gillenator

Guys, Don't be fooled into thinking that if your strip scar looks healed after roughly 4-6 weeks post-op, the reality is, it's not. And it's clearly not safe for most individuals to do weight lifting before 8 weeks have passed. Let me explain. We can forget that all scalp tissue is made up of two significant layers. The outer layer (epidermis) and the inner layer (dermis). The epidermis is what we see from the outside and it can appear fully healed once the sutures and scabbing are gone. But the closure is still not fully healed because it's also the inner dermis layer that can stretch for up to 8-12 weeks post-op. The healing of this layer goes more slowly so stretching the area can still cause a wider than desired scar. Any activity that puts tension or causes pulling in that donor zone can still cause a wide scar. So it's wiser to side on the safer approach rather than regretting it.

Dross, Welcome to this community and sorry to hear of your dilemma. I would suggest that you first do an extensive search on repair work within the online hair loss communities because many surgeons have successful repair cases as well as not so. So rather than start with looking at surgeons, you may want to start with trying to find cases most like your own. There are many factors that comprise various repair cases and they can very well determine the outcome of each case. Some have more potential than others and I always suggest that once you have reviewed those cases most like yours, you then can begin to get opinions from those doctors. Most will want you to send them some good quality pics because obviously you cannot be examined by all of them until you get your list refined down to your final choices. Hope you will be able to find some good practical information.

What I have found is that the surgeons who can follow the natural direction and angulation of the existing hair do not require the recipient area to be shaved down. Why then is shaving down a concern for some docs? They want to be extra careful as to not transect the neighboring hair shafts and FUs when they make new recipient incisions and also when there is a considerable amount of existing hair where they are making new recipient sites. The more existing hair there is to work within, the more risk there can be for possible transection.

If you are a normal healer and have no problems with your scar, than yes you should be just fine to lift weights or engage in any other form of exercise. Sounds like you had FUHT? You must be experiencing lots of regrowth by now?

newhair, No I don't mind my friend. No, I don't believe that curbing back the foam application to once daily would have a negative effect. It's not that you can't use it twice daily but it may be a little overkill because of its strength. You can start by curbing back every other day for one week and then just apply once daily and try to leave it on at least overnight. IMHO, minoxidil can potentially rejuvenate hair follicles out of dormancy quicker and then hold follicles in the growth phase for longer periods of time. There is no clinical proof of this, just my own observations over the years. Minoxidil can also potentially improve hair shaft diameter which in itself will improve visual coverage. So there may be many follicles on the threshold of entering the growth phase because you have been applying minoxidil to the area for the past 4 months or so. If you were to stop now, might that curtail the jump start that is in progress? We can never know for sure but why change your regimen when you are that close to new growth? That's my point and hope that makes some sense...

abaldcamper, Accutane has multiple side-effects which you are undoubtedly already aware of. IMHO, my thoughts are that this medication might potentially affect the regrowth period of your grafts. This may be one of the reasons why the other doctors are suggesting that you wait until your procedure matures. The good thing is that you have healed from the procedure. The tough thing is that there are so many varying opinions on the use of Accutane that possibly it's better to take the safe route of waiting and trying a different acne medication in the short term. It certainly would not hurt to get as many opinions as possible. Hopefully some of them will start to be in agreement rather than adverse to one another.

newhair, Always glad to be of any help. If you have been applying minoxidil for that long now post-op, then I would recommend that you continue doing so. Whatever has been shocked out by now has occurred so the risk of losing considerable more hair is low. So to clarify, it sounds like you are passed the initial shock loss period and things are probably stabilizing for you at this point in time. If you are using 2% liquid minoxidil, then IMHO, applying twice daily is normal. However if you are using 5% foam, then once daily is adequate, again in my honest opinion. In the next month or so, you should start seeing some gains in new growth and if you were to stop applying minoxidil, that could potentially have a reverse effect and cause you to loose any gains that are about to manifest. Once you have regained the hair that was shocked out, you won't need minoxidil in that donor area. Why do I say that? Because the hair in the donor areas are typically terminal hair that is for the most part, DHT resistant. We all react differently to meds and the tough thing to do is to accurately or precisely predict what will happen and when it will happen. Yet in general terms, you should start to see improvement soon and things overall will improve for you my friend...

