Hairfree

Bill, You have been a big reason why I was comfortable with going forward on the HT. Seeing your HT in person and your guidance was a postive influence. Im excited for you to see what the next 6 months bring!! Sat around 4ish to hang out sounds good. I will let Jackie know. Ill be in touch today.

I emailed Dr. Rahal's office because I was curious if they split any of my 4 hair grafts because I did not have any 4 hair grafts in the HT and a high number of 3 hair grafts. Dr. Rahal personally sent me an email and explained the process. Here is what he wrote below: when looking under the microscope a four hair unit is very dense with the four follicles sitting close together. in this case we do not split this into two different two hair units. ie we keep it as a four follicle unit and it will fit into the slit made for the 3 hair unit. if the two units are farther apart and are distinguished to be two separate units then we divide them accordingly. so in this scenario we do not combine them to make a four hair unit. if we did we woud have to create a bigger slit to accomodate those four hair units because the follicles are not tightly packed. a bigger slit will mean more scarring, more bleeding etc. in your case there were no four hair units, which is too bad, as it would have given you more hair overall in the session. but such is nature and we can't change it.

Bill, Thank you for the response and addressing my fears. I feel a lot better now about whats going on there on top of my head. Yea, I went back to work exactly one week after my HT. I had it done on last Wednesday. I could have waited till tomorrow but I think my healing is coming along good and I made sure I didn't lift anything heavy here in work. I will keep in mind not to judge whats on my head after the scabs are off. Im hoping its not going to be too pink or red. Right now I just can't wait to get the sutures taken out. They are annoying! Are staples worse? Bill..whatever works for you to hang out this weekend. Sat afternoon will work for me. Thank you for keeping me posted on it. Another question for everyone..how long did it take for ALL the scabs fall off after it starts?

Bill, So far I am in 3 showers now and I am starting to see the scabs break up into smaller pieces on my head. I am also starting to see the edges of the scabs seperate from the scalp. It still has a long way to go but I am now starting to see the scab helmet try to work its way off The only weird thing is that the grafts are bunched up now into the scabs and between the crusts there are no grafts. Anyone have the same thing? Andrewyoung - I didn't realize that you had yours the day after mine. We will have similair questions and it will be benefical for both of us. Im sure we won't heal at the same rate athough but we can use each other somewhat as a measuring stick on where our progress stand.

It would be neat if we create a chart and find out the average number of days it took for the new grafts to grow in correlation to how early the grafts shed after the HT. We would be able to see the relationship between the two! Good post MRJB

Thanks Bill and Youngguy...I will TRY not to freak if I see my grafts falling out with the scabs I have another question. I saw that some people believe that the sooner the grafts fall out the quicker the new hairs will grow in. What do you think? I'd like to hear everyone's experience with the phase after the grafts have jumped ship and how long it took for them to grow in. It would be neat if we create a chart and find out the average number of days it took for the new grafts to grow in correlation to how early the grafts shed after the HT. We would be able to see the relationship between the two! Maybe Gorpy can help us here.

Hey Everyone! Thank you for answering my questions and going even further with the details in the responses. All of you made very clear points. I feel better now knowing I had enough single grafts (455) for the hairline. Now I need to find out if any of the 3's and 4's were split into singles. From what I was told at Dr. Rahal's office is that they do no split FUs. Most likely a misunderstanding on my part and I will send them an email. Just for educational purposes for all of us One note, the head tech at Rahal's office dropped me off at the airport the day after surgery. We had a nice conversation and she told me that she has been with Dr. Rahal since day 1 (13 years) and that others there have been with him just as long. I figured I would throw it out there for anyone considering him. From my short time as a member on this forum I also know that I would be comfortable in the hands of Janna at SMG and Dr. Keene's staff as well from just reading this single post. I can tell they put valuable time into helping others and have a good track record. They have excellent credibility and respect among the peers on this forum. I feel bad for those who never got the chance to come across this forum before getting a HT. Sorry for drifting off topic here! Thank you Bill, Gorpy and Janna for your time and help! I will see if I can find out how my hairline was created.

Looks great Milton! You must be thrilled! How many grafts did you get?

Youngguy - Did any grafts come off with the scabs? Thats crazy how easy they came off after two weeks. I wish mine could do that right now!

This is an interesting discussion. I had a new hairline established in my HT 6 days ago. I did notice that my old reccedding hairline had small wispy hairs due to MPB. The hairs just become weaker and just stop growing. Were these wispy hairs doubles or singles? I thought that once a hair is a double it is always a double. Do they break down into singles before dying off? Another question..Gorpy might be able to help me with this one. I only had 455 single hairs. Was that enough to do my whole hairline? Janna..what do you do if someone does not have enough singles to make a hairline? Also, someone asked me why I didn't have any 4-hair grafts. I had mostly twos and threes from the donar area. Do some people not have any 4 or 5 hair grafts on their entire head? Also, are the three and four hair grafts spaced further apart when placed in an HT and singles closly bundled together? Look forward to the responses!

Thans Bill and Hairbank! I just took a shower this morning and let the shower hit the grafts directly. I let it soak in the water for some time and gently massaged the scalp with my fingers and no finger tips. I am starting to see more space in between the scabs now. A couple days ago it looked like a dark cover over my scalp and then yesterday the scabs started to break apart like tectonic plates Now after working on it in the shower I see more white pinkish lines in the scabs. I guess thats a good thing and I will keep working on it.

Hey Bill..Thanks! I have my old laptop at home today. I couldnt resize the pics. I will send them to you via email.

Bill - I remember you telling me that story. I can't believe you were able to get away with it all these years! Wearing a hat does have it's benefits. Do you still wear your hat as often?? You have a good reason now not to! In my case I stopped wearing a hat when I was about 23 - 24 yrs old because my hair looked worse when I took the hat off. My balding was more obvious when I removed the hat so I had to take a shower to get the hair have shape again. The worst part was taking the hat off at the table for dinner. I was also always afraid that the hat would speed up my hairloss. Don't know if that is true or not. Anyway, I think that if my hair is solid in 5-6 months I will be comfortable wearing a hat more often at social events Youngguy - That is weird! Now people are going to not recognize you. Haha clean cut with a head of hair will def turn some heads You can start a new identity and a new life!

I have a question... Right now I am starting to see the scalp on my head starting to resemble the moon. The Vit E oil is creating caynons between the darker areas (scabs). It looks like white lines in between and I dont see any grafts in those spaces. The grafts seem to bundle up together in all the scabs. Not all of them though. Does that sound normal? Am I using too much Vit E Oil? Should I work on the scabs now to get them off? I don't want it to be counterproductive. Look forward to your responses!

I have a question... Right now I am starting to see the scalp on my head starting to resemble the moon. The Vit E oil is creating caynons between the darker areas (scabs). It looks like white lines in between and I dont see any grafts in those spaces. The grafts seem to bundle up together in all the scabs. Not all of them though. Does that sound normal? Am I using too much Vit E Oil? Should I work on the scabs now to get them off? I don't want it to be counterproductive. Look forward to your responses!

Hey Spex..great posting! Thank you for all the information. I slept last night flat for the first time. The suture (donor) area felt very tender throughout the night. It was sore this morning. I guess there is more pressure on the area when sleeping flat. Is that normal for it to still be a bit sore at day 6?

Thank you Hairbank! You have been a great help and a postive influence on this forum. Im glad you enjoyed my story from the other posting. You make a good point about keeping it short like you and Bill and when those hairs start growing in a couple months many people won't notice! Meanwhile, I will take it easy on those grafts and try not to sleep on them for a few more nights. My problem is I cant sleep on my back! haha a few more restless nights I will start massaging the scalp to start working on the scabs.

Something interesting happened to me today. I am now 5 days post op. I just got back from the mall to shop for a hat to wear at work this week. I work as PE Teacher in a local school district and today is a day off for the staff and students so I ran into two of my students at the mall. One is 11 yrs old and the other is 9. I am standing in line at the hat store for some time because the store computer system froze for the people in front of me and the two brothers came walking in with their father. I extended my hands and said Hey...and shook their hands. They looked at me as a complete stranger the whole time. They had no idea who I was! This all lasted about 5 seconds and immediately after I shook their hands and said "How are you?". I walked out the store. I didn't want to be in line with them for a period of time and eventually theyll know who I am and figure out something is different at top of my head. I think it was a good call to walk out and return 30 mins later after eating lunch at the food court to buy the hat I have always had medium to long hair, and clean shaved face. The new buzz cut, goatee, and new hairline especially from their perspective looking at it from below as a kid and seeing me outside of school gave me an entirely new identity. My feelings were not hurt because I know its something positive This every happen to any of you?? Im sure it has. I'd love to hear your story!

