bcl124 Posted July 1, 2021 Share Posted July 1, 2021 Hey everyone, recently had a 700 graft FUE procedure done at a pretty reputable clinic in NY, however, like the title says.. this is now 3 weeks post OP and the donor area still looks pretty bad. after a quick Google search every other result that popped up claimed the donor area should go back to normal after 5 or so days. just wondering if this is normal or not. Obviously I have reached out to the clinic that worked on me before coming here and am awaiting their response, but in the meantime I figured I'd see if I can get anyone here who's had experience with FUE to weight in on it for me. I'm gonna wait it out and see if it'll heal more.. but 3 weeks post op is definitely starting to get to the point where the worry sets in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member follically challenged Posted July 1, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted July 1, 2021 What do you mean, 'go back to normal'? You realise that those follicles taken will not return, right? Overall the donor area looks good in my opinion Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Melvin- Admin Posted July 1, 2021 Administrators Share Posted July 1, 2021 The donor takes months to heal, there is shock loss that can occur. Give it time. 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...
Senior Member aaron1234 Posted July 1, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted July 1, 2021 Do you have immediate post-op pics to compare with where you are now? Dr. G: 1,000 grafts (FUT) 2008 Dr. Paul Shapiro: 2,348 grafts (FUT) 2009 ~ 1,999 grafts (FUT) 2011 ~ 300 grafts (Scar Reduction) 2013 Dr. Konior: 771 grafts (FUT) 2015 ~ 558 grafts (FUT) 2017 ~ 1,124 grafts (FUE) 2020 My Hair Transplant Journey with Shapiro Medical Group Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member pkipling Posted July 2, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted July 2, 2021 I agree that it doesn't look as healed as most people at this stage, but it is still a little early. Have you reached out to the clinic for their input/explanation? Given that it was only 700 grafts makes it even more odd to me. The good news is that once your hair grows back in, it'll disguise most of that anyway, so hopefully it'll eventually be a non-issue and resolve itself. I am a patient advocate for Dr. Parsa Mohebi in Los Angeles, CA. My views/opinions are my own and don't necessarily reflect the opinions of Dr. Mohebi and his staff. Check out my hair loss website for photos FUE surgery by Dr. Mohebi on 7/31/14 2,001 grafts - Ones: 607; Twos: 925; Threes: 413; Fours: 56 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Yoo Posted July 2, 2021 Regular Member Share Posted July 2, 2021 Have you buzzed/shaved the donor area since the transplant? The native hair looks short for 3 weeks? If you have, maybe that’s aggravating the wounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Al - Moderator Posted July 3, 2021 Moderators Share Posted July 3, 2021 It looks like you are buzzing the area and irritating it. You need to leave it alone for a week or two. 1 Al Forum Moderator (formerly BeHappy) I am a forum moderator for hairrestorationnetwork.com. I am not a Dr. and I do not work for any particular Dr. My opinions are my own and may not reflect the opinions of other moderators or the owner of this site. I am also a hair transplant patient and repair patient. You can view some of my repair journey here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcl124 Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 (edited) On 7/1/2021 at 11:17 PM, pkipling said: I agree that it doesn't look as healed as most people at this stage, but it is still a little early. Have you reached out to the clinic for their input/explanation? Given that it was only 700 grafts makes it even more odd to me. The good news is that once your hair grows back in, it'll disguise most of that anyway, so hopefully it'll eventually be a non-issue and resolve itself. it seems like the general consensus is that after an FUE you're expected to let the hair grow to mask the scars .. i always shave the back of my head (high skin fade) and honestly believed that a 700 graft FUE would be minimally evasive enough to still be able to keep the back of my head shaved. I'm reaching the 4th week post surgery in a couple days now and it's still red , still slightly tender, and (what really concerns me) is the little "holes" that are still there ... however, I have been buzzing it so maybe that was irritating it more like other posters have said. I sent that picture to my surgeon and he assured me this was normal and fine. I'm going to remain patient and wait another 2-3 weeks (without buzzing it) before I really start to raise more concern ... Edited July 6, 2021 by bcl124 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Kharmacoma Posted July 6, 2021 Regular Member Share Posted July 6, 2021 There is no way your donor can look bad with 700 punches unless it was the first procedure your doc performed in his life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Al - Moderator Posted July 6, 2021 Moderators Share Posted July 6, 2021 (edited) 18 hours ago, bcl124 said: always shave the back of my head (high skin fade) and honestly believed that a 700 graft FUE would be minimally evasive enough to still be able to keep the back of my head shaved. You can probably do that, but you needed to let it heal more first. I really think most of your issue is you started buzzing/shaving it too soon. It's like when you have a cut and the scab starts forming and you pick the scab off too soon and you start bleeding where the scab was. This could be sort of the same thing. Leave it alone for a little while and see if it looks like it's improving. Edited July 6, 2021 by BeHappy 1 Al Forum Moderator (formerly BeHappy) I am a forum moderator for hairrestorationnetwork.com. I am not a Dr. and I do not work for any particular Dr. My opinions are my own and may not reflect the opinions of other moderators or the owner of this site. I am also a hair transplant patient and repair patient. You can view some of my repair journey here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member BLE123 Posted July 6, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted July 6, 2021 Some doctors say not to buzz up until six months, that seems a bit extreme to me but most agree that you should avoid it for at least a month, preferably three. Not to be rude but you've just had 700 holes punched into your head, you must have known that it's probably a good idea to let them heal first before taking a razor to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member JohnCasper Posted July 8, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted July 8, 2021 Give it time and don't aggravate the area with a razor or trimming. It will heal. 700 grafts is not many. Did you do a touch-up job in the frontal area with the 700? Just curious. I am an online representative for Carolina