What causes redness in recipient area post HT?

[DenverBuff1989]

After my 1st HT, my scalp and all the scabs healed up pretty nicely, but my recipient area had a somewhat visible redness to it lasting for appx. 2 months. It was not severe, but more of a faintly visible redness. My 2nd and 3rd HTs did not have this redness in the scalp at all. 

My 1st HT was poor in many ways - I am wondering if this long-lasting red scalp is also indicative of a poor HT? I'm curious, all else being equal, why my scalp was red for my 1st HT but not my 2nd or 3rd. 

I've seen many posts on here saying a post HT red recipient area is nothing to worry about...So I'm interested in knowing what factors during the surgery lead to the recipient area having some redness, in some cases lasting months. 

Thanks!

[ciaus]

Just part of the normal healing process from getting cut hundreds or more usually thousands of times.

 

 

I've heard fair skinned people have the redness longer generally, and I am fair skinned and it took about 3 months to completely fade away after my procedures.

With you -about all else being equal, was it? Was your first procedure bigger than the others? and/or where the grafts more densely packed together? I would expect more slit cuts/ more slits closer together, to cause more trauma and potentially additional healing time.

And were you getting good sleep, diet, no stressors going on in your life, no concurrent medications/conditions that may have slowed your healing capabilities after the first transplant?

 

[Curious25]

The fact that your scalp has just had hundreds and thousands of incisions made into it? 

[DenverBuff1989]

@ciaus I think you are right that the cause might have been the density of the grafts. My 1st HT - 1200 grafts, was the only one which created the hairline, and I think it makes sense that the hairline grafts were the most dense. The 2nd (600 grafts) and 3rd (2000 grafts) were to fill in gap areas. While the 3rd HT used more grafts than the 1st, it makes sense still, that the 1st HT which constructed the hairline, was more dense than the latter 2 HTs, which were more spread out. 

For whats it worth, my self-care post HT was good after all 3 HTs. I would actually say my self-care after my 1st HT was the most impeccable. 

[MarkLui]

Have you consulted your surgeon about the situation? He may want to know and suggest you some remedies like some creams.

[Westview]

Blood flow

[Blower]

if you have had two operations then surely the 2nd operation would add to the first in healing and more so in itching and it being irritable after two ops?

[pkipling]

I also would imagine that the reason for the increased appearance of redness after the 1st HT compared to the others was due to the fact that it was indeed right in front of your scalp in the hairline and much more densely packed (as Ciaus mentioned), which would make it much more apparent. The severity and duration of the redness in the recipient area has more to do with the patient's physiology than it does anything related to the surgeon's work. Mine was very noticeable (to my hypercritical eyes, anyway - lol) for the first 6 weeks or so, but I've always had a sensitive scalp and skin anyway, so it didn't surprise me.