Donor area pain after FUE

[HairJo]

I think it's like some are posting it's nerve damage and also the healing process that makes you feel itchy try not to scratch although I know you want too. Sometimes it takes awhile for the nerves to heal and calm down. Cold water on a wash cloth just lay it on your head it will sooth the itching for awhile. Good luck I know it can be terrible but give it time.

[pareshani]

Thanks. Today is day 9 and it is the worst today, and was last night. The sharp needle like pain seems to have increased. I don't even think the pain killers helped today so far.

[HairJo]

I take 2 Aleve I suffer every day with head and neck pain. I truly hope you get better I'm sorry to hear you still have pain. it's so hard to deal with pain especially in your head believe me I understand.

[gillenator]

We all have varying degrees of threshold to pain and if the painkillers are not doing the job, the only other thing I would recommend is icing the area.

 

You should start getting some relief soon.

[pareshani]

Thanks guys. I will have to start icing i guess if things don't improve tonight. I am hoping it doesn't last for more then 2 weeks and also that i get some feelings back on the back of my head donor area. Thanks again guys, will keep you guys posted.

[JesseCuster]

Hey Guys,

 

I recently underwent a FUE . I am 6 days Post Op and I feel a burning and pinching sensation in my scalp donor area. Its nothing that I can not bear but on a scale of 1 to 10 , I would rate this pain as 6-7. Is this normal ? I am alittle concerned because its causing me a great discomfort and I have to get back to work in few days from now. With this pain its hard to concentrate.

 

Its worth noting that beard donor area has been absolutely fine with no pain at all.

 

I have sent an email to my doctor regarding this and awaiting a reply from him. Meanwhile I thought I would ask experienced people here in the forum to figure out if this is something I should be worrying about ?

 

I realize this is a very old post, but just wondering how long it took to pass in the end?

I'm on my seventh day after an FUE transplant (2,000 follicles) and about 2 days ago the intense pain started. It's barely there during the day but at night the extremity of the sensation is excruciating. So odd that it's such a difference at night.

 

Anyway, surgeon said it's not common (maybe 1 in 200 patients) but it happens, he's had about 3 cases over the years. Told me it can last up to 2 weeks, but I'm really hoping it's more like 2 as I'm going on holidays next Monday. He prescribed Tradol (Tramadol in the US I think) and some cream whuch I have yet tp pick up, but I've been using alo vera gel in the meantime. It's bareble with the painkiollers but I really don't want to have to keep taking them for too long as they're quite strong.

 

If anyone has any advice it'd be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[gillenator]

There is probably a fair amount of nerve pain and inflammation that you are experiencing.

 

Anything that has an anti-inflammatory ingredient in it should help...

[ScientistGuy]

I realize this is a very old post, but just wondering how long it took to pass in the end?

I'm on my seventh day after an FUE transplant (2,000 follicles) and about 2 days ago the intense pain started. It's barely there during the day but at night the extremity of the sensation is excruciating. So odd that it's such a difference at night.

 

Anyway, surgeon said it's not common (maybe 1 in 200 patients) but it happens, he's had about 3 cases over the years. Told me it can last up to 2 weeks, but I'm really hoping it's more like 2 as I'm going on holidays next Monday. He prescribed Tradol (Tramadol in the US I think) and some cream whuch I have yet tp pick up, but I've been using alo vera gel in the meantime. It's bareble with the painkiollers but I really don't want to have to keep taking them for too long as they're quite strong.

 

If anyone has any advice it'd be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks.

 

I actually thank you for bumping this thread because I keep reading how "uncommon" this pain is, but I don't believe that.

 

I am going into my 9th day now after FUE and I am having severe pain in the donor area since day 3.

 

The description others in this thread have given is very similar to mine. Pain is around a 3 to 4 during the day time, but at night before bed, it is around a 7 or 8. Enough to where I cannot lay my head down properly on the pillow. Lots of tension and aching in the neck/base of skull. Clearly some damage has been done to the occipital nerves...

 

I do find it strange that the pain can vary to such an extent based on the time of day and Aleve doesn't seem to help me much.

 

I'm wondering if your pain subsided, and if so, when would you say?

 

10 - 14 days seems the general consensus...

[consensus]

I have had a FUE operation last week and I am still experiencing this pain in the back of my head.

 

It is now day 8 and the pain started on day 4 out of blue.

 

I have been advised to wait 2 weeks for the pain to wear out by the patient advisor.

 

The pain is a mixture of burning, electric shocks and thumping and as you all have said, it gets worse after 7-8pm at night.

 

I take 200 mg Advil every 4 hours and it decreases the pain to 50% but nothing more. I have been sleeping 4 hours a day for the last week and am really exhausted.

 

This is something serious to be aware of when deciding to undertake FUE and it is not mentioned by the clinic most probably for marketing reasons.

 

I hope the pain won't be permanent for all of us.

