Very Red at 2 Months. Transplant disaster, health issue, or just #@$ luck??

[wilkinte]

I'm about 3.5 months out from my FUE and I still have a little redness. It's faded from where it was in the beginning but still discernible.

 

My thought is it's just our biology, we heal differently for whatever reason. Lots of blood flow into all those little wounds.

 

My complexion is kind of ruddy reddish anyways (especially in the summer) so it's not violent for me.

 

Just hang in there, at the end of the day you will have hair covering that area even if it stays red. Maybe try suntanning (bandana off your recipient area) and get your face/forehead a little darker?

 

People taking shots at your doc or the procedure itself makes little sense to me. If the grafts are in and growing they did the job.

 

Best wishes!

[JayBandana]

5 month update

 

Unfortunately, the main point of this update at the 5-month post-surgery mark is the same as all the others: the redness on my forehead is still as red and obvious as ever. There has been no improvement in the redness since 2-3 weeks after my hair transplant surgery.

 

I thought to not bother with another update as it's the same depressing news and it's been dropping me further and further down in spirits. But I've gotten several messages asking how it's going. I know there are a lot of people suffering from redness themselves who are looking at this thread, plus I've heard that many prospective patients are reading through this as they make a decision about their own surgery. This is now the most read thread started on this forum in 2017, apparently, and I've been told as well by doctors and patient advocates that they're linking to it for their own patients. At least I'm happy it's doing some good.

 

So here you go, here's the 5-month update in the real-time story of how post-hair transplant redness can exist long-term despite the entire HT-industry saying it's impossible, and how it can remain so extreme for so long and destroy your life and your spirit.

 

Fotos

 

 

 

Hair growth

The results of the hair transplant are starting to become more clear at the 5-month point. It has a lot more popping and maturing to do, but at 5 months, the hair transplant itself is fine.

 

It seems pretty clear at this point in my case that the redness has no impact on the hair transplant itself.

 

Appearance of the redness

It's still just as red as it has been since 2-3 weeks post-op.

 

For everyone who comments that "lingering redness" is normal for several months after surgery... no. No, no, no. This is not a "lingering redness", a skin area which looks kind of pink, which gradually fades week by week, and which can be hidden with make-up or explained away as a sunburn. This is an extreme, very visible redness which has not changed in tone from 2-3 weeks post-op up to the 5-month mark. Many people have sent me their own pictures of their own redness, and it's instantly obvious in their cases as well. It's not a "lingering redness"; it's an extreme, long-term redness which creates an obvious and glaring cosmetic problem.

 

The maturing of the transplanted hairs make the redness appear worse. At 5 months, there are now enough hairs that the darkness of the hairs makes the redness of the skin look very dirty and unhealthy. And the redness makes the hairs look odd as well: they actually match my existing hair in tone, but because of the redness underneath them, it appears that the new, transplanted hairs are different than the existing ones. A disaster all around

 

To be clear, the transplanted hairs aren't dense enough to hide the red skin. I don't know if they ever will be dense enough; I'll have to wait at least until the 9-month mark or so.

 

But what is very clear from both my own progress and the pictures that other redness-sufferers have sent me is that the red line highlighting the hairline is a major problem. It's a very precise line which traces the exact path of the implanted hairs. Human eyes are very good at noticing a pattern like a straight line, so it's very easy to spot even a small mismatch between the redness and my natural skin tone of my forehead. And in my case and that of all post-HT redness sufferers, it's not a slight mismatch: the redness is extremely different in tone than the adjoining forehead skin, so it's very, very obvious even in low light or from far away.

 

I'm very disappointed by the progress in the redness. No improvement in redness, and it's now clear that even after final HT results are visible, I will have a permanent red highlight visible on my hairline.

 

 

Treatments

No new news about treatments.

 

I spoke to several more hair transplant surgeons. None of them have any ideas. Most of them deny redness can even exist. Sadly, I've found 2 more situations in the last month of HT doctors who claim redness cannot exist long-term but where I know as a fact that one of his own patients currently has long-term extreme redness.

 

I spoke to several dermatologists. The academic dermatologists who specialize in wound healing have explained to me how difficult my situation is to resolve.

