Hiding a transplant in first three months?

[hairguy1000]

I'm contemplating a transplant, maybe FUE or FUT. But the complication for me is that I'm on TV. (I'm not famous, really.) But I would only do it if I thought it could be well hidden. Otherwise, in my case, it would defeat the purpose. Is this doable? How many weeks would be the minimum to stay off TV? I'm a Norwood 3 so i would hopefully have some hair to grow out to cover the receding area where the transplant would be. (I couldn't get shaven -- how much harder is that for the doctor and therefore me?) And I already use Toppik, which makes me look like I have a full head of hair. The point of the tranplant would be so I really have a full head of hair and it doesn't get worse.

 

Is this workable? What's the risk I can't keep it hidden? Honest...

[esrec]

Honestly, its difficult, but there's some key things to consider.

 

I'm a NW 2/3 just had 2450 grafts to the hairline and too am in a sociable environment (advertising, not TV) where I'm constantly on the move and with people. I too was relying heavily on masking agents like couvre and toppik to create a pretty manageable appearance. I was very concerned with post op bc for all intents and purposes, my hair loss to those around me was minor---hardly what I would look like in reality w/o concealers and w/ some of my native hair buzzed after surgery. Similar to the way yours sounds. Lots to think about.

 

How do you style your hair? And does that cover your key frustration area? For context, I push my hair back (bc fwd looks terrible) but that exposes my front/center frustration area. That spelled disaster for me so I committed to more downtime post-op. You can use concealers from 2 weeks out, but I wanted to wait.

 

What length is your hair? Do you have style options other than current you think you can pull off comfortably? How short can you cut your hair that you'll be ok with pre-op? I ask bc you should at least buzz (shaving isnt imperative) recipient area, so the lesser the disparity between pre-op native hair length and recipient, the closer you return to your normal look.

 

Some of these were questions I was prepared for, some not. I'm approaching 3 months but had committed to time off and travel so its been hats till this point. I'm getting closer to native length pre-op with one caveat--my lowered hairline is now peaking w new hairs which means new hair that werent there now are. You can always buzz and wait for the rest to catch up. Again, more context. Its good to think of every possible scenario. Happy to brainstorm with more with you.

Edited December 22, 2015 by esrec

[leftygolfer71]

I'm contemplating a transplant, maybe FUE or FUT. But the complication for me is that I'm on TV. (I'm not famous, really.) But I would only do it if I thought it could be well hidden. Otherwise, in my case, it would defeat the purpose. Is this doable? How many weeks would be the minimum to stay off TV? I'm a Norwood 3 so i would hopefully have some hair to grow out to cover the receding area where the transplant would be. (I couldn't get shaven -- how much harder is that for the doctor and therefore me?) And I already use Toppik, which makes me look like I have a full head of hair. The point of the tranplant would be so I really have a full head of hair and it doesn't get worse.

 

Is this workable? What's the risk I can't keep it hidden? Honest...

 

Not happening - you will have redness. You need at least a couple months.

[esrec]

Not everyone suffers redness, I didnt. But Lefty's point is the correct one---its unlikely. What I mapped out are things that could tip you in one direction or the other.

 

The only scenario where I've seen someone able to succesfully conceal after 2 weeks was a NW2 patient that had 2000 grafts to the hairline done. But he also had the hair style/texture that could be brushed forward to hide it. If you push your hair back or to the side or are beyond an NW3 its not gonna happen.

[leftygolfer71]

Yeah, I should have mentioned the redness varies, but I think mine is bad because I had 3700 grafts and have light skin.

[esrec]

Its tough as hell no doubt. With concealers I have a small chance at being close to pre-op look at 3.5 months... just get nightmares about returning to the headaches of that routine.

 

OP---lots to think about my man

[qwerty]

My redness with Dr Vogel lasted 4-5 days and then most of the pink went away. My other HT was about 10-12 days of some redness/pink. A day or two before going on tv, just tan and get some redness in your face (of course you have to COMPLETELY cover up all the HT as the rays will damage it). That way if you have any redness from surgery, it will blend in with your face. Not sure where you live, but may be worthwhile to wait until the hot summer months.

 

With my first HT, I only did the sides of my forehead as I was parting my hair in the middle and could over it up. This time around I was kinda scared as I had my entire hairline touched up. It really was not noticeable for me within the first week......

[MrGio-WHTCClinic]

The level of difficulty would depend on which surgeons are being compared. We perform non-shaven FUE on a daily basis. Not many clinics can say they have a doctor who was performing FUE in 2003.

[Louisjams]

Also, the fairer your skin the more red you will get and the slower it will go away, in general.

[joker28]

no a big deal if you tell everyone that you just shaved your head for whatever reason and stay away for 10 days. after that you cover up with light strokes of Dermmatch or toppik or whatevr your concealer of choice is.i was able to do it last year and no one knew..i mean no one.