Why don’t people post donor area pictures after their HTs

[LookMaxx]

Is it because all donors look the same with white dots/patchy/overharvested look soon after post op? Seems like people post pictures of their donors after a year when they can hide the dots or when it’s bad shock loss to show the clinic did a bad job. I can’t find many if any pictures of normal donors at 1 week/month, 2 month 3 month etc the same way frontal recipient area is documented.

Reason I am asking is because there’s this clinic I am researching. Their recipient growth is good and the only thing that’s holding me back from getting a HT is confusion about donor area management. I can’t tell what’s a good donor and what’s overharvested. 

Spending sometime here and seeing so many cases here, I have learned so much about HT that I know what a recipient should look like 😄 but info about donor is seriously lacking.

If someone could explain or show some pictures of how to judge an overharvested donor vs normal donor would be appreciated so much. 
 

Cheers

[BaldDude]

I've noticed that many who went to hair mills rarely show their donor area.

[NARMAK]

Yeah, i agree that when donor pictures are shown post-op by reputable clinics, the work looks clean, you can see it but hair mills bandage the area up and entirely focus on the recipient zone. 

I added both my donor and recipient area photos post-op to my thread and i did so again during my updates. I wear my hair longer and i do think from a visual PoV the coverage looks entirely normal with no visually thinner looking spots when i took the initial pictures but now that you have mentioned it, i'll probably do some updated donor area pictures. 

[Vann]

I agree, I would like to see more post op donors. I think people take them but dont post them because its normal to them, I guess the persons main focus is their recipient like you mentioned.

But I feel like usually people post their donors after their first hair cut.

Edited September 19, 2022 by Vann

[Z--]

Agreed. Donor area ought to be shown. Sometimes it really is just shock-loss, but other times it's a pretty bad sign. I'd use the word 'Depletion' or 'overharvest' in the search bar. I think a few results come up. I think like 8/10 cases I've seen where the donor looks overharvested post-op usually remains that way. 2/10 usually can be put down to shock loss and recover.

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

LookMaxx,

I think when patients post photos, they don’t always think to present pictures of what their donor area looks like. However, many clinics including ours do post pictures of the donor area immediately postop.

Now, the donor area will look different. When one undergoes FUT versus when one undergoes FUE however, we have plenty of postop photos showing The sides and back to the scalp after FUE.

Below are some links to a couple topics of results we presented over the last couple of months that show photos of the donor area not just before and after surgery when the results go in but also immediately postop.  Now keep in mind That this is what the donor area looks like after surgery at our clinic but this is not the same everywhere.

note that I posted the links to the Thomas below but I also attached the files specifically of the donor areas. Be sure to click on each image to enlarge them. If you are using a mobile device make sure after you click on them you turn the phone landscape direction and perform a reverse pinch with your fingers to enlarge them.

I hope this helps.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 19, 2022 by Rahal Hair Transplant

[sirlancelot__]

i am in the exact same predicament. i do not have a clue what over harvesting looks like and moreover it does seem like just the top of the head is showcased by clinics. the issue i have i love to get a skin fade hair cut. Does that mean i would be forced to leave the back of my head longer in hope to cover any scaring? i really hope not 

[shadowcast]

10 hours ago, LookMaxx said:

Is it because all donors look the same with white dots/patchy/overharvested look soon after post op? Seems like people post pictures of their donors after a year when they can hide the dots or when it’s bad shock loss to show the clinic did a bad job. I can’t find many if any pictures of normal donors at 1 week/month, 2 month 3 month etc the same way frontal recipient area is documented.

Probably because a good surgery usually means there's nothing of interest happening in the donor area after a few weeks. I had no noticeable scarring or thinning after a week or so. Let's be honest, the area of interest is growth in the recipient, not potential loss in the donor, even though the latter is a very important detail of transplants.

[New_Barnet_Please]

21 minutes ago, shadowcast said:

Probably because a good surgery usually means there's nothing of interest happening in the donor area after a few weeks. I had no noticeable scarring or thinning after a week or so. Let's be honest, the area of interest is growth in the recipient, not potential loss in the donor, even though the latter is a very important detail of transplants.

This is the case for me, donor management was so good and it healed so fast and well with FUE, there’s nothing to see! I only go 2 grade back and sides which is pretty short, might try a skin fade some time just out of interest.

[shadowcast]

Just now, New_Barnet_Please said:

This is the case for me, donor management was so good and it healed so fast and well with FUE, there’s nothing to see! I only go 2 grade back and sides which is pretty short, might try a skin fade some time just out of interest.

Yep, everyone's skin is different but you'll see plenty of FUEs on this forum where people buzz down pretty far on their donor without issue. I can notice dots on some of them, but only because I know to look for them. I don't think the average person would notice. I like my hair a bit longer now, but I've never had donor issues, even after 6k+ grafts (many of those taken by techs).

[TommyLucchese]

My FUT scar is the 'pencil thin' type but it's difficult to take a photo of and the hair grew back fast. The front was my only concern so I never really thought about the back. You are right though, it's important.

[A Fue Good Men]

On 9/19/2022 at 9:55 AM, Rahal Hair Transplant said:

LookMaxx,

I think when patients post photos, they don’t always think to present pictures of what their donor area looks like. However, many clinics including ours do post pictures of the donor area immediately postop.

Now, the donor area will look different. When one undergoes FUT versus when one undergoes FUE however, we have plenty of postop photos showing The sides and back to the scalp after FUE.

Below are some links to a couple topics of results we presented over the last couple of months that show photos of the donor area not just before and after surgery when the results go in but also immediately postop.  Now keep in mind That this is what the donor area looks like after surgery at our clinic but this is not the same everywhere.

note that I posted the links to the Thomas below but I also attached the files specifically of the donor areas. Be sure to click on each image to enlarge them. If you are using a mobile device make sure after you click on them you turn the phone landscape direction and perform a reverse pinch with your fingers to enlarge them.

I hope this helps.

 

 

 

 

To be fair, the length of the donor in all of the after pics are too long to really judge if extractions were optimal.