 

On the other hand, I've spoken to several dermatologists who own well-known clinics who are convinced they can treat me. But it's been such a disappointment. Reputation in the world of patient-paid medicine is a funny thing. I've seen the same issue now in HT doctors and in dermatologists: self-promotion (including paid-but-disguised marketing) and big talk creates an aura of success and competence, even among other doctors, but it's completely uncorrelated with actual knowledge and ability. Two famous dermatologists who are highly recommended by other doctors told me (separately) that they're absolutely convinced that their special laser techniques can fix the redness without doing any damage to the hair follicles. They swore up and down that they can fix my redness. I said I'd fly to meet with them, but just wanted to confirm beforehand how they plan to treat the redness when no other doctor has any confidence. And then suddenly begins the hemming and hawing, and you soon find out that behind the curtain of huffelpuffery is a doctor of no substance just selling treatment with whatever machine-du-jour it is that he bought most recently.

 

 

Life

A week ago, I decided to test if I'm exaggerating how bad the redness looks. I stepped out to a local shop to buy something. The clerk at the register doesn't know me, had never seen me before. But when she saw me, she immediately asked if I'm ok, if I'm bleeding, if she should call for help. :eek:

 

So now I always keep wearing a hat, even to just step out for a second. The whole point of a hair transplant was to improve the hairline and make myself feel and look better. Instead, I'm now hiding out because of the red bandana etched on my forehead from the the hair transplant surgery.

I stopped work completely. During the warm summer, I could still kind of meet with people by convincing them to sit outside at a cafe. And then I could reasonably wear a hat without drawing attention. It was weird, and a real pain to see and use computers and do much work, but I was able to kind of pull it off with some silly talk about wonderful weather. But as summer ends, it's back inside buildings and off with the hat. So work is completely stopped. There's no way I can do my job with this red bandana etched across my forehead.

 

I'm going to rent out my apartment and move to a cheaper place. No point in paying to live in an expensive city when I'm no longer able to work in it. And I can use the extra money from renting out my place now that I no longer have any income.

 

I have no social life any more. What else is there to say.

 

 

Support

Thanks again to everyone who's offered me their support. Really helps a lot.

 

 

 

 

- Jay

[mattj]

The increase in density of the transplanted hair is obvious since your last photo update. I'm sad to see that the redness is still obvious, too. I noticed the dark appearance of the hairs that you describe as being nothing to do with the hairs at all. I suppose it must be due to the light colour of your hairs and the redness showing through them. That is actually as unusual to see as the redness itself.

[voxman]

I feel very bad about the long term skin redness and please do not take my comments in a negative way - I'm trying to think of what I would do - but have you considered - as your hair is growing and thickening - changing your hairstyle to a comb down Caesar cut or perhaps even giving your entire head of hair a Brown or Red rinse/dye job?

[TrixGlendevon]

Why don't you try dying your hair and see if that makes it less obvious? The skin will still be red but it may make it less obvious on the hair itself.

[matt3480]

Exactly what Voxman said....grow it out, sweep it forward. You should not see any red at that point. Grow it out a couple inches.

[hairthere]

I agree with Voxman, you should try coloring your hair and combing it forward. Also, what are you doing at this point as far as topical treatments?

[JayBandana]

I really appreciate very much all the kind comments from everyone here.

 

It's great to read all the ideas and suggestions you guys have for me. Fwiw, I've tried dying the hair, and I've been growing it long, it's the longest of my life now. But no luck, the redness is still very, very visible. And really creepy looking.

 

I'm sorry that I haven't posted here for a while. I stopped work, rented out my place, and moved away because the redness on my head has not improved. The transplanted hair has grown a bit longer, but no new hairs have grown in since around month 5, so the density is sparse. It'd be normal for a hair transplant result, maybe even considered a success in fact, if not for the redness. But in my case, it's a problem and the redness is very visible through the thin hairs. The pictures from close-up actually make it look better, because it makes the hairs seem more visible, the contrast between the normal skin zone and the redness less precise, and leads you to think that it's not soooo bad. But when seen from normal distance, the redness is very, very obvious, very jarring, and - even I have to admit - pretty gross. My head looks very unhealthy, a fresh, gory, bloody wound on my forehead, a pulsing, contagious infection ready to burst from my scalp.

 

Think I'm exaggerating? Read on...

 

I want to apologize to the guys who have written to me recently. I haven't responded in weeks to anyone. Most importantly, I want to apologize to all the guys who are also suffering from long-term, extreme redness from hair transplant surgery. I've emailed with many of you, and I know there are a lot more who have been following my progress and hoping for some solution. This message is for you guys, my fellow perma-redness sufferers.

