Senior Member youngsuccess Posted February 19, 2009 Senior Member Share Posted February 19, 2009 The portion of the scar behind my ear is pretty thin for the most part, but the closure in the conventional donor area in the back definitely stretched: Trying not to dwell on it, as I'm only two months post-op, but something definitely is up. I'm thinking I slept on it weird or something, since I remained at an angle for several weeks after the initial healing period. Is it possible that this created some kind of pull on the scalp? ------- All opinions are my own and my advice should not constitute as medical advice. View my My Hair Loss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Glenn Posted February 19, 2009 Regular Member Share Posted February 19, 2009 Can you tell us how many grafts and where you had your strip done? when did you have it done? My Hair Loss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member PLEASE GROW PLEASE Posted February 19, 2009 Senior Member Share Posted February 19, 2009 Looks like it has stretched and those train tracks are from sutures I believe. The redness does magnify everything. You really have to wait up to 6 months to really judge anything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member thanatopsis_awry Posted February 19, 2009 Senior Member Share Posted February 19, 2009 I had a similar look for a while, and it wasn't until the redness went away that things "settled down" into an adequate look that I wasn't expecting given how "stretched" it seemed before (this took me like ~9months, if I remember aright). ----------- *A Follicles Dying Wish To Clinics* 1 top-down, 1 portrait, 1 side-shot, 1 hairline....4 photos. No flash. Follicles have asked for centuries, in ten languages, as many times so as to confuse a mathematician. Enough is enough! Give me documentation or give me death! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member youngsuccess Posted February 19, 2009 Author Senior Member Share Posted February 19, 2009 Yup, repair patient. I was worried I did something to aggravate the scar, although sounds like you guys think it's normal at this point. Thanks for the input. ------- All opinions are my own and my advice should not constitute as medical advice. View my My Hair Loss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Dr. William Lindsey Posted March 18, 2009 Regular Member Share Posted March 18, 2009 Your scar is a bit wider and redder than the norm. BUT, you are at 2 months on a redo apparently. ALL scars look there worst at 6-8 weeks. It will almost certainly improve. I'd suggest checking in with your doc and let them take a look. An in-person exam is WAY better than looking at a pic. Free advice, take it for what its worth. Dr. Lindsey McLean VA William H. Lindsey, MD, FACS McLean, VA Dr. William Lindsey is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairthere Posted March 18, 2009 Senior Member Share Posted March 18, 2009 My scar looked similar on one side the first few months. now i can't even find it. even if it did stretch there's nothing your doc can do about it right now, so just relax and give it a few more months. I am the owner/operator of AHEAD INK a Scalp Micropigmentation Company in Fort Lee, New Jersey. www.aheadink.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kemper Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I'm at 2 months and my scar looks exactly like yours. Thinner on the sides and wider at the back. I actually was also thinking that maybe I had stretched my scar by the way I was sleeping. Hopefully once the redness fades it will be less of a concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member youngsuccess Posted March 22, 2009 Author Senior Member Share Posted March 22, 2009 Whoops, missed these comments. Thanks for the replies. At three months the scar is improving as the redness gradually continues to fade. Will update with pics in a few weeks. ------- All opinions are my own and my advice should not constitute as medical advice. View my My Hair Loss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Eman Posted March 23, 2009 Senior Member Share Posted March 23, 2009 I too had a very red scar and was so until recently. Give it some more time as I have read that it gets a lot better from the six to nine month mark. My initial HT thread: done and done!! Check it out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member youngsuccess Posted May 24, 2009 Author Senior Member Share Posted May 24, 2009 The scar has improved dramatically over the past few months. The first picture is of the donor area after a haircut buzzed down to a #4 (couple days ago); the one to the right of that is the exposed scar currently. The bottom left pic is at two months, the one opposite at 5 1/2. Next month I'm buzzing down to a #3 and I'll share the results. If it's acceptable, I'm going to go for a #2 with the expectation that there will be definite detectability, but I've used hair mascara during my donor shock period with success, so we'll see what happens. ------- All opinions are my own and my advice should not constitute as medical advice. View my My Hair Loss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member youngsuccess Posted June 14, 2009 Author Senior Member Share Posted June 14, 2009 Ok, buzzed down with a #3 guard on the clippers. I am pleasantly surprised considering how much I assumed the scar had stretched several months ago. Don't get me wrong: there is still some detectability. However, it's not as profound as I had feared. Plus, I'm hoping that the scar will continue to fade and that maybe even some of the remaining shocked hair will return (although I believe most of it has). Basically from a head-on glance at the back, all is normal. Coming in at different angles you get the "hat-head" look, a little patchiness and some mild dicoloration. And it's mostly the area under the scar, not the actual scar itself. But again, at 6 months I think it's promising. Also the area on the side of my head is basically 100% undetectable in my opinion, the concern is mainly in the conventional donor area. I have confidence that I'll be able to go down to a #2 and have an acceptable look with the help of some hair mascara, which I will be doing and sharing soon. I recently also realized something important: despite my scar I still have the option, to SOME degree, to buzz down. So I'm done with strip. I DID experience some scar stretching. But it could have been disastrous, and it wasn't. Too unpredictable for me to mess with anymore though. FUE from this point on (including in the donor scar), and if signs of significant loss start to loom over me, the plan will be FUE with the intention of keeping a closely buzzed head. Use the magnifying tool to see up close. ------- All opinions are my own and my advice should not constitute as medical advice. View my My Hair Loss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - Seemiller Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 youngsuccess, Overall, that's great news. Your scar does look a whole lot better at 6 months and not nearly as obvious. I also think it will continue to improve over the next 6 months. I think this post is a great reminder for those in the early stages concerned about donor shock and/or stretching - that evaluating a scar early is premature. Keep us posted. Best wishes, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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