What causes valleys?

[whirlwind]

I am now 12 days post-op and am starting to see a few valleys in my recipient area. I have seen many results on the forum and know that this is completely normal. (In fact, someone got it even a week after surgery)

But what I wanted to know is what are valleys? What causes them? Are they crusts which need to be removed? Or are they areas where the transplanted hair has fallen out faster? Why the peculiar line shaped formations? Also does hair grow back in those regions?

[Spanker]

never heard of that, is your scalp "wrinkled" there?

[scar5]

Great question, and I can't help at all except tell you my experience with valleys.

 

But let me describe mine, because they might not be the same as yours.

 

My valleys appeared later, 3- 4 weeks, and were depressed areas in the recipient zone and they went bald fast. One was probably 1cm squared (except circular) and the other was probably 3-4mm wide and about 1-2 cm long. Both of them in the hairline. These areas looked like they had been hit with agent orange 'cause they were bald. There was nothing growing in them well into six-eight months. They stayed depressed for several months and then leveled out. Hair has grown back, but I am not convinced that they have grown as well. It was really distressing at the time and the doc offered more grafts in the area.　(I sent pics) Fortunately, it recovered to about 50% and as I say, leveled out and it doesn't bother me now nearly as much.

 

The doc told me it was unusual.

[mattj]

The 'valleys' are an occasional and harmless effect sometimes seen during the early healing stage post-op when scabs form. When grafts have been placed at higher densities the scabs may join together, and when they dry out and contract, they can pull the hairs in different directions and form channels which resemble valleys. I always thought they looked like a river delta.

 

Once the crusts are gone the hairs straighten and the valleys disappear. This appears much less often in lower density transplants as the scabs are less likely to join together.

 

It's nothing to worry about.

 

Scar5, in your case it sounds like something different. Perhaps a compromised vascular supply. Is there any scarring?

[whirlwind]

PFA my pic at 13 days post-op.

The valleys I'm talking about are certainly not crusts with hair underneath but lines of scalp where the transplanted hair seems to have fallen off. I started noticing this only after 12 odd days.

I was super-cautious during the first 10 days and started rubbing the scalp only after 10 days. That is why I seem to have developed crusts later than usual.

Are the 'valleys' that I'm seeing just the normal way transplanted hair falls off or is there something to worry about?

 

Another thread where I've seen this is:

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/150739-crusts-input-please.html

[mattj]

The first thing you should do is contact your doctor. From what I can see, though, there is nothing that you should be worried about. That patient whose case you linked to did have very similar 'rivering' and his result turned out excellent.

[hair_me_out]

I'm pretty sure these are very common. I had them at one week:

 

http://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/journal.asp?CopyID=4586&WebID=1482

Edited November 29, 2010 by hair_me_out