Valued Contributor Steeeve Posted June 25, 2019 Author Valued Contributor Share Posted June 25, 2019 35 minutes ago, LeonSlack said: @Steeeve Thanks for the reply man! Another question I had was when you got your sutures out after 2 weeks, did it still hurt to comb your hair around the suture line? Also, it doesn’t seem like you need a lot of hair to cover the red area you have at your donor, huh? Maybe an inch or so would be enough? It was a little tender, yeah. I used and continue to use a brush with large wooden bristles. Honestly, I pretty much stole (we’ll say I liberated it) the brush from my wife. I wouldn’t suggest a fine toothed comb. I would use a brush with rubber or wooden bristles once the sutures come out. I don’t brush my hair all that often to be perfectly honest. I grew my hair out specifically in case I dealt with any shockloss. Typically what I do once I step out of the shower is just run my hands through my hair and let it air dry. I could cut my hair shorter, I’m sure. When I went to Dr Arocha for my one month check up he said I could probably cut it down to a 3 or 4. I didn’t really have the balls to try that though as I felt like I was still suffering with some shockloss in the donor but I’ll probably go a little shorter on my next haircut. I plan on cutting my top and sides much shorter once the hairs get a little longer so that everything will be more uniform. That’s happening fast for me, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Betterhair Posted June 25, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted June 25, 2019 5 hours ago, LeonSlack said: @made2care Any idea how long it took for the shock loss to grow back? Mine started growing back early and by the 5-6 month mark it had filled in considerably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member LeonSlack Posted June 30, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted June 30, 2019 @made2care You have gone a whole year since your procedure. How does your scar look? Do you feel a ridge back there when you put your fingers through your hair? Thanks for your feedback! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Betterhair Posted June 30, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted June 30, 2019 14 hours ago, LeonSlack said: @made2care You have gone a whole year since your procedure. How does your scar look? Do you feel a ridge back there when you put your fingers through your hair? Thanks for your feedback! 14 hours ago, LeonSlack said: @made2care You have gone a whole year since your procedure. How does your scar look? Do you feel a ridge back there when you put your fingers through your hair? Thanks for your feedback! I do not feel any ridge at all. The shock loss has filled in nicely. I visit with Dr. Arocha in a couple of weeks and he will assess my progress further. Overall, I am pleased with my results. The donor scar healed pretty fast but the shock loss did take some time to fill back in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Steeeve Posted July 10, 2019 Author Valued Contributor Share Posted July 10, 2019 Hello everyone. I’m 6 days prior to my 3 month mark. I wanted to go ahead and post some pics because I cut my hair and wanted to share the current state of my progressing results and scar. I cut it because, well, grafts are really starting to grow and I wanted it to be a little more uniform. I also wanted to experiment and push the boundaries to see how close I could get it. Those sprouts are definitely still way too short to make a significant cosmetic difference but there is a difference nonetheless. Since hair is always growing it might look different in 6 days than it would even today and, mostly, I wanted to share what my scar would look like with an inch of hair covering my entire scalp, especially my scar. @LeonSlack posed the question a few weeks back. Here’s the answer in terms of what I’m able to achieve at almost 3 months. I cut it myself using my clippers and took this grade,and shaved my entire head. The hair on the side of my head was sticking out in a funny way so I then took this grade,and faded the sides in a bit to keep the sides toward the front a little (a hair...?) closer to my scalp. I did not get the 7 grade close enough to the scar for fear of making it more visible. I assumed my scar would be visible at this length. I planned to wear a hat out until the hair in the back grew out a bit. To my surprise it was only visible on the side where I suffered the infection. At this point I would assume this will even out as it looks like there is a lot of stubble there around that part of the scalp that has yet to make a noticeable difference. I’ve still got months for the scar to mature so I’m not worried about it. Even if the scar stays that way I’m not worried about it as there are other options but I’ll cross that bridge when I get there and keep my hair a little longer in the interim. I'm still going to wear a hat but I guess my expectations are currently in check because...I don’t think it looks that bad in