Will using adhesive/tape on scalp to attach hair wig affect success of hair transpla?

[treered]

I have a receding hairline. I have 2 bald areas in the front (just above the forehead).

I am planning to take hair transplant surgery in 1 yr. Until then I plan on using a hair wig to cover the baldness in those areas.

The wig will be attached to my skin with adhesive or tape.

 

I will have to apply adhesive or tape on the skin where the transplant will be performed in the future. It will stay there for many hrs until I wash it at night(and again apply next morning)

(applying adhesive looks like this:

)

 

Will this "SEAL OFF"/"CLOG" the pores through which hair may grow in future/somehow make that area of scalp "UNHEALTHY" and thereby reduce success of hair transplantation in that area, in the future?

 

Or is the hair transplantation preocedure completely unrelated to this and will not be affected by busing adhesive/tape on the scalp?

 

thanks..

[gillenator]

Many years ago when I wore hair systems, I used both polyfuse and tape to adhere the system to my scalp.

 

The issue is not the tape but rather not covering up the grafted recipient area. Yes, it can negatively impact hair growth by using a system over the grafted area.

 

You want the recipient area to breathe post-op.

[ZeoRanger]

Is this a matter of "breathing" or causing irritation?

 

The grafts are supposed to get their oxygen through the bloodstream. I read many times that skin cannot breathe.

 

Anyway, I saw a thread by a woman who started wearing a wig post op after 7 month with sub par results. So wig being a bad idea is a fact. But I wonder if air supply is the issues here or some other issue eg the wig being so tight that it cuts off bloody supply to the scalp or adhesives causing an infection...

[voxman]

I think you are asking if the process of applying adhesives and similar goop NOW with your hair system (wig) will affect the FUTURE transplant area in general - not when you actually have the transplant - and the answer is no. Once you get the transplant, you THEN won't be using any adhesives on your head of course.

[gillenator]

It sounds like the concern is being able to wear the partial system until the regrowth fully manifests.

 

In my own experience of wearing a full system, I eventually lost all of the native hair inside of the perimeter of the system as well as where the tape and glue were situated. I wore full systems for 14 years with HCM.

 

In my first HT procedure, my frontal zone was grafted in and I quit wearing the systems. In the next six months following my procedure, a fair amount of native hair grew back in the mid-scalp and even had some diffused native hair grow back in the frontal zone along with my new grafts.

 

So my surgeon informed me that it was a lack of my scalp being able to breathe as to why I had lost so much native hair from wearing the systems for so long.

[Dr. William Lindsey]

Absolutely. We had 2 guys wearing systems who Promised not to use the adhesive in the area of our transplant...both ended up with several areas of virtually no growth. In every picture we have over 2 years, its clear the scalp in 2 or 3 specific areas was red and irritated AND appeared to have adhesive that had melted or oozed into that area. Despite pictures clearly suggesting that, these fellows didn't change their application procedure and ended up with spots of no growth. We did a touchup on one of the guys at a year or so, and the same exact thing happened a second time.

 

So at our office, wearing a system postop is not necessarily a deal breaker, but this little story and pictures showing this have resulted in no further system wearers postop. Several guys have gone elsewhere, 2 have come in for repair but still would not get rid of the system and have not yet proceeded. And several guys have thrown their system in the trash the morning of their case. So far, ALL of those guys said they just felt "relieved" to be starting a new course.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[esrec]

Absolutely. We had 2 guys wearing systems who Promised not to use the adhesive in the area of our transplant...both ended up with several areas of virtually no growth. In every picture we have over 2 years, its clear the scalp in 2 or 3 specific areas was red and irritated AND appeared to have adhesive that had melted or oozed into that area. Despite pictures clearly suggesting that, these fellows didn't change their application procedure and ended up with spots of no growth. We did a touchup on one of the guys at a year or so, and the same exact thing happened a second time.

 

So at our office, wearing a system postop is not necessarily a deal breaker, but this little story and pictures showing this have resulted in no further system wearers postop. Several guys have gone elsewhere, 2 have come in for repair but still would not get rid of the system and have not yet proceeded. And several guys have thrown their system in the trash the morning of their case. So far, ALL of those guys said they just felt "relieved" to be starting a new course.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

 

Dr. Lindsey, on a separate but related topic, curious how long you recommend your patients wait before using concealers like toppik, couvre or dermatch. Just curious, as my consults with H+W, Shapiro and others have provided ranges from 7-30 days. Thanks. Might be good alternative for above patient too.

[ZeoRanger]

Absolutely. We had 2 guys wearing systems who Promised not to use the adhesive in the area of our transplant...both ended up with several areas of virtually no growth. In every picture we have over 2 years, its clear the scalp in 2 or 3 specific areas was red and irritated AND appeared to have adhesive that had melted or oozed into that area. Despite pictures clearly suggesting that, these fellows didn't change their application procedure and ended up with spots of no growth. We did a touchup on one of the guys at a year or so, and the same exact thing happened a second time.

 

So at our office, wearing a system postop is not necessarily a deal breaker, but this little story and pictures showing this have resulted in no further system wearers postop. Several guys have gone elsewhere, 2 have come in for repair but still would not get rid of the system and have not yet proceeded. And several guys have thrown their system in the trash the morning of their case. So far, ALL of those guys said they just felt "relieved" to be starting a new course.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

 

Thanks for sharing. I'd never consider a hair system but it's good to know.

 

So why exactly is this practice a graft killer? Is it the constant skin irritation that impairs growth or is the glue so toxic that it kills off grafts?

[Spanker]

I'm pro hair system for the right person. If I want able to reach my goals I'd have no problem with it. It's the Alamo for me. Last ditch effort. I've read about people who are very happy wearing, I just prefer not to have the maintenance of one.

 

You can't wear one where you receive grafts after the procedure, but you could wear long bangs to cover the recipient as long as there is no attachments where your transplant is.