[gillenator]

There should be an improvement as the nerve endings heal. So many of them get severed from the endless amount of recipient incisions, but they do heal.

 

You should start noticing a big improvement in another 30 days or so.

[E39]

I have had a FUE operation last week and I am still experiencing this pain in the back of my head.

 

It is now day 8 and the pain started on day 4 out of blue.

 

I have been advised to wait 2 weeks for the pain to wear out by the patient advisor.

 

The pain is a mixture of burning, electric shocks and thumping and as you all have said, it gets worse after 7-8pm at night.

 

I take 200 mg Advil every 4 hours and it decreases the pain to 50% but nothing more. I have been sleeping 4 hours a day for the last week and am really exhausted.

 

This is something serious to be aware of when deciding to undertake FUE and it is not mentioned by the clinic most probably for marketing reasons.

 

I hope the pain won't be permanent for all of us.

 

 

200mg ibuprofen is a small dose for a man. Try increasing your dosage.

[makaveli22]

hello everyone i just got done an fue facial hair transplant 1000 grafts and its been 9 days since the surgery i still have alot of pain of my donor hair area back of my head its really a very heavy pain on the scale of 1-10 i would say prolly 7-8 and it gets worse when i try to sleep i dont know whats going on i have been to my doctor after that he says everything looks fine too him no infection or anything but i really fells its those exact areas where he injected the needle to numb my donor area please has anybody faced the similar situation before its been 10 days and i am really worried i cant even sleep properly cant even work properly i am really going thru a hard time pain killers helps for couple of hours and i am also taking antiboitics aswell please any advice would be highly appreciated

thank you

 

its day 10 and it does not seem to get any better really worried

[HairJo]

Give it time I think it will get better soon . I wish you the best

[gillenator]

It's probably more attributable to inflammation and swelling more than anything else.

 

And I agree, you are probably just on the edge of the pain improving in the very near future.

 

Ibuprofen has anti-inflammatory properties.

[ScientistGuy]

hello everyone i just got done an fue facial hair transplant 1000 grafts and its been 9 days since the surgery i still have alot of pain of my donor hair area back of my head its really a very heavy pain on the scale of 1-10 i would say prolly 7-8 and it gets worse when i try to sleep i dont know whats going on i have been to my doctor after that he says everything looks fine too him no infection or anything but i really fells its those exact areas where he injected the needle to numb my donor area please has anybody faced the similar situation before its been 10 days and i am really worried i cant even sleep properly cant even work properly i am really going thru a hard time pain killers helps for couple of hours and i am also taking antiboitics aswell please any advice would be highly appreciated

thank you

 

its day 10 and it does not seem to get any better really worried

 

 

I had my FUE hair transplant in June of this year... so about 4 months ago.

 

After surgery I experienced severe pain in the back of my head, and when I researched it... information was surprisingly lacking.

 

The pain was as you said around an 8. It would get much more severe closer to bed time, but during the day time the pain was like a 3 or 4. Sleeping was brutal, I had to sleep on a inflatable J-shaped pillow sandwiched between another pillow in such a way that the back of my head was "floating" to reduce the amount of contact the back of my head had.

 

Everything I did read said that experiencing such pain was extremely rare and only occurred in a small small percentage of people. That upset me because I felt a bit alone and couldn't believe it was "that rare" because I regard myself as a fairly healthy person and I went to one of the top doctors in the world in Turkey.

 

Anyways, the pain does go away by day 14. Around day 10, the pain did not subside at all and I was starting to panic because I read a situation where someone had pain for several months and years and had to go on Lyrica for nerve pain.

 

Basically the nerves in the back have to regenerate, and during that process, it causes severe pain. It isn't an infection. I could go more into detail on how the nerves can spiral into a coil like formation and what happens during nerve regeneration but this message is getting too long as is. Please take lots of B vitamins as vitamin B6 helps with nerve regeneration/health.

 

I used Ibuprofen sparingly because it hurt my stomach as well, and lots of aloe vera.

 

By day 14, I was 90% better... just wait 4 more days and tell me how you feel.

 

It was seriously an emotional and painful experience after and I really empathize with you, especially because this is one of the least talked about subjects of hair surgery and literature makes you feel "abnormal" and "rare"... You will be ok, just a few more days!

[makaveli22]

Hey thank you so much for taking out the time and reply appreciate it

Day 12 and i still have the pain not so much like before but its prolly 2 out 10 and i get these pinch kinda

Feeling after every few mins but last night i still had a hard time sleeping it still hurts quite alot if my donor area is touching anything hopefully its nothing serious it before it felt like this feeling would never go away and it freaked me out i am gonna wait 2 3 more days like you said and contact my surgeon again i paid so much money to get this done and he didnt even tell me the post op is gonna be this horrible i got it done from a top doctor newport beach california

[ScientistGuy]

Hey thank you so much for taking out the time and reply appreciate it

Day 12 and i still have the pain not so much like before but its prolly 2 out 10 and i get these pinch kinda

Feeling after every few mins but last night i still had a hard time sleeping it still hurts quite alot if my donor area is touching anything hopefully its nothing serious it before it felt like this feeling would never go away and it freaked me out i am gonna wait 2 3 more days like you said and contact my surgeon again i paid so much money to get this done and he didnt even tell me the post op is gonna be this horrible i got it done from a top doctor newport beach california

 

No problem, I wish someone was there to send me a reply during that situation!

