Regular Member RyanT Posted November 29, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted November 29, 2014 Had my first HT this past Monday with a reputable surgeon on this board. Everything seems to be going as planned, however, my donor scar is quite larger and more noticeable than I expected. One of my main concerns going into this was that I prefer my hair fairly short (2 guard in back & sides) and that I would be able to return to work in 7 days without worrying about covering anything up. I thought I made that pretty clear to them. Well, I have 2 days left and this scar seems much more massive than I expected and there is no way it is going to disappear by Monday. I've seen plenty of results from this Dr. and the donor scar is barely noticeable (after healing) and I still feel very confident about the procedure and that everything will be good. But I'm a little worried about how long it will take for the donor scar to heal up. Not to mention he decided to take a chunk of hair off the side to boot! Am I going to resort to wearing a hat and coming up with excuses for the next two weeks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Squatch Posted November 29, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted November 29, 2014 Have a picture of the scar? Dr.Gabel 3972 FUT 11/3/14 Progress/Results Below http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/177388-3972-fut-dr-gabel.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member RyanT Posted November 29, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 29, 2014 Have a picture of the scar? as of today Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member RyanT Posted November 29, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 29, 2014 Some pics of the up top work from the first few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member SADbutTRUE Posted November 29, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted November 29, 2014 welcome to the forums, heal well and heres to great growth, that's a nice amount of grafts. you didn't have to shave down the reciepent area? the doc planted them between hairs, that's impressive , most docs you have to shave for larger graft counts. call the doc and ask him whats best to conceal scar , good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hadenough2014 Posted November 29, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted November 29, 2014 There is little chance you can wear your hair at a 2 guard (with complete conceal-ability) with an FUT scar unless you heal unusually well, which is a possibility. But with 4000 grafts, I suspect the doc stretched the limits of your laxity. More common is a 3 guard and that is after scar healing occurs over several months-that is what most users on this forum find will work. You will find some users on this forum who can go very short. The tricho method can help conceal the scar, but hairs often grow horizontally coming through the scar-so the scar is hidden but the hair looks a little different than the rest of the back of the head if you clip it down too far. On the more current note, what you are seeing seeing after a few days is the shaved area around the scar and maybe some shock loss right around the scar. It will take about 2 months for shocked hairs to come back and between 2-6 months for the pinkness to be completely gone. The scar should be flat in about 4 weeks and you should see pinkness fading. My scar (I am 6 weeks in) is easily hidden at a guard 5 or more and my pinkness is about 75% gone. I also had 4000 grafts. My Dr. Told me that a 3 guard length (I actually cannot use a clipper due to my wavy hair) would be ok to hide the scar, and so far that seems like a fair assessment, but I have some healing to go and hairs to come through the tricho closure. Remember, if you are unhappy with the scar results, you can consider FUE into the scar in the future. This has been very successful for a number of users on this forum. For the next 2-3 months, you just need to treat it with baby gloves and give it time to heal. I would normally ask who your doc is and then look at his pics from this site, but I sense you are not ready to share that yet. Your head is not shaved for 4000 grafts, so I have an idea which doc it could be. I would definitely advise letting your hair grow out for the next 1-2 months if you desire complete conceal-ability. Best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Squatch Posted November 29, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted November 29, 2014 Hair is a little short. My Dr told me to grow it out some before the procedure to hide the incision. Have you been washing and gently rubbing the scar? Looks like a lot of scabbing that you are seeing. My donor area 5 days after the surgery was just barley pink. My signature has a pic. It did turn darker about at 3 weeks to just pink. I kept a antibiotic cream on it for 12 days. This may have kept some of the scabbing down. I might able to do 3 clipper. I think it depends on you donor density and hair caliper also. Can you wear a hat at work? Will hide well if you can. Dr.Gabel 3972 FUT 11/3/14 Progress/Results Below http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/177388-3972-fut-dr-gabel.