Severe pain post FUE in the donor area

[london81]

Hey guys,

 

I am 7 days post op after having 1800 FUE.

 

I had no pain really for the first few days until day 4 and I am now on day 7 and the pain in the donor area is excruciating!! It's some of the worse pain I've ever had, I'm in agony. It's like a mixture of severe throbbing pain, sharp shooting pain, burning feeling, electric shock type pain, it's just awful pain. It definitely feels like the nerves are going crazy. It's kept me awake for 2 nights and tonight is very intense too. I've been taking ibuprofen every 4 hours but it's not touching the pain. I had 3 days of antibiotics from the clinic after the procedure.

 

After the op the donor area was bleeding quite a lot and I had scabs forming quite quick with still a few scabs on the donor. The donor looks fine and looks like it is healing well but the PAIN!!!!!!

 

Does anyone know when this will pass or how I can help ease it?

 

I think I may go to my doctor tomorrow and ask for some Neurontin tablets to see if they help along with stronger painkillers. I've sent the clinic an email too to ask them about it.

 

 

Thanks a lot.

Edited August 26, 2014 by london81

[t00ktheplunge]

Hi London,

 

I am sorry to hear you are in such pain. I recently had a HT with FUT and only had minimal pain more like soreness in the donor area. I was prescribed pain killers, but my doctor suggested I use extra strength Tylenol first, which worked well for me.

 

I would suggest you contact your doctor and don't wait. He will be able to recommend what to do or maybe even call in a stronger pain killer for you.

 

I hope you pain passes soon.

[glocktop]

London, hopefully the worst is behind you but in case its not - I second tercel11's opinion - call your HT doc immediately. Your doc can probably phone in a prescription for you. I'm wondering if you're getting some sort of inflamation or infection.

[Ronan105]

Hey guys,

ut it's not touching the pain. I had 3 days of antibiotics from the clinic after the procedure.

 

After the op the donor area was bleeding quite a lot and I had scabs forming quite quick with still a few scabs on the donor. The donor looks fine and looks like it is healing well but the PAIN!!!!!!

 

Does anyone know when this will pass or how I can help ease it?

 

 

Hi London81, I'm the exact same as you. Same clinic, same procedure but with a few more grafts.

 

I'm curious how long it took to subside? I'm day 5 post op and 2 days ago it went from no pain at all in donor area to severe pain, which peaked last night. I think I slept 90 minutes in total last night. Recipient area is fine and dandy with no pain, looks great there, just an occasional itch which I know is a positive healing sign.

 

I'm emailing the clinic today for advice. Today will also be the first day I can wash with shampoo so I'm hoping that by softening the scabs it will make it a little less painful.

 

To the eye it all looks to be healing a-ok

 

Thanks (and eagerly hoping you'll say it didn't last long)

[london81]

Hello Ronan, I think I saw you in the clinic on Thursday?!

 

I'm only 7 days post op myself and I had no pain at all for the first 3 days then BAM!!! OMG it's the worst pain ever!!

 

I emailed Spex and the doctors reply was this.

 

Hyperaesthesia:

Diclofenac for the night and 30 Min before Omeprazol

And during the day paracetamol or ibuprofen

Vitamines Becozyme twice a day

Starts after the 3-4 day and disapear after 12 to 14 days

 

So I've just been to Boots and raided the shelfs!!!

 

If you have any concerns email Spex but I suspect you are the exact same as me! All healing well but it's just the nerve pain kicking in.

 

Regards!

[london81]

Hey guys, just to update. I emailed the clinic and the doctor said it was 'Hyperaesthesia'

 

This usually develops after 3-4 days post op and can last up to day 14. I think this is quite uncommon to have severe pain but it can happen and is basically just all the nerves going crazy by the sounds of it. Painkillers, B vitamin's and anti inflammation drugs can help ease the PAIN and my gosh is it painful!

 

Thanks for the reply's!

[Ronan105]

Ah yes, that was me! How was your journey home? I was thinking we should have exchanged emails to see how we both progressed but I was kind of high on drugs when I walked through reception so wasn't thinking so clearly!

 

Great to know what they've told you. I have emailed the clinic this morning too with some pics but will expect same response. Curious thing though, after such an horrific night right now as I'm sitting watching TV there's no pain at all. I took 2 Panadol about 2 hours ago so maybe that's helping. It certainly gets worse at night though when I try to find a comfortable sleeping position.

 

I don't want to wish my life away but I'm really excited to hit day 10 / 11 as this is when it seems to be all plain sailing ...

 

How's your recovery?

[london81]

Hello again! Journey home was fine, I was dreading it but it was actually very simple and easy. I left the clinic after I saw you and headed to the station. I did wear the bandana on the train to Brussels but it felt itchy and annoying and I was paranoid about it disturbing the grafts so I took it off before I boarded the Eurostar. I got a few funny looks but I found it amusing really.

 

Yeah, I had the sedation drugs too, they were soooo nice haha. Wish I had some now!! haha

 

Like you my pain starts in the evening most and gets worse... it lessens during the day but it still pangs abit. It's awful isn't it. Some of the worse pain I've had. You're not suffering alone my friend!

 

Recovery seems to be OK, I mean everything 'looks' ok in both areas it's just the donor pain that kills but apart from that I think it's alright! Day 7 today and like you I wanna hit that day 10 mark asap! lol.

 

Keep in touch and you can private message whenever too!!

 

Hope our pain eases up soon!!!!

[FUE2014]

Hi guys,

 

Sorry I can't offer any advice or words of encouragement re the pain, but hope it subsides soon!

 

Was it pretty easy getting from Brussels to Hasslet and did you buy an open return on the Eurostar or fixed time tickets?

 

Will be great to hear a review of how the day went, and I would be interested to hear how much of the work Dr Feriduni did compared to the techs.

 

Cheers!

[london81]

Thanks FUE2014, I hope so too!

 

I bought fixed time tickets for the Eurostar which was fine. I just made sure I had plenty of time between connections.

 

Yes the train from Brussels to Hasselt is very easy. The clinic can email you the link for the Belgian rail timetable. It's a straight train there from Brussels with no changes and takes about 1 hour 15 mins.

 

The day went well. It started at 8am and I had another consultation with the Doctor to answer any questions etc and he drew out my hairline.

 

In terms of who did what, the doctor gave me my injections to numb the areas, he then marked out the donor site and told the techs where to extract from and they got to work.

 

He then checked in a few times during this process.

 

After the grafts were extracted he gave me injections on the recipient site and then made all the incisions while the techs had a break. The techs then came back in after this and implanted all the grafts. So in short, the doctor marks out the hairline, gives the injections and does the incisions. The tech's do most of the 'work' but the real 'art' comes with the design and incisions which the surgeon takes full control of.

 

The staff are all very lovely and you feel like you are in safe hands!

[FUE2014]

Hey London81, thanks for the response.

 

You must be excited to see how it all pans out over the next few months.

 

When are you planning on returning to work, and are you concerned at all what colleagues may say??

[london81]

Yeah it is a funny time as you will find out. It's quite a surreal and magical experience.....

 

Having 2 weeks off and not worried about what anyone thinks! I travelled back from Belgium to the UK with no bandana and it didn't bother me really.