Regular Member sunfire Posted August 31, 2022 Regular Member Share Posted August 31, 2022 Hi All, Just about 8 years ago I had my FUT at Dr. Allesandrini which I documented here : 8 years later and I still feel like this was one of the best things I ever did for myself but I had a couple of regrets..such as: 1. I stubbornly went with FUT instead of FUE which I was suspicious of at the time 2. I stubbornly refused to have my head shaven. 3. I started minoxidil for years and stopped completely over a year ago. So to be clear. My hair still looks good when I wear it longer. In fact when ever I mentioned a second hair transplant with my friends who are considering their first they think I'm crazy. However when I wear my hair shorter which I've been wanting to lately my scar shows at least for a few days. Also I was never completely satisfied with the thickness in the crown and it was a little whispy in the front which I kind of liked because it looked very natural. But when I stopped taking minoxidil the shedding in the crown and the hairline made me start to feel a little self conscious which I haven't felt about my hair for over 7 years. So here I am 2 days after surgery and I'll tell you what I've done. FUE of course this time to reinforce the hairline (not lower at all) add some to the one side that clearly has all the thinning in the interior as you will see from the pics and about 400 grafts in and around my FUT scar. The Dr is at a new and nice location conveniently located 2 mins from the hotel I usually stay in anyway so it was perfect. Procedure went smooth but I will say by the time they got to the scar implants I was very fatigued uncomfortable and in a little pain but I soldiered through. Why now? Like I said the minoxidil loss has weighed on me but more importantly I referred my two best friends to the Dr over the last few months so he agreed to give me a very attractive rate. My friends results also got me jealous and yearning for the anticipation of results I had 8 years ago. I live in San Diego so I was working (from home) the next day. The trickiest thing post op has been sleeping because I have implants both in the front and crown and way in the back. My sleep quality has been pretty much trash because I'm very conscious of keeping the neck pillow away from my scar grafts. Oh well I don't see any lost grafts yet and if I can get through the next few days it'll all be worth it. Here are pics of my hair at the length I usually keep it to where it would look good..also a pic of wet hair 2 weeks ago..pics from op day to follow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sunfire Posted August 31, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 31, 2022 Pics from op day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sunfire Posted August 31, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 31, 2022 Today after first wash.. Also forgot to mention I'm racing with time to get these scabs off in 14 days because I have a business trip..I don't care to conceal the surgery but I can't be in polite company with bloody exposed scabs..also I will be starting minoxidil again soon and sticking with it for life..I think those whispy hairs still have a good chance to come back strong..I'm also on Fin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Melvin- Admin Posted September 1, 2022 Administrators Share Posted September 1, 2022 Why did it follow this pattern? 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...
Regular Member sunfire Posted September 1, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 1, 2022 I have strange pattern of more thinning along that strip and almost no thinning on the other side. It always forced me to brush in that direction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sunfire Posted September 1, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 1, 2022 Here's a clearer pic that shows this from my previous HT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sunfire Posted September 1, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 1, 2022 Late night freak out...so my biggest concern this entire time has been sleeping because on the grafts implanted in my old FUT scar. I'm sleeping in a recliner with a neck pillow but there seems to be no way to avoid contact with the lower part of these scabs and either the neck pillow or the head rest. Because of this I can't sleep soundly and i keep waking up to adjust my position. Well just now I woke up and I could feel some scabs on my neck. No bleeding but some have hairs in them. This early on these are likely dead grafts or dislodged grafts right? Also any ideas of how to avoid contact while sleeping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DHI Turkey medical Posted September 1, 2022 Share Posted September 1, 2022 Hi there, Normally at 2 weeks post-op follicles containing dermal papilla cells should be well rooted into the scalp and should produce a new healthy follicle within 3 to 6 months. If you do not see any bleeding, it just means the graft was attached. There are way more variables for graft failure than just a graft that did not initially attach. Not all failed grafts bleed instantly, especially since wounds heal pretty quickly. If a failed graft fell several weeks in and the wound from the initial surgery never healed, that would be more concerning. Otherwise every HT failure would have bloody scalps months in (the reason why there is no blood present could be because the graft dried up and you regularly wash your hair so the blood isn't visible or graft did not survive due to improper blood supply, transection during extraction, crushing etc). Not to mention that grafts that were removed from the scalp for too long before being implanted again have lower chance for survival. When you see posts where entire grafts with several hairs fall out weeks/months in and never grew, that means it failed and simply never grew. The blood thing is a generic response that only accounts for one variable and meant to make the patient feel better because a couple failed grafts usually aren't visible in the long run. But to always say no blood = all successful grafts is an outright lie. Even with the best HT, you shouldn't expect more than 95% graft survival. I am not saying that the picture you posted is a failed graft. Nobody actually knows that. But it was more of a general response to your comment. At 6 months you will have a better preview of how sucessful your transplant is. Hope this makes sense, Best regards DHI Medical Turkey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sunfire Posted September 1, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 1, 2022 Well this was only two an a half days since operation. In any case how do you usually recommend a patient sleep who had grafts implanted in the back of the head to my repair a scar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sunfire Posted September 4, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 4, 2022 Day 5 updates Scabs continue to fall off many with hairs from the linear scar. I spoke with my Dr and he says he believes these are likely just the shafts and that the grafts will still grow. So I guess we will see in 3-6 months if the scar portion was worth it. As for the rest of the HT I'm very happy so far. Donor area healing well and scabs are slowly coming off while washing. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sunfire Posted September 4, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 4, 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Gatsby Posted September 4, 2022 Valued Contributor Share Posted September 4, 2022 On 9/2/2022 at 2:07 AM, sunfire said: Well this was only two an a half days since operation. In any case how do you usually recommend a patient sleep who had grafts implanted in the back of the head to my repair a scar? I had grafts placed into my donor area. I slept with a travel neck pillow on top of two pillows and a pillow under each arm. It wasn't the greatest sleep as it positioned my body upright and my head forward. I was close to sitting up but I wasn't going to let ten days of average sleep screw with life long results. 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...
