Is 5 weeks enough...

[1978matt]

...to go back to work and hide the fact you had a HT? This is the only thing stopping me now.

 

A co-worker who knows I'm considering a HT was very gung-ho until I showed him some pictures of a patient post op and 1 month after. His words: "you will have to shave your head. That's a b*mmer."

 

So even he thinks it will be quite difficult.

 

The plan would be 5 straight weeks off. Have the op on the first Tuesday/Wednesday then 32/33 days recovery. 4000 grafts on the front half.

 

The sides can be kept long enough to cover the strip scar. Of course, shockloss would be a bit of a lottery.

 

Going on holiday and having a 'bad haircut' is one possible excuse I could use, but if the grafts don't shed quickly and there is redness then that will be difficult to hide.

 

I've generally always kept my hair between 1-2inches in a sort of comb-forward.

[greatjob]

Many people will tell you yes, but I'm not one of them. If this is a FUT procedure there will still be signs you had something done at 5 weeks. Every person is different, some have more native hair that helps conceal the procedure, some heal faster than others, and others have more severe shock loss that hurts the concealment. I am just about 3 months post op and I am just about 100% back to pre-op condition. Every person heals a little different, I would suggest looking at as many post-op pics at around 5 weeks on here as possible and make a judgment call. IMO the idea peddled around by the industry that you will be able to resume your normal life undetected shortly after a HT is a crock of crap. Not to scare you off but I think everyone should go into a HT with eyes wide open. You also might want to look at docs that don't make you shave down, Dr. Gabel and the Shapiro brothers come to mind. Good luck!

[1978matt]

Many people will tell you yes, but I'm not one of them. If this is a FUT procedure there will still be signs you had something done at 5 weeks. Every person is different, some have more native hair that helps conceal the procedure, some heal faster than others, and others have more severe shock loss that hurts the concealment. I am just about 3 months post op and I am just about 100% back to pre-op condition. Every person heals a little different, I would suggest looking at as many post-op pics at around 5 weeks on here as possible and make a judgment call. IMO the idea peddled around by the industry that you will be able to resume your normal life undetected shortly after a HT is a crock of crap. Not to scare you off but I think everyone should go into a HT with eyes wide open. You also might want to look at docs that don't make you shave down, Dr. Gabel and the Shapiro brothers come to mind. Good luck!

 

My preferred doc (Konior) thought it would be fine after 5 weeks. He would only shave the transplanted area to maximise success. The sides could stay as long as desired and used as a 'comb over'

 

He also thought I would probably get some redness but didnt say for how long, but did think I could use make up to hide it.

 

And where I work is 200 people in an open plan, well lit office! And I interact with people on the other 10 floors...

[james84]

This is my problem. I hope to go back to work or home without any signs of surgery, i am having FUE and planning to stay in a hotel for a few weeks until it subsides:confused:

[JohnnyDrama]

This is my problem. I hope to go back to work or home without any signs of surgery, i am having FUE and planning to stay in a hotel for a few weeks until it subsides:confused:

 

From what I've seen, FUE looks a little easier to pull off in terms of masking the fact that anything has been done. With FUT, the 'crusty the clown' look is sometimes necessary to hide the scar, but obviously doesn't look aesthetically natural, so people will probably ask questions. The balance is off quite often. Again, this depends entirely on the areas of the scalp treated.

 

With FUE, it's usually a case of the same length all around, so many can just say they shaved their head. Of course, many other elements can then kick in like prolonged pinkness/redness and shockloss.

 

I'm planning on getting FUE in Aug/Sept, and will be taking the balance of my available holidays for it - 3 weeks. At this stage I'm hoping at least my donor will be looking natural enough, and that my recipient will hopefully have gotten over most of the redness. I expect PLENTY of questions though, because I usually only ever cut my hair to #4 on sides and back and trim on top.

 

I think my excuse for the 3 - 4 'doldrum' months will probably be something like the fact that I'm having a reaction to a drug I took for acne (Accutane - which I did actually take last year), and that I cut everything short because it's best in terms of applying hairloss medication (again - technically this is not a lie ).

 

I'm under no illusion, I will look bad for a few months. I probably will become somewhat of a social recluse for those months, but hey, short term pain long term gain etc etc.

[greatjob]

Dr. Konior is a great doctor. The redness should be lessend by 5 weeks. Its going to take about three months for the native hair in your recipient area to grow back fully, so your going to have the horseshoe look going on if you leave your sides long. I don't know what your hair looks like normally, but from my experience you might be able to conceal the scar at 5 weeks but you are not going to look like your normal self that everyone is used to seeing at 5 weeks.

 

Here's my thread from my HT:

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/169247-dr-rahal-3340-grafts-fut.html

 

you can see the difference between my pre-op and month1 and 2. I definitely looked different than I did pre-op. I would suggest looking at other peoples pics at around 5 weeks and see if its something you can deal with. Do you have any current pics? They might be helpful in determining how you might look at 5 weeks

[1978matt]

Photos attached. There is Nanogen in the middle so it is actually thinner than just at the front.

[greatjob]

Photos attached. There is Nanogen in the middle so it is actually thinner than just at the front.

Ok you have quite a bit of native hair remaining which might mean that you will be in good shape post-op. I would grow out your hair as long as possible before your HT and then have the doc shave only what is needed up top that way you can comb you hair forward to conceal the work. If you couple that with concealers like dermmatch and nanogen you might be able to go undetected at 5 weeks

[james84]

As long as shockloss does not occur, 5 weeks should be fine. Everyone is different and some case people state that they go back to work within the week with nobody knowing.

 

Will you be using Nanogen when you go back to work?

 

I have even heard people use plenty of aloe vera each day to help speed up the recovery and subside the redness. Whilst some use nothing in fear of harming the grafts:confused:

[1978matt]

Ok you have quite a bit of native hair remaining which might mean that you will be in good shape post-op. I would grow out your hair as long as possible before your HT and then have the doc shave only what is needed up top that way you can comb you hair forward to conceal the work. If you couple that with concealers like dermmatch and nanogen you might be able to go undetected at 5 weeks

 

Thanks. That's an idea. I have a can of 'Mane' which could (as a last resort) be used to disguise any shockloss areas around the scar.

[1978matt]

I'd certainly use Nanogen again. It's just a question of how much hair there would be for it to attach to.

[james84]

Planning for a HT is hard but planning for the aftermath is just as hard:(

 

Hopefully the great result in the end will make up for it:)

[1978matt]

Planning for a HT is hard but planning for the aftermath is just as hard:(

 

 

Not to mention expensive!

[james84]

Not to mention expensive!

 

Amen to that!

[NoTakeBacks]

I went to work the next day... >_>

[SV_08]

Had my HT yesterday. I also work in an extremely high profile place, seeing hundreds of different people a day. I took a total of 3 weeks off.

 

Im hoping the native hair will grow in and cover it up. If you want I can definitely keep you posted how it goes.

[1978matt]

Had my HT yesterday. I also work in an extremely high profile place, seeing hundreds of different people a day. I took a total of 3 weeks off.

 

Im hoping the native hair will grow in and cover it up. If you want I can definitely keep you posted how it goes.

 

Hope it went well.

 

A picture the day you go back would be great. I am thinking a comb over with Nanogen is what I will have to do.

[Eman]

Matt-

 

What I did to lessen the redness in the recipient area was to get as tan as possible prior to my HT. That did help a lot, however, there was still redness in my case...but I simply told people I got sunburned again. Your skin is fairly pale, so the redness will be noticeable--even at the five week mark.

 

There is the issue with shockloss, but it looks like the area that you will have done with 4K grafts doesn't have too much hair in the area anyway, which was similar to my case. So, shockloss will probably be more of an issue for you in the donor area--which hopefully can be covered by longer hair in that area. But I wanted to even the hair out around my head so I cut down the donor area.

 

You will look "more" bald at the five week mark and will look the same way you look now at the 3-month mark. There is no getting past the fact that something looks different with your scalp to people. You can explain it away as a sunburn, as a bad reaction to a new shampoo you tried or some other fun excuse. Expect some looks at the top of your head when you go back to work. But who cares--you know what is about to happen in a few months.

 

Think about it, a few looks for a couple of weeks (which you can explain away) is nothing compared to how good you will feel once the hair comes in. And the doldrum period of the HT journey will be a distant memory!!

 

The result (at least for me) makes the hardship of waiting and explaining totally worth it!

[jmg544]

Of course, everyone will have different results and like you, I took exactly 5 weeks off work to recover as well and I did not want anyone to find out. I went the other route by shaving my entire head. I didn't feel comfortable trying to grow my hair long to cover the recipient area and of course it works the other way around as many people are not comfortable shaving their entire head off.

 

As Eman stated, redness will continue to show even at my 4 weeks mark and continue so for 12 weeks. I did get people "telling" me I had a nasty sunburn, because that is exactly what it looks like. No one will suspect that you have a hair transplant unless the quality of the HT procedure is abysmal or if you tell them yourself.

 

To be honest and frank, you'll notice/stress about your head far more than anyone will care to think. lol.

[1978matt]

Thanks guys. I'm a bit more relaxed about it now.

 

Keeping the scar hidden will be the main goal. I will probably see how much shock loss there is (if any) then go to a good barber and have it cut short enough to hide it.