Patch in donor area

[synonymoused]

I am 9 weeks post a 5000 graft FUE. The hair in the donor area seems to grow well except in this bald patch. I am not sure how i got it, i was scratching crusts off my donor in the first month post op. i was scratching quite a bit since the crusts were easily coming off that way. It felt good removing them manually like that. Maybe this patch is a result of that when i scratched a giant chunk of crust? But now it seems like hair is growing around it but not in it. When I asked my doc he said that more hair was harvested from this part and the remaining hair have fallen out due to shock loss, which will start growing back together with the transplanted hair after 3 months. I asked him why this happened only in this one area of the donor and he said because they extracted more hair from here as it was pretty dense.

[rev333]

I am 9 weeks post a 5000 graft FUE. The hair in the donor area seems to grow well except in this bald patch. I am not sure how i got it, i was scratching crusts off my donor in the first month post op. i was scratching quite a bit since the crusts were easily coming off that way. It felt good removing them manually like that. Maybe this patch is a result of that when i scratched a giant chunk of crust? But now it seems like hair is growing around it but not in it. When I asked my doc he said that more hair was harvested from this part and the remaining hair have fallen out due to shock loss, which will start growing back together with the transplanted hair after 3 months. I asked him why this happened only in this one area of the donor and he said because they extracted more hair from here as it was pretty dense.

 

 

Yes he is probably right. Shockloss will com back slowly over the course of the year.

 

I you had a giant crust, which is not usual, then the removing of it by scratching wasn't the problem. The giant crust formed after the hair was lost to trauma or whatever. So don't worry about thinking you caused this. You didn't.

 

Just gotta wait it out. Oh and you do have very dense donor hair. Congrats on that!

Happy growing!

Edited March 24, 2016 by rev333

[Bill - Seemiller]

It's honestly not a good idea to scratch any area while it is healing whether it be the donor or recipient area. Constant scratching can cause infection or at the very least, additional irritation that could have led to exacerbated shock loss. The good news is, that shock loss is temporary and the hair in the area will grow back even if it takes and additional several months. I highly doubt you did any permanent damage that would have caused the hair not to grow back. So the good news is all of the hair should grow back in time. Patience is tough at a time like this but it is your best friend.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[JohnCasper]

Your donor area will eventually grow in. The contrast of your darker hair and your scalp makes it more noticeable. It may take 3-4 months but it will grow back. You had a major FUE surgery. I had 5,125 over 3 and a half days in 2012. I did not experience shock loss with my donor area and after about 3 weeks you couldn't tell I had surgery in the donor area.

 

Bill is right, try not to scratch your donor area and let it continue healing on its own. If you want to see what to expect with such a large FUE procedure you can look at my before/afters on my blog. I'm glad you found this HTN site to speak with former patients etc. This site is great for this. My pictures and expectations are at ..... MyFUEhairtransplant.com

 

Be patient and happy growing.