 

In the first months after my own surgery, I was very active. I did lots of research, I met with many doctors, scientists, and researchers, I emailed privately with scores of guys who had severe redness, and I updated this thread frequently. I left my email in this thread, and a lot of guys found it and wrote to me. They put faith in me that somehow I would find a solution for them. Heck, I had faith in myself too. I assumed that I would find a solution; after all, I thought, I'm a smart guy, I'm very tenacious in solving challenges, and it seemed that this redness was a problem which hadn't been solved only because the hair transplant industry wants to pretend that it doesn't exist. I figured that no one had really put enough effort into finding a cure, so hey!, I just need to throw on my cape, go into Super-Jay mode, and I'll solve it. Wham, bam, here's the cure, man!

 

My optimism was contagious, and I see now that not only did I end up as a self-appointed leader in the movement of us guys who have been scarred by extreme, long-term redness following a hair transplant surgery, but I also gave a lot of them - you - hope that I would find a solution that would help all of us out of this disaster etched onto our scalps.

 

But I haven't found a solution. It's now about 7 months since my surgery. I've devoted myself practically full-time throughout much of this period to finding a solution, but I've failed. Steroids, creams, Vbeam lasers this, magic lasers that, patches, gels, microneedling, etc, etc, etc. Nothing has worked. Wound healing is a very, very complicated field. I've learned that the reality is that medical science doesn't understand it well, and definitely nowhere as well as doctors at private clinics would have you believe. The truth is that the best cure is to hope for spontaneous healing. Barring that, you can throw a lot of shit at the wall to see if something sticks. Most of these solutions are some variation of "hurt the wound again or introduce some material or other to encourage the spontaneous healing that should've happened in the first place." If that works, great. If not, after this much time with no luck, then it's very likely that the redness will remain permanently. There are some cases that heal up years afterwards, but they're very rare, and I think there's very little chance that either I or you guys will get back to our natural skin tone.

 

I failed you guys. I failed myself.

 

I understand better now the depression, bitterness, regret, and shame which you guys wrote to me about. Even the self-imposed silence, the seclusion, I understand that now, too. I was a pretty chatty guy, naturally charismatic, a salesman's salesman, loved by the ladies, but I've really retreated into myself and just hide now alone under my hat and behind closed doors. When I started this redness journey here on this forum, I was just a few months out from my surgery, and I was a fountain of bubbling optimism. I look back now at what I wrote - both in private emails and on this thread - and I see a different person. That was the old me, the can-do, cheerful, tenacious guy. I was convinced that somewhere just around the corner was the right research paper, the right scientist, the right tool, and that by my persistence, cleverness, and hard work, I'd find it for all of us.

 

I wrote often then, so often, about how redness isn't so bad. "After all", I said to you guys dozens of times here and in emails, "it's just cosmetic; it sucks, but it's not a true health issue for us or our loved ones".

 

Of course I still recognize even now that a red, bloody bandana sketched across my forehead isn't a true health issue. And hell, I've researched enough at this point that I've come across cosmetic surgeries that result in severe health issues, even death in a few cases. Imagine dying for a boob job. Bloody hell.

 

But even though it didn't kill me, the redness has utterly transformed my life for the worse. I can't do anything, anywhere, without a hat on my head. If I take off my hat, people freak out.

 

I know that sounds extreme and pretty silly, like a privileged little boy throwing a tantrum about something very trivial. And even now, I recognize that there definitely is some amount of that privileged whining in my attitude. I'm not totally off the deep end; some of you - the non-redness sufferers, at least lol - have written to me that life isn't that bad, redness isn't such a horrible thing, if I'm really so upset then maybe I should get professional help. That's a bit overkill, but yeah, I recognize the situation, and it's true, I am wallowing in my own pity party.

 

But the reality is that it sucks. Really, really sucks. And even if it doesn't rise to the level of a true health tragedy, I don't think the pity party is completely unjustified.

 

Here's an example of how it is for me now.

 

I rented out my place, packed everything up, and flew away. On my trip, I had to go through several airports, passing through a bunch of security checks and passport controls. I knew what was coming, so every time before getting to the front of the line, I would put my hands under my hat and try to push my hair over my head just so in order to cover up the redness. As I haven't cut my hair since before my surgery, it's long enough on the temples now to hide most of the redness. But my front hair is too thin and too sparse to help much - I'm gradually balding, after all, that was the whole point of the transplant - and only the shaggy bangs of a 10-year would be thick enough to hide the redness in front. So every time in the airports when I came to an official person and was told to remove my hat, every single time without fail, the official was shocked when I took it off. Eyebrows shoot up, eyes open wide, pupils focus directly on the top of my forehead. One guard actually twisted and contorted his neck around to try to get a better view. No exaggeration.

