How long should I wait to buzz or shave post-transplant? (quite urgent)

[Prof101]

I was offered to schedule HT in the middle of school year next year (I am a teacher if my username does not gives that away). I would not like to have uneven hair length especially since it is hairline. 

So ideally I would like to start the semester buzzed down, teach, take a 2 week break (I can), come back with a buzzed look or maybe at least buzz down within a month. And then let it grow 5-6 months later. Is that a problem in that it would not allow me to monitor growth? I can take microscopic pictures of hair sprouting. 

I am also worried about donor area scars, if I buzz. So I was also wonder whether I can SMP (temporary) the donor area after a month.. 

Any information about concealing a HT would be great. The good news is that I am joining a new school so if I start the year with a buzz cut and end the year with a head of hair, as long as it is well done with natural results ... I should be fine. 

 

Update:  The main questions has been answered thanks. Adding a question. From the photo below do you think that conservatively fortifying a mature hairline without doing crown work can look natural? I believe I have seen many operations where the crown was not touched because of insufficient donor and the results did not look unnatural (with mature hairline). But just wanted to double check. Thanks!

Edited May 10, 2022 by Prof101

[Nw7HPE]

The whole process of hair transplantation requires a lot of patience  , the first few months are rocky and you need a thick skin . Having said that SMP is not recommended at the donor site up to 4-6 months post surgery , you can buzz the donor safely at the 8 weeks mark and the recipient area at 3 months mark .

[Fue3361]

No way to conceal it well unless you wear a hat/wig.  The redness alone is a dead giveaway.

[A Fue Good Men]

As the previous poster said (unless you are darker skin tone) the redness will be hard to disguise especially if it’s in an area that’s bare.

[THE TRUTH]

3 months for buzzing. 

At least 6 months before getting any new work done (SMP, repair etc...) 

[SeanT1]

It's the redness which is your biggest enemy to be honest.

[HappyMan2021]

If In were you I would just tell your students and everyone else needed that you are getting a hair transplant. 

True, students are immature and may make fun of you behind your back regardless. But can't you threaten them with detention, trip to the dean's office if they give you any flak for it?

 

[mafpe]

As the peeps above explained, can't really go unnoticed unless its concealed. Other than that, around 2 month mark usually shock loss happen. Unless youre like the lucky 5% which doesnt experience shock loss, then the transplanted hair will shed and leave a patch of red.

Can try a can or bandana if the rules allow it, "i got a wound" so i need em covered.

Technically you do have a healing wound 😂

[Prof101]

Thanks for your responses. So after reading them and some research let me know if the following is correct: 

I can start wearing a loose hat 10 days after surgery. And perhaps a normal hat within 2-3weeks? 

I will have to wait 3 months for the redness to be gone in the recipient area? (some people are more lucky). By the way I am not extending my hairline, just fortifying it. 

The hat cannot cover the donor area. For how long is the donor area wounds/reddness obvious? Just trying to figure out whether a hat is good enough to hide transplant. 

I understand that any scarring (white dots) are permanent and I can only SMP after 6 months. 

 

Your thoughts are much appreciated. 

 

 

[AlexMeister21]

I don't think you'd have to worry too much about the donor area, depending on your surgeon. Some people's donors look pretty normal after 2-3 weeks with FUE. The redness in the recipient area would the the biggest issue. If you're just reinforcing your hairline though, it might be easier to conceal. Can you post photos of your hair currently?

[ciaus]

 

2 hours ago, Prof101 said:

I can start wearing a loose hat 10 days after surgery. And perhaps a normal hat within 2-3weeks? 

You can start wearing a loose fitting hat on your way home after the procedure, its common for guys to do this and with their clinic's blessing.

And you can safely buzz your head at 3 weeks as long as you have been healing normally. There's all kinds of unnecessarily longer recommendations online, and even on this forum and topic, to wait months and there's no evidence for it.  On how difficult it will be to conceal, there's too many factors to predict unless you've already done a procedure like this before. How large your transplant is, how well your doctor can spread out the extractions in your donor, how well you heal in general, how light your skin is. And for SMP onto scars they recommend waiting at least a year for them to heal and fade enough so that the SMP artist can effectively blend everything together. 

If you have a decent amount of existing hair, which it sounds like since you say you are fortifying your hair line, look into daily concealers you apply each day. There are some that actually work very well like dermmatch and hair fibers. Check out this section of the forum about them for more info and topics from guys that are or have been in your situation too.

https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/forum/28-shampoos-sprays-and-concealers/
 

[Prof101]

Here is a photo. Dr Couto will not touch the crown. Sorry I don't have a picture now of my decimated "hairline". 

Basically since I have weak donor, he will be implanting hairs right at my current hairline, which is why I call it "fortify". 

I am hoping this means that I won't have an island ... 

Thanks to all for the clarifications. I will be taking more before pictures. and document my "journey"

 

[Fue3361]

As to question for donor, unless you get bad shock loss, within 10 days will loom pretty normal, like it would after a buzz cut

[pkipling]

10 hours ago, Prof101 said:

Thanks for your responses. So after reading them and some research let me know if the following is correct: 

I can start wearing a loose hat 10 days after surgery. And perhaps a normal hat within 2-3weeks? 

I will have to wait 3 months for the redness to be gone in the recipient area? (some people are more lucky). By the way I am not extending my hairline, just fortifying it. 