it’s current progressing state. There is no product in my hair other than minoxidil foam I put in it 4 hours prior to taking these pics. The Left Side The Right Side So it looks like I’m still dealing with some shockloss. My wife says that even in direct overhead lighting you can’t see it unless my head is turned in that direction and even then it just looks like a scar I could’ve suffered from anything. One might make an argument that there is a slight line of demarcation but I’m telling myself that it just looks like my hair is wavy there. Here are some more pics of my current progress closer up. I, hastily, threw some Dermatch in my scar to see if it made a difference and I feel like it made the scar line more noticeable. We just had our bathroom remodeled and I’m supposed to be painting the it. 🤷🏼♂️😬 I feel like I’ve made some decent gains in the last month and overall I’m very pleased with how things are currently progressing. There’s no pain in the donor or recipient but there’s a fair amount of itchiness in both and I’m fighting the good fight when it comes to pimples. I know it’s a sign of hairs trying to break through but holy crap am I ready for the pimples to stop forming. They are pretty uncomfortable. I had my fair share of zits going through puberty and I don’t remember them being so irritating! 😂 😭 I’ll take some pics again in 6 days at the 3 month mark and see if there’s a difference. I’ll also take some time with applying dermatch to the scar and see if it makes any difference and add that in there as well. Until then I’ll be here if anyone has any questions. Cheers and be good people.✌🏻 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Steeeve Posted July 10, 2019 Author Valued Contributor Share Posted July 10, 2019 That Alfalfa cowlick has been there since childhood. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Mycroft Posted July 11, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted July 11, 2019 Looks very nice for only three months. I would say you're off to a great start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member LeonSlack Posted July 11, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted July 11, 2019 (edited) @Steeeve Thanks for the shout out. You are looking great. Your donor looks awesome. I don't think anyone would be able to notice, period. Ever since I learned about this industry, I often stare at the back of people's heads. Even people that I know for a fact have never had any work done, some seem to have a part of line back there, probably with how their hair is cut or from lying down, etc. I booked my appointment for the first week of August with Dr. Arocha. I am nervous as you can be, but I know I will be in good hands. My hair is a couple of inches long back there, but I have a thin crown, so I use some of the hair back there to comb forward/to the side. I am just hoping the incision is low enough that the line will be covered until it heals. It really doesn't seem like it takes more than an inch of hair to cover it. I suppose 'short' hair is relative. Some guys want a #1 guard and if it grows to a #4, it's way 'too long'. Some guys like it 2-3 inches long and and that isn't very long to them. You're doing great, man. I may have to message you more as I get closer to the date and afterward, too! Edited July 11, 2019 by LeonSlack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member LeonSlack Posted July 11, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted July 11, 2019 And @Steeeve, trust me, if you are wearing a hat to hide your donor, you DO NOT need it! It looks great! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Steeeve Posted July 13, 2019 Author Valued Contributor Share Posted July 13, 2019 On 7/11/2019 at 6:19 AM, Mycroft said: Looks very nice for only three months. I would say you're off to a great start. Thank you for the kind words Mycroft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Steeeve Posted July 13, 2019 Author Valued Contributor Share Posted July 13, 2019 On 7/11/2019 at 5:55 PM, LeonSlack said: @Steeeve Thanks for the shout out. You are looking great. Your donor looks awesome. I don't think anyone would be able to notice, period. Ever since I learned about this industry, I often stare at the back of people's heads. Even people that I know for a fact have never had any work done, some seem to have a part of line back there, probably with how their hair is cut or from lying down, etc. I booked my appointment for the first week of August with Dr. Arocha. I am nervous as you can be, but I know I will be in good hands. My hair is a couple of inches long back there, but I have a thin crown, so I use some of the hair back there to comb forward/to the side. I am just hoping the incision is low enough that the line will be covered until it heals. It really doesn't seem like it takes more than an inch of hair to cover it. I suppose 'short' hair is relative. Some guys want a #1 guard and if it grows to a #4, it's way 'too long'. Some guys like it 2-3 inches long and and that isn't very long to them. You're doing great, man. I may have to message you more as I get closer to the date and afterward, too! You will 100% be in good hands. I understand your nervousness, I was as well, but there really is no need. Dr Arocha and his team will put you at ease every step of the way. The Valium they give you will help out greatly as well. Lol My hair was only a couple of inches long when I had the op and it was more than enough to cover the suture line/scar. I never really cared what length my hair was. I’ve worn it long, well past my shoulders. I’ve kept it close to my scalp and everything in between. That’s just me. I find most people tend to become OCD, in a sense, with the length of their hair where they wouldn’t be in other areas. It gets to a certain length and people just can’t seem to stand the way it feels on their head. Your date is right around the corner, man!! Exciting! I hope you update the forum with your results!! Thank you for the words of encouragement. Feel free to message me anytime! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Steeeve Posted July 19, 2019 Author Valued Contributor Share Posted July 19, 2019 Hey everybody. These pics were taken exactly 3 months post-op on the 16th. I had my wife help me with the dry pics. The hair isn’t really styled. I just kinda tussled my hands through it. The wet pics I took myself. There’s really not much to say at this point that I haven’t said already. Nor is there anything to complain about as it’s only 3 months. It’s a solid start and I’m still very happy with what I’ve seen so far. I said I would try putting some dermmatch in my scar in my last post but the hair had grown enough in the few days since that I haven’t needed to. One thing of note is that there is some solid hair in my crown, due to the PRP, that I’ve not had in years. That was exciting to see. I’m going to get my wife to help me get some wet pics of the back of my head because what it looks like dry versus wet is completely different. Cheers.And Wet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Melvin- Admin Posted July 20, 2019 Administrators Share Posted July 20, 2019 Your hair looks pretty good wet, also jealous of your temple points they haven’t receded at all. Excited to see your progress in the upcoming months 😬 I’m a paid admin for Hair Transplant Network. I do not receive any compensation from any clinic. My comments are not medical advice. Check out my final hair transplant and topical dutasteride journey: View my thread Topical dutasteride journey Melvin- Managing Publisher and Forum Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q&A Blog. Follow our Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Steeeve Posted July 21, 2019 Author Valued Contributor Share Posted July 21, 2019 Thanks @Melvin-Moderator! I hope that my temples stick around for awhile. My father is 69 and while he’s mostly bald, with the exception of a few stragglers, his temples have kinda held on. You never know until they’re gone though!! I also wanted to post some pics of the back of my head wet to give an idea of what I’m able to achieve with my scar. Spoiler Alert: it’s not great. Not yet, at least. It’s what I hope to show other members of the forum looking at strip surgery a very real look at what they’re getting into. If they do enough research and find other members who’ve had the strip procedure done they’ll see that this generally clears up over the course of the year. Time will tell with my situation, though. Keen eyes will notice that my scar color has really gotten to a more normal color on my left side while it’s still pretty pink on my right. I’m still not concerned. I’ve seen guys on here with shockloss continue up to 5 and 6 months and then clear up around the year mark. That being said, I’ll be avoiding getting in the water at the beach with my family in a few weeks AND avoiding pool time with friends for a few months. Dermmatch has been pretty successful at concealing it when dry but I haven’t really tried it when wet. And lastly I just wanted to add some closeups of my hair when wet. That’s all for now. Cheers. ✌🏻🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member LeonSlack Posted July 31, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted July 31, 2019 @Steeeve Even when wet, your scar is barely visible and it is far from being fully healed. You are doing great, man. My procedure is next week and I am getting so nervous, I can barely eat. Lol. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Steeeve Posted August 2, 2019 Author Valued Contributor Share Posted August 2, 2019 On 7/30/2019 at 8:52 PM, LeonSlack said: @Steeeve Even when wet, your scar is barely visible and it is far from being fully healed. You are doing great, man. My procedure is next week and I am getting so nervous, I can barely eat. Lol. Well, don’t stop eating man! I understand your nervousness but everyone there is going to put you at ease. It’s going to be awesome. I hope you post your progress! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Betterhair Posted August 4, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted August 4, 2019 You are in good hands! Arocha and his team are the best ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member LeonSlack Posted August 8, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted August 8, 2019 @Steeeve I did it! Just got back home from Houston. The first night's pain was awful. I got the PRP done, and even all the meds weren't doing anything for me... I felt a lot better in the morning. Now, only the donor is hurting a bit. I am guessing this is normal for a few days? The question I had is that I have a lot of packets of bacitracin. Each time you washed and dried, did you use 1 whole packet on the scar? Trying my best to avoid any loss. I only did 2000 grafts, so my scar is a bit shorter. Also, the instructions said that after 3 days, apply (don't rub) the bacitracin to the grafts, as well? When did you start wearing a baseball hat? Thanks for your help... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Steeeve Posted August 8, 2019 Author Valued Contributor Share Posted August 8, 2019 2 hours ago, LeonSlack said: @Steeeve I did it! Just got back home from Houston. The first night's pain was awful. I got the PRP done, and even all the meds weren't doing anything for me... I felt a lot better in the morning. Now, only the donor is hurting a bit. I am guessing this is normal for a few days? The question I had is that I have a lot of packets of bacitracin. Each time you washed and dried, did you use 1 whole packet on the scar? Trying my best to avoid any loss. I only did 2000 grafts, so my scar is a bit shorter. Also, the instructions said that after 3 days, apply (don't rub) the bacitracin to the grafts, as well? When did you start wearing a baseball hat? Thanks for your help... Congratulations @LeonSlack!! That’s awesome man! For me the pain subsided around day 2 or day 3 but I was taking ibuprofen or Tylenol to combat it and drinking a ton of water. Dr Arocha and the techs were telling me during the procedure that I have a high pain tolerance and if you were to ask me I would say I was a big ol’ baby when it came to the pain. After the 2nd or 3rd day there really wasn’t any pain necessarily but the sutures were a little irritated. It didn’t hurt but my scalp felt tight and my brain was definitely processing that something was different back there. Yes, I, or my wife, applied the bacitracin to the scar after every wash and on day three I started applying to the recipient area. I would just lightly dab it on there. I had some spare triple antibiotic ointment laying around and once I ran out of the packets I asked if that was okay to apply since it had bacitracin in it. Dr Arocha said that works just as well. I didn’t throw a cap on until the week after. I didn’t go out of the house until the next week. I had two 6 month olds at the time and I pretty much spent my time taking care of them while also following the Dr’s post op instructions. It, uh... really kept me busy. Lol When it came to the cap I really didn’t want to chance anything dislodging those grafts so I waited until 8 or 9 days for them to really settle in to my scalp. I believe the post op instructions say when you’re safe but I remember that I still waited a few days extra. Congrats again, man! I’m really happy for you! I hope you post your results. Anything else just ask. Good luck and Happy Growing!!🙂👍🏻 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Mycroft Posted August 8, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted August 8, 2019 Really glad to see so many positive experiences with Dr. Arocha on the forum of late. He and I have only worked on non surgical solutions so far, but at the moment he's one of the only surgeons I'd be considering if I decided to go in for a procedure. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member LeonSlack Posted August 8, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted August 8, 2019 9 hours ago, Steeeve said: Congratulations @LeonSlack!! That’s awesome man! For me the pain subsided around day 2 or day 3 but I was taking ibuprofen or Tylenol to combat it and drinking a ton of water. Dr Arocha and the techs were telling me during the procedure that I have a high pain tolerance and if you were to ask me I would say I was a big ol’ baby when it came to the pain. After the 2nd or 3rd day there really wasn’t any pain necessarily but the sutures were a little irritated. It didn’t hurt but my scalp felt tight and my brain was definitely processing that something was different back there. Yes, I, or my wife, applied the bacitracin to the scar after every wash and on day three I started applying to the recipient area. I would just lightly dab it on there. I had some spare triple antibiotic ointment laying around and once I ran out of the packets I asked if that was okay to apply since it had bacitracin in it. Dr Arocha said that works just as well. I didn’t throw a cap on until the week after. I didn’t go out of the house until the next week. I had two 6 month olds at the time and I pretty much spent my time taking care of them while also following the Dr’s post op instructions. It, uh... really kept me busy. Lol When it came to the cap I really didn’t want to chance anything dislodging those grafts so I waited until 8 or 9 days for them to really settle in to my scalp. I believe the post op instructions say when you’re safe but I remember that I still waited a few days extra. Congrats again, man! I’m really happy for you! I hope you post your results. Anything else just ask. Good luck and Happy Growing!!