Losing a Graft

[SoftVoice]

My first night after surgery was fine, but on night 2 I woke up at 4am bleeding from my scalp. When I looked in the mirror, there was a small, little white "worm" in my hair. I called my surgeon the next day (I had flown home) and he told me it was probably a graft. I think because my scalp was so itchy that I must have scratched it in my sleep and dislodged one. I'm not sure how to prevent this but have a couple suggestions. If your doctor gave you a sedative (e.g. Valium) pre-op, take that or an over-the-counter sleep aid for 3-4 nights after surgery to help you sleep more deeply and reduce chances of nocturnal scratching/rubbing. Another is buy some breathable surgical paper hair "caps" to cover your head at night.

[MM1]

Don't feel so bad I bumped my head on the car door a few hours after surgery. The doctor explained that even if a few grafts were gone for good it won't make a huge difference if you have had 1,800 grafts placed like I did. It does suck though because who wants to lose ANY grafts after having to go through all of that.

 

I think your idea is good. I was also worried about having to put my head on the pillow and possibly rubbing the grafts lose for the first few days, so I followed someone suggestion on here and bought a neck pillow.

[RCKHair]

I put socks on my hands when I went to sleep, worked for me!