 

The worst, though, was at one particular security line where I had to take off my hat. For some reason, a small girl, maybe 4 or so, was standing at that moment on top of the table where passengers open their bags for inspection. She was very close to me, and because she was standing on top of the table, her head wasn't too much below mine. When I took off my hat, she screamed. For real. She screamed. In horror. She screamed loud, very, very loud. She started saying something. I couldn't understand her words, no idea what country she's from, but her meaning was understandable enough from her body language: one hand half covering her mouth, and the other pointing at the top of my head.

 

Her mother stopped the little girl immediately, of course, picked her up and put her on the ground while apologizing embarrassedly to me for her daughter's behaviour.

 

You get the idea. I'm now disfigured enough that parents have to teach their children not to scream and point at me.

 

When I finished the trip and finally arrived here to the vacation place I've rented, I locked myself in and haven't gone out since.

 

Disfigured.

 

I'm so sorry to all you guys who had hope that I would find some solution to this. I'm sorry for leading you on, I'm sorry for telling you to cheer up because it's not so bad. Yes, I'm not dying. Yes, there are worse diseases. Obviously. But I'm disfigured because I just wanted some extra hair on my hairline. I'm disfigured permanently. For the rest of my life. I will always be a disgusting freak, all because I was vain enough to put myself under the knife just to move some hairs from the back of my head to the front.

 

I imagine that it would be different if it weren't my fault. A car accident, for example. An injury suffered as a soldier fighting in a war. Sure, it would suck and people would equally stare. But I could explain it, they'd understood and make coo coo sounds, I'd get sympathy about the shittiness of how destiny treated me. People would curse the universe on my behalf, and then we'd all get on fine. It wouldn't affect their respect for me as a person.

 

But when it's because of an elective, cosmetic surgery?! A fukin' hair transplant? I'm an object of derision and mockery, and justifiably so. In my social life, it will define me; I'll always be "Jay, that guy with the bloody bandana on his forehead from botched hair surgery, haha, omg". In my professional world, it's a kiss of death; reality is harsher than the imagined fairy-tale world that we wish would exist, and the reality is that no one in my industry would respect someone who disfigured himself for a hair transplant. I sure as shit wouldn't.

 

I'm not exaggerating about how bad the mockery and disrespect is. We all know the stigma of hair transplants. Half the guys on this forum go to extreme lengths to hide away from everyone in their lives for two or three months post-op so they don't have to admit they had a hair transplant. Many celebrities - rich, famous men who you think wouldn't give a fuck - a lot of them won't even admit they had a hair transplant and they'd rather pretend that somehow divine intervention miraculously caused follicle regrowth on their cueball heads. So that's what I'm facing. The bloody red bandana on my scalp is a flaming, permanent notice on top of my head to forever remind everyone of my vanity. It's like an absurdist theatre piece with a cliche morality tale. A modern-day Narcissus.

 

Permanently disfigured.

 

One odd part for me is that I really used to be a very cheerful guy. I still laugh at things, but it's bitter. So bitter, a bitterness I didn't know I was capable of. I mock myself now, because I can see how low I've fallen. I know the obvious advice, the advice I'd give if roles were reversed and it were me trying to console this poor sod that I've become: listen, I'd say, you're more than that massive scar on your head, c'mon mate, the bloody permanent red scar on your head will only define you if you let it, there's so much more to life, it's not a true health issue, yo wake up bro, you're lucky to be in great shape and tall and clever and well-off and have a wonderful family and mother and sister and...

 

Heck, I'm even thankful for my luck in letting out my place. I put a crazy, absurd price on my place when I first put it up. I didn't plan to rent at that price, I was just getting accounts set up, and I didn't want to deal with inquiries until I was ready. But someone contacted me straight away and offered to pay my crazy price. It's for a Chinese businessman. I got paid cash, got an insanely huge deposit, in cash as well, so he can trash the place now for all I care. The place really isn't so great, it's not special at all, but the location is exactly where they wanted, I guess. Market is insane, gents. So I'm sitting pretty for a while now.