You are very welcome fc8uk, and what you are experiencing is very normal and right on par with what occurs post-op. Many docs want their patients to remove the crusts after roughly one week to 10 days post-op because the grafts are secure by then. I think some guys get confused with what is the shedding of grafts and the removal of crusts. Grafts are in fact dissected scalp tissue that is seperated into individual grafts and is what actually transports the hair follicles. The grafts are implanted into the recipient sites and within a matter of roughly 4-10 days, they are adequately seated and begin attaching to the scalp where they begin to connect to a new blood supply. As I mentioned before, the tips of these grafts dry out because they are exposed above the scalp line. These tips turn white or grey in color because they lack blood while the largest part of the graft tissue is below the scalp line. The crusts serve no purpose and why they should be removed by day 7-10 if the individual is a normal healer. Typically the hair stubbles within the grafts come off with the crusts because a large percent of the imbedded follicles go into dormancy and shed the graft hair. The follicles will rest for approximately three months and then begin regrowth. Some see the regrowth a little earlier, and some a little later. So it is not the grafts themselves that shed, it's the graft hair within the grafts that shed. Some guys don't see their graft hair shed for 2-3 weeks post-op. So the window period for graft hair shedding can be as early as 1 week and as long as 1 month generally speaking. Some of the follicles however do not go dormant that quickly and those grafts can keep on growing until they eventually go dormant. All hair follicles behave this way on an intermittent basis that cycle between resting, shedding, and growing. This is why it takes up to one year or so post-op for each and every procedure to fully mature and see the full visual effect. If the hair follicles all rested at the same time post-op, then it would take roughly half the time for a procedure to mature. And yes, some docs/clinics advise their patients to wait up to two weeks post-op before removing the crusts. Nothing wrong with that either except that the longer the crusts remain on the scalp, the tougher they can be to remove. Well fc8uk, the best is yet to come, "the regrowth and your new transformation!" Wish you the best in the coming year as your recent procedure matures...

The white flakes are really the crusts which are the dead tissue from the tips of your grafts above the scalp line. They are ready to come off at this point in time and yes the graft hair almost always comes off with the crusts. This is perfectly normal. Congrats on your recent procedure and happy growth to you...

newhair, You're welcome my friend and a couple more thoughts on your case. I have seen many post-op pics involving the try-closure method and one of the things that I have observed is the large variance of the end result. Sometimes it is the patient's physiological attributes while most times it is the lack of skill of the surgeon in doing this type of closure. Keep in mind that it is still very soon post-op for you and the redness of your scar should improve with time. I always inform guys to not have this type of closure if the laxity is not adequate because the scar can potentially come out even more wider than if another closure method were to be used such as staples or a double-closure technique. Laxity can vary throughout the scalp including where most strips are excised (occipital zone). This can be attributable as to why one side of the closure comes out thinner and the other side much wider. I have read some commentaries whereby the surgeon stated that his strips can indeed vary in width throughout the zone to avoid wide scars. At this point in time post-op (4-8 weeks) is when shock loss normally occurs and is almost always related to the trauma from the surgery. I am not a big fan of applying minoxidil while shock loss is prevailing because minoxidil can increase the level of shock when it is happening. IMHO, it's best to wait until the shock loss subsides and then applying minoxidil can potentially increase the rate of regrowth. Yes I think the area both above and below the scar will have regrowth. This will probably take roughly 3-6 months to fully occur. Weak diffused hair is most susceptible to both shock loss as well as initial minoxidil applications. Yet strong hair can be shocked as well and shock itself is very unpredictable. The good thing is that you do not have much diffused hair in that area of your scalp where the donor strip is taken and why most of it should grow back. After one year has passed, you can always add some FUE grafts to the scar if it is too wide after complete healing. Whatever you do, do not have a revision done because I truly do not believe you would benefit from a scar revision. I wish you the best newhair7 and keep us in the loop as you progress in the healing process and the regrowth including your new recipient area... Best wishes to you!

newhair7, I opened your photo for a more expanded view. IMHO, it appears that the scar itself would potentially be the area that may be more barren of hair. Do you have any idea how wide it is? I agree that the thinning hair both above and below the scar will improve with time and growing the hair to adequate length can help hide the scar itself. Even if the scar heals to the existing width, I would not recommend a revision because of the lack of adequate laxity. So the scar would not come out thinner and could even come out worse. The other thing about applying minoxidil to the area could cause more or further shedding in that general area with initial use. There is no way on knowing beforehand and just another risk. And even if there is additional shedding, it still may facilitate the regrowth overall. Wishing you a speedy healing process and regrowth.

From my understanding, doctors and clinics charge extra for this application and depending on the doctor, either application is beneficial whether the solution is applied to the grafts and/or applied post-operatively. Some may even use both approaches. I would fathom that getting the ingredient into the wound as directly as possible would have the best effect since it facilitates the healing process and survivability.

