Going underground for a week good enough?

[mi$$ionHAIR]

Guys

 

I am planning to have a surgery in November this year.

 

Unfortunately, I can only take a week off-work post surgery (infact my surgery is on a Tuesday and I rejoin work the following Monday). Roughly, how long does it take for the recepient area to heal and assume its natural look? By a natural look - I mean one can go safely about doing his stuff at work without anyone having the slightest clue about the HT.

 

The nature of my work does not allow me to wear a hat to office. Any pointers on that would be great

 

For reference - here is the link to the last set of pics that I took

Hair Restoration Journal -45 days before scheduled surgery

[hairthere]

Be aware that the redness/pinkness can last a long time (6 months in some cases). That being said, it looks like you have enough hair to comb over the recipient area. You may have to get a bit creative with your styling (comb forward, etc.).

[aaron1234]

Yes, the redness and pinkness can be nasty for months, but will eventually subside. Are you shaving for the procedure? If so, then you'll probably need more than a week (maybe 2-3). If not, then one week should be ok. It always depends how you heal. And everyone is different.

 

I went into hiding for about 2-3 weeks after my last one. I did shave down. I would come up with a story to tell your co-workers. I just told everyone I was cutting my own hair and made a mistake in the back (explaining the indentation from the donor scar) and decided the shave the rest of it. As far as I know, everyone bought it.

[Dr. Michael Beehner]

There are a number of factors to consider in deciding if one week is enough time before returning to work and having every person you bump into stare at your head and start asking questions about what happened.

First of all, there's a big difference between how a patient looks the day (or two days after) a transplant versus how he looks at 7-9 days. Most FU scabs have fallen off by a week, but there can be persistent short stubby hairs just sitting in place, or, as has been already mentioned, a slight "pinkness" to the various sites. Most of the time these short hairs just sit there and eventually fall out or later get replaced by the growing hairs at 3 months or so. They can be shaved down if need be, and also, makeup that matches your skin tone can be dabbed on the pink sites to hide that. The issue of recipient sites looking pink is a very individual thing and varies from one patient to another. I find that the vast majority of men don't have this after a couple of weeks, but some of the fair-skinned men do keep it for a few months and it does eventually fade, especially once the hair starts growing out at 3-6 months.

A major factor is whether or not you have some pre-existing native hair on top which can be swept sideways or forward to help camouflage things. If so, then a little hair spray helps to hold it in position during the day.

If a person has a job in which a hat can be worn, then they can return to work in a couple of days, as long as they are not required to wear a hard hat (I wait a week on those and helmets).

The Graftcyte kit can work wonders for many men and have them looking "office-worthy" 7-9 days later. I mention the 9 day interim, because the ideal is to have the procedure on Friday and then return a week from that coming Monday, which gives you two extra days.

The most important thing to consider in the above question is how private and paranoid the patient is that another human being on earth will discover that they had a hair transplant procedure. At 9 days I find that most normal people look fine and can return, but certainly someone with a very discerning eye will slightly notice that something has happened, but it is not an appearance that will scare women and children. Rather, it's a subtle thing at the hairline edge mostly. If a man is a shiny bald Norwood VI, then certainly he's standing out in the middle of the field naked and probably does need two weeks to heal up enough that things aren't that noticeable.

Each case has to be individualized. The other situation is the man who wears a hairpiece, in whom it is best not to wear the piece for a full week after surgery, and then minimize its use thereafter and be sure it is attached by clips which are moved periodically, so they tug at different hairs.

Mike Beehner, M.D.

[wb280]

It was tough. No matter how u comb, u will look diff 1 week post op IMHO. I just told my colleagues that i had scalp infection and had to shave the frontal area. I rather cook up a stupid reason than to act non chalant as 100% u will look different post op and pre op.

 

However, dun let this deter u. Think of the days and years ahead

 

That will spike up your courage to undergo the procedure

[aWidowsPeek]

Not to be a negative Nancy but...

 

look at all the blogs on this site,check out guys at 2-3 weeks. Even then people ARE going to notice you had something done up there. I plan on hiding out for a month+. Drastic yes but if you can swing it do it. Some guys stay red/pinkish for months! Poor bastards.

 

If you can get away with wearing a hat you'll be ok.

[monkey]

My second HT was within my existing hair - 7 days out I looked fine.

 

Before you procedure, start wearing your hair forward for a bit so people are used to you like that - then you can use that hair to cover the surgery later

[Tom60]

You should be just fine. I seemed to recover in that same time period. I honestly think that it is a case by case basis. Same as when people get the common cold: some people recover quicker than others. I was one of the lucky ones. Best of luck to you!

[waveskier]

Not to sound discouraging but a week did nothing for me, except for the swelling of my face and that started on day 2 and last till day 5.

[ScottishGuy]

You're lucky in that you have a lot of hair to cover the areas where you'll get surgery. However, you'd better pray you don't have shock loss. In most cases 1 week is no where near enough time but it depends on the individual, and no doubt also on the post op routine suggested by your doctor.

 

For me it took 3.5 months to look normal! A week did nothing much for me - I still had bad swelling until day 8. I did have a much larger procedure though.

[Tao]

I went back to work in two weeks after both of my HTs and things were pretty much unnoticeable. I did not have my head shaved either time (thank you, Dr. Konior) and I have fairly tanned skin from being a runner and out in the sun a lot so the redness was minimally visible. Actually, I was easily able to go out in public after a week without much problems but I was a little paranoid about the Frankenstein staples in the back of my head being noticeable. But my donor area hair always covered them up pretty well and no one is looking back there anyway so no one ever saw them. I was lucky though as I know some docs require serious shaving and that clearly cannot be hidden until sometimes weeks and weeks later. BTW, before my second procedure, I told several people what I was going to do so I didn't have to worry about being so paranoid. I think after experiencing the great results from my first procedure, I was much less concerned about what people thought. A lot of people still think of HTs as doll plugs and don't know what kind of incredible results many docs are producing these days. When they saw the results of my first HT, they were shocked. Why wouldn't I finish off the job? Hell, people get braces and move their teeth around to look better. Why should I feel ashamed about getting my own hair moved around to look better? Just saying.

 

Good luck to you!

[wb280]

Tao, u touched on a topic which invoked some thoughts. U r right, whats wrong with us to just do something perfectly legal and which only concern ourselves, just to feel and look better? Its not much diff from getting braces, and hell even getting contact lenses can be considered an example!

 

However, i just dun ve the courage to tell those except family. Even close friends do not know. Somehow there is a certain stigma about HT that we HT goers will want to keep it under wraps.