🙂👍🏻 @Steeeve thanks for the info man. Today is day 2 and I woke up with swelling even though I wore the strips on my head! It looks like I was in a boxing match. Haha. I’ll use some ice on the forehead. I tried my best to sleep at 45 degrees. I don’t know how anyone could sleep on their head yet because the sutures would hurt! Speaking of them, they hurt a bit. I’m just going to take Tylenol today and see what happens. I can feel them more from the ends instead of the middle. If I sit down, it isn’t as bad. A little sharp pain. Honestly, the headache induced from the PRP was the absolute worst. But PRP is helpful... I did have a question. How often did you wash your hair with baby shampoo every day? Just once or twice? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Steeeve Posted August 9, 2019 Author Valued Contributor Share Posted August 9, 2019 I washed twice a day and I used the baby shampoo during both washes. We have cats and we use spray bottles to keep them from running all over our bedroom at night. I would take one of those and pour some baby shampoo in it then mix in some water with the sodium chloride solution that they gave me. I would swirl it around to get it nice and mixed together. Then I would spray my head down, both the donor and recipient, pretty generously. I kept the bottle pretty close to my head when I sprayed, less than a foot away. I would let that sit for 15 minutes and then spray again and let it sit for 15 more minutes so my head was soaking in it for about 30 minutes. Then I would take a cup of water and just pour it all over my head until it was clean. Twice a day I did that. I think it helped greatly with getting the scabs loose to come off when I was able to start massaging them more vigorously under the shower head. I should’ve spent more time on the sutures but I think if I had it would worked just the same. The mixture would last me for quite a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member LeonSlack Posted August 11, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted August 11, 2019 @Steeeve Man. It’s been an experience. Still having pain in the donor but just taking regular Tylenol to keep that at bay. The swelling was bad even with the tape. It was the 5th night last night and I was tired of sleeping upright. I decided to sleep nearly flat, sideways. On the left side of my head. I got a lot of rest and it felt great. I hope that was ok. When did you start sleeping on the side or directly on the back of your head? I can’t imagine you slept directly on the back of your head until the sutures were out... Thanks again for the help... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Steeeve Posted August 11, 2019 Author Valued Contributor Share Posted August 11, 2019 1 hour ago, LeonSlack said: @Steeeve Man. It’s been an experience. Still having pain in the donor but just taking regular Tylenol to keep that at bay. The swelling was bad even with the tape. It was the 5th night last night and I was tired of sleeping upright. I decided to sleep nearly flat, sideways. On the left side of my head. I got a lot of rest and it felt great. I hope that was ok. When did you start sleeping on the side or directly on the back of your head? I can’t imagine you slept directly on the back of your head until the sutures were out... Thanks again for the help... I bought a neck pillow from amazon that propped my head up and slept with it until the sutures came out. It allowed me to relax my neck at night while keeping my sutures off my bed pillow. You’re very welcome, Leon. Anything else, lemme know! 🙂👍🏻 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member LeonSlack Posted August 13, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted August 13, 2019 @Steeeve I’ve sorta hijacked your thread. I hope you don’t mind too much. It’s been a week. Donor pain is a lot better. Pings and pangs like you described in your post. The suture line is turning into crust though. I see some brown crust coming off. Did you start scrubbing this off or just let it come off naturally? Whenever I apply the zinc, I see a bit of brown crust. Also, I still haven’t used a shower directly on my my head. I’ve been using the cup method. The grafts are still sitting on my head lol... I’m kinda nervous to just get in the shower and shower normally and scrub my head... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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