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

[Spidey]

Have you considered having the transplanted hairs permanently removed via Laser?

[mattj]

Would be interesting to know how JayBandana is doing. I'm hoping the redness has faded by now.

[Fueforme333]

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.

 

To both Spidey and Harry

 

Do you find that the native hairs (non-transplanted hairs) cause the same skin irregularities, or is it just the hair grafts that were transplanted? If its all hairs that are causing these irregularities, perhaps its natural and we can't do anything about it

[Fueforme333]

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.

 

Hey Spidey,

 

How do you plan on dealing with the scars in your donor? Or is your donor area healed up well enough that you dont see any scars once shaved?

[harryforreal]

Do you find that the native hairs (non-transplanted hairs) cause the same skin irregularities, or is it just the hair grafts that were transplanted?

 

Do you mean the native hairs from the donor region?

 

What I can say is that my forehead was smooth as a baby's ass at my hairline all my life. I loved running my fingers back and seeing the soft, wavy hair and curls fall about my face and smooth skin.

 

After the transplanted hairs were placed in my hairline, the skin was very deformed, both I think from the trauma of the implanter pens as well as thicker hairs growing through the skin "pushing" outward as the hair shaft passes through the scalp. To me it looked like plucked chicken skin once the feathers were removed. The only option afterwards was to comb my hair forward to hide the chicken skin texture as well as the redness. But I can say I definitely say improvement in the skin texture with only 1 micro needling. That was very obvious to me. But even so, the thicker, transplanted hairs are much more noticeable where they exit the skin than the very small and soft vellum hairs.

[Detour]

How did this workout?

[biolizard]

Do you mean the native hairs from the donor region?

 

What I can say is that my forehead was smooth as a baby's ass at my hairline all my life. I loved running my fingers back and seeing the soft, wavy hair and curls fall about my face and smooth skin.

 

After the transplanted hairs were placed in my hairline, the skin was very deformed, both I think from the trauma of the implanter pens as well as thicker hairs growing through the skin "pushing" outward as the hair shaft passes through the scalp. To me it looked like plucked chicken skin once the feathers were removed. The only option afterwards was to comb my hair forward to hide the chicken skin texture as well as the redness. But I can say I definitely say improvement in the skin texture with only 1 micro needling. That was very obvious to me. But even so, the thicker, transplanted hairs are much more noticeable where they exit the skin than the very small and soft vellum hairs.

 

I have those exact same issue. Bumpy texturized “plucked chicken” appearance. Knowing what I know now, I would never opt for a hair transplant. I’m in quite a pickle with it as now more than 2 years later I’ve had to discontinue all meds for maintenance of native hair. Fin caused sexual side effects and just recently the minoxidil has been implicated as a factor in the development of a heart murmur. Had to go have test and crap on my heart. Anyway, bottom line is that with me being unable to take Fin and minoxidil the hair behind my transplants is going to fall out and soon I’ll be looking very odd. I don’t see any point in additional surgery; main reason being my skin doesn’t heal well at all from this type of procedure. The insult to my skin was severe!!

 

Anyway, just my 2 cents.

[Spidey]

Hey Spidey,

 

How do you plan on dealing with the scars in your donor? Or is your donor area healed up well enough that you dont see any scars once shaved?

 

With my donor I can shave it down to a number 1 without issue. I will never be able to shave it slick without the scars being seen in the donor but I don't plan on ever shaving my head to the bone.

 

To answer your first question, the skin bumps from the hair is not normal. I look at my native hair and there isn't any bumps at the base of the shaft. My results aren't as bad as others as it's not every single graft that resulted in the chicken skin texture but probably around 25%. It's not that noticeable but if I shaved my recipient area you would notice it. Whether the avg person would even notice, I'm not sure, but I do and that's what really matters. I do notice that when I pluck out the transplanted hair, the texture is a lot better in that it almost flattens out, so that is a good sign. Having the hair laser removed my solve the texture issue as it could be the hair shaft causing the skin at the base of the shaft to tent a bit.

