Scar corrective surgery

[Vaughan]

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

I currently have two wide scars across the back of my head from my last two hair transplants.

One right across my head and the other halfway across. I am since having difficulty with hair cuts as my hair cannot be cut in the normal layered method without leaving a ledge even when not cut short.

 

I am looking for a surgeon who specialises in transplanting into scar tissue. I understand that there are many surgeons in the USA and Canada. I did come accross a surgeon advertising on Youtube from Dallas who seemed a specialist, called Dr Lam. I live in the UK but am happy to travel if I can find one of the best surgeons for this type of corrective work.Does any one have some experience of receiving transplants into their existing scars that they would like to share?

[Vaughan]

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

I currently have two wide scars across the back of my head from my last two hair transplants.

One right across my head and the other halfway across. I am since having difficulty with hair cuts as my hair cannot be cut in the normal layered method without leaving a ledge even when not cut short.

 

I am looking for a surgeon who specialises in transplanting into scar tissue. I understand that there are many surgeons in the USA and Canada. I did come accross a surgeon advertising on Youtube from Dallas who seemed a specialist, called Dr Lam. I live in the UK but am happy to travel if I can find one of the best surgeons for this type of corrective work.Does any one have some experience of receiving transplants into their existing scars that they would like to share?

[nobuzz4me]

Vaughn,

 

If the scar is real wide I would have it reduced and then maybe plant some FUs in it at the same time. Yield into scars is usually less than virgin scalp so it is a gamble. Reducing the scar alone may prove to be your best option. Any pics may help, some of the docs visit the forum and can chime in.

 

Good luck,

[Bill - Seemiller]

Vaughman,

 

As nobuzz stated, transplanting hair into the scar via FUE is a bit unpredictable.

 

Learn more about hair transplant scar repair.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Vaughan]

Thankyou for your advice, I was also worried that transplants into scar tissue may not work as well as into virgin scalp as you mention. Also because the scars at at the back of my head , the grafts would in effect need to be planted uphill.

 

As you mention I did try having the longer scar cut out and resitched but it just stretched back to the previous width. I have received four initial previous donor harvests across the back of my head which healed fine. The surgeons made a separate scar each time , I was left with several scars but they were very fine . I prefer to have several small scars than one big wide one. The surgeon who did the next transplant ( my fifth) correctly said the back was to tight for further harvests and so harvested from over my left ear and this healed very good .

 

I came back to have the same done from over my right ear, but the previous surgeon had left, and the new surgeon said it was not as productive from over the ear, and said he would tidy up all the scars on the back of my head. He left one long wide scar accross the back of my head and did not get any more grafts than from over the ear because the back of my head had been harvested several times before. As I was not happy I went back and he agreed to harvest from over and behind my ear and then transplant into the wide scar at the back and also into my crown (5 and 6) where I have lost hair naturally, my front hair is OK.

 

But instead he harvested again from the back half way accross, just above and adjacent to the previous scar leaving anothe wide scar.

 

I went to a cosmetic surgeon who said He could insert a balloon to stretch the skin at the back of my head , but warned that this may not guarantee leaving a fine scar at the join. Also if the skin at the back of my head is stetched it may make the thin crown area larger , the reverse of a scalp reduction operation.

 

So I am wary of cutting out the scars as the back donor zone is quite tight and the hair is obviously thinner from several procedures. So that is why I am looking for a surgeon and patients who have experience of transplanting into scars. I did read somewhere that some types of scars are better than others for growing grafts, considering the scar cause blood supply etc ? eg surgical scars may be better than scar left by burns for transplanting?

I should not really be in this position because I had quite a good ratio of donor area to transplanted area crown 5 and 6, there should have been no need to take risks by over harvesting in the back zone It is not nice having to move hair from one donor site to another which does not relate to the reason I initially had hair transplants.

[nobuzz4me]

Well,

 

It sounds like your options are limited due to the tightness and the number of procedures you had done. I am not sure what to advise but if you cannot gain laxity in the doner scar area, you may be limited to trying to plant Fu's into the area. Not sure how you can harvest Fu's without creating more tension. You could fue out from your recipient and replant to the donor - in effect a reversal HT.

 

Another option of course in concealing the scar with dermatch or mascara, I have heard some use a colored marking pen as well.

[TheHairLossCure]

If you have areas in your donor zone that can be harvest with FUE (not strip), placing hair into the scar tissue may be beneficial. It sounds as though you have a very little room for error though. Rather that committing to a large session of scar repair, you might consider doing a small test session so that you can monitor the growth. Once you can see the test session results, you should be able to create a good repair strategy with your surgeon. That is just a suggestion based on the limited information that I have about your situation. You may find it helpful to get multiple opinions from doctors and see if there is a general consensus regarding you best opinions.

[Vaughan]

Thankyou both for your advice. I will approach several prominent hair surgeons to find the best general consensus approach to my problem and proceed with care.

[imissthebarber]

If the scar is real wide I would have it reduced and then maybe plant some FUs in it at the same time.

 

Sorry I know this is an old post but I wanted to check if this is correct. My understanding was that you had to let a scar heal before planting into it.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Imissthebarber,

 

Before considering planting FUs into a scar, I do agree that it's better to let it heal fully first. You won't really know how many follicles you need to transplant into it until it's matured and reached its full stretching point (which hopefully won't happen anyway).

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill