FUT with Dr. Blake Bloxham | 2,537 Grafts | July 2023

[cloudyhaze]

Pics taken after 32 days (this past Sunday). Area around scar isn't as shaved as I still had dry blood lingering and didn't want to shave close to it.
 

[cloudyhaze]

Im a little concerned that its apparent which general areas were transplanted (the 2 corners and part of the middle third connected through my right corner. Maybe the shedding process has already taken place, but I dont believe I ever saw the whole scalp ever looking even like some other people  when they get their first buzzcut post transplant.  Shouldn't that first buzzcut kinda show what the end result is suppose to look like? Assuming nothing wrong with physiology etc.

 

[JoeD]

Looks like shedding to me. I shed most of mine within 1-2 weeks after staple removal. Also, youve gotta get more aggressive cleaning the scar.  Shouldn’t be any dried blood over it at this point. 

[Imez99]

On 8/17/2023 at 1:08 PM, cloudyhaze said:

Im a little concerned that its apparent which general areas were transplanted (the 2 corners and part of the middle third connected through my right corner. Maybe the shedding process has already taken place, but I dont believe I ever saw the whole scalp ever looking even like some other people  when they get their first buzzcut post transplant.  Shouldn't that first buzzcut kinda show what the end result is suppose to look like? Assuming nothing wrong with physiology etc.

 

Looks like shedding to me. I am in the same boat right now. I didn't start really shedding until more than a month after the procedure and it was very slow. I thought I was part of that rare percentage that never shed but once it started, it really started. Going from a lot of densely packed hair to seeing all of these gaps and patches has been the hardest part for me. But shedding is normal and we have to trust the process.

[hairlossPA]

following

[Balding Bad]

Great write up @cloudyhaze. Looking forward to following your progress!

[M32111]

@cloudyhaze how's it going? also --- did you stay at a hotel or go there day-of?

I pulled the trigger on a morning session and was curious. Thanks for sharing!

[cloudyhaze]

1 minute ago, M32111 said:

@cloudyhaze how's it going? also --- did you stay at a hotel or go there day-of?

I pulled the trigger on a morning session and was curious. Thanks for sharing!

Congrats! I live within a 30 minute distance from the office so I went there the day of.

[cloudyhaze]

Happy Friday everyone! Heres some pics, 65 days post op.

• Noticing hairs sprouting through in the corners of hairline
• I assume everywhere else that was transplanted probably has hairs sprouting, just not noticing since it was transplanted between existing hair
• Started weightlifting at the gym again 2 weeks ago
• Still sticking to 1mg Finasteride daily
• Been lazy with rogaine foam, which i used to do daily 1x at night in 2022. Considering switching to oral minoxidl

Questions I had

• Does my scar look stretced out? cant tell because I think whole area is red from staples still. And my worry is that hairs below actual scar is gone for good. But could be shock loss?
• My right side corner seems to have pimples. Is that something to worry about as it relates to growth?

 

 

Edited September 15, 2023 by cloudyhaze

[JoeD]

On 9/15/2023 at 12:12 PM, cloudyhaze said:

 

Questions I had

• Does my scar look stretced out? cant tell because I think whole area is red from staples still. And my worry is that hairs below actual scar is gone for good. But could be shock loss?

really can’t tell what’s scar vs surrounding redness. Lack of surrounding hair is shock loss, give it a few more months to recover  

• My right side corner seems to have pimples. Is that something to worry about as it relates to growth?

It’s a good sign, means there’s activity in the area, hairs getting ready to sprout. 

 

 

 

 

 

[M32111]

Hey @cloudyhaze I'm getting my FUT in about a month and was curious if you had any recommendations, either pre / during / post for Bloxham.

Also interested in if you wore a hat or anything like that when you were out.

 

Thanks!

[Al - Moderator]

On 9/15/2023 at 12:12 PM, cloudyhaze said:

Does my scar look stretced out? cant tell because I think whole area is red from staples still. And my worry is that hairs below actual scar is gone for good. But could be shock loss?

 

Shock loss happens around the FUT scar. It will grow back in and the scar line should look a lot thinner.

 

[cloudyhaze]

10 hours ago, M32111 said:

Hey @cloudyhaze I'm getting my FUT in about a month and was curious if you had any recommendations, either pre / during / post for Bloxham.

Also interested in if you wore a hat or anything like that when you were out.

 

Thanks!

You are most certainly ok to wear a hat to the office, just know that after surgery they will provide you with a specific hat that protects the scalp from sunlight and doesnt rub against the scalp like some hats do.

I dont really have any other recs besides getting a good neck pillow for post surgery sleeping.

I got this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Cabeau-Evolution-Travel-Pillow-Quick-Dry/dp/B079X4ZR6X/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?hvadid=583782035671&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9004403&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=1901565631763551872&hvtargid=kwd-327589728891&hydadcr=19777_11285476&keywords=caribou%2Bneck%2Bpillow&qid=1697543104&s=home-garden&sr=1-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

 

[M32111]

2 hours ago, cloudyhaze said:

You are most certainly ok to wear a hat to the office, just know that after surgery they will provide you with a specific hat that protects the scalp from sunlight and doesnt rub against the scalp like some hats do.

I dont really have any other recs besides getting a good neck pillow for post surgery sleeping.

I got this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Cabeau-Evolution-Travel-Pillow-Quick-Dry/dp/B079X4ZR6X/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?hvadid=583782035671&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9004403&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=1901565631763551872&hvtargid=kwd-327589728891&hydadcr=19777_11285476&keywords=caribou%2Bneck%2Bpillow&qid=1697543104&s=home-garden&sr=1-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

 

Great, thank you. I'm just trying to get all the little things in place so I have what I need.

