New guy here, going in tomorow and Im terrified.

[Stevelkinevil]

Strange thing, in 14 years in law enforcement I saw some truly awful things (I will spare you guys the details) Yet for some reason surgical stuff really bothers me. After seeing some pics on here of the strip removal I am absolutely terrified. I just dont see how local anesthesia can make this even relatively painless. Guys that have had this done, dont sugar coat it, how strange did it feel? were the sounds awful? how much did it hurt?

[hairthere]

There's hardly any pain. The injections from the local are like pin pricks. The most discomfort you might feel will be from sitting in one position for so long. Honestly, your head will be so numb you will have no clue what's going on. The sounds are not too bad, but if they do bother you just wear earbuds and zone out with some tunes.

 

The post-op pain isn't too bad either, more like a burning sensation and some sharp pains here and there. Sleeping the first 2-4 nights is tough because you have to stay elevated and will be freaking out about dislodging the grafts. Also the staples won't feel so great and you will have tightness in the donor area. Taking the vicodin will help you sleep (I also got an ambien prescription just in case, but didn't need it). You will also deal with some swelling that is going to make you look a bit freaky, especially if you are having extensive hairline work done (this will start around day 2-3, and last about 2 days).

 

Who is your surgeon?

[Vincent]

Being truthful it was minimal pain throughout the surgery. The most pain was from the injections which as stated above by hairthere it's like pin pricks. I was knocked out pretty good with the meds given to me.

 

I did hear and feel the initial cutting of the donor strip, it was a little wierd but totally painless. After that I was knocked out cold and did wake up from time to time within the 2-3 hours it took to remove the strip. Before I knew it, the strip was out and I was given a short break.

 

Was then given more sleeping pills and the implanting began. For the first 5 hours I was drifting in and out and didn't even know what was going until the meds wore off and I was wide awake for the last 2 hours. I could hear some squeaking noises, I think it was the implanting of the grafts. All was done and I was shocked I was there for 9 hours total as I didn't feel it at all.

 

The recipient area I have had almost no pain since day one up and until today (day 23). The donor area however has always been tender and discomfort when sleeping. But this is gradually getting better and better by the day.

 

Just suck it up and you'll be fine. I had the same feeling 1 week pre op and all fears were at rest shortly after the start of the procedure as I really felt minimal pain.

 

Good luck.

[Stevelkinevil]

thanks for the encouragement fellas. I know im probably freaking out over nothing but Im just concerned. especially being as myself and my brothers all have a notoriously high tolerance to medication. I am sure I wont fall asleep as I have tried every sleeping pill known to god and man with no results, but as long as it is tolerable Im sure I can handle it. I am only having 1500 grafts at the front (I am a NW2). However I suppose I will have to reconsider going to class and meeting with clients (I am a freelance designer these days) on Monday and Tuesday if I am going to be in pain and all freakishly swollen up.

[hairthere]

Oh, yeah, you should clear your schedule for the next week if you can. Take care!

[Stevelkinevil]

well folks, im off to take the plunge. Couldn't sleep at all last night so I hope i sleep while they are cutting a slab of the back of my head! Wish me luck.

[Dan72]

All the best to you. It's really not as bad as you imagine.

 

Keep us posted

[Bill - Seemiller]

Stevelkinevil,

 

While hair transplant surgery is no walk in the park, it's relatively pain free. The initial anesthetic shots can be a bit painful, but this "pinch" doesn't last long and the area soon becomes numb. Your physician will do some local tests to make sure you don't feel anything before harvesting the strip or performing the extractions if you are going for FUE.

 

There may be times during the procedure where you will slowly begin to regain feeling in the recpient area as your new hair is being transplanted. Just tell the technicians and your physician will return to administer some additional anesthetic. The frequency and need for these additional shots will depend on your metabolism.

 

Overall however, there's very little pain during the procedure. You will experience some minor to moderate discomfort the first few days after the procedure which will turn to itchiness by the middle to the end of the week. Make sure you speak to your hair restoration physician about proper postoperative care.

 

I hope you'll return and share your experience and photos with us so we can encourage you on your hair restoration journey.

 

All the best for a successful procedure and new head of glorious hair,

 

Bill

 

P.S. Love the nickname by the way!

