FUT transplant confidentiality

[Olivier]

Hello to everyone.

I would like to get advices from members who got a "FUT" hair transplant.

In a few months i'll get this type of operation. My hairloss is not very wide

(mainly the lobes and a bit on the vertex) and i manage to hide it keeping an adapted hair lenght .

The surgeon plans to implant from 1200 to 1500 grafts. I only talked about this

to some of my close relatives and i don't want anyone else to notice this operation.

I did not go the FUE way for that reason, you need to be partially shaved and

then all confidentiality is gone.

I would like some advice; in order to keep this unnoticed, should i for exemple keep my hair quite long before the transplant (in order to hide post-op crusts and the back scarf) ? Any other idea ?

Another question; as the surgeon withdraws a one cm band on the back of the head, does it lead to the hair front line going back from that same one cm ?

 

Thank you for reading

[Squatch]

Pretty hard to hide the recipient area for several weeks without a hat. Even after the scabs fall, the area still will be red on some patients. I don't know what your hair future is but..... If all you need is 1200-1500 grafts. I would revisit the FUE option. To answer the question about the cm of the strip taken. It is not a cm replaced. It is dispersed over the area you need filled. Spend a lot of time here doing research before you make a decision.

[TakingThePlunge]

I agree with Squatch. Strip and FUE each have their pros and cons. However, as important as confidentiality is, I don't recommend this as the main criteria for choosing a procedure.

 

If you have enough existing hair and it's long enough, strip may allow you to adequately hide the procedure if your surgeon doesn't require shaving the recipient area. If not, the redness in the recipient area will be clearly visible for weeks after.

 

If you have no family history of hair loss and are unlikely to lose more hair, then FUE may be the better choice in your case. This is especially true if you like to wear a very short hairstyle.

 

If you may require subsequent procedures to address future hair loss, a strip now may allow you to have another, larger strip in the future. FUE now would thin out the donor area making it unsuitable for strip but allowing you to potentially have future FUE transplants.

 

In short, we need more information about you in order to provie you with better advice.

 

How old are you?

What is your family history of hair loss?

What are your hair restoration goals?

How do you plan to wear your hair?

 

Finally, if I'm understanding your question correctly, removing a 1cm band from the back of the head will not raise your hairline due to closing the wound. The scalp is very elastic and the stretch is distributed over a large area. Thus, it will not noticeably alter the appearance of the scalp.

[jimmygea]

Hi Olivier

I know exactly where you are coming from in terms of going for FUT, I am myself booked for FUT in June and choose This method because of the same reasons as yourself in that I don't want to shave my head so that I can conceal the fact that I have had an HT from all except close family. At present I'm letting my hair grow longer and think I will not have too much of a problem keeping both the donor and recipient areas covered until they heal.

I presume your doctor has advised you to massage the back of your head to improve laxity of the skin to minimise tightness post op

Jim

[Olivier]

.....

[Olivier]

Thank you for your answers.

How old are you? => 39

What is your family history of hair loss? => on my mother's side men get almost

bald by their mid 50ies

What are your hair restoration goals? => lobes and vertex

How do you plan to wear your hair? => moderatly short.

 

I'll definitly avoid the FUE technic, i don't want my collegues for exemple notice that transplant. To avoid mockery mainly.

I'm planning to do that operation in Tunisia just after summer (for cost reasons), i'll take my yearly month vacation to do so. That'll leave around four weeks for the redness to go away ! :-)

@jimmygea : i hope to hear from your experience in June...

[JoeTillman]

I have to ask, why Tunisia? Do you know your doctor's name? Have you had access to a gallery of results? I'm really curious about this so if you don't mind, would you please share the info with me in private message?

 

Did the clinic or doctor discuss with you the possiblity of donor shock loss? If they haven't then you should be aware that this is a fairly common side effect of FUSS surgery and if it happens to you then your idea of keeping the procedure completely confidential may be unrealistic.

[jimmygea]

Hi Olivier, With regards to JoeTillman issue regarding donor shock loss, obviously this is something to be aware of, but to be honest it Is not really that common and can be minimised by choosing the right Doctor. If you do grow your hair longer at the back before the your HT, I think that you would have no problem covering the scar even if you do suffer some donor loss, but to be honest I would'nt be overly concerned as during my research into each procedure I have not read much patients suffering donor area shock loss it is more prone to the recipient area, which could be covered with longer hair until the redness and scabbing subside.

What HT Doctor in Tunisia have you picked? And hope you have done your research as there are plenty out there just interested in making money rather than meeting a patients expectations

[JoeTillman]

Hi Olivier, With regards to JoeTillman issue regarding donor shock loss, obviously this is something to be aware of, but to be honest it Is not really that common and can be minimised by choosing the right Doctor. If you do grow your hair longer at the back before the your HT, I think that you would have no problem covering the scar even if you do suffer some donor loss, but to be honest I would'nt be overly concerned as during my research into each procedure I have not read much patients suffering donor area shock loss it is more prone to the recipient area, which could be covered with longer hair until the redness and scabbing subside.

