Bad Facial Swelling

[Dwseiple]

Ii had a transplant a few years ago. It was considerably more painful than I had hoped. Perhaps 40% of the grafts grew. I followed all the instructions, including sleeping upright for four days. Within three days after the surgery my face was so swelled my left eye closed and I could see dozens of grafts popping out of my head. It was horrible. Whenever I see an ad on TV about how some people go back to work the next day after the procedure I literally scream. I had to hibernate for over a week before I looked well enough to go out of the house. I was a mess. Does anyone know what on earth this doctor (or I) did wrong?

[Dwseiple]

Ii had a transplant a few years ago. It was considerably more painful than I had hoped. Perhaps 40% of the grafts grew. I followed all the instructions, including sleeping upright for four days. Within three days after the surgery my face was so swelled my left eye closed and I could see dozens of grafts popping out of my head. It was horrible. Whenever I see an ad on TV about how some people go back to work the next day after the procedure I literally scream. I had to hibernate for over a week before I looked well enough to go out of the house. I was a mess. Does anyone know what on earth this doctor (or I) did wrong?

[ttaco]

If you don't mind revealing it, who was the doctor?

[Guest]

I had some work done this past February.

 

I swelled up like a balloon as well and I used ALOT of ice at least 4 to 5 times a day. It was a week before I looked pretty normal.

 

I had lots of swelling around both ears, to the eyes and in the forhead.

 

Wasn't fun.

[bverotti]

I had major swelling as well after my HT. It took about a week before the swelling had disappeared. In fact at some point both eyes where closed due to swelling. I really looked like an alien !

However no graft popped out as you described it. I am now 4 months past OP and growth has kicked in well in the last weeks. I am hoping to have full coverages again by Xmas (norwood 4a)

[Dwseiple]

The HT that I had a few years back was performed in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Yes, the swelling was very bad. I was in alot of pain for over a week. The back of my head took almost a year before that tingling on the back and top of my head went back to normal. There are noticable blank spots where transplanted hairs were supposed to grow, but never did. Overall I was very disappointed with my experience. Some of the hair grew, but not nearly as much as was promised. I was in lots of pain and discomfort with tons of swelling for over a week. It wasn't supposed to be this painful, but it was.

[Dr. Alan Feller]

This area is still somewhat of a mystery. You can do the same exact procedure on five different people and get five varying degrees of swelling. I believe most swelling is simply a function of skull shape and head position. I doubt very much that post-op swelling had anything to do with popped grafts as suggested above.

 

There are two sources of fluid lending themselves to post-op swelling. The first is the amount of local pain killer and saline injected into the scalp to facilitate graft implantation. The second is the natural swelling you would experience after any trauma to the scalp (in this case thousands of punctures). This volume has to go somewhere, and the easiest route down is through the face. Here the skin is quite thin and there are alot of boney projections. As the fluid travels down it gets hung up and accumulates in the soft tissue of areas above the brow and the bridge of the nose giving the "Alien" appearance.

 

The use of ice is probably counter productive as it simply compresses the skin causing an actual decrease in drainage.

 

To me, there is no question that 95% of swelling is positional. That is, the position of your head during surgery and after surgery.

 

If you were sitting up in the chair while being transplanted you will probably swell more than the patient who was lying further back.

[Dwseiple]

When I had my procedure I was sitting upright, and was not allowed to wear my glasses (and thus could not watch TV, which wasn't available anyway). I was told to sleep upright in a chair for at least three (3) nights. I did this but still swelled so bad I couldn't see out of my left eye. I was also told to use plenty of ice on my face. I did this and felt like a freezing victim of the Titanic.

I must have had 2 dozen needles in the back of my head, and well over 100 needles in the front and top. Is this many needles normal?

Overall it was a horrible experience. I will have to have a third procedure done soon. Hopefully it will be done by a more competent doctor and the pain an swelling will be less. Of course, I will hope that more than a mere 40% of the grafts work this time.

[Guest]

I think swelling is different for everyone. I have had 2 procedures the first on April 12th, 2002 and the 2nd a week ago on October 18th. I had 1750 FUs during the first procedure and just over 1600 last week. The first procedure I swelled up very badly and had 2 black eyes for a couple of weeks. I didn't sleep sitting up or wear a headband as I have seen suggested on this board. During the 2nd procedure I did sleep sitting up for the first 4 nights and also wore a headband as well as applied ice regularly. I had much less swelling the 2nd time around and no black eyes. I am pretty much back to normal and today I am getting my sutures removed (yippie).

 

I am someone that bleeds very well and I also am a very quick healer. I think this is also why I had so much initial swelling. While the initial experience was trumatic I also recovered quickly after that and the hairs starting coming in at about 7 weeks. I'm very happy that the second surgery is over as I don't forsee any more for some time. My first surgery gave me good coverage but I just wanted more density.

 

All in all I have to say that HT surgery is a lot more trumatic than "going to the dentist" as has been suggested. While there is minimal pain during the procedure, it 6-8 weeks or more for the scalp and donor area to recover. It's not something to decide lightly and make sure you check out your doctor.

[Guest]

I swelled a ton too. My doctor said I may experience some swelling around the forehead and eyes, but I had no idea how much. Wish I'd known of this forum prior so I'd know what to expect. I am one week post-op and the swelling is almost gone. My recovery has been much worse than I expected. I swelled into my forehead, eyes and cheeks which was very uncomfortable - not to mention, very un-attractive. The swelling is now gone, but I have two black eyes - well, I guess they're not "black," they're actually a lovely

autumnal shade of greenish-yellow - looking forward to the transition to purple. I'm lucky I can work from home. I'm also losing quite a bit of my existing hair (shock fall-out), but I'm hoping that it's not as bad as I think and in the end it will be worth it. I'm anxious to see what my doctor says when I go to get my stitches out on Friday.