Did you feel like you could go out in public the first few days? What was the hardest part? Anything you wish you had? 
Could you leave by yourself?

 

Thanks again.

[cloudyhaze]

1 minute ago, M32111 said:

Great, thank you. I'm just trying to get all the little things in place so I have what I need.

Did you feel like you could go out in public the first few days? What was the hardest part? Anything you wish you had? 
Could you leave by yourself?

 

Thanks again.

I left myself in a uber back to my own home which is like 30 minutes away from the office. I pretty much stayed home the whole week resting and watching movies and didn't go out until a week later, but I refrained from any streneous activities like holding heavy objects, etc. When I did go out, I used the hat they provided as I didn't want anything to rub against my scalp. It wasnt until the third week did I go back to wearing a regular hat. 

Hardest part I would say is really just mental, hoping I'm doing everything right. I was being extremely gentle when washing my hair, although the doctor suggested I should wash my hair as I would normally. When I went back into the office 10 days later for staple removal, there was still scabs all over my head lol.

[cloudyhaze]

152 day update (5 months and 2 days)

I started noticing the hairs filling up my hair line around mid October and have been growing my hair out more and trying out new facial hair style to match since I need to hide my scar. I've been sticking to 1mg Fin a day as well as starting 5mg Oral Min for the past month.

Feelings/concerns:

How different could my end result in 12 months be?
For 5 month results, I would say I'm pretty happy now in that I don't feel the need to wear a hat as often due to my hairline looking decent. But I can still see what parts had native hair before, and the fact that it looks like the grafts were evenly transplanted across the frontal half of the scalp, so I'm still worried that the end result will still be similar to what I have today.

Is the red surface area of my scar, pretty much how wide my scar is? Or is that shock loss?
I can't tell if the scar is just that wide or if that's shock loss. Nor do I know if it's due to me lifting weights 1 month after the transplant and stretching it out myself if so. And when can I expect the redness to disappear?

Edited December 11, 2023 by cloudyhaze

[M32111]

Thanks for the update! Appreciate you filling us in. I think between 6-9 months is the biggest improvement window (from what I've seen online, not an expert) - so hopefully it'll continue to improve. 

[Gatsby]

@cloudyhaze you need to give the FUT scar a year and even after this scars continue to improve subtly over the years to come.

[cloudyhaze]

Just now, Gatsby said:

@cloudyhaze you need to give the FUT scar a year and even after this scars continue to improve subtly over the years to come.

Thanks @Gatsby. I assume the redness will subside, but what about the surface area? Im wondering if the reason the area looks wide is due to shockloss or is that just how wide my scar is in general.

[Gatsby]

The scar will go from red to pink to eventually a pale color. It's very possible that shock loss is making it look worse for you. Give the entire scalp 12 months to bounce back, both for your hair and scalp itself.

[JoeD]

1 hour ago, cloudyhaze said:

Thanks @Gatsby. I assume the redness will subside, but what about the surface area? Im wondering if the reason the area looks wide is due to shockloss or is that just how wide my scar is in general.

I think the red area is scar itself.  May be some shock loss still around it.  That said, scar is still immature and as it matures will become pale and contract to somewhat. 
 

Otherwise, looks on track for 5 months, should really start to take off, fill in/thicken up over next few months. 

[cloudyhaze]

5 minutes ago, JoeD said:

I think the red area is scar itself.  May be some shock loss still around it.  That said, scar is still immature and as it matures will become pale and contract to somewhat. 
 

Otherwise, looks on track for 5 months, should really start to take off, fill in/thicken up over next few months. 

Since you also went had yours done with Bloxham, did this timeline match yours? And did the width of your scar appear as wide as mine at any point?

[JoeD]

12 minutes ago, cloudyhaze said:

Since you also went had yours done with Bloxham, did this timeline match yours? And did the width of your scar appear as wide as mine at any point?

Roughly the same timeline.  Hairline started to look good from straight ahead, ie pictures/mirror, around month 5/6.   From above, behind hairline, didn’t look decent til month 8/9.   Overall I’d give my hairline an 9-10/10, behind it 6-7/10.  I’ve seen that written about in several other Bloxham reviews, ie more sparse than anticipated behind hairline. Overall…. I am happy.  2nd FUT for crown and reinforcing midscalp coming up soon. 
 

Scar- based on comparing to the finger next to it, yours is a little wider in that area.  Some of mine is 1-2mm.  One side is 3, maybe 4mm. Covered well with a 3 guard. 

Edited December 12, 2023 by JoeD

[cloudyhaze]

7 minutes ago, JoeD said:

Roughly the same timeline.  Hairline started to look good from straight ahead, ie pictures/mirror, around month 5/6.   From above, behind hairline, didn’t look decent til month 8/9.   Overall I’d give my hairline an 9-10/10, behind it 6-7/10.  I’ve seen that written about in several other Bloxham reviews, ie more sparse than anticipated behind hairline. Overall…. I am happy.  2nd FUT for crown and reinforcing midscalp coming up soon. 
 

Scar- based on comparing to the finger next to it, yours is a little wider in that area.  Some of mine is 1-2mm.  One side is 3, maybe 4mm. Covered well with a 3 guard. 

Oh got it thanks for that info. Im curious how some other people got pencil thin scars from Bloxham. Do you think this is due to actions of my own that resulted in stretching it out? And are you going back with Bloxham? or a different surgeon for the second FUT?

Edited December 12, 2023 by cloudyhaze

[JoeD]

7 hours ago, cloudyhaze said:

Oh got it thanks for that info. Im curious how some other people got pencil thin scars from Bloxham. Do you think this is due to actions of my own that resulted in stretching it out? And are you going back with Bloxham? or a different surgeon for the second FUT?

I’m going back to him for 2nd.