Biggest lie clinics tell you? The redness only lasts a few weeks

[leftygolfer71]

I have yet to see anyone have their redness go away after three weeks...

[Stig]

I have yet to see anyone have their redness go away after three weeks...

 

yup, mine lasted 3 months

[leftygolfer71]

I just wish they were honest. Every time I asked any clinic during my evaluation period it was always "only a few weeks." I will be at two months next week and my head looks like a fricken tomato

[win200]

I think folks with darker skin--especially Southeast Asians--tend to see very little redness shortly after surgery. But I agree, lighter skinned folks really do have lingering redness for quite awhile. I'm about ten weeks post op now, and it's sort of light pink; not that noticeable and I don't really care, but not "back to normal."

[esrec]

Admittedly did not have much redness. Olive skin though. Perhaps it was the ATP spray but cant say for sure.

 

We live by these general rules of thumb that vary by the individual. I was told I'd have my pre-op look by week 4. Meanwhile, my shed occured late, I held onto some, I'm now 2.5 months out and no way my native hair is back to the same length.

 

Sounds silly, but do you take really hot showers? Its actually bad for your hair. Try to at least finish w/ a cold water wash. Do a quick search--it helps with circulation. Also might take away some redness. Btw-make sure no sulfates in your shampoo either.

[leftygolfer71]

Admittedly did not have much redness. Olive skin though. Perhaps it was the ATP spray but cant say for sure.

 

We live by these general rules of thumb that vary by the individual. I was told I'd have my pre-op look by week 4. Meanwhile, my shed occured late, I held onto some, I'm now 2.5 months out and no way my native hair is back to the same length.

 

Sounds silly, but do you take really hot showers? Its actually bad for your hair. Try to at least finish w/ a cold water wash. Do a quick search--it helps with circulation. Also might take away some redness. Btw-make sure no sulfates in your shampoo either.

 

It's funny you mention hot showers. I take really HOT showers...will try a little colder..:-)

[Petchski]

I'm white as a sheet and didn't really get any redness after 7 days, it really does just depend. I looked through my blog from my first HT, and although i'd totally forgotten about it, i didn't get much redness then, but people say the redness post op is a good thing due to blood vessels forming/circulation etc, so i'm not excatly feeling smug about it.

 

ItS said that starting with warm water opens up the pores/cuticle, and you should finish with coldish water to close the pores, same with shaving...that why when if you've ever been to one of them fancy barbers that do wet shaves they put a warm flannel on your skin, then foam yuo up, shave you, them use the flannel again, but this time a cold flannel. I started doing that when i shave, definitely makes a difference shaving wise.

[Bill - Seemiller]

This is an interesting post. I will admit that the information provided is true for some, redness can go away after a few weeks. But for many including myself, post operative redness can continue up to several months. Sometimes it even takes up to six months or even a year to fully disappear. It's probably not the best for physicians to be dogmatic about redness dissipating after only a couple weeks. It would be better for paperwork to say that it disappears within a couple weeks to several months.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[leftygolfer71]

Yes, I agree. It would have not changed my decision to get a HT, but had I known the redness was going to be around for months might have changed when I had the HT...

 

Today I had to do a presentation to complete strangers and I never noticed anyone staring at my tomato head, so maybe it's not as bad or they're just polite...

[Spanker]

My redness lasted about a week, maybe less . I'm olive skinned. You can see on website and thread.

 

It's one of those things you shouldn't give an garuntees on, but a lot of it is that fair skin stays pink longer on average that a darker person.

[Melvin- Admin]

Can't really say I experienced any redness past the first week, but I'm also olive skin tone, reading others with similar skin tone leads me to believe perhaps the lighter the skin the more reddish it may appear, but I think there may be other contributing factors as well.

[Itsonlyhair]

Its day 2 since my fue proceedure. The donor area is red but the graft area seems to be almost normal skin tone. Redness could last anywhere form days to several weeks. I personally haven't heard of anyone experiencing prolonged redness beyond that period.

It differs from person to person and the amount of trauma undergone during the procedure itself. However severe pain, Bleeding, prolonged swelling with or without discharge need to be assessed and might need medical attention.

 

Itsonlyhair

[leftygolfer71]

Its day 2 since my fue proceedure. The donor area is red but the graft area seems to be almost normal skin tone. Redness could last anywhere form days to several weeks. I personally haven't heard of anyone experiencing prolonged redness beyond that period.

It differs from person to person and the amount of trauma undergone during the procedure itself. However severe pain, Bleeding, prolonged swelling with or without discharge need to be assessed and might need medical attention.

 

Itsonlyhair

 

You might want to look at some pics. Redness can and will last for MONTHS not weeks...

