Post Op Swelling and Travel Question

[DMac]

What are your opinions on post op swelling after an extremely large session?(4000-5500 graphs). I understand everyone's body reacts differently and some people don't swell as bad as others BUT obviously almost everyone Ive seen who has had a Mega Session face swells up like a balloon afterward.

 

My question is:

About how many days after should I expect my swelling to be good enough to not look like a freak in public?

 

I have thought of either staying in a hotel local to my surgery for a few days after the procedure to let the swelling go down OR should I just say screw it and fly home with a balloon head the next day?

 

I would be traveling from Canada to California and possibly have to stop once or twice in between flights with possibility of layover etc.

[monkey]

My Dr uses a headband after surgery which you keep on for a few days.

 

I never had any of the above mentioned problems .... (the band keeps the saline up top, not letting it seep down to puff up your face )

[pablo]

I had 2100 grafts and the swelling started at the top of my forehead and worked its way down to the bridge of my nose gradually over 5-6 days then dissapeared. When it was over my nose I looked like a cling on off star trek

Edited August 3, 2010 by pablo

[RCWest]

My Dr uses a headband after surgery which you keep on for a few days.

 

I never had any of the above mentioned problems .... (the band keeps the saline up top, not letting it seep down to puff up your face )

 

 

I was told to do this also. Works great until it slips off in your sleep

[wb280]

I concur with monkey. We had the same doc and the swelling was just confined to the forehead, on top of the head band. Just don a cap over it. Thats wat i did and i looked perfectly normal.

[monkey]

TBH I didn't even notice any swelling, I only knew I had it coz Dr Path kept saying "still some swelling here" - so don't worry about it

 

I've seen some awful photos though of people who didn't use headbands, so I wonder why it's not more common place....

[wb280]

monkey, exactly ! Honestly i looked fine ( swelling-wise ) from day 1 so i ve no issues.

 

And i concur with u... i am wondering y this is even a problem... the surgeons should know better...I had a friend who had his surgery done locally ( before me ) and he was complaining of all the swell. I thought it was such a common issue that the experienced surgeons should know that will happen...

[ELondon]

I had FUS surgery 11 days ago with 3500 grafts. The wound is 30cm long from ear to ear and 1.8cm of scalp was used. A headband was provided overnight but the next morning this was removed and the Dr insisted I absolutely do not wear one again until the grafts had healed.

 

I had a 5 hour journey home on the day after surgery and the swelling began to move down my forehead so that by the time I stepped off the train I had a rugby ball shaped head and my glasses would not fit.

 

On day 2 I was unrecognisable - see profile photo.

 

The swelling started to go down after 6 days and is now almost gone (Day 11).

 

Although I was told the fluid was from the injections during surgery I think much of it is also due to the oedema caused by such a large incision. This was not explained beforehand and not mentioned on this site as far as I can tell.

[wb280]

Omg... that looks bad! Oedema? Sorry i nvr heard of it. Maybe the seniors came across this. For me, like i said, basically i wore the head band and no swell penetrated beneath that

[ELondon]

My advice to DMac would be to ask the Dr if it is ok for him to wear a headband to keep the fluid on the scalp for the following day whilst he journeys home. But after that do not plan any business engagements for 2 weeks to be sure the swelling goes down. I suspect the reason my Dr did not want me to keep the fluid on my scalp was to avoid fluid pressure around the newly implanted follicles which needed to settle down to the blood rich base asap.

[gillenator]

EL, I am surprised that you experienced that much swelling from a procedure of 3500 grafts. I wonder how much saline was included in the injections.

 

Generally speaking, post-op swelling in the forhead shows up about three days post-op and then lingers for another three days. We call it the 3/3 rule. Larger procedures can involve more swelling and show up quicker because of the trauma caused by all of the recipient incisions.

 

The effects of gravity pull the fluid down the face so possibly the band is preventing the fluid from pulling down for some of you.

[kathie47]

It is common to have the swelling to even go down into the eye region.

 

As stated by many...people react very differently to surgery. Perhaps you are simply more sensitive to this type of surgery? Hopefully things get better for you.

[Janna]

It doesn't have to be a big mega session to cause post operative swelling. I've seen our FUE patients who had 1000-1500 session in the front/hairline have swelling just as badly as a patient receiving 3000+grafts. The rule of 3/3, which Gillenator is referring to is true. It starts at the top of your forehead at post op day #3, post op day #4 moves down to top of your eyebrows and po day #5 it's below/around your eyes. The process lasts 3 days as it moves down the face. The swelling does not impede growth or harm your grafts. Cosmetically speaking, you can look like you've been beaten up by the mob but it's short lasting. The headbands or skin tape on the forehead need to be worn for the first 3-4 days after surgery to ward off the swelling. Just because you don't see swelling the day or two after surgery does not mean you are out of the woods.

 

If a nerve block is used during your procedure, you will experience some swelling and bruising around the eyes the evening after surgery. This swelling is not the post operative swelling we are referring to and generally lasts less than 24 hours.

 

Many patients travel the day after surgery since there are two more days before swelling appears, if at all.

I don't believe I've ever seen any of our patient experience what ELondon experienced with such swelling at PO day #1 and #2.

Edited December 10, 2010 by Janna

[Levrais]

Dmac,

I didnt have a large session (1500 grafts) but I did have a lot of swelling starting around day 2 to 3. It was controled well with ice. Since I couldnt really sleep then, I was able to ice a few times over night as well. I wouldnt worry too much about traveling while looking like a pumpkin head. Its certainly common for ht patients to travel the next day or 2 after but if I had it to do over again, I would stay put near the clinic for a few days just for peace of mind.

 

Levrais

[ELondon]

Thank you for all your helpful posts. I have just undergone a 2nd HT procedure to work on my vertex and I have to say the post op experience has been much better. I believe this is due to the work been to the top of my head and the 2nd clinic (Ziering) providng steroids to reduce swelling. The after care follow up has also been better with calls to check how I am on the first night and 3rd day.

 

I have to say that non absorbable stitches are MUCH more comfortable than staples and the thick absorbable stitches used in the my first strip session. Staples prevent you from sleeping properly and cause pain until removal 10 days later. This does not help your body recover and so cannot help the healing process. I believe the swelling, lack of sleep and general debilitation affected the rate of growth I saw from 3500 grafts. I will post more on strip removal and nerve damage on a more relevant thread.

[Raphael84]

Hey guys, currently 4th day post op with Dr Rahal and I am one of the lucky ones, swelling wise. 4k session and have had very minimal swelling, however I didnt move from the 45 degree angle position for the first two days. A couple of guys from the guesthouse have not been so lucky and look even more swollen than ELondons profile with pronounced "black eyes". Obviously everybody is different, but for me I put it down to staying strictly in the recommended position for as long as possible.

 

Regarding travelling home after surgery. I'm flying back Monday, 6 days post op, I know that this is not possible for everybody but knowing how I feel now and how I felt the day of and 1/2 days after surgery, there is no way I could have comfortably traveled home immediately afterwards.

[rev3]

frontal hairline and temple point work might be more susceptible to disfiguring, albeit, temporary swelling

 

also, if additional anesthetic is provided throughout the surgery in these areas