Something interesting happened to me today. I am now 5 days post op. I just got back from the mall to shop for a hat to wear at work this week. I work as PE Teacher in a local school district and today is a day off for the staff and students so I ran into two of my students at the mall. One is 11 yrs old and the other is 9. I am standing in line at the hat store for some time because the store computer system froze for the people in front of me and the two brothers came walking in with their father. I extended my hands and said Hey...and shook their hands. They looked at me as a complete stranger the whole time. They had no idea who I was! This all lasted about 5 seconds and immediately after I shook their hands and said "How are you?". I walked out the store. I didn't want to be in line with them for a period of time and eventually theyll know who I am and figure out something is different at top of my head. I think it was a good call to walk out and return 30 mins later after eating lunch at the food court to buy the hat I have always had medium to long hair, and clean shaved face. The new buzz cut, goatee, and new hairline especially from their perspective looking at it from below as a kid and seeing me outside of school gave me an entirely new identity. My feelings were not hurt because I know its something positive This every happen to any of you?? Im sure it has. I'd love to hear your story!

Hey Thanks Hairbank..The change in look should help. I have a funny story. I just got back from the mall to shop for a hat to wear at work. I am a PE Teacher and today is a day off for the district so I ran into two of my students at the mall. One is 11 yrs old and the other is 9. I am standing in line at the hat store for some time because the store computer system froze for the people in front of me and the two brothers came walking in with their father. I extended my hands and said Hey and shook their hands. They looked at me as a complete stranger the whole time. They had no idea who I was! This all lasted about 5 seconds and immediately after I shook their hands and said "How are you?". I walked out the store. I didn't want to be in line with them for a period of time and eventually theyll know who I am and figure out something is different at top of my head. I think it was a good call to walk out and return 30 mins later after eating lunch at the food court to buy the hat I have always had medium to longer hair, clean face and the new buzz cut, goatee, and new hairline especially from their perspective looking at it from below as a kid and seeing me outside of school gave me an entirely new identity. My feelings were not hurt because I know its something positive

I have a question. I just had my HT last Wednesday 4/4/07 and now in day 5. Last night I kept waking up because I was afraid to sleep on the grafts. Has anyone experienced this? How many days out did you feel comfortable sleeping in any normal position without worrying about the grafts? I know there is a time frame for them to heal and for the bottom half of the graft to remain intact in scalp without falling out. Same for massaging the scalp to get the scabs off. Some people are comfortable starting the massages 5-6 days after the HT and other wait longer. Some doctors opinions vary on this as well. Look forward to your responses!

I have a question. I just had my HT last Wednesday 4/4/07 and now in day 5. Last night I kept waking up because I was afraid to sleep on the grafts. Has anyone experienced this? How many days out did you feel comfortable sleeping in any normal position without worrying about the grafts? I know there is a time frame for them to heal and for the bottom half of the graft to remain intact in scalp without falling out. Same for massaging the scalp to get the scabs off. Some people are comfortable starting the massages 5-6 days after the HT and other wait longer. Some doctors opinions vary on this as well. Look forward to your responses!

Hey Bill..Thank you for the tips and compliment on the picture I showed you via email with my full face. I am hoping that the goatee will create a bit of distraction from the front of the head when I return back to work. I will get to work on working the scabs off. I am still apprehensive to touch the grafts. Last night I kept waking up because I was afraid to sleep on the grafts. Has anyone experienced this? How many days out did you feel comfortable sleeping in any normal position without worrying about the grafts? I know there is a time frame for them to heal and for the bottom half of th graft to remain intact in scalp.

Dear Please Grow Please, I am currently using Vit E oil on scalp after washing it. I am at day 4. What is graftcyte and where can you get it? Also, what is emu gold? Look forward to your response!

Just updated photos - Day 4 I pulled out the clippers! Buzzed it down to 1/4 all around. Left it a lil longer at the stiches. Stiches still show but thats ok with me