 

So I'm lucky. The weather's great here. A lot better than the dreariness where I was. And God knows, I've got a lot of time on my hands now, so I'll be able to focus on remaking my professional life. I can't live on my savings and the largesse of my rich new friend from China forever, so I'm planning out a future career without face-to-face meetings, one where I can be alone behind my computer screen and the only contact I have with customers or colleagues is through the phone.

 

But I can't get that horrible feeling out of my stomach. I wake up every morning, and the sadness immediately sets in again when I realize that it isn't just a bad dream. I've got this feeling every second of every day.

 

I'm disfigured. Permanently disfigured, with no solution. Because of my own vanity.

 

I don't know what more to post here. What sage advice could I give to all you noobs who are thinking of hair transplant surgery? I'm sorry to say that I have no idea. Why did this happen to me? No idea. How frequently does it occur? No idea... and despite what your HT doctor tells you, no one knows because there is no data and the industry refuses to track it. It definitely happens a lot more frequently than anyone in the HT industry has acknowledged, but how much, I have no idea. Is it a 1 in 40 chance occurrence? No idea. 1 in 400? No idea. Who gets it? No idea... and as I wrote many times earlier in this thread, I'd tell you not to believe the silliness about fair skin or certain hair types or whatever being more likely to get it, because I've seen guys with all complexions, all hair tones, who get it, including many dark-haired, dark-skinned guys I've emailed with get permanent redness. How to avoid it? No idea... because no one knows why it occurs, so no one knows how to avoid it; and as I also wrote, it can happen with surgery at any doctor anywhere, despite what they all claim about their oh-so-perfect, hygienic practices that are so much better than at any other doctor's.

 

Realistically, I don't know what more value I can add to this forum. It's a forum about improving your hair, not about dealing with a permanent disfigurement. I'm depressed and bitter, I've become a recluse shutting myself away from the world because I'm disfigured. I'm not jumping off the cliff, don't worry, but I'm definitely not a guy that anyone wants on a forum now. Hell, I wouldn't want me on a forum now. So I'll be doing a self-imposed ban on myself, but I wanted to write this message because I know that there are guys following this and I don't want to leave them hanging.

 

To all you guys starting your hair transplant, I wish you all the best. It's a gamble, and there's definitely a chance you'll get the redness. So if you're ok with a roll of the dice, odds are pretty good that you won't end up like this, and lots of guys get great transplant results. If you're not ok with that roll of the dice, though, then just man up, shave it off for good, and live your life without the risk of spending the rest of your days hiding your head in shame.

 

And to all you guys who emailed me, you guys who counted on me, you guys who were hoping against hope that I would find a solution for you from this permanent disaster zone etched onto our foreheads... To you guys, all I can say is I'm sorry. I'm so very, very sorry that I failed you.

[jjsrader]

Time to suck it up and move on. I suggest as a smart guy you do massive research and start wearing hair. Oh well - if you can ventilate a flawless hairline (if you expose it) and buy the best hair and really study the 'art' of wearing; you will pass for a person with hair to about 95% of the population.

 

The 5% that can tell; fuck 'em. Look into hair forums like Northwest Lace and guys that are meticulous about 'crafting' an irregular hairline AFTER the unit is sent to them.

 

You're then back earning and banging out ladies and sure - wearing hair is a part-time job BUT if you make sure you're hair is perfect when on the job or out w/the ladies, you can slack off at home and on downtime.

 

I am sorry your body rejected surgery - but if you 'cling' to your own hair at this point and the redness in the front you are doomed.

 

There are SO many radically successful guys w/shitty hairpieces that if you wear w/confidence and wear really well-done systems you'll do just fine.

 

The flipside is you lament endlessly your current situation and blame yourself.

 

Time to be 'done with transplants' and move on. Life ALWAYS changes us - you need to pivot forward.

 

Just sayin' & I am not discounting your disfigurement.

 

Think of other disfigured people, they do EVERYTHING and ANYTHING possible to appear normal in day to day life.

 

You should now do the same. It's cool that you went into 'stealth mode' and maybe you need a bit more time.

 

Please don't hide forever; life is too short. Sounds like you have hit bottom.

 

That's probably good. I wish you the best and want you to know you are a smart guy and can work this out going forward.

 

If done correctly, wearing hair will be so much better than hiding the rest of your life.

 

Make the most of an unfortunate situation. None of us can go back in time - so please don't blame yourself.

 

You deserve to move on and move forward and create something new out of an awful outcome.

 

peace...