[chrisdav]

I think mine lasted around 4 months. Have to agree this is grossly underestimated - it should be stated generally and on the side of caution. The time of starting growth of 3 to 4 months after a transplant for hair to grow is correct.

[HairCenter]

To say that redness goes away in a matter of a few weeks, across the board, is simply wrong. Redness can take several months to disappear or it can be a matter of a one to two weeks. This is not dependent solely on the skin tone of the patient but also the degree of density that incisions are made. The close the incisions are made the more bruising will occur so if you are pale skinned and had a procedure that involved dense packing then you have the highest change of experiencing a lingering redness for several months. If you have olive or tanned skin, being Mediterranean or SE Asian, or even African, redness will be of little to zero consequence. These are the facts and they should be understood by every patient and should be explained by every clinic. This helps patients to better plan their recovery period and creates less surprises.

[KConK]

I'm fairly pale and my redness didn't last long at all. It was something I was a bit worried about before hand as when I asked they did tell me that it is different for all patients depending on skin type and that fairer skin tends to stay red for longer, but I was pleasantly surprised, after my scabs shed I really had no redness at all.

[Britanium]

I have had both FUT and FUE and the redness has always gone after approx. 7 days after each HT. Certainly no sign of any redness/pinkness after this time. Maybe I'm lucky.

[Rodgepodge]

Johnboy. Have you a thread documenting both your HT's with pictures to illustrate how your redness vanished after 7 days? I did a quick search but can't find any pictures from your HT's. I'd like to view your progress from pre surgery to the result you have now.

 

Thx

[Afronation]

To say that redness goes away in a matter of a few weeks, across the board, is simply wrong. Redness can take several months to disappear or it can be a matter of a one to two weeks. This is not dependent solely on the skin tone of the patient but also the degree of density that incisions are made. The close the incisions are made the more bruising will occur so if you are pale skinned and had a procedure that involved dense packing then you have the highest change of experiencing a lingering redness for several months. If you have olive or tanned skin, being Mediterranean or SE Asian, or even African, redness will be of little to zero consequence. These are the facts and they should be understood by every patient and should be explained by every clinic. This helps patients to better plan their recovery period and creates less surprises.

 

 

Not quite right.

 

Many with darker skins suffer from what is called Post inflammatory Hyperpigmentation or PIH. Basically, melanin accumulates in the area where the skin is broken and while it generally disappears of its own accord, it can take months.

[chris39]

This is something I was worried about .

 

Now at 8 days post-op , and thought the redness had changed little . However , just took these photos and am now quite relieved how much it has settled .

 

I'm hoping another 10 days and it will be barely visible .Below are photos post-op 1 day and 8 day .

[Swooping]

Biggest lie?

 

That the donor area is resistant to miniaturization or is immune to deterioration.

 

Complete joke. Some young patients that go for these mega FUE sessions that deviate from mid-low occipital scalp are going to be very unhappy in the future. Some of them are going to have problems with their recipient, no doubt.

 

It's not only AGA that comes into play, but simple deterioration due to aging and it is hypothesized that senescent alopecia plays a role too (indicative evidence).

 

FUT has a clear advantage over this in comparison to FUE imo, as it takes generally the "strongest" hairs from the donor. Depends on individual cases though obviously. Just look at Erdogan for example and how much he deviates from the mid-low occipital region.

 

But yeah the redness is a fallacy too. Mine lasted like 8 months .

Edited December 25, 2015 by Swooping

[MrGio-WHTCClinic]

Redness is an issue for about three months. Concealing the scalp is the only way to camouflage the appearance of redness.

 

In terms of biggest lies, no visible scarring is a good one. Better yet, only a pencil-thin scar is the outcome in the donor area.

[chris39]

Redness is an issue for about three months. Concealing the scalp is the only way to camouflage the appearance of redness.

 

 

 

So , whats the consensus on the best way to camouflage the redness - cover up ?

[TMNK]

My redness lasted for 4 months.. and is just now not visible because of the new hairs sprouting out. But if I look closely between the new hairs I can see some redness still. Redness from a HT is really being underestimated so much from the clinics. I was forced to wear a cap all the time and when not wearing it was embarrassing as hell and commented on by people.

[leftygolfer71]

My redness lasted for 4 months.. and is just now not visible because of the new hairs sprouting out. But if I look closely between the new hairs I can see some redness still. Redness from a HT is really being underestimated so much from the clinics. I was forced to wear a cap all the time and when not wearing it was embarrassing as hell and commented on by people.

 

Yeah, I agree. It's time Rahal and all the other clinics let patients know that a "few" weeks is VERY VERY unlikely! I would have done the procedure a lot sooner. As I sit here at a holiday party with a hat on..