The hat cannot cover the donor area. For how long is the donor area wounds/reddness obvious? Just trying to figure out whether a hat is good enough to hide transplant. 

I understand that any scarring (white dots) are permanent and I can only SMP after 6 months. 

 

Your thoughts are much appreciated. 

 

 

 

As previously mentioned, the redness in the recipient area is going to be your biggest hurdle, and how long it lasts really varies from person to person. I've seen guys post pictures a couple of weeks out and it's barely noticeable at all, but mine lasted well over a month.

You can start wearing a loose-fitting hat as early as as the day you come home from the procedure, tbh. Some offices even provide them. It just needs to be an adjustable snapback with a high brim so that it can be adjusted to be very loose and taken on and off without the material ever coming into contact with the recipient area. It's a good option to have too in case you need to be out and about in the sun (even running errands), as you need to avoid extended sun exposure - especially sunburn - for the first six months. After 10-14 days, the grafts are secure and you can wear any hat you'd like. If you're already able to take two weeks off, and you're able to wear a hat to work, the safest bet would be to do that. 

I wouldn't even worry about SMP into the FUE dots personally. I don't think they're typically even that noticeable to the general public, and the redness of the donor area resolves itself pretty quickly. 

The buzz cut is definitely doable. If you go in with a buzz cut, there's no reason you can't maintain that style for the first portion of recovery. I did that for the very same reason in that I wanted it to all grow in uniformly, and I didn't want the stark contrast of "very short hair in the hairline with longer hair behind it". I kept my hair buzzed for the first 3 months or so, and then once I started seeing growth, I let it all start growing back together, which made the results show up in a really naturally progressive way. 

*Also, keep in mind there are no universal answers to these questions, as every doctor has their own specific set of "rules and guidelines" for post-op care. There's often a lot of variance, which can cause confusion (and based on studies, I believe some surgeons are unreasonably cautious). But be sure to get your surgeon's input as well and then weigh the answers accordingly. : ) 

[mafpe]

if your crown is not getting any... i do think you will have an island in some years, especially if you don't take meds.

basically if he's just filling in your hairline, he's filling in your front so that you don't look balding that badly, but it's still gonna be visible from the top or back.

[Prof101]

46 minutes ago, mafpe said:

if your crown is not getting any... i do think you will have an island in some years, especially if you don't take meds.

basically if he's just filling in your hairline, he's filling in your front so that you don't look balding that badly, but it's still gonna be visible from the top or back.

I might not have even sufficient donor for the crown - he wants to see me 1 year post op to decide on how much to put in crown. 

But seeing many people with baldness limited to the crown (my dad being one) why would that look unnatural? Just getting your thoughts here. I am glad you raised that issue. 

 

[mafpe]

1 minute ago, Prof101 said:

I might not have even sufficient donor for the crown - he wants to see me 1 year post op to decide on how much to put in crown. 

But seeing many people with baldness limited to the crown (my dad being one) why would that look unnatural? Just getting your thoughts here. I am glad you raised that issue. 

 

it's not unnatural, but it is rather unusual, because most men follow norwood pattern (male pattern baldness), when you see a shiny island in the middle (i mean balding int he crown), you usually see recession on the front hairline as well, because usually the crown is thinning after the frontline first.

technically, if he's only fortifying and adding density alone in your hairline, following the V shape you already have, it would look natural.

i think you can use some filling in the left/right side so it doens't look like a horseshoe on from the top, and just thinning donut(not sure if this is the correct term) on the crown. I'd say it will make you look better as your hairline will look like they have same density.

 

what i'm saying is that if you don't want an island of no hair on your crown, it's pretty hard without any transplant there, or if you're not getting any treatment or meds.

the doc approach doesn't seem bad tho, fill the front because thats the main thing usually for most people, and then after 1 year, the doc can say if you should have another procedure on the crown. by that time you will see how your hairline turns out, and would be able to decide better if you want to have further HT or not.
*also, crown areas are harder to restore because somehow it seems to have way less growth compared to the front

[NARMAK]

OP, ask Dr Couto when you might be allowed to wear hair fibres and stuff. It can probably help camouflage the issue a lot more to the point you might disguise redness and any potential questions of it being a hair transplant. 

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

Prof101,

You can buzz or clip your hair prior or even a couple days after your hair transplant of you choose.  But if your goal is to conceal your hair transplant entirely from beginning to end, it’s going to be quite a challenge.

Some individuals are lucky and don’t experience any postoperative redness nor any shock loss.  But even if you can escape these two postoperative conditions you still have to deal with the transplanted hair she’s which occurs approximately 4 to 6 weeks after the procedure.  Moreover, after your hair transplant, you will have more hair than you did prior to surgery until the initial transplant and hair shedding period.

My point is, that somebody is likely to notice that something is going on on your scalp. Whether or not they will pinpoint the fact that you’ve had a hair transplant is unknown but they would likely notice something.

so ultimately, if you are going to attempt to completely conceal the fact that you’ve had a hair transplant to anyone at school, your best bet is to undergo the procedure immediately after the school year which I assume would be sometime in early June which will then give yourself a good three or four months before it starts up again. 

even then of course, people may likely notice that you are looking different as the months go by, better but they might not be able to pinpoint why. That’s because your new transplant hair will be growing by that stage and finally mature between 12 to 18 months.  

best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant

 

[Dillpickle123]

Some doc let you keep your hair long but couto isn’t one of them he’s hard to book so u would do it wear a beanie or something