Donor Area after FUE

[TK-421]

Hi all

I am new to the forum

I had a FUE transplant on 7th October 2019 (2weeks ago) with 2400 grafts

I had lots of swelling and edema in my donor area

Now the swelling has gone my donor area looks very uneven and sparse

Is this normal or has a bad harvesting been done?

Thanks

[TK-421]

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated

[Gasthoerer]

Please show some pics from the days of surgery.

[TK-421]

This is the donor area prior to surgery

[Gasthoerer]

Sorry, after extraction ;-)

[TK-421]

I don't have any from the day of surgery just one from day 3

 

[TK-421]

I had a lot of swelling by this point and it's not a great image.

[TK-421]

Could it be shock loss?

[Al - Moderator]

You probably have some shock loss. The only thing you can do is wait a few months and let it start to grow in and then see where you are at.

 

[Al - Moderator]

4 hours ago, TK-421 said:

I don't have any from the day of surgery just one from day 3

 

 

Looking at this picture, I'm going to take a guess that it may have taken a lot more than 2400 attempts to get 2400 good grafts. What that means is they don't get the root out when they try to pull a graft out or they cut the hair under the skin before reaching the root, so the hair root is still in your scalp although you have a FUE punch hole there. If the roots are good then those hairs may start growing back again right away, although you have to give it a week or so of growth before you may see them as the tops of them are not at surface level. Let me know if you see any growth in a few weeks.

 

[TK-421]

2 hours ago, BeHappy said:

 

Looking at this picture, I'm going to take a guess that it may have taken a lot more than 2400 attempts to get 2400 good grafts. What that means is they don't get the root out when they try to pull a graft out or they cut the hair under the skin before reaching the root, so the hair root is still in your scalp although you have a FUE punch hole there. If the roots are good then those hairs may start growing back again right away, although you have to give it a week or so of growth before you may see them as the tops of them are not at surface level. Let me know if you see any growth in a few weeks.

 

Thanks for the response

I have spoken to the Dr at the clinic and he said what I am seeing now is no cause for alarm. He assured me that in a couple of months the donor area will fill in and look fine

I will wait it out and post an update

 

 

Edited October 22, 2019 by TK-421

[ITA]

@TK-421.. can you tell us where you did your transplant?  It's just a curiosity.

[TK-421]

2 minutes ago, Giastro said:

@TK-421.. can you tell us where you did your transplant?  It's just a curiosity.

At a clinic in Istanbul

But I will wait for the results before I say where

[ITA]

ok, it was just a curiosity, even in 2016 I did a first transplant in a clinic in Istanbul, they ruined the donor area, I suffered a over haversting...

[Gasthoerer]

On 10/22/2019 at 11:27 AM, TK-421 said:

I don't have any from the day of surgery just one from day 3

 

 

Hint for newbies: Never go to a clinic which has patient reports without pics directly before/after surgery. 

You donor looks typical for some of the cheaper clinics in turkey. It is sub-par work IMO, but hard to judge without proper pics. I recommend to contact another medical doctor to check if the redness is just from the trauma or if there is some infection etc. Probably it is only trauma, but better be sure. 

 

[Uncle drew]

That’s overharvesting donor no doubt about it

[pkipling]

It doesn't look ideal, but still a very good chance that it will turn out alright. No need to stress about it regardless, so hang tight and see what it looks like in a month or so. 

[TK-421]

On 10/22/2019 at 3:32 PM, BeHappy said:

 

Looking at this picture, I'm going to take a guess that it may have taken a lot more than 2400 attempts to get 2400 good grafts. What that means is they don't get the root out when they try to pull a graft out or they cut the hair under the skin before reaching the root, so the hair root is still in your scalp although you have a FUE punch hole there. If the roots are good then those hairs may start growing back again right away, although you have to give it a week or so of growth before you may see them as the tops of them are not at surface level. Let me know if you see any growth in a few weeks.

 

Interestingly I have started to see some very short hairs breaking through the scalp so I think your assessment is probably the most accurate

[BlessUp]

Dont let these guys scare you. I had a ht, my donor looked like absolute shit similar to yours. Its caused by shock loss. The trauma of the surgery made adjacent hairs freak out and shed. They will absolutely grow back in the donor area. Prolly about month 3 to 4 you'll be back to normal. Trust me you'll be fine I went thru it just give it time and dont worry about it. Wear a hat until in comes back if it bothers u.

Edited October 27, 2019 by BlessUp

[TK-421]

5 hours ago, BlessUp said:

Dont let these guys scare you. I had a ht, my donor looked like absolute shit similar to yours. Its caused by shock loss. The trauma of the surgery made adjacent hairs freak out and shed. They will absolutely grow back in the donor area. Prolly about month 3 to 4 you'll be back to normal. Trust me you'll be fine I went thru it just give it time and dont worry about it. Wear a hat until in comes back if it bothers u.

Thanks

I did shed some from the donor area and had some transected hairs too it seems. I didn't react well to the anaesthetic and I also had lots of bleeding and swelling.

I spoke with the Dr at some length about it and he assured me the end result would be good. They used a 0.9mm punch but I was a somewhat challenging case because I had good blood flow, so I bled more than usual in the donor and the graft sites.

Tbh it's already looking better so I am optimistic.

 

 

 

 

[pkipling]

On 10/27/2019 at 5:45 PM, TK-421 said:

Thanks

I did shed some from the donor area and had some transected hairs too it seems. I didn't react well to the anaesthetic and I also had lots of bleeding and swelling.

I spoke with the Dr at some length about it and he assured me the end result would be good. They used a 0.9mm punch but I was a somewhat challenging case because I had good blood flow, so I bled more than usual in the donor and the graft sites.

Tbh it's already looking better so I am optimistic.

 

This paints a much more complete picture - and you're right that it's already looking better. The donor area does tend to recover remarkably well, especially considering how gnarly it often looks right after a procedure. 

Considering you're quite blonde and your skin seems rather fair, I'd be mindful not to get any sun even in the donor area while it's healing. 

[gillenator]

Although the donor area does appear somewhat over-harvested for 2400 grafts, it's way too early to judge fairly.

Look forward to your updated pics.

[TK-421]

I just though I'd post an update at 6 weeks post surgery

I have seen big improvements in the donor area and I'm fairly confident now that I will have a good final result.

[Al - Moderator]

I can still see the outline of it, but it's definitely looking much better. It should continue to improve over the next few months.

 

[TK-421]

So can I, but I did have some shedding.

I will update again in a few months, I suspect it will recover further by then.