 

As for my redness. Again it's not bad but you will be able to see it for sure if I shaved down my recipient area. I am however very glad that there is the option of the v beam to reduce or even eliminate the lingering pinkness.

 

End of the day, I am glad there are options and I'm glad my procedure was a small one. But I will say that knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have had the procedure done. My out was always to shave the recipient and cal it a day if my hairloss progressed, as I didn't think the ht would cause permanent colour and or skin texture issues.

 

I don't blame anyone but myself for not doing more research. The results I received from my procedure was excellent, and I want to be clear that there was nothing negative about the results I received from my procedure. All I'm really saying is that I never intended to have more than this one small procedure, and because of that, I shouldn't have had it done.

[Legend007]

Hey spidey your results were really good .. your transplanted Hair grew in well .. but why are you so unhappy about it ? Are your native hairs behind the hairline thinning out ? U need to go on finasteride. It will ease your mind , the sides ? It’s really over hyped by fear mongers. I gave it a try 2 years ago for 4 months with no sides .. but after reading online I got scared n got off it .. it was a huge mistake .. my hair got a lot thinner n receding now .. now I’m back on it fin for the last 4 months .. no major sides .. n I can’t wait to pop that pill every morning .. it’s the only thing I know that will prolong ur hair Give it a shot ..

— also do u think u because u got the excessive lingering redness n rough skin because u were hasson n wongs first Fue patient ? Cuz of this is what makes me fear getting a transplant. Please upload ur current pics ok?

- also I was reading the balding blog from doctor Rassman. N he said he can tell if someone is prone to having a lingering reddish skin after a transplant by having them scratch their forehead .. n if it turns pinkish within 5 minutes it means your skin is histamine prone .. so u will turn red easier ..

- I tried that on myself .. n my skin does become pinkish , but not too red. So I’m hopeful. Try that on ur self n see..

[dwilliams]

I think you are growth hormone deficient — that's just my opinion. I suggest you to consider HGH or Human Growth Hormone. This can help your hair recover faster and safer. Good luck! 

[duchaine]

On 1/9/2018 at 5:45 AM, Legend007 said:

U need to go on finasteride. It will ease your mind , the sides ? It’s really over hyped by fear mongers.

 Ok, epic win!

[Redmann]

Hello all,

New member here. I have been reading this thread with a lot of interest. Thanks to everyone for their very helpful posts. I have tried to contact Jay on the e-mail he posted above, but it is not working anymore. I really hope he is better now, and has found a solution. (Btw, if anyone has an updated e-mail or any way of contacting him, I would really appreciate that - with his permission of course)

So, as you can probably imagine, I too am suffering from persistent redness. Probably not as extreme. But it has been 4 months since my FUE and I can identify with literally every problem - The anxiety, the lack of improvement, above all the hand-waving from my clinic - "Give it time", "Your skin is naturally fair", "It's just extra blood flowing in to help your grafts grow" (!) , "This just does not exist".

On that, maybe I have the bad luck of not really being able to trust the clinic that did my FUE anymore. They are based in London. Sorry I can't be more specific in public at this stage. Ever since the surgery, a few things have transpired that confirmed my worst fears - That they are really just another farm grasping for money. I feel naive for not spotting it before. Heck, I even did spot it but convinced myself it would be alright, because for all their slickness the quality of the work would be good. Ha.

On that - On the 3 month mark, I went in for a follow up, where I expressed that my main concern was the redness. Their medical director was in the room (although he didn't perform my surgery). The conversation - literally - went like this:
"I'm quite concerned about this redn"
"THERE IS NO REDNESS!"

Exactly as Jay says. So where do I go from here? At this point I am absolutely not worried about the results of the FUE (which don't even seem promising but hey, 4 months). But I literally don't care. I'm more than ready to shave my head to a number 1 for the rest of my life if it means reverting back to where I was pre-procedure.

If there are any words of wisdom anyone could offer, they would be much appreciated. Thanks again for all the time and effort you all put into this.