Buzzing hair before HT or not?

[Rachmunas4life]

What are the advantages & disadvantages of buzzing your hair or not for your HT??? If I end up getting a HT for the front sides of my head, I'd prefer not buzzing my hair and just hide the new hair with my longer hair. But please give me your suggestions.. Thanks!

[hairbank]

This has been discussed many times on the forum........if you use the find feature on the site you should be able to come up with much more information than I'm going to list:

 

Pro's:

 

Easier for Doc to see what he's doing, less chance for transection of existing hair follicles, helps with graft angulation to match the original growth pattern, easier for Doc to dense pack

 

Con's:

 

You have a buzz cut until it grows out and need to be incognito for a couple of weeks in case you're trying to hide the fact that you had a HT.

 

That's the short version. As I said, if you do some searching using the find feature, there's much more detailed information.

[Rachmunas4life]

Will do.. Thank you very much!

[maki8787]

i would never have HT if they asked me to buzz my hair!

After HT you will have redness and also you will have to deal with scar.

 

im now 25 days post op and i have terrible scar and redness in transplanted area BUT i can cover it with my long existing hair.

i really can`t immagine how it would look with short hair!

in that case i would "hibernate" or stay at home next 3-6 months!

[hairbank]

I was hesitant to have the hair clipped close for HT#2 but, in the end, for me, the benefits outweighed the cost.

 

maki8787 - why is your scar that bad at 25 days? Who did your work? You could see mine a little when I clipped close after 10 days or so but not really enough for anyone to notice. Most of my work for HT#2 was crown but I did have a little in front..........none of it was noticeable after 2 weeks. I think redness can vary but mine wasn't bad.

[maki8787]

my scar is almost red as it was from first week of surgery.

But last couple of days its getting little bit better so i hope it will back to normal in 3-6 months.

I have that redness also in transplanted area BUT i didnt have ANY shock loss!

Plus 40% of my transplanted hair didnt sheed and continue to grow (more then 1 cm) and now i already see some better coverage in front!

i guess not everything can be perfect.......

[hairbank]

I'm not sure on hair length in the graft.............I'd guess it would be a little less than 1/4"?? At around the 10 day mark post-HT, I used a #1 guard (1/8" or 1/16", not sure exactly what that is) all over the back and sides but went strategically around the scar to aid in hiding it better. The main focus on clipping to match the top is getting rid of the "clown" look of having a ridge that goes all the way around the top of your head. So, I suppose a person could clip the sides and back with a longer guard, #2 or #3, while "freelancing" on the ridge to make it blend.

 

Something else, I have some dermmatch I purchased in case needed while the HT was growing in. I had some minor shock loss around the scar the first couple of months and used it to conceal.............it works great! So, if you clip a little to close and the scar is visible, you may want to try dermmatch to conceal.

[FacelessMan]

In my case, Dr. Feller specifically recommended that I keep the hair in back long enough to "flop" down over the scar when it was over, and he shaved the recipient area down to the scalp. So, had I buzzed it down to 1/4" or whatever beforehand, all I would really have achieved was the same distinctive look I had leaving the clinic, plus a nice view of my scar and 34 or so shiny staples ...

[Mark H]

Dr. Cooley has recommended that I get a cut a few weeks before surgery, which in my case means at the end of the week.

 

He doesn't require a buzz cut, and so I'll get my regular cut, although I will make sure the barber leaves the hair in back and sides at decent length.

 

I have a dubious advantage in that much of my hairline has nothing to transect until he gets back to the separated part of my forelock, and he won't be able to go much further back than that and get good coverage with 4000, so more will have to wait for HT number 2, which I'm determined to get, as long as I'm happy with HT number 1.

 

That said, I don't believe Dr. Cooley requires a buzz cut as a general policy, but instead works around existing hair, and he has an excellent reputation, at least the equal of any other doctor discussed on this forum.

 

mark h