Increase in balding area due to strip surgery ?

[mmhce]

I would like to invite contributions from our knowledgeable members/doctors as to the questions:

 

1. Does HT strip surgery actually stretch the area of miniaturization on the top & vertex of the scalp?

 

2. Does the elasticity/plasticity of the tissue allow for the return of the scalp to the original un-stretched position following strip surgery?

 

 

Thank you.

[RCWest]

1. No, removing donor strips does not make the thinning area larger. It mostly pulls up from the looser skin on the neck I believe.

 

2. Over time and or with exercises, the skin in the donor area will loosen back up and actually reduce donor density *very* slightly.

[EpilepticSceptic]

From my understanding (after 5 long years of research on HTs) different patients have different physiologies, and therefore what applies to patient X may not apply to patient Y.

 

I have heard that scalp laxity and scalp elasticity are 2 different things. Laxity is the ability of the skin to slide up/down/left/right over the skull (galia), and elasticity has to do with how much the skin can actually stretch.

 

Therefore, it stands to reason that a patient with very poor laxity but high elasticity might very well encounter the skin having to stretch in order to close the wound, which could possibly result in making a bald spot larger if the skin has to stretch in that area to close the gap from the strip taken out. Also, patients with high elasticity and poor laxity will have a higher chance of experiencing a stretched donor scar that is wider than normal.

 

These are just theories I have based upon years of research, so don't take my word for it as I am not a medical doctor/expert. I knew I had great laxity going into my strip surgery, and if it would have been the other way around I most likely would have backed out of it.

Edited August 15, 2010 by EpilepticSceptic