Hair Surgery & Dr. Mike Vories (Recommended on the Hair Transplant Network). View John's before/after photos and videos: http://www.MyFUEhairtransplant.com You can email me at johncasper99@gmail.com I am not a medical professional and my opinions should not be taken as medical advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcl124 Posted September 10, 2021 Author Share Posted September 10, 2021 here's the 3 month update.. still looks pretty bad , still can see the little holes and redness. I know 3 months is too early to see results but I would've guessed the donor area would be well beyond healed by now. Just emailed my Dr. and awaiting his input on this though, it is getting better.. just very slowly so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member BDK081522 Posted September 11, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted September 11, 2021 You had 700 extraction sites punched into your occipital region. Each punch leaves a scar. Depending on tool used and healing characteristics everyone scars differently but there will always be signs of surgery. If you thought you could skin shave your donor without showing any signs of surgery you shouldn't have gotten a hair transplant. Your donor actually doesn't look too bad at all. Just your expectations are a bit off. Your donor at a 1 guard fade should look undetectable. 1 Bosley 11-2016 FUE - 1,407 grafts Dr. Diep 09-2017 FUE - 2,024 grafts Dr. Konior 03-2020 FUE - 2,076 grafts Dr. Konior 09-2021 FUE - 697 scalp to scalp, FUE - 716 beard to beard Total scalp FUE - 6,204 grafts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member pkipling Posted September 13, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted September 13, 2021 Personally, I think this is looking great - and as mentioned above, it may be worth shifting your expectations a bit about what hairstyles are possible for you moving forward (or at least until some more time passes to see how it ultimately heals). The reality is that you had 700 punctures to the skin, and so the risk of developing tiny little scars is a reality of getting a hair transplant, and it's important for everyone to know beforehand that shaving their hair down to the skin like this may not be a viable option, even with FUE. All of that said, I had 2,000 grafts over 7 years ago, and my donor looked similar to yours at 3 months. However, with time and with proper care (mainly keeping the donor out of the sun for 6 months to better help it heal), I can now buzz the back/sides of my donor with no guard and not have any signs at all of a hair transplant. I got my haircut 2 weeks ago by a new barber and he was in complete disbelief that I even had any work done, so it's possible... It's just not something that should be expected. Hopefully yours continues to improve more to your satisfaction, but I do want to reiterate that I don't think it looks nearly as bad as you think it does - and in all honesty, you could probably get away with it as is and nobody would ever think anything of it. I am a patient advocate for Dr. Parsa Mohebi in Los Angeles, CA. My views/opinions are my own and don't necessarily reflect the opinions of Dr. Mohebi and his staff. Check out my hair loss website for photos FUE surgery by Dr. Mohebi on 7/31/14 2,001 grafts - Ones: 607; Twos: 925; Threes: 413; Fours: 56 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Gokuhairline Posted September 13, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted September 13, 2021 are you applying anything to donor area ? aloe vera, aquaphorm, etc ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Kharmacoma Posted September 14, 2021 Regular Member Share Posted September 14, 2021 With only 700 grafts even if I did the extraction it would be impossible to do harm to your donor. 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Gatsby Posted September 14, 2021 Valued Contributor Share Posted September 14, 2021 Firstly I don't know why you are shaving your donor? I'd leave everything to settle. Secondly it can take up to a year for scars to heal and then they go on continuing for years afterwards. You're worrying about nothing honestly. Happy growing and all the best! 1 GATSBY 'UNPLUGGED!' 15,671 (3 surgeries) Grafts FUE+BHT Dr. Sethi Eugenix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Melvin- Admin Posted September 14, 2021 Administrators Share Posted September 14, 2021 5 hours ago, Gatsby said: Firstly I don't know why you are shaving your donor? I'd leave everything to settle. Secondly it can take up to a year for scars to heal and then they go on continuing for years afterwards. You're worrying about nothing honestly. Happy growing and all the best! ^this, sounds like you didn’t need surgery to begin with if you only needed 700 grafts. Hair Transplants are not scarless. 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...
Senior Member Curious25 Posted September 14, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted September 14, 2021 53 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said: ^this, sounds like you didn’t need surgery to begin with if you only needed 700 grafts. Hair Transplants are not scarless. Not necessarily true at all, it completely depends on the case the patient presents . . . and in this case we have no idea what OP's pre surgery situation was, as he's focused the topic on his donor. For example, @1978matt had a procedure of around 700 grafts purely for his crown, and the difference it made was night and day. Small, carefully planned procedures are much more fool proof than larger procedures IMO. Anyway OP, at 3 months and with a skin fade, despite the shoddy picture quality, your donor looks great to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcl124 Posted September 20, 2021 Author Share Posted September 20, 2021 appreciate all the replies everyone. as for my procedure, had a 700 graft fue done on my frontal band area to address thinning. ever since I was a teenager i was always thin on the corners of my hairline. soon as I hit 30 i feel like it started to get worse. picture of me with headphones is what I looked like pre surgery , then the 2 post surgery pictures showing the grafts, then what it looks like now 3 months post surgery Dr says everything is looking good/normal and I do have faith in him seeing as he's a reputable doctor whose work speaks for itself, but of course I can't help but to be impatient and anxious for the final result.. this is obviously something that's very important to me, as I'm sure it is for everyone else on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted September 20, 2021 Senior Member Share Posted September 20, 2021 If I can be honest here .. 350 grafts approx either side isn’t anywhere enough to give you adequate density in the areas we can see. When I zone in on the pics it doesn’t look like enough density even where it has been implanted. Who was the clinic/Dr ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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