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member RyanT Posted November 29, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 29, 2014 Thanks guys I could pull off wearing a hat for a couple days, but after that I will be dodging questions and I hate lying. I will also undoubtedly have to visit clients in the field over the next couple weeks. Just extremely nervous about how I pull this off without people noticing. I do know end the end I will be very happy, just have to get past this part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hadenough2014 Posted November 30, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted November 30, 2014 You could ask your doc about using a concealer such as Toppik or Dermmatch. I wouldn't have wanted to try it so soon into my healing process, but I have seen that other people on the forum have used it pretty early on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member scooter Posted December 5, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted December 5, 2014 Concealers worked wonders for this purpose for me. But I waited until about 10 to 12 days post op. Dermatch and Fullmore helped me out big time. You may want to experiment with some. Good luck, Scott 1st HT 1973 FUT's with Dr.Robert Mcclellan 6/28/2007 *unfortunately I have no info on hair count on my 1st surgery .. 2nd HT 3026 FUT's with Dr. Bernadino Arocha 1/9/2014 1's - 797 2's - 3700 3's - 246 5634 hairs http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/attachment.php?attachmentid=54945&d=1389315686 3026 FUTs 1 day HT#2 post op frontal picture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member scooter Posted December 6, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted December 6, 2014 Can I ask a question. Just curious why didn't you grow your hair out about an inch before your surgery? You could have helped cover your donor area much easier. 1st HT 1973 FUT's with Dr.Robert Mcclellan 6/28/2007 *unfortunately I have no info on hair count on my 1st surgery .. 2nd HT 3026 FUT's with Dr. Bernadino Arocha 1/9/2014 1's - 797 2's - 3700 3's - 246 5634 hairs http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/attachment.php?attachmentid=54945&d=1389315686 3026 FUTs 1 day HT#2 post op frontal picture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member RyanT Posted December 6, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 6, 2014 Can I ask a question. Just curious why didn't you grow your hair out about an inch before your surgery? You could have helped cover your donor area much easier. They never told me I should do as much. I had two consultations (about a year apart) but in both my hair was short and it wasn't mentioned or wasn't a major concern I guess? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member RyanT Posted December 6, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 6, 2014 But I have been wearing a hat all week and nobody has bugged me about it. Being the owner has its advantages I guess. Picked up some toppik tonight cause I have a couple parties to attend this weekend. We'll see! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member scooter Posted December 6, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted December 6, 2014 But I have been wearing a hat all week and nobody has bugged me about it. Being the owner has its advantages I guess. Picked up some toppik tonight cause I have a couple parties to attend this weekend. We'll see! You'll be fine, just remember with toppik and any other concealer less is better. By the way, congratulations on your recent surgery. It's nice to able to get a procedure done without a shaving the recipient area. You had a good number of grafts, looking forward to seeing your progress. Take care, Scott 1st HT 1973 FUT's with Dr.Robert Mcclellan 6/28/2007 *unfortunately I have no info on hair count on my 1st surgery .. 2nd HT 3026 FUT's with Dr. Bernadino Arocha 1/9/2014 1's - 797 2's - 3700 3's - 246 5634 hairs http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/attachment.php?attachmentid=54945&d=1389315686 3026 FUTs 1 day HT#2 post op frontal picture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member puma Posted December 6, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted December 6, 2014 There is little chance you can wear your hair at a 2 guard (with complete conceal-ability) with an FUT scar unless you heal unusually well, which is a possibility. But with 4000 grafts, I suspect the doc stretched the limits of your laxity. More common is a 3 guard and that is after scar healing occurs over several months-that is what most users on this forum find will work. You will find some users on this forum who can go very short. The tricho method can help conceal the scar, but hairs often grow horizontally coming through the scar-so the scar is hidden but the hair looks a little different than the rest of the back of the head if you clip it down too far. On the more current note, what you are seeing seeing after a few days is the shaved area around the scar and maybe some shock loss right around the scar. It will take about 2 months for shocked hairs to come back and between 2-6 months for the pinkness to be completely gone. The scar should be flat in about 4 weeks and you should see pinkness fading. My scar (I am 6 weeks in) is easily hidden at a guard 5 or more and my pinkness is about 75% gone. I also had 4000 grafts. My Dr. Told me that a 3 guard length (I actually cannot use a clipper due to my wavy hair) would be ok to hide the scar, and so far that seems like a fair assessment, but I have some healing to go and hairs to come through the tricho closure. Remember, if you are unhappy with the scar results, you can consider FUE into the scar in the future. This has been very successful for a number of users on this forum. For the next 2-3 months, you just need to treat it with baby gloves and give it time to heal. I would normally ask who your doc is and then look at his pics from this site, but I sense you are not ready to share that yet. Your head is not shaved for 4000 grafts, so I have an idea which doc it could be. I would definitely advise letting your hair grow out for the next 1-2 months if you desire complete conceal-ability. Best of luck. Hi, I'm going to need FUE into scar because my scar is bigger than the doc told me it would be. I was planning on going to either Dr. Doganay or Dr. Bhatti. Do you recommend either of them? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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