gillenator

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.

This would really depend on the individual's overall scalp density. Why? Because let's say one individual has average density, then the average might be 6,000 -8,000 utilizing all of the scalp donor zones including the sides and parietal zones. If you go much higher than that, then the donor zones can potentially begin to appear thin and over-harvested especially if the scalp is buzzed down. But if the individual had upper end density levels, then 8,000 plus is not out of the question.

The regrowth must be kicking in....:cool:

It sure appears that way because of the density yet it looks good on him for his age and overall appearance. Big difference between that and what John Travolta wears.

olsooslo, Sounds just like my family except that my paternal side has no MPB. It's on my mother's side with my grandfather and uncle being a class 6. My two brothers did not have MPB either, only me. Like you , mine started diffusing in my early twenties. It's a good thing that there are no class 7s in your family, and if you progress no further than a class 6, then I think you have potential. The quality of your hair appears very good in the photos so if you do not go overboard with trying to achieve upper end density levels, you should be able to achieve a good transformation IMHO.

Hi Jared, Welcome to this community...in general terms, no clippers really cannot touch the hair follicles because they are imbedded in the underlying dermis layer of the scalp. It's more the outer layer of scalp tissue (epidermis) that can get agitated and possibly even scraped if the clippers are dull or if the clipper head is pushed down too hard against the scalp as the buzz is made. Now, there is a thing called traction alopecia when there is too much tension pulled on the hair shafts from things like braiding however when one's hair length is that short from using a clippers, there's not much tension if any on the hair shafts. Hope that makes some sense...

You're welcome jewelgirl, both surgeons you mentioned would give you a fantastic result...

If you don't mind my asking, when was you last procedure with Dr. Wolf and did you have FUT or FUE?

I used to wear hair systems for 11 years and learned very quickly that one of the fundamental issues with them is an over abundance of density. Oh sure, most all of us would love to have a full dense head of hair however one of the give aways of picking out a system on someone is high density. And I used to get a lot of double looks until I had my systems reduced to a level of density that was more suited to my age. Today, you can get some top notch quality systems that are very hard to detect and if an individual has an advanced class of hair loss and yet really wants a full head of hair, then a system can be a good option. Can be expensive cause like anything else, you get what you pay for...:cool:

At 16 days post-op, those crusts are ready to come off so IMHO, you are fine and no you did not damage your grafts...

You are indeed young at age 25 so my question is, "Are there any males on either side of your family history (maternal or paternal) that have reached Norwood class 7 ?