Questions about repairing donor area. Any experiences?

[tufman]

Hey! 

Just got some questions about repairing donor area after FUE. I had a 3500 graft beard transplant done couple of years ago, but unfortunately I didn't do my research and didn't go to a reputed clinic which resulted in my donor not being harvested homogeneously.

I do not actively suffer from any hairloss, so to fix my donor area, I was thinking if I could take hairs from my nape area and elsewhere on my scalp. Around 1500 grafts and place them into my FUE donor area to make it look a bit more homogeneously. I do not have a lot of body hair. Perhaps leg hair is what I could use. This would be my last hair transplant procedure ever.

I've had SMP done, but as my hair grows the overharvested areas show again, and I am looking for something more permanent than SMP.

I've read mustangs thread. but has anyone else had experiences in transplanting grafts into FUE scars? And which doctors do it? I appreciate any answers. Wish you guys the best

The picture I posted is the "worst" side. the other side looks better

Edited April 15, 2022 by tufman

[Melvin- Admin]

Honestly, it looks normal. Don’t do anything, you’ll only be creating more scars.

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

Tufman,

For starters, how old are you?  In the photos, you look young. My point is, you may not be experiencing any hair loss now but if you are young and you have a family history of thinning hair, you might eventually lose hair. If that’s true, you might want to forgo doing any type of work to the donor area considering you might end up wanting to use some for your scalp at some point.

Just as importantly, your donor area looks fine. I don’t see any signs of scarring to your donor with your hair at that length.  Moreover, taking hair from other parts of the body will only result in scarring to that area and I don’t see any areas in your donor that require being filled in.  

So unless you have intentions of shaving the sides and back of your scalp and you are exceptionally bothered by whatever minimal scarring you have, I would leave well enough alone and reserve your donor area for the future in the event you want or need a hair transplant.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant. 

[Ryan Daniel]

My donor area looks like this after a hair cut too.  Thats what happens when you get overharvested in Turkey. They took 3000 grafts from mine without any care and I had to do alot of SMP on mine aswell.  

I would say you look good, don't worry about anything. Infact you should be happy you have healthy brown hair and a crown full of hair. Take care of it friend

[tufman]

2 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Honestly, it looks normal. Don’t do anything, you’ll only be creating more scars.

Thanks for reply Melvin. Idk, I am quite self-concious about it. I just wish I could cut my hair whatever length without having to worry about it showing. In some lights and some lengths I feel like it shows more  Really wish I wasn't so self concious about it, even after SMP. I am not so worried about scars on legs, nor on head as long as it looks natural and homogeneous. I mean I can just grow my hair and it hides all of it, but it's whenever I am going to the barber I just feel anxiety worrying that the barber will cut it too short and the massive circle where they've extracted grafts from will show.

 

1 hour ago, Rahal Hair Transplant said:

Tufman,

For starters, how old are you?  In the photos, you look young. My point is, you may not be experiencing any hair loss now but if you are young and you have a family history of thinning hair, you might eventually lose hair. If that’s true, you might want to forgo doing any type of work to the donor area considering you might end up wanting to use some for your scalp at some point.

Just as importantly, your donor area looks fine. I don’t see any signs of scarring to your donor with your hair at that length.  Moreover, taking hair from other parts of the body will only result in scarring to that area and I don’t see any areas in your donor that require being filled in.  

So unless you have intentions of shaving the sides and back of your scalp and you are exceptionally bothered by whatever minimal scarring you have, I would leave well enough alone and reserve your donor area for the future in the event you want or need a hair transplant.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant. 

I am 33 years old. I am not actively losing any hair. My temples receeded quite some when I was 22 years old due to a maturing hairline and has been the same pretty much since. My brother is 40 years old with a juvenile hairline and thickness, and honestly, if I  end losing my hair I will not do anything about it. I'm done with transplants. I really just wanna make my donor area look a bit better and move on with life.

1 hour ago, Ryan Daniel said:

My donor area looks like this after a hair cut too.  Thats what happens when you get overharvested in Turkey. They took 3000 grafts from mine without any care and I had to do alot of SMP on mine aswell.  

I would say you look good, don't worry about anything. Infact you should be happy you have healthy brown hair and a crown full of hair. Take care of it friend

Yeah, what those clinics in Turkey do is crazy. I try steer people away and warn them of these cheap turkish instagram clinics whenever I hear someone talking about getting a hair transplant. It just isn't worth having a decimated donor area for a lower hairline. It's sad how peoples lives are being ruined. If I'll ever repair my donor area I'll make sure to not do the same mistake again.

