How to transition out of awkward hairstyle, 3.5 months post-FUT?

[seamike]

Hi all,

I had an FUT on 7th August which seems to have gone very well so far. It was just over 3700 grafts into my temples and bringing my hairline down significantly. It's now been 3 months and 3 weeks since the transplant, and I am so far very pleased, as I know on average real growth often doesn't start until after 4 months.

I decided to keep it a secret from everyone except my girlfriend, and up until now, I have concealed it with a long fringe worn as a comb-over, combined with concealers (Toppik and Dermmatch). A few weeks ago my hair was starting to get really unruly, so I shaved the transplanted area, went to a barber and got a short haircut, which was my 'day zero' moment -- looking much as I did before the transplant. What you see in the attached photo (from 3 days ago) is what has regrown since I shaved it 4 weeks ago. I am once again covering it up with a comb-over.

My plan has been to wait until it grows in enough that I can buzz the rest of my hair down to a number 4 cut (as this is supposedly the minimum necessary to cover an FUT scar). But I'm starting to get a bit impatient and frustrated with wearing this ridiculous comb-over, and every day I'm wondering how soon I can get away with doing it so it won't look obvious (perhaps with the help of concealers).

I would really appreciate any advice -- how can I know when the right time is to buzz the rest of my hair? Or would it be better not to buzz it, but to go to a barber, explain the situation and ask them to do something creative?

I am right in thinking it's still way too early to do this, right?

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Payam]

Mind sharing more details? Got any pre op and immediate post op pics? Who was your surgeon? If that is the growth you are seeing on bald scalp after only 3 months I would say wait two more months then cut your hair short and it will look amazing

[seamike]

1 hour ago, Payam said:

Mind sharing more details? Got any pre op and immediate post op pics? Who was your surgeon? If that is the growth you are seeing on bald scalp after only 3 months I would say wait two more months then cut your hair short and it will look amazing

 

Sure. These are pre-op and 3 days post-op pictures. Sorry they're not very good, I haven't had the clinic's official ones sent through to me, and I was planning to maybe post a full review in a few months' time with better photos.

The surgeon was Dr Path in Bangkok. He and his team did an amazing job -- it was really smooth and all-round a great experience. As you can see, even straight after the operation I didn't have much in the way of visible scabbing or bleeding (though Dr Path said I was a bit of a 'bleeder'). Shedding started after about 3 weeks and lasted about a week. I had mild redness until about 4 weeks ago. Basically it's been smooth sailing so far.

Waiting another two months to cut my hair is going to be frustrating! But perhaps you're right -- a dodgy buzz cut is probably going to attract more unwanted attention than a slightly dodgy comb-over.

[Payam]

Well i can't say for sure but it looks like you have early growth which is a great sign, you will likely see a pretty radical change in the coming 2 months, I would personally cut my native hair in a way where I could fringe it over the transplanted hair, looking forward to seeing your progress bro, you should make a thread on it

[lakes9925]

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Edited November 28, 2018 by det9925
wrong info

[Dazed]

FUT is the easiest thing in the world to hide.  Why are you doing this?  Just give it more time and quit going to the barber. 

[pkipling]

How short can you shave the back and sides so that the strip scar doesn't show? And how do you think it would look if you went ahead and buzzed everything down to that length? I kept mine uniformly buzzed all over until around months 3/4, but I had FUE so I was able to go a little bit shorter than you may be able to with the strip... If you're able to go ahead and do a uniform buzz all over and still have the strip concealed, that would be the best bet. 

[seamike]

5 hours ago, pkipling said:

How short can you shave the back and sides so that the strip scar doesn't show? And how do you think it would look if you went ahead and buzzed everything down to that length? I kept mine uniformly buzzed all over until around months 3/4, but I had FUE so I was able to go a little bit shorter than you may be able to with the strip... If you're able to go ahead and do a uniform buzz all over and still have the strip concealed, that would be the best bet. 

I can buzz it down to a 4 or 5 at the moment without the scar showing. I'm just a bit concerned that the difference in density between the recipient area and the surrounding hair will still be too obvious. Did anyone notice this about your hair?

[pkipling]

16 hours ago, seamike said:

I can buzz it down to a 4 or 5 at the moment without the scar showing. I'm just a bit concerned that the difference in density between the recipient area and the surrounding hair will still be too obvious. Did anyone notice this about your hair?

