Donor area pain

[Clark st]

32 minutes ago, Rooter said:

Have the same, just realize I posted in the wrong sub earlier I guess ( i put my donor question in the general "HT questions" sub)

Currently day 5 post OP. No pain in donor at all during the day but as soon as I have the pillow touch a certain area on my donor oh boy this is unbearable. No sleep since 2 days its really not just uncomfortable but hellish. Good to read here it seems to go away after some more days - what is strange is I really can not recall to have this read anywhere during my research before doing the HT - the clinic also does not prepare you for this. I understand swelling / infection whatever might happen but I dont have any swelling or at least visible infection. Wounds are closed by now since many days as well.

Really strange, it should be more prominent pre-OP that this can / is likely to happen to you know at least all is fine and its normal. (while per my view the general view is rather FUE donor is healing quickly and does not create that much amount of pain vs. FUT...)

The nerve pain is usually worse when u sleep bc you're putting pressure on it .  Try using your neck pillow to relieve some of the pressure points helped me out a lot.  If 800 mg ibeprofen helped me also , but you'll need a script gabapentin and acetaminophen with codeine  my dr. Was able to get me these.  Hang in there we know how u feel .  Scary at first but it gets better.

[pkipling]

I experienced this too, and like Clark St. mentioned, it ended up going away on its own after a couple of weeks. Night time was the worst - most likely due to the pressure being applied to my scalp from lying down combined with the fact that my mind was slower and less distracted... Therefore, I couldn't help but notice the tingling and jolts to the scalp.

Keep in mind that the extractions don't go deep enough to do actual nerve damage (or they shouldn't anyway), but sometimes the nerves can become slightly irritated due to all the trauma the scalp is put through. It doesn't seem to be very common, but it does happen from time to time. In the meantime, see if your doctor can prescribe you something for the pain/discomfort, and trust that it will most likely resolve itself on its own very soon. 

[Billy0716]

Mine is down to a 4/5 out of 10 tonight. 3 weeks post op tomorrow, second fue procedure so perhaps due to number of grafts in total. Didn’t have any pain on the first. I’ve got a follow up call with my surgeon tomorrow as I’ve got quite a few pimples/ ingrown hairs, wonder if they could be irritating an already sensitive area and causing the pain to last longer than it usually would. I definitely feel that at this stage it’s manageable though which is good. 

[Billy0716]

Quick update. I’m now 4 weeks post op, and other than the odd stabbing pain (probably couple of times this week at most) my nerve pain has completely resolved. No idea why it took so long but I took vitamin b6 and b12 which seemed to help. I’ve still got pimples in the donor area which are slightly painful but nothing as severe as the nerve pain, and the pimples should heal eventually. Hopefully everyone else experiencing donor pain post op takes some comfort from this, as even when it lasts longer than most, the pain should eventually resolve given time. 

[pkipling]

19 hours ago, Billy0716 said:

Quick update. I’m now 4 weeks post op, and other than the odd stabbing pain (probably couple of times this week at most) my nerve pain has completely resolved. No idea why it took so long but I took vitamin b6 and b12 which seemed to help. I’ve still got pimples in the donor area which are slightly painful but nothing as severe as the nerve pain, and the pimples should heal eventually. Hopefully everyone else experiencing donor pain post op takes some comfort from this, as even when it lasts longer than most, the pain should eventually resolve given time. 

So happy to hear this! And yes - for anyone experiencing something similar in the future who stumbles across this thread, it's important to note that any type of "nerve pain" you may experience after the procedure (which in and of itself is also very rare) will almost always subside with a little time. So try not to fret too much and trust that it will subside. 

[Clark st]

On 10/7/2021 at 6:28 PM, Billy0716 said:

Quick update. I’m now 4 weeks post op, and other than the odd stabbing pain (probably couple of times this week at most) my nerve pain has completely resolved. No idea why it took so long but I took vitamin b6 and b12 which seemed to help. I’ve still got pimples in the donor area which are slightly painful but nothing as severe as the nerve pain, and the pimples should heal eventually. Hopefully everyone else experiencing donor pain post op takes some comfort from this, as even when it lasts longer than most, the pain should eventually resolve given time. 

