Day 13 and day 19 post op questions

[tysonjames123]

Hey guys. I know I ask a lot of questions on this forum but I'm trying to be careful with this whole thing. If you can answer the two questions below, I would greatly appreciate it. And I would like feedback from multiple people so I can get several perspectives.

 

So on Day 13 post op of a 1500 fue transplant, I went to my doctor and the nurse told me it was time to be more aggressive with shampooing my hair so I can remove the scabs. I had (and still am) doing the cup method in the shower with baby shampoo. She told me to massage the recipient area until the scabs loosened and came off. Almost every scab had little hairs with it. My concern is... What if they weren't just scabs that fell off? What if grafts were with them? Would I know? Is it obvious to tell if you lose a graft? Again, this was at day 13 when I started massaging my scalp to loosen and remove scabs.

 

I'm currently at day 19 post op. My scalp is still a little "numb feeling" in places and it's a little itchy at times. Is this normal? And tonight I accidentally went under the shower head. I immediately pulled back once I did. Am I ok?

[Td06]

You should be fine past 13 days post op. listen to the nurse and follow your post op instructions. If you really lost a graft there would be some sign of bleeding.

[tommygun]

Grafts should be fine by day 13 for sure and head numbness can last months. Good luck.

[Stig]

You're fine - you can shower as normal now.

[Sethticles]

personally would stick to your cup method for a couple more days, I personally dislodged grafts at day 14, (Oh God i still remember it happening - was all in slow motion - saw 20 or so just gone!!!)

[Stig]

personally would stick to your cup method for a couple more days, I personally dislodged grafts at day 14, (Oh God i still remember it happening - was all in slow motion - saw 20 or so just gone!!!)

 

They were probably already broken from being raked across your scalp by Bhatti during the extraction.

[Sethticles]

@ stig yeah yeah yeah ha ha ha - jokes aside im heading back for some more rake action in 4 weeks

[tysonjames123]

personally would stick to your cup method for a couple more days, I personally dislodged grafts at day 14, (Oh God i still remember it happening - was all in slow motion - saw 20 or so just gone!!!)

 

At Day 14? Oh man... I really hope that I didn't dislodge grafts then when I was removing the scabs at Day 13.

 

How exactly did you know they were grafts?

[Sethticles]

hairs fall out they are about 3mm long, grafts fall out they are about 6mm long with a little bulb at the end, they look completely different

[gillenator]

The hair that came off with the crusts were the graft hair and is perfectly normal. You did not lose any grafts otherwise there would be extensive bleeding oozing from the recipient site.

 

By day 13 and certainly by day 19 which is roughly three weeks post-op, your grafts are secure. So going under the strong flow of the shower is just fine and at this point in time, I agree with your clinic to be more aggressive in removing all of the crusts on your scalp.

 

Scabs and crusts are two completely different things. Scabs are simply dried blood which cover a wound. Crusts are the dead graft tissue above the scalp line and serve no purpose at this point in time and why doctors want them removed.

 

Congrats on your recent procedure...

[Spidey]

hairs fall out they are about 3mm long, grafts fall out they are about 6mm long with a little bulb at the end, they look completely different

 

the bulb means nothing. If you didn't bleed, you didn't lose a graft. Shed hairs contain bulbs as well, it doesn't mean you lost grafts. The cells that generate the hairs remain.