[TakingThePlunge]

Stevelkinevil,

 

Looks like it's all over by now. So how'd it go??

[Stevelkinevil]

well im finally home. And yes you guys were accurate as far as the majority of the procedure being pain free. They did have to according to the doc use an unusual amount of anesthesia to keep me numb, but this comes as no shock to me as the dentist is the same way. Unfortunately the pain in the last hour and now from the donor site is pretty bad. Hoping these pain meds do something soon as it has been over 30 mins with no effect. Everyone in my family has an unusual resistance to medication. Anyway when my GF gets home from getting dinner and ice packs I will have her take some crappy Iphone pics and post them. Thanks for the responses and support fellas.

 

And thanks bill, got that in College and it followed me through Army basic training. Allways been rather fond of that nickname myself.

[Stevelkinevil]

Ok heres the pics.

[hairthere]

Who was your surgeon? How many grafts?

[Stevelkinevil]

I have been hesitant to say because she is not on you guys list. Frankly it was because I could not begin to afford the Dr.s on this list. But it was Laura Darby MD. at Colorado Hair Institute. And I had 1500 grafts. I wasnt really in all that bad of shape to begin with. I just wanted to be able to wear it up in the front like i used to

[Stevelkinevil]

Well going on day 6 now. Gotta tell ya I am having a very difficult time sleeping, I just cant sleep on my back and getting alot of discomfort from the donor area, I would equate it to a constant low grade headache. Had the doc give me a stronger pain prescription, hope it helps. How long did some of you experience discomfort like this?

[hairthere]

Once the staples/sutures come out it will have healed more and the discomfort should lessen a bunch.

[multiplier]

Yeah, it's a few weeks before it's less sore. I slept sitting up in a recliner for the first 4 days. Not a great way to do it. After that, slept very gingerly and took sleeping aids. It gets better.

[aseda1979]

On my 3rd week post op Im sleeping better, no discomfort at all. I would say everything gets a lot better after the 2nd week post HT.

 

I dont feel the donor area at all unless I touch it....

[Dan72]

If you're able to get out, I would highly recommend getting one of those flight pillows that go round your neck. I got myself a 'beanie' one and I have to say, it was an absolute godsend, especially until I had the staples removed.

 

The other thing that helped me tremendously were cold packs, I had 2-3 in rotation so while I was using one, the others were in the freezer. One of those resting on the part of the beanie pillow that touched the back of my head. It was soothing and stayed cold enough until I went to sleep.

 

Hope this helps,

[maddmaxx]

Huh, I must be a freak. Didn't use any of the prescribed post-op medication at all, can't recall now whether I used any of the over-the-counter type, either. The following day, I "recuperated" at a local coffee (hitting the bathroom to spray the scalp, as directed) shop and was back to work two days later.

[Jaybee]

Bud, it's more about what you know thats happening to you it's not a walk in the park and will feel like you've been hit hard in the back of the head for about 6 weeks. Try not to think about it tell them to play music and focus elsewhere. I hope you get the results you want i'm 4 months down the line with no show so far. Good luck.

[akuma]

Strange thing, in 14 years in law enforcement I saw some truly awful things (I will spare you guys the details) Yet for some reason surgical stuff really bothers me. After seeing some pics on here of the strip removal I am absolutely terrified. I just dont see how local anesthesia can make this even relatively painless. Guys that have had this done, dont sugar coat it, how strange did it feel? were the sounds awful? how much did it hurt?

 

you will be fine mate. I used to worry the same thing. I got my surgery done with Dr Pat in thailand. I kept expecting some sort of sharp pain at the procedure. The procedure went TOOOO smoothly. Took painkillers before surgery.

 

I was told to lie down on a special bed face down. The amazing thing was, I did not even feel ANYTHING when the donor was extracted. All I know was that i was told to get up and look at my donor through microscope.

 

i said to them "what? donor removed? i didn't even feel a thing!!!" hehe

 

and then i layed on my back and was told to just relax. I relaxed so much that i went in and out of sleep alot. Felt very at ease. They woke me up to show me the finished work in the mirror. I said to them " wow how long has passed?"

 

They said "7 hours". I was shocked. The procedure was soooo pain free.