[Marky9829]

Have you tried or heard of IPL laser treatment? They use high powered laser light to abliterate blood vessels and over a course of afew treatments the area I’ll fade

[mattj]

^that is a good ideal to consider if you don't see any improvement. I've seen IPL work wonders on redness including very prominent 'port wine stain' birthmarks.

[harryforreal]

"Nor do I think the laser would do anything." - Dr. Bloxham's response earlier in this post

 

Dr. Bloxham, I can say that 2 treatments of the V-Beam laser changed my life for the better (and 2 micro needling treatments for skin texture). I lost two years of my life because of my hair transplant - just sat inside waiting for things to improve, which they never did. After two years I had learned how to comb my hair forward and matte it down in a pony tail to cover my red and bumpy hairline. This I did for another two years, but at least I got out the house and was more active. After 4 years a doctor at a medical spa who doesn't do hair transplants and doesn't have a V-Beam laser (so no financial interest at play) suggested I look into the V-Beam laser for the redness (and try micro needling for the bumpy texture, which her office does do).

 

After the first V-Beam treatment I saw significant improvement for the redness. After the second V-Beam treatment there was virtually no lingering redness (note that I was advised by the V-Beam nurse to do 3 V-Beam treatments).

 

To be honest, I am quite shocked, especially given the number of post-op hair transplant patients that have lingering redness, that the V-Beam isn't promoted more. After my postings on the success of my V-Beam treatments I really thought more HT surgeons would look into it as a way to decrease recovery time (read, sell a post V-Beam package treatment for extra $$$ in the same way that some sell PRP and other treatments). Maybe because the V-Beam treatments are relatively cheap and only require several treatments typically the procedure isn't profit worthy for HT doctors? I don't know. But I can say it works. And with no hair loss to any of my transplanted hair grafts or even finer natural vellus hairs on my hairline, which I was more concerned with. Indeed, let me state that I actually hoped the V-Beam would diminish some of my transplanted hairs possibly as their unnaturally coarseness and thickness and darker color has been a great, great annoyance and source of frustration and anger. Alas, the 2 V-Beam treatments did not have any noticeable diminishing affect on my transplanted hairs (and similarly thankfully to the native, softer vellus hairs). Even so, the disappearance of the redness is a great relief. No one looks at my hairline any more with perplexing eyebrows. I, too, had similar experiences in the airport security line - though nothing on the order as JayBandana. But, yes, I had security personnel do a double take 2 years after my hair transplant.

 

Now, however, no one really looks at my hairline, and I think most would be surprised to learn I have had a hair transplant - though I think once pointed out they would go, "Ahhhh, ok, yeah, I see it now".

 

I still wear my hair a bit forward, but not for reasons of redness, more because the texture is still a little bumpy and the transplanted hairs themselves just look a bit off. I just purchased two more micro-needling treatments at the suggestion of someone who works in the micro-needling industry (but isn't the person who does my micro needling, so no personal financial interest). I will have my 3rd micro-needling at the end of December or beginning of January and am very excited about it! (I mean, it's not promoted as a post hair transplant procedure, but rather a skin rejuvenator, so I'll get a little facial in hopefully before holiday parties begin! ALSO, I've heard it said that when micro needling is done in the hair it can have a similar effect as PRP in promoting hair growth - I'm less convinced of this, but, hey, if it doesn't hurt but can only help why not get excited?! )

 

Even so, if I had to choose between V-Beam for redness and micro-needling for texture, I would hands down choose V-Beam. The redness draws the attention to the hairline and scalp - it is literally a RED FLAG screaming "Look here! Look here!" Once the eyes are drawn to the hairline, this invites further investigation into what is the cause of the redness, i.e., a hair transplant - which is the last thing you want to draw attention to.

 

The bumpy texture is only noticed if the eyes look at the hairline up close - it doesn't scream look at me from across the room.

 

I want to clarify that my redness I don't think was as bad as JayBandana's (I don't know, I can't see his photos and am only just today, 12-33-17, reading his story). But it was certainly red enough to have a technician at another hair transplant clinic/dermatologist (who is a coallition surgeon of the Hair Transplant Network) to which I travelled after the 18 month mark exclaim upon inspection, "Why is it so red??!" After which she went and brought the hair transplant surgeon to look at it, to which he suggested I return to my original HT surgeon and get some cortisone shots - which I did, but really didn't have any significant long term improvement. In any case, I was basically at the point where if I lost hair as a result of a V-Beam laser treatment I would be ok as long as the redness was gone. I was preferring to have normal skin tone color - even with a post-surgery bumpy texture and a bald zone than to have a pluggy, scraggly hairline with eye grabbing redness.

