those of you that have had ht's, what did you tell friends/coworkers

[alex02]

im currently in a more advanced stage of hair loss (nw 5 i think) and am planning on getting a hair transplant for ~4500 grafts. im unsure what to tell friends and coworkers afterwards. im guessing if all goes well with the surgery, to my friends/coworkers, it will be pretty obvious that i have more hair. id ideally prefer to keep having an ht secret. just wondering if anyone has advice or any similar experiences. thanks!

[Hal]

im currently in a more advanced stage of hair loss (nw 5 i think) and am planning on getting a hair transplant for ~4500 grafts. im unsure what to tell friends and coworkers afterwards. im guessing if all goes well with the surgery, to my friends/coworkers, it will be pretty obvious that i have more hair. id ideally prefer to keep having an ht secret. just wondering if anyone has advice or any similar experiences. thanks!

 

This is a common problem and much depends on your hair, if you're shaving down, how much time you're taking off work, and if you can wear a hat.

 

I work in an office. Wearing a baseball cap in an off hand manner was not an option.

 

Fortunately, I had a built in excuse-- I am fair skinned and have had some actinic keratosis's removed from my arms (this is from sun damage).

 

I told my boss that that I had to have a similar procedure on the scalp and that it would cause redness and might mean a crew cut. I asked if I could wear a hat post op for 6 weeks or so. I told him it was no big deal but might be a little raw to look at and everyone might be more comfortable if I wore the cap. This was more or less the truth.

 

He agreed with no muss or fuss. I have thin hair so having sun damage on the scalp made sense.

 

I did not have to shave down for my procedure (3700 grafts). I was also off work for 10 days post op. I prepared everyone with the cover story and when I came back, it was no big deal.

 

A month later, I ditched the hat and went back to my old hair style while the hair grew in-- I was lucky in the fact that I had enough native hair to be able to part and comb over the HT.

 

The scar was hidden by hair in the back.

 

It's not easy an office environment, but it can be done. Make up a story about having a growth removed or something-- that explains the redness, the hair cut, and the need to wear a hat.

 

I'm not advocating running some big con or encouraging lies, but on the other hand, this is your business, and you most likely can do your job in a professional manner while wearing a cap, so where's the harm?

 

Hal

Edited November 24, 2011 by Hal

[patwillpat1]

If its gonna be somewhat obvious, sometimes better to tell the truth to people who ask...but MOST would be too afraid to ask anyways. Yet in this day and age with the internet, a lot of males have done at least some research on hairloss/HT, so its hard to trick everyone.

 

I work in an office environment and had a coworker who had a obvious transplant (frontal recipient area was shaved, back wasn't to probably cover the scar). He told people he had an accident and needed head surgery. During drinks after work, when everyone gossips like crazy, a lady co-worker blurted out to others this guy for sure had a HT since her husband was also interested in one and had been researching the internet. Next thing you know, a few people where sending emails poking fun behind this guy's back. Kinda felt bad for him, but at least he had no clue about it.

 

Its always hard to predict how much people know and whether they'll gossip/make fun behind your back...especially in a bigger office.

I totally envy people who get to wear a hat to work, it makes a HT sooo simple.

Edited November 24, 2011 by patwillpat1

[alex02]

Thanks guys! I do plan on taking three weeks off work so I'm not as worrier about people noticing the redness and scabs as I am about people noticing the hair come in later and wonder how I now have more hair. Or should I also be worried about coming back to work after three weeks? I guess the donor scar would still be pretty noticeable? Thanks!

[NEWHAIRPLEASE]

Thanks guys! I do plan on taking three weeks off work so I'm not as worrier about people noticing the redness and scabs as I am about people noticing the hair come in later and wonder how I now have more hair. Or should I also be worried about coming back to work after three weeks? I guess the donor scar would still be pretty noticeable? Thanks!

 

Whats your plan on telling people when the hair starts coming in?

[alex02]

Lol I actually have no plan yet. I was hoping I could get some advice. Thanks!

[alex02]

I usually always keep my hair buzzed so maybe I could just start growing my hair and if people ask I'd say when I grow it out the baldness gets covered? Or I guess that might not work? Or what if I said hair loss drugs helped me? Or do you guys just recommend I just tell the truth? Thanks!

[folliclehero]

Very good question. I remember asking my doc if people would look at my hair that had newly grown in and say "did you have a hair transplant?"

 

He told me I'd be surprised at how few people can even figure out what about you has changed (assuming you had it done by a top-notch surgeon). It looks so natural and grows in so gradually (thin and colorless hair at first), that most, if not all people can't figure out what was done.

 

So people may comment on how you look better, but not be able to figure out why. But just to play it safe, I'd say I was using propecia and it worked really well. Most people don't know enough about the drug to know that it doesn't do much for the frontal part of your head.

 

Also in my case, I have existing hair, so that helps obviously.

[orlhair1]

I only told a couple of people. I was able to grow my hair out pretty long before, which made it easy to cover the work pretty well. Once my hair really started growing in, I kept getting my native hair cut to blend in. By five months when it had really grown in, I started to get compliments from people about how good I was looking. You could tell that they could not quite figure out what had changed. A couple people made compliments about how I was styling my hair.

[orlhair1]

I only told a couple of people. I was able to grow my hair out pretty long before, which made it easy to cover the work pretty well. Once my hair really started growing in, I kept getting my native hair cut to blend in. By five months when it had really grown in, I started to get compliments from people about how good I was looking. You could tell that they could not quite figure out what had changed. A couple people made compliments about how I was styling my hair.

[NEWHAIRPLEASE]

I usually always keep my hair buzzed so maybe I could just start growing my hair and if people ask I'd say when I grow it out the baldness gets covered? Or I guess that might not work? Or what if I said hair loss drugs helped me? Or do you guys just recommend I just tell the truth? Thanks!

 

Thats my plan! Once my HT heals Im gonna keep my hair real short...then hopefully around 6-8 months I will start letting it grow and it will look good..