 

To be honest with you, any pain that you MIGHT feel is later on. The first night you will take pain killers so u'd sleep fine. The second night you might feel slight pain in the donor area (since this part will be on the pillow), and if thats the case, pain killlers help.

 

But when your up and walking around, there is no pain. Just numbness.

 

You will be fine mate.

[Stevelkinevil]

well fellas its been over a year since the procedure, I am sorry to report that my results were very poor. Very sparce at best, as a matter of fact it looks worse than before I had it done because the sparse results make me look thinner than before. To CHI's defense they agreed the results were poor and did another procedure free of charge, as a matter of fact I am having the stitches removed today. However I am not hopefull as I can see where they put the new grafts and it will remain sparse at best. When the techs were putting in the new grafts I kept hearing the work crap repeated over and over and when asked they said the grafts kept popping out, but not to worry. At this point I feel as if I have scarred myself, endured pain and discomfort twice and spent money I really didn't have all for nothing, even worse with the scars I wont be able to just shave my head like I should have done to begin with. BTW they said the reason my results were poor was because I am a smoker, Im calling BS on this one as I have seen plenty of smokers with great results. The fact is the density just wasn't there and from what I can see wont be now either. I will withhold final judgement till the results are clear on this new one, but again not at all hopeful at this point.

[aaron1234]

Smoking can have a negative effect on graft yield. In fact, Dr. Rahal's clinic just recently started asking patients to stop smoking pre and post op. However, there's no real way of knowing whether or not that caused your poor growth. Why did you return to the same clinic that did poor work on you in the first place? You shouldn't have gone back even if they paid you.

[Time to do something]

well fellas its been over a year since the procedure, I am sorry to report that my results were very poor. Very sparce at best, as a matter of fact it looks worse than before I had it done because the sparse results make me look thinner than before. To CHI's defense they agreed the results were poor and did another procedure free of charge, as a matter of fact I am having the stitches removed today. However I am not hopefull as I can see where they put the new grafts and it will remain sparse at best. When the techs were putting in the new grafts I kept hearing the work crap repeated over and over and when asked they said the grafts kept popping out, but not to worry. At this point I feel as if I have scarred myself, endured pain and discomfort twice and spent money I really didn't have all for nothing, even worse with the scars I wont be able to just shave my head like I should have done to begin with. BTW they said the reason my results were poor was because I am a smoker, Im calling BS on this one as I have seen plenty of smokers with great results. The fact is the density just wasn't there and from what I can see wont be now either. I will withhold final judgement till the results are clear on this new one, but again not at all hopeful at this point.

 

 

I feel your pain bro. I’ve been through hell with the hair transplant nightmare. I had two terrible ones from a highly recommended doctor on this site. Fortunately, Dr. Ron Shapiro heard about my case and stepped in and gave me two more surgeries for free. His did produce more results than the first two. My feelings about hair transplants are somewhat neutral. In my case and in the case of many other guys we never come close to achieving what would be considered cosmetically acceptable density. Take me for instance. I have hair where I didn’t before but it is nowhere near enough to look acceptable and if I go out in the sun or get it wet forget it. I am going to be forced to use a concealer and probably have scalp micro pigmentation. I do believe with those two extra items combined with the hair I now have up on the top it will look acceptable. I think most guys need to prepare themselves for the fact that the results they get from a hair transplant (unless they are very low on the NW scale) are going to be less than what they had expected. However, I do believe with SMP and concealer it will give the extra illusion of density to look good. If a guy goes into this with those expectations he should not be disappointed, but if he goes into it thinking he will have one surgery and have a nice dense head of hair he will be in for a major disappointment.

[Stevelkinevil]

Thanks for the responces guys. To answer Aaron, I went back for only one reason, I dont have the money to try again with another clinic and it was free, figured it could only get better even if marginally and not likely worse.

 

In response to Time to do something, The most frustrating part about this is that I am only an NW 2-3, and at this point have supposedly had 2500 grafts all in front, and to have no density seems absurd to me. at this point all I can do is wait and hope, but my logic and gut tell me its a no go, I will have to continue to comb and push my hair forward flat on the scalp to cover the lousy results. I am glad to hear another doctor volunteered to help you out, I hope you achieve the desired results. You're a braver man than I, at this point I almost cannot fathom the idea of going through this again.