Return to work time

[phillyphanatic]

I'm a 26 year old male considering follicular unit transplant surgery. I've been categorized as in between a level 3 and 4 on the hair loss scale. I'm wondering what a realistic time frame is to return to work without it being ridiculously obvious that I had this procedure done. I work in the financial services industry, so any time off means lost dollars! I'll probably tell my friends that I'm having it done anyway so I'm not worried about people knowing. I'm just worried from the pictures of scarring at the 5-7 day time frame. Any insight would be appreciated!

[phillyphanatic]

I'm a 26 year old male considering follicular unit transplant surgery. I've been categorized as in between a level 3 and 4 on the hair loss scale. I'm wondering what a realistic time frame is to return to work without it being ridiculously obvious that I had this procedure done. I work in the financial services industry, so any time off means lost dollars! I'll probably tell my friends that I'm having it done anyway so I'm not worried about people knowing. I'm just worried from the pictures of scarring at the 5-7 day time frame. Any insight would be appreciated!

[Acrobaz]

The answer depends on many factors: whether you are planning FUE or strip, how many grafts you might need, where they might be placed, whether your doctor favours shaving the recipient area, etc. There are many posts on the forum about the options.

 

Telling people you're having an HT procedure definitely makes many things easier, but don't underestimate the consequences of being "HT guy".

 

For my part, I went back at three weeks and posted my experience here:

http://hair-restoration-info.c...=344104471#344104471

 

Good luck.

[phillyphanatic]

Thanks for the response Acro. I was told I'll need about 1800 grafts, and it will be an FUT procedure (strips). I was told that he wouldn't be shaving the donor area.

 

Thanks for the advice as well. I'll certainly take being the "HT guy" into consideration, however, with some of the pictures of scarring I've seen, I don't see how it's avoidable for people to know during the first few weeks.

 

Thanks again!

[phillyphanatic]

One more thing - I'm getting married in late September. From anyone's experience, if you were me would you wait until after the wedding or is it safe to get the procedure done in early May? Also, I love being at the beach/pool during the summer, pretty much anything outside while it's warm. How will the procedure affect my ability to do those things?

 

Any advice would be much appreciated

[Eman]

Like Acro said- everyone heals differently and a minimum of two weeks and that is being conservative. If you can work from home, that would be optimal. I didn't look normal for almost two months and at that point I looked balder than before.

 

You are having a smaller session, so you might be ok. Who are you going to if I may ask? A coalition doc?

 

Being a NW3 or 4, the rule generally speaking is 1000 grafts for every NW level. So, I would think you would need more than 1800.

 

You are a lot like me and enjoy the summers. I would wait until fall and after your wedding to do this. Most docs recommend a minimum of three months out of the sun if not longer. You would thus be wearing a hat outside all summer...No fun at all. I wanted to do it in March, but decided to wait so I would have the summer. And the memories made in the summer beat the dreary winter here in Chicago.

[CuriousJungleGeorge]

If your hair's long enough, the donor sutures probably will be covered (hair-color, of course, too, matters). Redness in the recipient areas will depend very much on your skin tone. It's really very difficult to predict your recovery over the Internet this way -- the time needed varies quite a bit.

[biscuit]

You can check my gallery for photos from start to finish. There's no easy way to hide for the first 4 months unless you can wear a hat.

 

I don't think 1800 grafts is enough if you're a NW3/4. Twice that would be better.

 

Do lots of research here on the forum before you make a decision. HT's are tricky, if you don't choose wisely it's easy to make a mistake that you'll have to live with for the rest of your life.

[mmhce]

Being a NW3 or 4, the rule generally speaking is 1000 grafts for every NW level. So, I would think you would need more than 1800.

 

E and biscuit are right. 1500 grafts per NW level on the liberal side.

 

Generic healing timescale:

 

1. HT graft shed, first few weeks,

2. Shock loss shed, within first month after HT

3. 4 months, 30% restoration,

4. 6 months about 50%,

5. 8-12 months 80% restoration,

6. 15-18 months 100% restoration.

[canadian_buba]

I just recently started going out in public without a hat on my head. It was around 2.5 months. I would NOT have done it any sooner.

[Acrobaz]

We all heal differently. canadian_buba and I experienced different levels of pinkness in the recipient area despite having a similar procedure. That is physiology dependent. I was therefore able to go out without a hat, but with concealer around the donor area, at 3 weeks.

 

Bear in mind we were both shaved down in our recipient areas and that can add to the "appearance" of an HT. Bottom line - it could be anything from 10 days to 3 months.

