Procedure #3 scar - 4 mos. post-op

[MCS]

Perhaps the band appearance or depression I complained about before

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/165185-delayed-no-growth-possible-multiple-hair-transplants.html#post2298975

was just part of the scar healing. What I see now is a narrow "bald" scar line remaining on my right side only which shows if I pull back my hair (HT #3 pics below).

 

 

 

As you can see, most of the redness has faded, but this little hairless "path" remains; the left side scar is barley detectable, so no pics necessary. I'm sure the doc used a trichophytic closure all the way around as he did on the first two procedures, but why is the scar healing not uniform?

 

Prior to staple removal (see below)

 

 

 

Is there any reason the hair would not grow back through the scar line as they did successfully on the first two procedures? I cannot find the first two scars no matter how hard I look. That's really the bottom line here.

Here are some 60-day post-op scar pics from the first procedure which are now undetectable: (see HT #1 pics below).

[MCS]

I am now at 7 months post-op and the hairs have not grown through the scar yet. Doc confirmed that he used tricophytic closure. WTF is going on??? Anyone?

[Spanker]

I am not an expert but here is my take. Trico closure is not a catch-all. It can help in the right circumstances, but when you are talking about a 3rd procedure, there is no guarantee that your scar will not stretch, which seems to be the case here, A scalp has only so much elasticity and you may have reached yours unfortunately. You may see some more hair growth but I would not expect much more. I am sorry not to have better news for you. On the bright side, you are pushing 10k grafts and it may not be very much of a consolation, but I think the scar looks pretty good for that many grafts. If it really concerns you, you may consider FUE or SMP into the scar. You appear to be a would be NW6 with a nice head of hair, so for that I am happy for you, Hope someone else chimes in with something more constructive. Good luck,

[MCS]

Aside from the scar line (which isn't an issue unless I pull my hair back like in the pics) there is some improvement, but I am still having to use Toppik to fill in the "blanks" where the hair has not yet grown around the sides and top of the scalp. :confused:

[aaron1234]

Spanker is right on the money. I think your scar looks pretty dang good for 3 procedures. I also see some hairs growing through - just not nearly enough to disguise it more. But your hair is wet and combed up in the photos to showcase the scar. And I'm quite positive you never wear it that way in public. So I think you are probably ok.

 

Furthermore, the pics you have posted of your scar are labeled 4 months post-op. If that's the case then you have also healed quite well. If you are at 7 months now it would be helpful to see updated pics.

[aaron1234]

Aside from the scar line (which isn't an issue unless I pull my hair back like in the pics) there is some improvement, but I am still having to use Toppik to fill in the "blanks" where the hair has not yet grown around the sides and top of the scalp. :confused:

 

Applying toppik for the scar would be difficult because of the angle. Try dermmatch. That works like a charm for donor scars. It really helped me through my shock loss periods.

[MCS]

Applying toppik for the scar would be difficult because of the angle. Try dermmatch. That works like a charm for donor scars. It really helped me through my shock loss periods.

 

So, you've had 3 HTs done as well. Did it take longer for the grafts to finally grow out on #3 as compared to the first 2?

[aaron1234]

I hear that is the case for many patients - but I personally didn't notice much difference between round 1, 2, or 3 regarding growth times.

[MCS]

Now at 8 mos. post-op. Neither my first nor my second procedure took this long to see results.

 

While the scar line isn't visible at this length, at this point, I'm really thinking something went wrong here. The worst thing is that I still cannot go out without using a concealer (i.e. Toppik). As I told my doc, the whole reason for me going in a third time is so I won't have to keep using damn Toppik. Sometimes This really sucks when friends that know I've have HTs blurt out, "You're still bald". Toppik looks great once applied, but I risk embarrassment and can NEVER rest my head against anyone furniture unless it's black!

 

As you can see in the photos:

 

1) There is still a linear depression directly below the rear scar line that has not minimized or healed (as I white-lined in the below photo). And, as you can see, the thatch of hair directly below this weird depression is more dense than above then strangely thins out again on the neck line. I never had these inconsistent variables of sparse and thick like this before.

 

2) Diffuse thinning remains on rear of crown and just above scar line.

 

Thoughts:

 

1) Permanent shock loss from multiple procedures

 

2) Delayed or no growth possible because of multiple procedures as I had complained about here:

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/165185-delayed-no-growth-possible-multiple-hair-transplants.html#post2298975

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/166063-procedure-3-scar-4-mos-post-op.html

 

3) Vascular compromise (decreased blood flow to the area caused by injury to the scalp from multiple procedures) and this may have resulted in sub-optimal graft growth

 

These posts are giving me some hope, but still think I'm cutting it awfully close:

Timing of Growth After Multiple Hair Transplants - Balding Blog

 

Blood Supply and Delayed Growth in Hair Transplants: Hair Restoration Paper | Bernstein Medical - Center for Hair Restoration

 

You can see my pre and early post-op photos here (click on the thumbnail, then click "Photo Info" for the description):

http://s57.photobucket.com/albums/g207/CS2006/HT%203%20PHOTO%20ALBUM/

 

Any advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated at this point.

Edited September 5, 2012 by MCS

[Mop]

I have the same issue after my third HT in May this year on the right hand side. My theory is that the staples started on the left side where there is so much to play with , basically an open flap. As the staples moved left to right , it got tighter and more uncomfortable and I know the right side was an issue, the surgeon used clamps and struggled with it.

 

Think of closing a jacket with a jip, its easy the bottom but when you get close to the last 10% at the bottom, things get tight as your body fills in !