FUE donor healing (16 days)

[Kayve]

Hi,

 

I had a 2,900 graft FUE 16 days ago and I'm concerned that the donor area is not healing well. (The recipient area barely looks noticeable at all)

 

I am concerned by how pink it looks and how my hair hasn't grown anywhere near enough to cover up this pink-ness (our office has bright lighting so will be easy to tell)

 

Did I not wash intensively enough? I was being extremely gentle and not massaging into my scalp until the 10th day even.

 

I've attached pictures in the hope someone can offer advice or help, as I need to return to work tomorrow and I'm terrified of being found out. I'm washing with aloe vera soap and moisturiser (can't get the pure aloe vera gel unfortunately). Any way I can cover this up?

 

Please!

[mattj]

The recipient areas and donor areas can both take some time to 'calm down'. 16 days is still early so I think you just need to give it a bit more time to heal. I doubt if you've done anything wrong.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Kayve,

 

I agree with Matt, postoperative healing takes some time. While you may have seen some people heal more quickly, some people take longer to heal. Everybody is different and has distinct physiological properties. Remember, follicular unit excision (formerly follicular unit extraction) is still surgery and surgery does disrupt the natural flow of the inner workings of the area operated on. In my opinion, I wouldn’t be concerned at this early stage. Postoperative redness in the recipient and donor areas can last up to a couple months. You can consider applying aloe vera gel or even speak with your surgeon about prescribing something if appropriate. But overall, you’re still within the normal range so I wouldn’t worry so much.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Kayve]

Thanks guys, appreciate it.

 

I guess I'm just going to have to go in and admit the truth if anyone says anything.

[JohnCasper]

I’m with Matt and Bill on this one. You will be fine, just be patient. The donor area typically heals quickly and the redness will typically fade quicker than the recipient area. Hang in there, you have a lot to look forward to. Happy growing in 3-5 months.

[pkipling]

Feel free to use the story I concocted after my procedure that allowed me to wear a hat to work...

 

I had a "small, non-cancerous cyst removed and I had an allergic reaction to the local anesthesia and my scalp got super red, so I need to keep it covered until it all calms down." Lol. It worked like a charm and I wore a newsies hat to work for about 3 weeks, and nobody really wants to question anything you tell them that's medical related.

 

Then again, if you're fine just being upfront about your hair transplant, then that's even easier. I'm open about it now with my coworkers, but at the time I was too self-conscious to tell them, so the hat is worth a shot.

[mattj]

Feel free to use the story I concocted after my procedure that allowed me to wear a hat to work...

 

I had a "small, non-cancerous cyst removed and I had an allergic reaction to the local anesthesia and my scalp got super red, so I need to keep it covered until it all calms down." Lol. It worked like a charm and I wore a newsies hat to work for about 3 weeks, and nobody really wants to question anything you tell them that's medical related.

 

Then again, if you're fine just being upfront about your hair transplant, then that's even easier. I'm open about it now with my coworkers, but at the time I was too self-conscious to tell them, so the hat is worth a shot.

 

That's a good excuse that few people would question, but it put you in the position of having to explain your (little white) lie at a later date. Plus people might be paying more attention to your head once you ditch the hat. How did you deal with that?

[pkipling]

On 4/12/2018 at 4:15 AM, mattj said:

 

That's a good excuse that few people would question, but it put you in the position of having to explain your (little white) lie at a later date. Plus people might be paying more attention to your head once you ditch the hat. How did you deal with that?

I made it all sound so nonchalant that nobody ever brought it up ever again, and eventually everyone just completely forgot about it. After some time, I became comfortable enough with my HT that I started telling people that it was the reason I wore a hat all those months ago, at which point people had already forgotten about the whole hat situation to begin with. 

Ideally, yes, it's easier just to be upfront about a hair transplant (because it's really not a big deal), but if you want a way to hide it, this seems like as good of a plan as any.... But whether you concoct a fake story or tell the truth, everyone else is so wrapped up in their own lives that they probably won't give it a second thought anyway. 

[JohnCasper]

I often get questions about how to deal with co-workers after a HT.  I just told everyone about what I had done and didn’t worry about what they thought.  But...I do understand wanting to be private about it.  The little “white lie” sounds like a reasonable way to handle the situation.  Months later after the new hair emerges, most people have forgotten about it and never say a word.  As hair transplants become more common, the privacy issue may fade away as well.