Donor area healing time

[workaholix]

Hi,

 

I'm 1 month out of surgery (day 31) and my recipient area has healed nicely. It is still red, but I know this will last for a while. My donor area, which is where my scar is supposed to be is still scabbing over. I have very minimal bleeding when I'm sleeping, so I typically throw a towel over my pillows for easy cleaning. It's nothing more than maybe a few drips of blood by the morning, but I notice that there is very slow and light bleeding during the day at different times. I believe this could be because I irritate it somehow. Is this normal for the bleeding / scabbing to continue this far out from the surgery? I've seen some really quick healing timeframes for other patients, but I wanted to know if anyone else has experienced something as long as mine or has any advice to offer. Thanks in advanced!

[Thehairupthere]

It is not normal to have bleeding in the donor area this far out, go see your doctor to see if there is an issue.

[Spanker]

Not normal. You may have an infection. Something is definitely not right.

[workaholix]

I called in and they recommended that I remove the scabs in the area. I believe the bleeding is because I still have scabs back there.

 

If it's an infection and removing the scabs doesn't help, what are some potential solutions?

 

The bleeding is only in certain areas of the donor suture line. Thanks for the quick feedback guys.

[Thehairupthere]

That sounds like an odd thing to do, I'd imagine removing a scab would only make you bleed more if you're already bleeding. Unless they feel that the scab itself is what is causing blood stains and you're not really bleeding at all. Then again you shouldn't have any scabs on your scar at this point either, did you follow up with your doctor for a cleaning after the procedure?

[workaholix]

No, I did not have a cleaning session, only a suture removal was performed in my follow-up. Since then, I have had the same set of scabs that I thought would go away with time, but I haven't really worked on cleaning them like I did on the transplant area. I'll give that a shot tonight in the shower and see if I'm bleeding out afterwards.

 

I just pressed a napkin against the suture line and I'm able to dab blood from the area. Also, some areas feel sensitive. Are these signs of an infection?

[Thehairupthere]

No that's not necessarily a sign of an infection, sensitivity of the scar is normal and it will be somewhat sensitive for several more weeks. It needs to be looked at and see if it's puffy, swollen, red etc. Having scabs this long could potentially cause the scar to heal poorly, so if your doctor is not too far I would suggest going there or at least your primary physician.

[workaholix]

I was able to take a photo of it earlier today and it is red where the bleeding is occurring. My doctor is out of vacation unfortunately, so I will try to set something up with my primary physician to have them take a look at it. Thank you.

[workaholix]

Ok, I just read that I'm supposed to clean the donor area aggressively during the first 7-10 days. This is something I definitely did not do, so I will go through and remove the scabs over the next few days while I'm shampooing.

 

I will allow it time to heal a bit as I did have scabs during the suture removal and see where things go from there. Thank you guys for your feedback.

[workaholix]

Just an update on this. I was able to remove the majority of the scabs and it has been about 2 weeks since I've done that. The bleeding/spotting has stopped for the most part, but I think there is still one area that is very sensitive to potential tears/abrasions. Occasionally I will experience bleeding, and it has been enough to dampen my hair in that area, however, the next day it will typically subside. I do have to note that this happens when I typically drink alcohol earlier that day so I believe it's just a combination of me being careless as well as the thinning blood. Any thoughts?

[Capelli11]

I'm curious as to who your doctor is? Hope all is well now

[workaholix]

It was Dr. Edward Bednar.

 

Dr. Edward Bednar of NewLookMd - hair transplant clinics

 

My follow-up visit was scheduled with one of his assistants and there was no clean-up session. I'm glad I found some of this information on my own, otherwise I would've just tried to let the area heal on its own which probably wouldn't have been very good.

[Jotronic]

You need to call your clinic first thing in the morning. I mean tomorrow, not next week, and tell them what's going on and get suggestions on how to take care of this. If your doctor is not back in town and still on vacation, find another doctor.

 

Your donor incision should not be bleeding at this point. A "spot" here and there can be from small areas having ingrown hairs (if tricho was used for your donor closure) but in no way should your hair be getting wet from the bleeding. You may want to try some Neosporin to help accelerate the healing and to stave off any chance of infection. The more episodes you have like this the higher the likelihood of infection setting in.

[workaholix]

Thanks Jotronic. I will certainly do that and keep everyone posted.

[workaholix]

It's been almost 2 months since my last post, but I just wanted to update everyone on the healing results. The scabbing has disappeared completely and my donor area is on a way to a nice recovery. There is one side of the scar that feels bigger than the other. Does anyone have any feedback about hair growing through the scar line? Is there a procedure that can be done to close up the scar line if hair doesn't grow through it?