Edited April 15, 2022 by tufman

[Melvin- Admin]

17 minutes ago, tufman said:

Thanks for reply Melvin. Idk, I am quite self-concious about it. I just wish I could cut my hair whatever length without having to worry about it showing. In some lights and some lengths I feel like it shows more  Really wish I wasn't so self concious about it, even after SMP. I am not so worried about scars on legs, nor on head as long as it looks natural and homogeneous. I mean I can just grow my hair and it hides all of it, but it's whenever I am going to the barber I just feel anxiety worrying that the barber will cut it too short and the massive circle where they've extracted grafts from will show.

 

I am 33 years old. I am not actively losing any hair. My temples receeded quite some when I was 22 years old due to a maturing hairline and has been the same pretty much since. My brother is 40 years old with a juvenile hairline and thickness, and honestly, if I  end losing my hair I will not do anything about it. I'm done with transplants. I really just wanna make my donor area look a bit better and move on with life.

Yeah, what those clinics in Turkey do is crazy. I try steer people away and warn them of these cheap turkish instagram clinics whenever I hear someone talking about getting a hair transplant. It just isn't worth having a decimated donor area for a lower hairline. It's sad how peoples lives are being ruined. If I'll ever repair my donor area I'll make sure to not do the same mistake again.

Leg hair isn’t a suitable donor source. You would have to take hair from either your beard or other part of your scalp. Again, surgery is only gonna creat the same issue somewhere else. I guarantee you no one notices anything. It looks absolutely normal. You’re the only one looking that closely. 

[gillenator]

Tufman,

Based on the pics, I do agree that the donor area does appear somewhat thin however if you were to grow the length by just a couple of inches, it would hide the thinning or provide more visual coverage…have you ever wore a longer hair style?…why not?

Over many years I can’t even begin to tell how many men that have told me that they wanted to restore their lost hair but could not have any visible scarring…well truth be told, “we cannot have our cake and eat it too”…hair transplant surgery will result in scarring, period…with quality FUE work, that visible scarring can potentially be reduced such as eliminating a strip scar, but it can create a different type of scarring such as you have in your donor.

In the 2nd pic, it appears that you have some viable beard donor however the curly texture would not be homogeneous with your native donor hair…if I had your situation, I would get several opinions from reputable repair surgeons (FUE) to explore the possibility of a primary DRT procedure with SMP, or a secondary DRT but there is risk of additional scarring and DRT procedures have shown inconsistent yields.

So why not just grow out the overall length of your hairstyle?…no more surgery, no more scarring, no more depletion of your hard earned money…I honestly think that’s your best option my friend.

[Gatsby]

I totally agree with all of the above advice. You would be throwing the baby out with the bath water if you went ahead with your proposal. 

[MAIZE1694]

This is my worry as well as I like to cut my hair short. It looks like the donor is a 3 or 4 guard length?

Honestly, in the grand scheme of turkish botch jobs thats not bad at all. 99% of people would not notice.

If you grew it out another 2-3 weeks I have to think it would improve the look significantly.

[gillenator]

On average hair grows approximately 1/2 inch per month.

[DrMunibAhmad]

Agree with the advice given above. Don't do anything, although it is a bit thinner, it's totally normal.

 

Save your money, time, and haidache. 

Edited April 16, 2022 by DrMunibAhmad

[RTC]

I sympathise with OP. I hate keeping the back of my head long, for some people growing it out is not a great solution. I'd defo consult Dr Mwamba (I will be doing the same for mine)

Edited April 16, 2022 by Aslitarcan sucks

[Eugenix Hair Sciences]

On 4/15/2022 at 6:51 PM, tufman said:

Hey! 

Just got some questions about repairing donor area after FUE. I had a 3500 graft beard transplant done couple of years ago, but unfortunately I didn't do my research and didn't go to a reputed clinic which resulted in my donor not being harvested homogeneously.

I do not actively suffer from any hairloss, so to fix my donor area, I was thinking if I could take hairs from my nape area and elsewhere on my scalp. Around 1500 grafts and place them into my FUE donor area to make it look a bit more homogeneously. I do not have a lot of body hair. Perhaps leg hair is what I could use. This would be my last hair transplant procedure ever.

I've had SMP done, but as my hair grows the overharvested areas show again, and I am looking for something more permanent than SMP.

I've read mustangs thread. but has anyone else had experiences in transplanting grafts into FUE scars? And which doctors do it? I appreciate any answers. Wish you guys the best

The picture I posted is the "worst" side. the other side looks better

Your donor area looks fine. There is nothing to worry about. You should not go for a transplant to fill the donor area at all.

[Ryan Daniel]

On 4/15/2022 at 7:22 PM, Melvin- Moderator said:

Leg hair isn’t a suitable donor source. You would have to take hair from either your beard or other part of your scalp. Again, surgery is only gonna creat the same issue somewhere else. I guarantee you no one notices anything. It looks absolutely normal. You’re the only one looking that closely. 

100% true.  So much of what bothers us is something other people would not even dream of noticing 

[gillenator]

And we continue to spend hours looking in the mirror for the slightest changes post-op…anyone who had the surgery can relate to this!