No, mine was pretty much undetectable, but since I had FUE I was also able to buzz it down extremely short so that there was barely a difference in length between the donor/virgin part of my scalp and the recipient area. The strip scar makes this method of concealing the HT a little trickier. 

Is your hair long enough that you're able to cover the recipient area with at least moderate success/effectiveness? And if not, is wearing a hat an option? I wore a 50s style paper boy hat to work for the first month, so that it was still professional. At the time, I was very secretive about my HT, so I concocted a little story for my employers about a medical procedure I had to have done and that the doctor ordered me to keep my head covered. Since it was a medical situation, they didn't push the issue and graciously allowed me to do this without a full on interrogation. 

[seamike]

In case anyone is curious, at the 4 month post-op mark, I decided to take the plunge and give myself a number 4 buzz cut all around. The second picture below looks less dense than in real life because of the flash, but I am now using a combination of Dermmatch and Toppik to conceal it (as in the other picture) and I'd say so far it looks really natural. No one has noticed anything except that I have a new haircut. And what a relief to be rid of the irritating comb over.

Edited December 8, 2018 by seamike

[LonelyGraft]

Looks solid who was ur doctor 

[TjMiles270]

Yeah I was in a similar situation last year.  Derm match was a life savor.  You look good brother.  Happy healing and I wish you the best in a few months as your hair grows back in!

[BjornBorg]

Interesting. Anyone know if there is any downside to wearing fibres on your recipient area every day while you await your result? Like, could it potentially harm growth?

Edited December 12, 2018 by BjornBorg

[seamike]

10 hours ago, BjornBorg said:

Interesting. Anyone know if there is any downside to wearing fibres on your recipient area every day while you await your result? Like, could it potentially harm growth?

This question has been asked many times, on many forums, and the consistent answer (which is also given by the manufacturers, and many HT surgeons) is that neither Toppik nor Dermmatch have any effect whatsoever on growth. There is a myth out there that it will stop the hairs 'breathing' or something, but as far as I can tell, that is nonsense. The only advice is to wait a certain amount of time after your surgery (a week or two, depending on your surgeon's recommendations) to apply anything cosmetic to your recipient area.

[TrixGlendevon]

Looking good @seamike I liked the suggestion to uniformly cut your hair to the shortest possible length that disguises the scar. This is my plan too. Have you tried a 3 or a 3.5?

[seamike]

1 hour ago, TrixGlendevon said:

Looking good @seamike I liked the suggestion to uniformly cut your hair to the shortest possible length that disguises the scar. This is my plan too. Have you tried a 3 or a 3.5?

I don't think I can manage a 3 or a 3.5 just yet. To be honest even a 4 is a bit too short -- at that length, my donor scar is just visible (as a sort of indentation in my hair), though this disappeared with about 2 days of growth after the buzz cut. I'm hoping as the scar heals over the coming months, I'll be able to experiment with a shorter back and sides, but not just yet, I'm afraid!

[LonelyGraft]

Soooo who was the doc?

[TrixGlendevon]

1 hour ago, seamike said:

I don't think I can manage a 3 or a 3.5 just yet. To be honest even a 4 is a bit too short -- at that length, my donor scar is just visible (as a sort of indentation in my hair), though this disappeared with about 2 days of growth after the buzz cut. I'm hoping as the scar heals over the coming months, I'll be able to experiment with a shorter back and sides, but not just yet, I'm afraid!

From what point do you think you could have done a 4? After a month?

[seamike]

11 hours ago, jj51702 said:

Soooo who was the doc?

See above.

[seamike]

9 hours ago, TrixGlendevon said:

From what point do you think you could have done a 4? After a month?

I don't really know, I think I did go down to a 4 (back and sides) after about 2 months, but again, it only really looked OK after a day or two of growth following that. I'm not really sure what causes the 'indentation' in the hair along the scar line, or whether it will eventually go away--it's not so much a question of the scar itself being visible (it's not, even at number 4) but something dodgy that happens with the layering of the hair along the scar line.

[TrixGlendevon]

Interesting! Thanks for the feedback/information/answer. I will try and do a number 4 end of this month/start of next month and see what it looks like. I got mine done end of November.