The Emotional Toll of an HT

[Spanker]

Since I have been on this forum, one thing that I have noticed is the immense emotional toll that a hair transplant has on the patient. Hair loss as well.

 

As men, many of us will not even confide in our best friends our insecurities that comes with hair loss and hair transplantation.

 

With an HT comes other worries for some. Before my HT I was consumed with the slow erosion of my hairline. I have to say that even at 2 months post op I feel better and look in the mirror much less often. But new questions arise.

 

In my case, it is questions like: Is that spot going to fill in? Is it going to look dense enough? When is the growth spurt going to happen, and will it?

 

Then the next stage after if grows: How long will this last before I noticeably thin behind the HT? Will it look natural when I do? How quick can I finish paying off my last HT so I can be ready for the next one if and when needed?

 

 

These are the things I, and I assume most , worry about post-ht. Many worries are had before the ht, but that is not the end of the road.

 

At 2 months 5 days post op, I read about people saying, "Wow, I can't believe it has been a year already! It has really flown by."

 

I promise that I will not say that.

 

Just some thoughts.

[s2thoudriver]

I think the key to it is detailed preparation, forward planning and realistic expectations.

 

I read about so many people who have a HT then come on here saying "what happens now", this is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

There are some fundamental things that people need to prepare themselves for. For example:

 

- Make sure you fully understand that all you are doing is moving around what hair you have left on your head, not getting new hair. This is a regular misconception which leads to 'i have poor density' type posts.

 

- Make sure you have read up on the full lifecycle of a HT, not just the procedure, so things like prepping, what to do immediately afterwards, post op care etc etc

 

- Be aware that for the first couple of months after the operation, you are going to look the same, if not worse than you did before, with less money in the bank! Prepare yourself for the ugly duckling phase and accept it.

 

- You should always expect further hair loss as you age, so don't use up all your donor supply in the first HT just in case.

 

If the fundamentals are addressed, the patient is educated and supported, the rest is just a waiting game.....

 

Rob

 

p.s my progress so far dictates i will be one of the annoying "i can't believe a year has passed by" posters, especially as it's the anniversary mark to end my year long blog.

[Shampoo]

I agree with both of you. I am about two weeks behind you Spanker on the same journey. When I get a little down about the ugly duckling phase, I remind myself I was kind of in a "ugly duckling phase" pre-op because the balding was gradually was getting worse, now at least it is gradually getting better....sure the ugly duckling phase is a bitch....but at least there is "light at the end of the tunnel" where before the operation there was no light ahead.

 

Mostly the ugly duckling phase is uneventful, but sometimes ya wanna just cringe a bit, but I have become pretty good at laughing it off. I don't wear a hat at work. Pretty much everyone at work knew before the surgery I was getting it done, so I said "what the heck they know, so I will just return to work and in a day or two the novelty will wear off". That has worked pretty well. Nobody really cares or says much now.

 

So I had dinner last night after work with my brother and a friend of his and the guy's 30 year old daughter. Unknowingly to me, my brother had told this other guy about my transplant, so as soon as we all sat down at the restaurant table this wise-guy blurts out "hey why you wearing a hat tonight I thought you worked today"? I brushed it off, but then later towards the end of the meal he says "hey lemme see...Terry told me you had a hair transplant". So I lifted my hat a bit and he said "oh that dont look bad". It wasn't really an "OMG moment" for me....but dealing with the post-op wise-guys is not fun, but they are few and far between. Most people are supportive, but gosh it will be good to be beyond the ugly duckling phase.

[Spanker]

I firmly believe I will have a good result, but I am talking about beyond that.

 

 

While you are moving hair from one place to another and not getting new hair, it is new hair to that area. Expectations should be based on your plan. Someone of the proper age having a hairline procedure should expect more density than an NW6. I think the "I have poor density" posts are a combination of expectations, poor planning or maybe just a poor procedure. I like to be very careful about placing blame on the patient. It is an easy out.

[Spanker]

Shampoo, do you have a thread or links to your post-ops?

[Shampoo]

Shampoo, do you have a thread or links to your post-ops?

 

Spanker....I have yet to really post any pics. I posted one within a thread.

I know it's an important part of helping the community, but I have not felt comfortable doing that due to so many nuts being on the internet. You may wake up one day and see it's there, but I am not there yet. I have placed a detailed description of my journey on my profile and I try to be as helpful as I can with posters asking questions, but I am just "not there" yet on posting pictures. I know I could black out certain parts of the pictures, but if I do it I don't wanna do it that way. It may happen, just not yet....lol

[Cant decide]

Spanker - I agree and can relate 100%. I want to go back and hit the crown but I am finding it hard to dig deep, bear down, and get the strength to do it all over again (even though I had a great result the first time around). The down time was hard as well as the effort that went into keeping it a secret.

[Getsome1]

Mpbsucks4545 How were your results? Do you have any post op pics now that it's been a year?

[Dr. Ricardo Mejia]

Spanked. I must agree on the emotional toll it plays. I find this even more painful in my female patients. Interestingly, what I have noticed form several of my patients is an acceptance by many once they did share with there friends or colleagues at work it was surprising to see how many patients told me many of there co workers or friends we very supportive , several even more inquisitive about possibly doing it themselves and several that said they were thinking of having the procedure themselves. It would be interesting to get a statistical poll or feed back of the many patients that actually came out and told their coworkers or friends, if the feedback was positive as in the cases of my patients.