Torn, There is always some hair that will come off with the strip excision even if it is solely a scar revision. The key or impending issue is, "do you presently have the adequate amount of laxity to accommodate the size of the strip being excised?" Because the last thing you want is another wide scar or even a wider scar than you presently want corrected. Obviously you do not want it to come out worse. This is why I highly recommend that you would get several opinions before proceeding with this. Hope it works out and that you achieve improvement in your situation.

Grafts normally shed anywhere from 2-6 weeks post-op but yes there are some exceptions. There is always the possibility that you are having some seasonal shedding or generalized thinning however the key is to keep an eye on it for the next 6 months. In other words, whether it's shedding from the impact of having a procedure or seasonal cycle shedding, the hair should grow back after it goes dormant for for 3-4 months. If there is no regrowth in 3-4 months from now, then you should contact your surgeon to address it. Very doubtful that you won't have regrowth and it should fill back in as time passes. Best wishes to you tj2014 in your final result...

Look forward to your pics...

As the scalp recovers and heals, one of the side-effects can be an itching sensation and sometimes during sleep, we sub-consciously scratch the area and accidentally remove a graft. Still, whether it's one or six, none of are happy to loose any of our grafts...:confused:

The original person you communicated wi9th was probably a salesperson and if you still have not received a reply, then you go to the top, the office or clinic manager. Does their website show any other contact person you can follow-up with? Possibly you have heard back by now.

By day 8 or so post-op. the crusts are ready to come off as long as you have healed your epidermis.

That's a good question because from everything that I have observed, there is no real consistency in results across the board. Been a lot of guys stating they were having beard hair transplanted but then, you rarely if ever hear from them again. Beard hair has the highest degree of coarseness (caliber) IMHO yet can have some visual compatibility issues. Better for scars or the crown. There has not been enough chest hair cases to able to formate an opinion although I have read about this from several BH surgeons who state that if BH is used, the chest is the best donor source. Have you used up your scalp donor?

Many clinics get buried with emails including lots of spam, etc. They tend to prioritize what is more "at the moment" with their daily routines. The best way to get someone's attention is to call them direct and ask for a patient coordinator or even the clinic manager and you should get a more responsive reply that way. Best wishes to you in your journey...

MSM supposedly is a good supplement for hair and nail growth. It's on the packaging and can purchase it at just about any vitamin/supplement store. Some guys that have used MSM state they have experienced both stronger and faster hair growth. Will it still work after 3 years? Have no idea but MSM is relatively cheap and would not hurt to try it. I would give it at least 6 months trial to see if it makes any difference.

You might want to try a supplement called MSM for 6 months or so to see if your hair shafts grow any straighter.

I had four separate FUHT procedures and always kept the length of my hair at roughly 4 inches. The reason for this was to hide my sutures in the donor area and also to be able to cover my crusts in the recipient area. I never had anyone notice that I had a procedure post-op because the length of my hair covered up everything very well. And I think many other guys who want to be able to disguise their procedures do the same thing. Lastly, I never liked a buzzed hair style. I still wear my hair length at roughly 3 inches or so. It's not that I am against a short cut, it's just the last thing I want to do is to buzz it all off after having a grand total of 7000 grafts...

The numbness is the result of nerves being severed from both the strip excision and also the recipient incisions that are made for the grafts. So not only can the donor area be numb but also the recipient area. Nerve endings do repair themselves and why most of us regain feeling in the scalp. The time for this can vary post-op with some individuals experiencing numbness for up to 12 months or a tad bit longer. The sensation of tenderness is mostly just related to the trauma in the scalp from the surgery itself. That also dissipates with time...

I wore hair systems for 11 years before my first HT. One of the things that I noticed was that my native hair continued to be stifled and stunted from both growth and overall density. My systems covered the entire top of my scalp and polyfuse (glue) was used to hold it in place. My first HT procedure involved strengthening my weak hairline that was diffusing and receding. The rest of the grafts were placed in the frontal zone. My surgeon, who just happened to be Dr. Shapiro advised me to stop wearing the system because he felt that some of my native hair would grow back. It did. I was shocked that not only did my grafts grow in but over the next year I even grew some native hair back that were not grafts. I never wore hair systems again... I have also observed this with several other men over the years who wore systems long term and then had surgical hair restoration. Some of them had regrowth with their native hair along with their grafts. So I have concluded that wearing systems long term can in fact stunt some of the hair that exists under the system. I don't think it matters so much in the short term but long term, if the systems do not allow the scalp to breathe underneath them, they can stunt hair growth.