Recently had 1st HT, need some advice.

[Its_Going_Fast]

Hey all,

 

I recently just had my first hair trasplant of 1500 grafts.

 

Some brief history about me: I'm 22 years old, and had noticed thinning of my hair for ages and just couldn't take it anymore. I tried everything; from Nioxin, to GLH! I had been using GLH (a colored hair spray) for a while, but it's temporary and must be washed out or it could damage hair. Well, it damaged a lot of my hair and accelerated the hair loss. I had the procedure done on 10-20-05 by Dr. Gionatto in Mc Lean, Virginia.

 

It's been two weeks since my procedure and I've experienced quite a bit of shock-loss, and the scabs have all fallen out, and the sutures have been removed from the donor area. When I run my fingers through my hair, it feels like the grafts have begun growing? The same feeling I'd get when I'd shave my hair off and when the hair would be growing back. Is this normal, or am I lucking out and the hair started growing already?

 

Also, I've started applying this hair oil at nights called "ayurveda". Anyone know anything good about that? Supposedly it stops hair loss, etc.

 

I'm new to the neighborhood, would dearly appreciate any advice/pointers that you fellow brother's of mine could give me. What to do, what not to do? What chemicals could be applied to my hair, what shouldn't, etc.

 

Thanks a lot.

[Its_Going_Fast]

Hey all,

 

I recently just had my first hair trasplant of 1500 grafts.

 

Some brief history about me: I'm 22 years old, and had noticed thinning of my hair for ages and just couldn't take it anymore. I tried everything; from Nioxin, to GLH! I had been using GLH (a colored hair spray) for a while, but it's temporary and must be washed out or it could damage hair. Well, it damaged a lot of my hair and accelerated the hair loss. I had the procedure done on 10-20-05 by Dr. Gionatto in Mc Lean, Virginia.

 

It's been two weeks since my procedure and I've experienced quite a bit of shock-loss, and the scabs have all fallen out, and the sutures have been removed from the donor area. When I run my fingers through my hair, it feels like the grafts have begun growing? The same feeling I'd get when I'd shave my hair off and when the hair would be growing back. Is this normal, or am I lucking out and the hair started growing already?

 

Also, I've started applying this hair oil at nights called "ayurveda". Anyone know anything good about that? Supposedly it stops hair loss, etc.

 

I'm new to the neighborhood, would dearly appreciate any advice/pointers that you fellow brother's of mine could give me. What to do, what not to do? What chemicals could be applied to my hair, what shouldn't, etc.

 

Thanks a lot.

[kamin]

Originally posted by Its_Going_Fast:

 

It's been two weeks since my procedure and I've experienced quite a bit of shock-loss.... When I run my fingers through my hair, it feels like the grafts have begun growing? ... "ayurveda". Anyone know anything good about that? Supposedly it stops hair loss, etc.

 

 

 

The hair you lost from shock SHOULD grow back. I experienced this when I had my 1st procedure. Even though I knew it would probably happen, it still freaked me out wondering if it would grow back. It did!

 

The short hairs you feel when you run your hands through your hair are the grafts that were placed there by the doctor. Your grafts probably haven't started growing yet and most likely they'll fall out first, going into a dormant stage for a number of months. After about 3-6 months you should see the new hairs start to sprout.

 

I never heard of "ayurveda" until I just did a Google search on it. Save your money. The only products I know of that are approved to help slow down hair loss are Finasteride (Propecia or Proscar) and Minoxidil (Rogaine).

[Bill - Seemiller]

Hi "Its_Going_Fast", and welcome to the forums. Congratulations on your first HT, and I hope all goes smoothly. I hope to be able to give you some advice as well as prepare you for some realities, that I hope, by now, you are aware of.

 

First of all, without knowing the level or pattern of your hairloss, it's difficult for me to say whether 1500 grafts are going to give you a noticable difference or not. My concern for you is that you are young, at only 22 years of age, if you are not on Propecia, I'd get on it right away. Propecia is designed to help fight further loss. Forget all about the other stuff you are using. I personally haven't researched Ayurveda or any of these other things, but the only two medicines that are FDA approved to "stop", and I use that term loosely hairloss is Finasteride (in form of Propecia...though some people use Proscar and cut the tablet up into 4ths. The difference between Propecia and Proscar is the amount of finasteride. Personally, though Propecia is more expensive, I'd say it's a better bet, but if you don't have the money, go with Proscar and cut up the tablets into 4ths and take daily. You will need a prescription from your doctor for either of these things), and Minoxodil (in form of Rogaine or Generic - bought over the counter.)

 

So my first piece of advice is get on Propecia. My second suggestion is post some pics here from before the surgery and now after the surgery if you want a more accurate evaluation from other patients. 1500 grafts isn't a lot of grafts unless you are getting them in one dense area, and will not create a significant difference for you if spread out all over your scalp from front to back. It will make "some" difference, however (see my link under my name to see my pics from Dr. Katz), that hopefully you will be happy with.

 

Everything you are experiencing so far after the HT is normal. At 2 weeks, it is normal for many of the scabs and hairs transplanted from the surgery to fall out. Some of your native hair, or in other people's cases, transplanted hair from previous surgeries may fall out, and this is called Shockloss. This is a controversial issue, but the truth remains, that as long as the hair was healthy before the surgery, the hair will most likely grow back. There is no guarantee that native hair, however will grow back after the surgery...but if it was pretty healthy, it should. If you look at the pics from my first surgery, I experienced the same thing as you...pretty strong shockloss around 6 weeks, and around 10 weeks, hair started returning. Not all of my native hair returned, but 1600 grafts that were transplanted all sprouted and still made my hair look thicker than before an HT. So you are on your way to becoming a thicker man.

 

That all being said...be aware that you may lose more hair, being only 22. Get on Propecia right away (I can't emphasize that enough, but talk to your doc about it to get a prescription). Depending on your level of hairloss, even if Propecia successfully stops the loss, you may need another HT down the road. But don't jump into it. I know that losing your hair feels like the worst thing in the world...but give your first HT at least a year evaulation before even considering a second one.

 

I hope this helps. If you like to chat more, PM me, or post here. I'll read back.

 

Bill