Uneven hair growth above vs below scar

[ScottishGuy]

I'm 18 days post op now and slightly concerned about the pattern of hair regrowth around the scar.

 

If you look at the attached picture it's clear that the area above the scar has good regrowth already, but below the scar is a different story. This is particularly an issue above my right ear.

 

I think a couple of factors could be at work here:

 

1) Possible shock loss. I've noticed that I am shedding a lot more hair than usual from all over my head so there could be some thinning happening here too.

 

2) Below the safe donor area my hair density wasn't so great. Now that a chunk of hair has been removed from the donor site, there is possibly quite a big step between the density of the hair above the scar and the density below. Does that make sense? I'd say that the area around my ears has always had quite a high hairline, and was never that dense so I'm concerned as to how much it will recover or if it will always be quite patchy.

 

I'm interested to know if anyone else had a similar pattern of growth around the scar and how things developed.

 

I'm also a bit worried that I will always have an obvious 'step' caused by the difference in hair density above and below the scar.

 

I really want to cut my hair down to a 3 guard as well to even it up, but I may wait another week for that.

[Forrest Gump]

Looks like shock loss. Hopefully, it's temporary, and you'll get it back in a few months.

[ScottishGuy]

Some more pictures. I cut my hair down to a grade 5 all over because I will eventually have to make the front look even (which means the top going to a grade 3). Anyway, I sort of regret doing this now...

 

I'll post three pictures of the scar now: left, back and right.

 

The incision doesn't extend very far to the left, so most of the hair on this side is growing normally.

[ScottishGuy]

Back view. The area below the scar isn't growing quite so fast, but there is also a few bits that could be shock loss. Maybe the sutures were there.

[ScottishGuy]

Right side. This is the most scary of all. Will concealer help me here? If so, which one would be best?

[Bill - Seemiller]

I'm 18 days post op now and slightly concerned about the pattern of hair regrowth around the scar.

 

Scottishguy,

 

It's the above statement that says it all. You really can't evalute how the scar and hair around the scar will look until between 6 to 12 months when the scar fully heals and any "shocked" hair returns. It does look like you've experienced a little shock loss.

 

During this temporary healing phase, if it bothers you, concealers like DermMatch, Nanogen, or Toppik might do the trick for you.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[aaron1234]

Yeah, 18 days is nothing. It'll look a bit odd for awhile. But to be honest, it doesn't bad right now at all. Give it time. And like Bill said, try some concealer's. It's doing a fine job covering me up right now. Check out my thread "Concealer on Donor"

[ScottishGuy]

Thanks guys.

 

Yeah, I know I can't reasonably evaluate the donor area after 18 days.

 

Given that the donor area was shaved right down to zero (and quite a large area too), I wasn't sure if what I am seeing is really shock loss or hair that is just a bit slow to grow. It could still be both, so I'll see how things look next week before trying concealer.