 

Luckily, the V-Beam had no negative effect on any hairs in my hairline - transplanted or native.

 

You do have to shave down your hair where they laser, which means more down time socially. And there is some significant purplish discoloration immediately afterwards that starts to clear up in a couple of days. But, damn, after several days you start to see normal skin tone color after 4 years of !#E^*#$ redness - WOO-HOO!!!

 

Oh, and one other thing to mention, Dr. Bloxham that I found relevant to your posting - I don't know if it affected the red discoloration I had post hair transplant, but I DO KNOW that the FUE grafts were NOT trimmed prior to being implanted. Indeed the number of 2 and 3 grafts in my hairline really made me wonder why more effort to trim my grafts down to singles wasn't put forth - though according to the surgeon the hair grafts all looked like singles. In any event, I don't know if trimming away extra tissue would reduce redness or not. I do wonder if it might minimize differences in scalp tones that exist between donor and recipient sites? But I feel that the redness was mostly a result of trauma to the capillaries in the skin and subsequent new, tiny capillaries in the skin close the surface as a result of the implanter pen - though maybe also the extra tissue? In any event, the V-Beam destroyed those capillaries, and it was explained to me that the V-Beam doesn't go deep enough to affect the blood vessels that supply nutrients to hair roots, only the newer capillaries at the surface are destroyed - if I understood correctly. Regardless, none of my hair follicles, native or transplanted, were affected by the treatments in any way.

Edited December 3, 2017 by harryforreal

[harryforreal]

Ok, so following are photos that I took after plucking out transplanted hairs just hours prior to my first V-Beam procedure. I was told to shave the hair down prior to the procedure, but I just decided to pluck them out - my reasoning was that I wanted to increase the intensity of the V-Beam treatment by adding further red agitation through plucking (the V-Beam targets the red wavelengths). I am not a doctor, and I have NO IDEA if this had any effect positive or negative - indeed, my second V-Beam treatment I just shaved per the instructions of the administering nurse.

 

Maybe I can find some older photos of the redness before I plucked all my transplanted hairs this day for my first V-Beam treatment, but after 4 years of persistent redness I was just ready to go to my first V-Beam session that day and be done with it, whatever the results. As as result, I didn't take any photos of the existing redness immediately before I plucked out the hairs. I also did not pluck any native hairs, since I was concerned the V-Beam might target them. In any case, I don't believe my redness was any where nearly as red as JayBandana's (whose photos I have not seen, so I can't really compare, but just based on his description).

 

My first V-Beam treatment was on December 22, 2015. My first hair transplant procedure was in February 3, 2012. A second transplant procedure was done November 6, 2013 to add density and singles to detract from doubles in hairline as well as hide the bumpy texture and discoloration from the first procedure.

[harryforreal]

Immediately after the V-Beam treatment (well, within an hour, as I drove straight home and then took these photos).

[harryforreal]

Five weeks later (January 2, 2016).

[harryforreal]

January 27, 2016 (two days before next V-Beam treatment).

[harryforreal]

January 29, 2016 - the day of 2nd V-Beam treatment. The below pics are before and after I trimmed my hairs using a small scissor before going into my second V-Beam treatment. (So this 2nd treatment I did not pluck the hairs).

 

Notice the small remaining band of pink at the very front of the hairline. Behind that band the skin tone is normal (where my natural hairline begins).

[harryforreal]

Immediately after 2nd V-Beam procedure. Notice the purple "bruising" is considerably less than the first V-Beam procedure.

[harryforreal]

January 31, 2016 - two days after 2nd V-Beam procedure.

[harryforreal]

February 20, 2016.

[Spidey]

Harry. Did you notice improved skin texture after plucking the hairs out? I noticed that the hair root and shaft of the transplanted hair actually causes some skin irregularities. I once plucked one hair out and within a couple days the skin that used to around that hair that used to look goose pimplish, flattened out.

 

Also I am so happy for you that you found something that works. Two years after my ht I still have some pinkness. It is nowhere near as bad as some, and not as noticeable as yours. It is good to know I have an out if I do decide to shave my head and remove my transplanted hairs if my hairloss progresses.

 

Even before your post I researched and believed v beam would be my best bet.

 

Really appreciate your post.

[harryforreal]

February 9, 2016.

