Hairline raised from previous hair transplant surgery; what should I do about the scar tissue left over?

[fitwhynot]

I had a botched HT some years back and recently received another HT from a much better surgeon. The previous surgeon placed the grafts/hairline far too low and the new surgeon essentially removed about 50 grafts from my previously established hairline.  What should I do about this scar tissue on my forehead? I've read that trentinoin can help but are there any better options?

Thanks

[Al - Moderator]

How long ago was the graft removal done? Usually if it's only a small amount punched out and if they aren't too much lower than the new hairline they will heal enough to not be noticeable unless someone is really looking for them. If the procedure wasn't that long ago then I suggest just waiting a while to see how much it will heal.

 

[fitwhynot]

Sorry for the late response, about 30 grafts were removed ~1 month ago. I'm already applying minox/duta on this area anyway, so hairs may or may not grow and cover this area, but in any case I'm wondering if something like dermarolling and trentinoin would be a good idea.

Edited October 14, 2021 by fitwhynot

[HairRun]

Can you post pictures? Who was your 2nd surgeon? What size punch did they use? 

It's hard to say without pictures. In some cases microneedling can help with removing scar tissue but it really depends; it could make things worse. Your local drug store should have some ointments to help with scarring. You should also scour forums and youtube videos to see if there's one where people have been getting amazing results and swear by  

 

Did you HTS relocate the graphs, or just remove them. A HTS who is experienced in this would also know an optimal protocol to reduce scarring and share that with you. But sometimes that's delegated to their patient advocate. 

 

 

[Fue3361]

First of all, give it time to heal.  But with that said, if you don't want to visit a skin care specialist and more do it yourself at home, look into a good derma pen.  Those things work wonders for scarring.  They're not that expensive, and are WAYS better than a derma roller.

 

A dermapen will cost you less than booking a single dermapen session with a professional.  

[Gatsby]

@fitwhynot I wouldn't worry too much. I would give those tiny scars plenty of 'time' to heal. If they are FUE type punch scars they will eventually blend into your skin color. They become red and over time they will become white. Scars continue to improve over a very long time. All the best!

[fitwhynot]

Rahal was my second surgeon.  I've done one microneedling session so far and I have a dermatologist appointment next week to confirm that needling (and the trentinoin cream) is the approach. 

Below is a photo demonstrating the scarring/redness and this was about 3 weeks post-op (before any needling). The lighting makes it look less dramatic than it actually is actually.

[HairRun]

hmm, can we get a picture of how it looks without the lighting to see the extent of how the scarring differs from your normal skin?

Might be worth asking the derma if certain supplements would help. collagen, vitE, etc. 

Were the graph relocated further back, or just removed? If the former, did they grow in ok? 

[fitwhynot]

The grafts were removed and placed further back.  As you can see, it’s noticeable.

Edited November 22, 2021 by fitwhynot

[Jonulous]

The caution with these as always is how much one type of redness/inflammation treatment is transferable to some other kind. With that as caveat, I've had areas not on the face, where I wanted to speed up the process of fading redness after I got some benign moles taken off.

They used a vascular laser in that case, e.g. Cutera Excel V or Candela V Beam.