One month donor scar concerns

[winston13]

I recently had surgery done on April 25 so it will be 1 month since my surgery in two days. The recipient area is looking great but I'm concerned with the donor area. My left & right side ends seems to look ugly in my eyes. This was one first surgery and it was done at CHI in CO.

 

I what to know if my donor area is healing right. I understand it can take 3-8 months to heal. I'm just concerned my scar will be stay big.

 

Also I would like to get a haircut soon. Before the surgery I would get a 0 fade but because of the scar I understand I will no longer be able to do that. So what is a good size for a fade? My doctor told me a 2 grade can be used after two month but I'm afraid you will still be able to see it and no hair will come out on the right side. Let me know what you guys think. Photos are attached. Thanks

[win200]

I won't sugarcoat this: this is a very bad scar. It looks like it's stretched, and it's extremely jagged. My scar is a little below average and it's not nearly that wide. Based on that width, a 2 grade is totally out of the question. I can do a 3 grade, but I went down to a 2 grade once and the scar was totally visible. I'd try a 4 and see how that goes. You'll want to wait until the scar is fully healed, but I'd look into FUE into the scar plus SMP if I were you.

 

What doc did this?

[Garageland]

Winston,

 

It looks like shock loss to me as it is patchy and is better in some areas than others.

 

If the donor closure was tight then this can happen at 1 month the scar is still healing and you will not now the full outcome of what the scar is going to look like until you reach the 6-8 month mark.

 

The shock loss will come back around months 4-6 and I fully expect you will be in a much better position. I have seen this on quite a few occasions.

 

Try not to panic, have you reached out to your Doctor and ask his opinion. As for hair length I would tell your barber to scissor cut your hair any buzz cut is going to expose that area at this stage.

 

My advice is open up to your barber and explain the situation before he starts to cut it you don't want to end up with it too short and feeling more self conscious.

[Spanker]

I agree that a lot of this is shock loss, but I would say that the right side looks a little suspect of being a stretched scar, but honestly, it is hard to tell from the pics. You will see a definitive line where the scar is, which a certain amount of scar tissue in between (should be about 2mm), and then in your case, shock loos below it and above it. If the scar is actually stretched, with scar tissue separating the top and bottom part of the incision line, you will likely see little to no growth in that area.

 

I hope you keep us posted.

[Mickey85]

Still very very early to evaluate.. There most likely is alot of shockloss going on. Is the scar stretched? Hard to say as the area is still healing and redness is present, along with the shockloss. You most likely will not be able to shave down to a grade 2 at all without the scar being visible, your surgeon should not have said that to you.... General consensus with strip scarring is a grade 3 best case scenario.

[winston13]

I'm hoping its not stretched but I'm seeing the doctor next thursday so I will follow up with him. I knew going into the surgery I would no longer be able to go really low and I'm happy with that I'm just hoping the scar heals up better then what it looks like right now.