How many months is it best/safest to wait between 2 strip surgeries?

[Lotsofhair]

Hi everybody,

 

How many months is it best/safest to wait between 2 strip surgeries? I mean BOTH for the donor area and the recipient area (so as, in the latter case, to not hamper or kill growth, or cause schock loss and the like).

 

Explanations along with the specific numbers would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you so much : )

[orlhair1]

Most clinics recommend waiting at least a year.

[NEWHAIRPLEASE]

Most clinics recommend waiting at least a year.

 

This is correct!

[jerzig]

12 months minimum is what I've heard from several sources.

[Raj Jayukdht]

at least 12 months for your scar to heel

[Blake Bloxham]

Lots,

 

It is best to wait a fully 12 months before undergoing a second follicular unit transplantation (FUT) procedure.

 

This holds true for several reasons:

 

First, it takes a full 12 months for the results of a hair transplant procedure to fully grow and mature. Undergoing a second procedure before the initial results are completely matured could lead to unnecessary graft wasting and potential shock loss.

 

Second, patients really should allow 12 months for the donor region to fully heal from the first strip extraction. Removing and closing another donor strip before 12 months could result in unnecessary trauma and scarring.

[Cant decide]

I think the larger the first procedure, the longer one should wait to have the second. My rule of thumb which is only my rule and has not been taken from any medical source is one should wait a year for every 2000 grafts done in the first op. So, if you have 4000 grafts done, wait 24 months until you have the second. Again, just my opinion.

[gillenator]

Regaining sufficient scalp laxity to accomodate another strip excision is critical to avoid having a wider than desired strip scar. Most patients need at least one year to regain this required laxity which in many cases involves doing scalp laxity strectching exercises.

 

If the former strip procedure was small and the initial strip was thin, gaining the proper laxity may not be as much of an issue. Yet it never hurts to be extra safe and wait it out.

 

And as was already mentioned, it does take one full year or so to fairly judge the full "visual impact" of the prior procedure. One of the things which bother me is hearing from time-to-time that a patient was called in for a subsequent procedure within 6-9 months of the first one. Why? Because in many cases, it was because the patient "had the money to pay for another procedure".

 

Then the patient can't figure why they did not gain the level of density that was promised in the subsequent procedure. They tell me that more recipient incisions were made with more grafts added in the same area! Chances are, there was significant transection done to the former transplanted follicles that did not even sprout yet.

 

And the thing that gets me is that most of the ones that went in too early had waited for years before doing their first procedure.

 

Some of the vets call it "hair greed" and however it may be labeled, the repeat patient owes it to themselves to wait it out and give the first transplant enough time to full mature.

[Dr. William Lindsey]

I encourage people to wait 1 year. Part of this is for healing to be complete...but any quick review of most textbooks discussing wound healing will show a chart that says something to the effect that by 6 months most wounds are back to about 85% of their pre-injury strength. And if you read further, it usually says they only get to about 90% no matter how long you wait... So for most hair cases that aren't unusually tight, I personally feel that its not likely to cause any additional significant healing problems in the strip area even were you to proceed with a similar closure at 6 months. That obviously requires good surgical technique and reasonable scalp laxity. I personally have done a handful of 2nd cases at exactly 6 months, always on people who were moving permanently back to the far east and who had agreed with me this plan prior to their first case. Unfortunately only 2 or 3 of those people ever stayed in contact with me, despite promises to the contrary, but I can tell you that in those guys there were no surprises. They healed fine, maybe had a "B" scar rather than a "B+ or A", but no infections etc.

 

More practically from my standpoint is that I want them to wait so that A: they know that the surgery "works" prior to handing over more money on faith; B: as a direct result of that, they are way less nervous and the case proceeds more easily; and C: I can see where we need to start and stop the second case, plus if there are a couple of areas along the hairline that are a bit thin, I can place a few singles there as needed.

 

That is my reasoning. Doesn't mean it works for everyone, but it never hurts to wait that full year. In fact I just saw a man Friday, who, at 6 months, 2weeks, has a huge amount of growth from 2800 grafts we did earlier this year. He's already pushing for a crown case. We together agreed to revisit this next May. I told him not to be in a rush to spend that donor hair. Wait and see if one case will be enough. You can always do more later if indicated.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[TommyLucchese]

Really enjoy reading your posts Dr. Lindsey, thanks!