At day six, with about 10 minutes under the shower with warm water and some gentle ma

[Irina1989]

Hi, Im very concerned about something.

 

I had a hair transplant 8 days ago, and on day 6, I washed my hair with warm water. I tried to cover my recipient area with my hands and gave a very gentle circular massage with my fingers, just to help the crusts soften and more prone to fall off.

 

I didnt pick, scratch, no nails, nothing hard.

 

So I dont think I was agressive, in fact, I felt a couple of small crusts in my hands and looked at it and didnt see any hair.

 

But I feel like I have less hair in the front line, and it looks like nothing happened there, empty. No hair, no scabs.

 

At day six, with about 10 minutes under the shower with warm water and some gentle massaging with fingers, may some grafts be lost and/or damaged?

 

The first picture is on day 1, the second picture on day 7. On the second picture, doesnt it looks like I lost some?

[Since21]

My post-op instructions said to wait a week before shampooing the recipient area and then do what you described. Before that period, I shampooed the donor site and rest of my hair and just let lukewarm water run over the graft site. I don't think one day is going to make a difference if you did what you described. Especially if you didn't see any hair or what looks like blood from a picked scab. You will steadily lose hair in the graft site for the next several weeks before going into a dormant stage. This is normal. If you are overly concerned, contact your surgeon.

[Blake Bloxham]

Irina,

 

Like Since stated, some clinics ask patients to wait a full 7-10 days (some up to 14) before actually "washing" hair in the shower. Before this point, physicians ask patients to wash the recipient area gently with a cup of warm water mixed with soap without truly touching the scalp with their fingers. Other clinics only ask patients to wash with the warm water/soap mixture for the first few days and then gradually build up to more aggressive washing. If your clinic said you could wash a big more aggressively, then you should follow their specific post-operative instructions.

 

If you didn't pick, scratch, or note any bleeding, you probably did not lose any grafts. At 8 days, you may be noticing some early shedding, and this could account for the slightly different (perceived) appearance.

[rev333]

i've read research that had patients massaging lightly at day 3 and using rogaine that early as well

 

regardless of your method of shampooing, many hairs (not the follicle beneath the surface) will fall within the first week

 

methods vary throughout the industry

 

that said, you did this massaging on a whim or by your doctor post-op instructions?

 

you have excellent hair characteristics for a great outcome

[Irina1989]

Yes, early shedding, sounds more like it rather than loosing grafts.

They said I had to wash my hair everyday, with diluted shampoo into a glass of water. Ive been trying to follow all the instructions, but its confusing sometimes.

 

I hope everything is ok, since yesterday I did go to see my doctor and she didnt see any sign of trauma, but told me only time will tell now.

 

Thank you very much, you really helped me. I kinda feel safer now and surely wont disobey the instructions again.

[Irina1989]

No Rev333, they didn't tell me to do the massaging. I did it because I felt safe at that point, wanted to soften the crusts/scabs and because the soft massaging wasnt uncomfortable to me. But I got scared after looking at it in the mirror for too long.

 

If it wasnt uncomfortable, I guess it was ok, I didnt make any damage, right?

[rev333]

i just read an article that one doc had patients lightly massaging at day 3

(can't seem to post it)

 

you did it at day 6

and only one time

 

so, you'll be fine, especially since there was no bleeding or re-opening of the slits

 

just don't do it again till after 2 weeks to be safer

[Irina1989]

Oh really! So I think its true, I didnt make any harm then. thank you very much.

 

I talked to my doctor and she will teach me how to massage with oil tomorrow, after she removed the stitches.

 

So I havent done it again after that day, but now I know from tomorrow and on it will be fine.

 

Thank you all.