 

Btw, the fact I was lucky and had little pinkness does not mean I will have a better result than canadian_buba - his may be much better than mine. Again, it is all physiology dependent. Hopefully they will both be great!

 

Eman's advice about doing it in fall/winter is sound - you have an excuse to be wearing a hat without getting too hot! So I would go after the wedding too.

[SpaceBetween]

Biscuit -- You said that you couldn't hide it for the first 4 months. What was your back to work situation like?

 

eman -- I'm not sure I have caught your back to work situation anywhere yet. What was that experience like for you and how did you wait?

[Dr. William Lindsey]

I am jumping into this thread a bit late but....

 

1. If you do it today, you won't have significat results by the wedding in all likelyhood (Just like 2 of the guys we did last week) but you won't look bad, or any different than you do now. You may be getting some growth, but don't plan on it and you won't be dissappointed.

 

2. I would highly doubt that you will have any visible scarring at your wedding unless you either have a significant scar problem, or you shave your donor area. That is the least of my worries for someone in your situation...not a guarantee but a confident opinion.

 

3. I tell everyone to take a week off from work. Not everyone needs it, but plan on it.

 

4. As to how noticable at a week, all depends on where you are being transplanted. If its the entire front, and you go to a shaver like me, it will be noticable, but worth it in the end. If you just need your frontal triangles done, and you preserve a frontal tuft to style over the recipient area, MAYBE you can pull it off without alot of attention.

 

By the way, these are commonly asked questions and need to be answered in a frank and honest way. Good thread.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[HairHope]

First HT (strip) - I waited 10 days, some noticed and some didn't, but ALL were excited about my decision (screw the haters, you will likely never see 99% of them again)

 

Second HT (FUE) - I waited 3 Days, no one noticed either way, about 5-7 days using saline spray, no evidence at all and about 50 days in now. Back to normal, perhaps some less due to some shockloss to native hairs in the recipient (previous HT hairs) that will come back soon.

[phillyphanatic]

First of all, THANKS everyone for the great information. Sorry I couldn't get back earlier, I was down at the Phils game this afternoon.

 

I'm pretty green when it comes to these procedures, however, it sounds like I'm better off if I wait until after my wedding in September to have the procedure done. I was told to take the "downtime" very seriously, but it would only be about 7 days.

 

I have a nice "tuft" in the front, with good enough coverage up top to adequately cover any redness. My concern is when it comes to noticeable redness/scarring is any lowering of my hairline.

 

The doc I consulted with is Dr. Pistone in Marlton, NJ. He is a member of the American Hair Loss Association and the IAHRS. Anyone hear of him?

 

Thanks again everyone for the answers and support, and any further insight would be great!

[Eman]

when one says downtime...you are still as functional as the day before you went into surgery. However, it is obvious that something has occurred on the top of your head and if you are trying to hide it without a hat, it will not work that early on. You don't need to lay in bed for days, you don't need to be wheeled around or anything of the sort...BUT, your head will scream "I had a HT" for the first couple of weeks if not a lot longer. If you can wear a hat, great. If you can work from home, great. Otherwise, people WILL notice.

 

In regards to Pistone, do some search on here. He heavily advertises in PA, but that does not mean that he is any good. Bosely does the same. He may have some happy clients, but you being a NW3 or 4, will NOT be happy with that amount of grafts he estimated for you...TRUST ME!

 

If you want to PM me I can send you previous PM's that I have sent to guys thinking about both Pistone and other docs. You have limited donor, I assume you want to have surgery as infrequently as possible, and have it done right the first time.

 

Do some research on him here, keep asking questions, and let us know if we can help in any way. Remember, hairloss is bothering you now. A bad or subpar transplant will bother you a whole lot more, cause even greater heartache, and it will be the first thing someone sees when they see you and they will notice a bad job.

 

Don't mean to be harsh in any way, but that is the reality of HTs.

[biscuit]

Originally posted by SpaceBetween:

Biscuit -- You said that you couldn't hide it for the first 4 months. What was your back to work situation like?

 

I wore baseball hats at work for the first 4 months. You can see from my Week 11 photos that I would have looked really funny without a hat. By Week 17 I had enough overall coverage to pull off a buzzed look.

[phillyphanatic]

Again, thanks for the help E - I think I was a little to gung-ho to get this procedure done. I'm going to sit back, take a deep breath, and do some research for a while. It wasn't even the doc who was pushing me, it was me being too excited to get it done. I think what I'll do is start on Propecia and see how that works for a little while before making any drastic decisions.

 

Thanks again - I'll definitely be checking back to update my progress

[Eman]

great choice philly...look forward to hearing more from you in the future!!