What HT Doctor in Tunisia have you picked? And hope you have done your research as there are plenty out there just interested in making money rather than meeting a patients expectations

 

With all due respect, Jimmy, I don't think it is entirely accurate to say that donor shock is uncommon. Donor shock occurs in about 30% of patients and about 20% of patients will have enough that they notice it. This is my opinion of course but it is based on working with thousands of patients. I've seen donor shock occur in patients that had small procedures with zero tension and I've seen patients with high tension closures get off scott free with zero visible shock loss. It is unpredictable and has nothing to do with doctor selection. It can and does happen in the worst of hands as well as the best of hands. The OP may be fine with the post-op appearance but I don't think it is fair to him to dismiss the possibility of donor shock to the point of him not having to consider it. His number one concern is his confidentiality and it is important for him to have the facts, not conjecture.

[jimmygea]

Hi Joe, I'm sorry if you have taken any offence at my post, this was not my intension and as I agreed with your previous comment that it does need to be considered as comes as part of the parcel with a hair transplant. I appreciate that we are all different in our make up hence some get off free whilst others don't. But what I was saying to Olivier is that it may still be possible to hide the donor area if his hair is long enough at the back but as he has no photo we couldn't really comment. My apologies again

[JoeTillman]

Hi Joe, I'm sorry if you have taken any offence at my post, this was not my intension and as I agreed with your previous comment that it does need to be considered as comes as part of the parcel with a hair transplant. I appreciate that we are all different in our make up hence some get off free whilst others don't. But what I was saying to Olivier is that it may still be possible to hide the donor area if his hair is long enough at the back but as he has no photo we couldn't really comment. My apologies again

 

 

Jimmy, no need to apologize as there was no offence taken. I merely wished to reinforce the donor shock point as I feel it is important to understand.

 

All the best!

[Olivier]

Thank you for your advices. I'm going to contact the surgeon to ask him more details about the facts you raised.

By the way, i'm going to see Dr Karim Yacoub in Tunis.

 

[fortune11]

Thank you for your advices. I'm going to contact the surgeon to ask him more details about the facts you raised.

By the way, i'm going to see Dr Karim Yacoub in Tunis.

 

 

Joe Tillman is absolutely correct. Count me among the 30% who had donor shock loss , but fortunately it wasn't big enough to be noticeable .

 

Actually if you have 4 weeks off from work and don't have a scar from any prior FUT surgery , don't see why FUE would be ruled out as an option . Lot of patients I have seen here on this board recovered quite nicely in 4 weeks . You just need to start wearing your hair short before the surgery , such that change in appearance post surgery is less noticeable .

[MrMatt]

I had 1700 FUT grafts 5/2013 at a cost of $6840 using Dr Limmer in San Antonio. The reason, they were well recommended and FUT is all they do.

 

The first day the scar was barely visible covered by an inch of hair ( looking at it though mirrors) There was a little swelling in my temple areas day 2 & 3 .

 

About 10 days all the scabs fell off and were healed. I removed the stitches from the donor area myself. After about 2 weeks graft hairs fell out.

 

At about 5 weeks the new hair started coming in. Had a few pimples in the grafts area off & on for a few months, The donor scar was sore for about 2 months (not bad) and numb for about 6. No shock loss at all. Full results seen at 12- 16 months.

 

My work allows me to wear a hat, but I'd say at the 10 day mark ( once the scabs fell off) my procedure was almost undetectable.I never told anyone and no one gave me strange looks, so I believe your secret will be safe.

 

I need about 3000 more grafts & have been doing extensive research on Mexico and very happy on the information & real reviews I've found so far. I have narrowed it down to 3 or 4 places. I plan on using FUT again for these reasons:

 

I already have the scar

I'll never wear my hair short enough to see the scar,

Larger amount of graft survival

More economical, price wise

I haven't had my head shaved since 1966 & don't really want to start now.

 

Hope this helps

[Olivier]

You're the first to give me a positive feedback about FUT !! Thanks, i was getting really scared as FUE is absolutly out of question.

 

@ MrMatt "You just need to start wearing your hair short before the surgery , such that

change in appearance post surgery is less noticeable" .

=> i can't, i'm hiding my baldness keeping them long enough. If i cut them short, everybody will notice the "missing pieces", and then one month later (hair still short), the

holes would have disapeared ! Everybody would notice i had surgery.

 

@ jimmygea : if you don't mind, i would like to keep in touch with you to learn from your

experience as you're having that operation in June. Would that be ok for you ? Maybe

we could exchange our mails ?

Thank you.