 

I am posting these 3 photos out of chronological order because I wanted to point out as a side note how dark and thick the transplanted hairs are compared to the native hairline hairs. On this date the hairs had grown back just enough to get a good view of the thickness and darkness - essentially black. This has been a big issue for me as my hairline is more of a honey/caramel blonde/brown. Moreover, the transplanted hairs were so thick and coarse, they are closest to my chest hairs in color, size, and coarseness. It has looked very bizarre having a row of thick, black, coarse hairs with a funky curl to them in front of my lighter and softer native hairline, especially highlighted previously by lingering redness and a bumpy texture.

 

***NOTE: the bumpy texture is much improved in all of these photos because I did the micro-needling treatment BEFORE the V-Beam treatments.***

[harryforreal]

And these 2 photos show a shorter, curly, thicker black transplanted hair I plucked versus a long hair I randomly plucked from my donor region.

 

Clearly the hair transplant procedure affected the quality of the transplanted hair.

 

No where on my head are the native hairs as dark and thick as this transplanted hair.

[harryforreal]

I hope my photos have provided some helpful insight for people seeking assistance with lingering redness.

For me it always looked worse under fluorescent lighting - a trip to Home Depot and looking at bathroom mirrors was a horror trip.

 

These days, because I reduced and virtually eliminated the redness with V-Beam and also reduced the bumpiness with micro needling, I feel much better about things - especially with almost daily plucking of thicker, black ugly hairs.

 

I hope these days that by plucking the thicker hairs that eventually they will soften up a bit; but going on 6 years I don't know.

 

In retrospect, I would never have gone off of Propecia/Finasteride, after which my hair recession and thinning really progressed. Even after this, I would have tried the Propecia/Finasteride and also other non-surgical options such as Minoxidil before surgery. But hair surgery seemed like a really great "drug free" alternative. WRONG.

 

Finally, if I did opt for surgery, I would have just done the little spot at the center of my hairline where you can see it was thinning inward. This was my primary concern, and it was the doctor who suggested lowering the whole hair line - which having grown up watching Bradd Pitt and his hairline on screen was a temptation I just couldn't resist.

 

Despite what others may post, it's not just about transplanting hairs and then watching them grow. I feel sometimes that some persons are so desperate for hair on their head that they sacrifice other considerations - namely how natural does it look? What is the TOTAL aesthetic goal???

 

No one transfixes on naturally thinning hair or even a bald hair, except for the person losing the hair. However, EVERYONE transfixes on an unnatural looking hair procedure.

 

For me the biggest issue REMAINING is the quality of the transplanted hairs. I've put the redness behind me, and the bumpy skin texture is improved enough to not be obvious unless pointed out - and after two micro-needling procedures I'm going to have 2 more micro needling procedures to get even further improvement on the skin texture.

 

Best wishes to everyone, and Jay, I hope you can get some relief. I feel very good about the V-Beam. But it is not sooo expensive that you couldn't try a small patch before treating the entire area just to see if there were any adverse effects.

 

Sincerely,

 

Harryforreal

[harryforreal]

I noticed that the hair root and shaft of the transplanted hair actually causes some skin irregularities. I once plucked one hair out and within a couple days the skin that used to around that hair that used to look goose pimplish, flattened out. - Spidey

 

Spidey, yes, I do believe that the hair root and shaft cause some skin irregularities. Having spoken specifically about the thicker transplanted hairs, I believe that the thicker growing transplanted hairs contribute to skin irregularities. I also should say that I didn't pluck my first hair until probably 3 years after my hair transplant procedure - so I was completely hands off the first 18 months based on what everyone said is the time it can take for a hair transplant to completely heal "in the worst case scenarios". After that, the first thing I did was get the cortisone shot, and I started using silicone gel for bumpy texture (prior to my first micro needling).

 

I have often wondered if using implanter pen "crams" the hair graft into the skin in such a way that the hair graft isn't as long and slender as it is in it's native location. The "crammed" hair graft, as such, causes a kinky curl to develop and maybe the puncture of the pen and such creates a wider opening which leads to a thicker shaft growing - or maybe like a tube of tooth paste harshly squeezed the hair shaft comes out thicker from the follicle. But I have no evidence to explain the thicker, darker hairs. I do feel like the quality of the hairs has improved some - but it's hard to say. I still pluck on a regular basis. I store the hairs in sandwich bags with the month labeled on it. I figure one day I can examine the first plucked hairs and compare them with recent plucked hairs to see if there is any improvement when placed side by side.

Edited December 7, 2017 by harryforreal