 

Oh yes, that reminds me, I did also have that pinching randomly. The pinches came and went for more than 14 days (maybe 3 weeks to 4 weeks), but that was MUCH better than the pain in the back I'm sure you will agree.

 

My doctor had no information on this post-op either. Don't let the doctor tell you this is "super rare". I think that is a BS answer and not true. All the doctors online acted so "confused" and "shocked" at the pain when people would post online and it surprised me that these experts in hair surgery were so clueless.

 

The fact that your pain is 2 out of 10 now at times is great. When you start noticing pain reduction then take that as a great sign.

[aWidowsPeek]

All of you guys talking about extreme pain for a couple of weeks after Fue....did your doctors not give you good pain meds!? Mine gave me 2 weeks worth of anti-inflammatory meds and great pain meds. I felt no discomfort or pain after my 2000 graft fue .... NONE not even a mild headache.

[makaveli22]

day 14 the pinching on the donor area is getting harder and more painful i still cant sleep properly if anything touches my donor area it still pains alot plus since last 3 days i have been getting headaches really not a good feeling arghhh already tired of it its been 2 weeks post op sucks how long did it take for you to not feel any pain even if you touch it the donor area ???? plus when does the pinching go away ????

[HairJo]

I think the pinching is just the healing process . Tiny little nerves trying to reconnect. I'm sorry this is painful for you . Did you get any advise from your doctor ? Can he give you something for the pain? I hope you feel better soon . I know it sucks.

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

Makaveli,

 

If you're only two weeks post-FUE, this may still be post-operative inflammation or temporary nerve damage. In fact, if you're feeling it even with light touching of the area it likely is due to changes to the nerves themselves.

 

Have you spoken to your doctor about the ongoing discomfort?

 

A few things to keep in mind:

 

1) It very much still could be temporary at this point.

2) You should definitely discuss it with your doctor and see what he/she recommends

 

Remember that because the FUE harvest is spread over a larger area in the donor, more superficial nerves are disrupted. This means the potential for more of this "neuropathic" (nerve-based) pain you seem to be describing above. In many instances it's temporary and goes away as things heal up post-operatively. This is likely where you are now.

 

Hope this helps! Keep us updated.

[gillenator]

Could not agree more....

[omyhair]

day 14 the pinching on the donor area is getting harder and more painful i still cant sleep properly if anything touches my donor area it still pains alot plus since last 3 days i have been getting headaches really not a good feeling arghhh already tired of it its been 2 weeks post op sucks how long did it take for you to not feel any pain even if you touch it the donor area ???? plus when does the pinching go away ????

 

I'm at Day 11 post op on a 2300 FUE. Today, finally, I feel better at about a 2 / 10.

 

Just as you described, my pain kicked in on Day 4 and at Day 8 it was peaking. I have a high pain tolerance and this was likely the 2nd most painful thing I've encountered. I started to take pain killers on Day 7.

 

I think you're going to have to time when you take the pain killers. I started taking Aleve (lasts 12 hours) at 6pm so it would at least last me through the night. During the day, as painful as it was, I tried to ride it out - but when in dire need I took 2 Advils (lasts 4 hours).

 

The key thing is that it WILL get better. That's the biggest concern I had. It's my first HT and I was kicking myself for going through with the procedure to live with this type of pain for months.

 

I still feel some zaps in the donor area and definitely it's numb. Also, on certain donor wounds if I touch it brings the shooting pain back for a few seconds - so I'm avoiding that as much as possible.

 

Lastly, when pain gets ridiculously high I just took a nice warm shower and for me that worked wonders and relaxed the donor pain for some hours.

[gillenator]

Glad your found something that eases your pain and discomfort...

[Yavr]

Hello guys, first I wanna say that I'm really glad I found this Forum, I have felt like I was the only person on earth with these pains.

Now I'm six days after surgery and I suffer from severe pain that began on the second day after surgery/third.

First of all I must say that during the operation I felt tremendous pain. I felt any needle that pierced the scalp (2 sessions , 4300 follicles, the first day was a nightmare for me).

 

The pain focused in the donor area (not only), The pain became stronger especially when I put my head on the pillow (90 degrees). It?s not constant but it?s coming in waves/attacks at nighttime/evening and feels like needles or knifes in my head that makes me shivering. This can last for hours. I don't know what to do anymore! I'm exhausted after four sleepless nights but still can not sleep. I'm worried and depressed. I can't deal with this pain anymore (I really don't care about itching). I just want it to end but when?