Regular Member sunfire Posted September 4, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 4, 2022 6 hours ago, Gatsby said: I had grafts placed into my donor area. I slept with a travel neck pillow on top of two pillows and a pillow under each arm. It wasn't the greatest sleep as it positioned my body upright and my head forward. I was close to sitting up but I wasn't going to let ten days of average sleep screw with life long results. All the best! Thanks yes I basically had to rig something similar haha.. really tough and still not perfect as far as my head making contact. I'm day 6 now and Im starting to freak out less about it and just hope doing my best worked..won't know for several months 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sunfire Posted September 6, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 6, 2022 Day 8 no more scabs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sunfire Posted September 9, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 9, 2022 So things are going well I think but I am still pretty nervous about the hair transplanted in scar tissue. No major shedding in the hairline or crown yet. It does seem as though almost all the grafts into the scar tissue.. especially the sides that were wider have shed. I'm wondering if anyone has seen anything like this. Could it be that one area of the scalp sheds before another or is this possibly a sign that the grafts never took? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Gatsby Posted September 9, 2022 Valued Contributor Share Posted September 9, 2022 There would have been blood if grafts were dislodged. 👍 GATSBY 'UNPLUGGED!' 15,671 (3 surgeries) Grafts FUE+BHT Dr. Sethi Eugenix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sunfire Posted September 9, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 9, 2022 15 minutes ago, Gatsby said: There would have been blood if grafts were dislodged. 👍 Maybe not dislodged but I've read that scar tissue has low survival rate due to lack of blood flow. So could be that they never took root. How well did yours grow in your donor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member GoliGoliGoli Posted September 9, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted September 9, 2022 Why did you stop Minoxidil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sunfire Posted September 9, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 9, 2022 4 minutes ago, GoliGoliGoli said: Why did you stop Minoxidil? Laziness...hubris.. stupidity haha 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member GoliGoliGoli Posted September 9, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted September 9, 2022 1 minute ago, sunfire said: Laziness...hubris.. stupidity haha Haha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member GoliGoliGoli Posted September 9, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted September 9, 2022 Good to hear your story, I was also a NW3V around 30 and am 34 now going for my first HT. I too am not planning on taking Fin but seem to respond quite well to Minox so good to hear that alone kept you up until your hubris got the better of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sunfire Posted September 9, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 9, 2022 Yup luckily I think they have miniturized but aren't gone completely so minoxidil plus this HT should get me to a place where I can lower the age on my tinder profile to 28 haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Gatsby Posted September 10, 2022 Valued Contributor Share Posted September 10, 2022 2 hours ago, sunfire said: Maybe not dislodged but I've read that scar tissue has low survival rate due to lack of blood flow. So could be that they never took root. How well did yours grow in your donor? From what I can tell they have grown. Though out of the 232 grafts placed in my donor scars I don’t know how many were successful. 1 GATSBY 'UNPLUGGED!' 15,671 (3 surgeries) Grafts FUE+BHT Dr. Sethi Eugenix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sunfire Posted October 3, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 3, 2022 Update after 5 weeks. Shed is complete and a week ago I was pretty miserable but now although it's not pretty because there was definitely shock loss in areas where I had healthy hair I'm already starting to see hairs pop up and things starting to take shape. Far from where I will be but I'm feeling pretty good. Donor area also looks really good. Jury is still out on what will happen to the grafts done in my donor scar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sunfire Posted October 16, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 16, 2022 Got my first haircut a few days ago... nothing off the top just shorter on the sides Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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