Post-OP HT (FUT)

c29f · July 1, 2014

Hi,

I've been lurking the forums for a while but decided to make an account. I've been suffering from hair loss since I was around 22 and now 25 years old, currently on the scale I'd rate myself Norwood 5A. Unfortunately back then I never paid too much attention as I had kind of long hair and I didn't really examine carefully on how severe my hair loss was until about a year ago. I've recently started propecia daily (a month ago) and have been using Nizoral for a year twice weekly.

Unfortunately my dad's entire family line is cursed with hair loss on the males and they all suffer, I decided to undergo a HT, I'm of asian (pakistani) descent and consulted with a surgeon recommended by a few family members. I spoke with his consultant initially and he told me clearly that they, under normal circumstances, do not operate on 25 or under unless the hair loss is severe as they don't know exactly how I'll be balding. I then started exchanging pictures of my hair condition and donor area by mail and got told I am eligible and my donor was good.

Fast forward I've had my surgery about 5 days ago (Strip Ultra Refined procedure) which took around 6-7 hours, it was mainly to reconstruct my hairline towards my crown (but not the entire crown as it was not possible in one session, which i'm okay with). Towards the end of the surgery when doctor was out of the room I asked the assistant approximately how many grafts and was told around 2600 and he mentioned I had very very good donor hair/density and they mostly yielded triple hair per FU so it was somewhere in the 7000 hair range (still skeptic about this part as study shows the average is around 2.2 or so). The surgery itself was in Pakistan but I'm having my stitches removed in the UK by my GP after 10 days exactly.

I had kind of long hair coming from the back and sides which covered my front, I expressed that I did not wish to shave these just yet and they were fine with it and applied tape for the surgery itself and some kind of creme after surgery which apparently holds the long hair to the back so they don't touch the grafted area (it seems it's still in effect though)

I was given careful post-OP instructions for the first 10 ten days not to touch my grafts, bend, wear buttoned shirts to avoid lifting it through my head, no hats of any sort, sleep with head upright, not to shower for 48 hours, no physical activity, no sweating, no caffeine or aspirin/etc, avoid direct sun exposure for 3-6 months and a list of medicines for the first 5-10 days.

I do have a few questions amongst those that are experienced in the post-op procedure namely;

Am I allowed to use a towel past 10 days or should I take extreme care when doing so?

Should I shower twice until the 10 day period? Currently only taking one shower a day but don't mind two.

Should I touch the grafted area after 10 days with the shampoo and slowly pat (or rub)? Or still take extreme care and not use shower jets for a longer period?

Currently as instructed I mix some baby johnsons shampoo with some lukewarm water in a cup and slowly pour it over my head and then rinse it in the same fashion (without touching the top of my crown, only gently patting the donor area). I had a swollen face first day post OP but the next morning it pretty much vanished, the redness is barely noticeable/gone from the recipient area and for some reason I just can't seem to notice any scabs at all which worries me slightly (or I just don't know what to look for). I do keep having erratic itches which makes me want to scratch the living hell in the recipient area but that would probably not be pretty. I have not noticed any blood after the surgery at all, not a single drop and the transplanted hairs are beginning to grow (stubble).

Let's see how this goes, I just wish I had kind of started propecia about 2 years ago as that save me a lot of trouble and stress - oh well. I have off from work for another 3 weeks and am allowed to wear a cap there's also no physical activity involved so I should be good for the healing period.

I'll be posting some pictures later as I currently don't have a camera except for a very dodgy phone camera, the surgeon did take some pre-op photos so I'll mail him to see if I can get those.

Edited July 1, 2014 by c29f

Blake Bloxham · July 2, 2014

C,

After 10 days, the grafts should be fully anchored and secured. You really can't do any permanent damage at this point. Returning to a reasonably normal routine, such as showering and drying with a towel, should be fine. However, you should always double check this with your clinic.

Best of luck!

c29f · July 4, 2014

Ah I see, I'll start with some light towel then in the first few days.

I've attached some pictures and I'm exactly 7 days post op now, unfortunately the camera is pretty bad so you can't get a proper look on the grafts. I'll work on a better view of the grafts as soon as I get my hold on a proper camera.

First picture is of the donor area, the second and third picture show the hair loss. My hair loss started off on the crown, I have kept my hair long as I was instructed to do so for the HT but I'm going to cut them short sometime after the sutures have been removed.

4th, 5th and 6th picture are post-op 7 days, as you can see I still have existing hair on the front and some random strands of hair around the scalp. Can anyone spot any scabs? I have no idea what to look for as they all seem fine to me when looking in the mirror.

The last picture is of the scar which is virtually not detectable as my hair is kind of long at the back/sides.

On another note the Dr. had applied some kind of creme to keep my hair all tied to the back or sides (i'm not sure what it is called), I used to just let them roll over the front to hide the hair loss together with a hair concealer and it worked out fine. The sides look a lot thicker because of this, I'm personally not sure how long this ointment persists for as I can still feel it applied when I touch the hair beneath the sides and back.

I might go for a 2nd transplant on the crown area if this turns out successful after a year or two (I personally haven't asked if my donor area was capable of more but I assume it does), i've also noticed a few regrown hair in my crown but it might be due to propecia (1 month atm).

c29f · October 27, 2015

It's been roughly 16 months now, I was going to update more regularly but didn't really get the time due to work and so on.

I'm going for another transplant sometime next year for the crown area and to complement the front more (I still have very good donor area left so hopefully I'll be able to make some good use and get the crown done and dusted).

Currently I use a concealer to cover up the crown and sometimes use some concealer on the front if it's particularly sunny. So far everything seems to be fine, I've not had anyone think that I've got a HT. I've kept my hair kind of long so I can drag the hair from the sides and so on.