[TopJimmy]

After 6 procedures and 4 doctors, I never had much swelling !!

 

I believe inflammation of swelling is in part do to the health of the individual themself.

 

Just as a cut on the finger takes time to heal with all healing for the cut for everyone, after a certain amount of time.

 

Some people heal faster than the others, and alot is the never ending state of health of each person.

 

Having a background in Fitness and Nutrition has help me understand the biochemisty of the human body. I know there is no natural supplement to stop hairloss, as I have taken supplements since I was 15, but it can delay it by being in a high state of health.

 

Being 18 days Post-Op, My redness in the receipent

is almost gone !!

 

Thanks

 

 

You

[luberta]

I had my procedure done 6 weeks ago and I can honestly say that I had no swelling. I did listen to my Doctor and put ice on my head about every 20 minutes while I was awake for 3 days. He suggested every 15 minutes sometimes I would only be able to do it 3 times an hour. I do believe that I would have had alot of swelling if I had not done this.

 

luberta

[nyste]

I have had 3 HT's.The first I swelled up after because I didn't follow post op directions.These are:you must apply an ice pack to your forehead 20 mins on,20 mins off the first day and then at least 20 mins an hour the next day.So yes,forget going back to work the next day(the first time I did).Also,take the anti swelling tablets prescribed at the right times.I followed these for the second 2 procedures and was totally fine.You just need to spend a lot of time on your back so the fluid runs to the back of your head and not your face.This might sound boring but the combination of anti swelling,codine and penacillin pills means your good for nothing anyway.

[Guest]

My doctor did not advise to use ice, but after reading this site after my first HT, I definitely used ice and was very carful to sleep upright for three nights and experienced very minimal swelling.

[Teddw2ds]

While I did take my medications religiously, and applied ice three to four times a day without fail, I was hardly laid up in bed, and I don't think that is necessary. I went to Miami and had a great time. I went out to eat, to the ocean every day and even ventured out to the clubs one night. You just have to be extra cautious with some activities, but the days following your HT don't have to be spent in solitary confinement. I figured if I'm burning up all my vacation time (I took two weeks off out of three weeks total vacation time), I might as well enjoy myself, and I did so with absolutely no swelling and only one lost graft. Maybe I just got lucky, but that's my experience anyway.

 

Tedd

[Dart]

I think that good postop care can decrease swelling drastically but I have to wonder how much of it is the person. Obviously being upright more speeds the movement of the swelling down the face but I don't see how it could prevent it. I know that when I fight I tend to swell even if the shots I take are light. Walking into the transplant I felt fairly confident I was going to look bad for a few days after (self fullfilling prophecy maybe?). Anyway, if there are any people out there that are known "swellers" it would be interesting to hear from them to disprove the theory. Though it kept me isolated for a few days until it went down the good news is the swelling was only temporary, painless and I lost no grafts.

 

Dart

 

I have pics up on my temp web site - if anyone is curious to see how the swelling looks send me an email at slomo30@hotmail.com and I'll forward you the addy.

[uncjim]

Dart,

While post op care (and doctor technique) may have an influence, I do believe that you're correct in that some people can be "swellers".

You've peaked my curiosity:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I know that when I fight I tend to swell even if the shots I take are light.

 

The great trainer Eddie Futch used to openly speak of Smokin' Joe Frazier "puffing up" but never cutting. Even in lesser fights, he often looked like the looser at the end.

Jim

 

Uncjim's Journey

[JohnH]

My first HT was 20 years ago and I was given Prednisone. I took 6 pills that night, 5 the next, etc, etc.

 

It's my opinion that any HT doctor who would do a procedure and not give the patient prednisone should be totally avoided. Those doctors are simply trying to make a little extra money, can you say GREED?

 

I'd like to know if anyone has had a recent procedure and not been given or prescribed anti-swelling medicine/prednisone? And if so, who are these doctors? People need to know that they should avoid these doctors.

[Bluesman]

If you were sitting up in the chair while being transplanted you will probably swell more than the patient who was lying further back.

Dr. Feller, I had my surgury done by Dr. Ron Shapiro while sitting up and I had virtually NO swelling what so ever.

 

I was given prednisone before surgury and continued to take for 5 days post-op.

[Smoothy]

Being a vetern of HT-- the common practice with most docs is to place the grafts while the patient is in an upright angle so that fluid doesnt collect in the scalp and to prescribe prednisone and post surgical wrap down to the eyebrows (if dressing doesnt go that low then wear a headband). Most recommend a Ice pack on the forehead and the donor site to to help limit the swelling and it also numbs the area for a limited pain relief in addition to your prescribed pain killers. Not all patients swell and everyone that does, does so in different degrees. This is why most docs take precaution regardless and does the above-- it will not hurt and only can help.

[Guest]

are we talking about different types of swelling here ?

I had a huge amount of Saline swelling for a couple of days , kinda had a bubble head an looked a bit odd, but it went away after maybe 3 days.

 

It was not painful or uncomfortable just odd looking.

 

Is there some other kind of swelling you are talking about ?

just curious as the saline swelling is not really that much of a big deal.