the first few days.

5 minutes ago, FormerFutureKrillin said:

I did, but I was extremely gentle at the start (probably too gentle) and gradually increased the pressure/massaging each day. I also used conditioner (Melvin has done a video on how to do this) on days 9 and 10.

I will also say that the scabs should come off fairly easily once they are ready - try not to force them. I was a little too rough on day 9 and removed a couple scabs before they were quite ready. Does not appear to have impacted the hair (and Dr Bloxham said it would not) but those areas did rescab and are still more red than everywhere else, which is annoying.

Thanks again for your quick response. What I am a bit puzzled about is why doesn't the doctor provide any other post-op instructions regarding using a conditioner or anything else besides just washing and massaging the grafts and the donor.

32 minutes ago, FormerFutureKrillin said:

@Messi a few things from a fellow Bloxham patient.

1. When you saw bleeding, was it a trickle of blood, or just fluid that slowly “oozed”? The former is more likely to indicate a lost graft. I had the latter and did not lose any grafts. This is no guarantee, but I could not tell from your post.

2. I had “red spots with no hair” as described above for a few days post-op. I had hair grow in each spot. The techs at one point during surgery mentioned that some of my grafts “sank” so they were not visible without magnification. I do not think this is any indication as to whether you lost a graft.

3. Each doctor has a different post-op  instructions. You should always follow YOUR doctor’s post-op instructions, no matter what people on the internet say. As to the “science” of when to wash, Dr. Bernstein, the doctor behind the graft anchoring study everyone cites, also recommends a wash one day post op. I’ll post those instructions below.

https://www.bernsteinmedical.com/downloads/BernsteinMedical_Post-op_Instructions_FUT.pdf

4. Even if you did lose a graft, a lost graft or two will not impact the overall result. A ton of people on the forum lost grafts and still had a great result. If you still have concerns, contact Dr. Bloxham.

5. As to rows, the implantation pattern does not mean the grafts are misangled or will look bad. Plus, you likely have some swelling accentuating the pattern. When my swelling subsided it did not look like a row pattern. Other top clinics (H&W) also have post-ops that look like row patterns behind the hairline (just search the forum) and their results look great. My personal opinion is that if the hairline is random and dense enough, it will not matter, but this is my opinion and others are free to disagree.

Again, if you still have concerns about any of the above, I’d recommend reaching out to Dr. Bloxham. Otherwise, continue to follow the post-op instructions and try to relax - stressing will not help.

Thank you so much for your post.  I really appreciate it very much.  You are 100% right about trying to relax and not stressing out so much. I did reach out to Dr. Bloxham who assured that it looks fine and that there's no evidence of lost grafts. And yes, I also saw Dr. Bernstein's instructions to his patients to gently use water on their grafts right after the surgery.  I've been following Dr. Bloxham's instructions but some of those posts here from people had scared me a bit TBH.  A quick question for you, did you start washing your grafts (using finger tips and massaging them) on day 4? 

To: FormerFutureKrillin

Thank you so much for your post.  I really appreciate it very much.  You are 100% right about trying to relax and not stressing out so much. I did reach out to Dr. Bloxham who assured that it looks fine and that there's no evidence of lost grafts. And yes, I also saw Dr. Bernstein's instructions to his patients to gently use water on their grafts right after the surgery.  I've been following Dr. Bloxham's instructions but some of those posts here from people had scared me a bit TBH.  A quick question for you, did you start washing your grafts (using finger tips and massaging them) on day 4? 

To:  General-etwan

Thanks for your comments.  The surgeon is Dr. Bloxham.  Based on all the reviews I can't believe he would not know what he is talking about or not do a good job aligning grafts in the right way.  But based on your comments, I am now very worried. 

Hi Narkmak,

Thanks for your responses. I'd rather not name the surgeon at this time. But in their instructions they specifically said to pour very gently suds and warm water from a cup onto the grafts to keep that area clean post op on day 1-3.  

Hi guys,

Here is the pic after my second day wash this morning.  Do you guys think it looks ok?

Any comments are greatly appreciated.  

1 minute ago, NARMAK said:

It would be interesting to see you name who this surgeon is. There's one place that i have heard of similar, washing the recipient area practically the day after. 

Personally i would say its hard to know if you dislodged a graft unless you can see it, but generally the advice i got and most others is to wait 5-7 days minimum and use saline spray to keep the area as hydrated as possible until the grafts fully anchor in and then have the head wash. Taking over 2 days if necessary to wash all the scabs. 

But if a graft has been dislodged, wouldn't it be washed out by the water?

Went to a very reputable surgeon. And the instructions were to gently pour water over the recipient area (from a 16oz cup filled with warm water and some suds), but just let it then "air dry" to keep the area clean.  

Question to anyone who has experienced this... 

During the very first hair wash (1 day post-op) saw some minor bleeding in the recipient area in one spot, after pouring warm water from the cup over the area.  Bleeding stopped shortly after, but am a bit concerned. Has anyone experienced similar?  Did I dislodge a graft?  

Thanks