Hell yeah happy to hear!! Had us all worried for a bit.  Hownis the progress otherwise?

[Billy0716]

On 10/10/2021 at 6:28 AM, Clark st said:

Hell yeah happy to hear!! Had us all worried for a bit.  Hownis the progress otherwise?

Cheers mate. Back to being as bald as a baby’s ass unfortunately, the grafts have all shed as I’m 5 weeks tomorrow. All part of the process though so counting down the days until I see the first growth. How about you? 

[JohnCasper]

Glad to hear you're recovering well.  If you want to monitor your progress and compare to mine, check out my website and look back in the archives.  I chronicled the entire event day to day in the beginning and bi-monthly after that.  My website is listed below.  Looking forward to your updates on this website for all to see.

[alfieLA]

Hey Billy0716,

Writing you because I'm proper desperate. Just had my FUE 9 days ago and my excruciating stabbing pain started on day 6. Today feels a little bit manageable but it's really painful. I'm scared and don't know what to do. My doctor says to apply lidocaine gel before bed and also attempted to sell me some of their own formulated products and I just wasn't having that because I'm upset I didn't get ample warning about this nerve pain which when I brought to them, they treated so casually. I've started reading online and see that it's taken some people years to get over it. Please let me know what you did to feel better and if the pain still comes to you in 2022. I wonder why no one talks about it mainstream. 

[Billy0716]

11 minutes ago, alfieLA said:

Hey Billy0716,

Writing you because I'm proper desperate. Just had my FUE 9 days ago and my excruciating stabbing pain started on day 6. Today feels a little bit manageable but it's really painful. I'm scared and don't know what to do. My doctor says to apply lidocaine gel before bed and also attempted to sell me some of their own formulated products and I just wasn't having that because I'm upset I didn't get ample warning about this nerve pain which when I brought to them, they treated so casually. I've started reading online and see that it's taken some people years to get over it. Please let me know what you did to feel better and if the pain still comes to you in 2022. I wonder why no one talks about it mainstream. 

Please see my previous post for tablets I took - mixture of b vitamins. I’m now over a year post op and have no pain. I’d say it got a lot better after a month and by 3 months it was completely gone. Give it a few weeks, try not to stress. I think it’s rare which is why people don’t talk about it more regularly. Try the b vitamins. Cheers 

[alfieLA]

Thank you for writing back. Vitamnin B12 specifically?

[Billy0716]

29 minutes ago, alfieLA said:

Thank you for writing back. Vitamnin B12 specifically?

No problem. B6 and B12 is what I took mate. Take that for 4 weeks and u should notice significant improvement. 

[alfieLA]

I think my case is really bad. It's constant all day everyday and I can't sleep or do anything else other than eat. Is there anything you can do in the moment just for some temporary relief since vitamin b helps over time. I may have to call the ambulance because this pain is the worst I've ever physically felt in my life. I'd say I'm at a 10/10.

[Billy0716]

9 hours ago, alfieLA said:

I think my case is really bad. It's constant all day everyday and I can't sleep or do anything else other than eat. Is there anything you can do in the moment just for some temporary relief since vitamin b helps over time. I may have to call the ambulance because this pain is the worst I've ever physically felt in my life. I'd say I'm at a 10/10.

Sorry to hear that. I can’t remember whether it was constant as it was over a year ago. There is no point diagnosing yourself on the internet if you’re in that much pain (I know that I did, so a bit hypocritical for me to give that advice). I would see if you can get a doctors appointment. Good luck. 

[pkipling]

15 hours ago, alfieLA said:

I think my case is really bad. It's constant all day everyday and I can't sleep or do anything else other than eat. Is there anything you can do in the moment just for some temporary relief since vitamin b helps over time. I may have to call the ambulance because this pain is the worst I've ever physically felt in my life. I'd say I'm at a 10/10.

Hi Alfie! I'm so sorry the pain is so bad for you. Persistent pain at this level isn't normal at all, so I'd definitely seek medical attention as soon as possible. I've been on this forum for years and don't recall anyone ever experiencing something as severe as what you're describing, so I'm not sure how much we'll be able to guide you here. Keep us posted with how things go - especially if you find something that resolves this for you and/or gives you relief. Wishing you the best!