Is there a reasonably good way to conceal the effects of a HT at the 2 month mark?

[Savemyhairline]

So I have a wedding I’m supposed to attend, it is for a distant cousin and that whole family has made fun of my hairline for as long as I can remember. They are good people but very rough around the edges and just kinda being a-holes to everyone and even each other is their sense of humor. Anyway, of course this wedding will be right at the worst possible ugly duckling stage. I really do not want them to know I got a HT, I’m not ashamed of it but I frankly just don’t feel like being grilled by them forever on it. I see them all like once or twice a year, the next time after this would be 6 months post op where I’ll hopefully be looking a lot better. By this same token though, they are gonna know something is up with my hair seeing it at the 2 month then 6 month mark. They are the type of people who notice everything especially with hair. I’m honestly thinking of just making an excuse to not go to this wedding, it sucks but I don’t want to be extremely uncomfortable the whole weekend. Plus I’d need to wear a hat for the outdoor bits anyway, and a hat with a suit in 2023 isn’t really in fashion and will draw even more unwanted attention and questions. My HT was in my frontal third so im guessing fibers and other concealers aren’t gonna do much, but if someone has had a similar situation at the height of their ugly duckling stage and found a way to make it look presentable, please let me know!

[Hairwolf]

I was in the same boat as you a couple of weeks back, well similar anyway: 5 weeks post op. All transplanted hair had shedded, and the scalp was pretty red. I just shaved it and wore a nice suit basically😁. Depending on your previous hair loss and what you had done you may be able to cover it somehow, but you may just have to bite the bullet here as I did.

Nobody commented on it and there were no close up pics, so think it went as well as it could have. Some other mates and family commented and I said it was dermatitis 😂.

Edited September 5, 2023 by streethawk

[Scree]

2 hours ago, streethawk said:

I was in the same boat as you a couple of weeks back, well similar anyway: 5 weeks post op. All transplanted hair had shedded, and the scalp was pretty red. I just shaved it and wore a nice suit basically😁. Depending on your previous hair loss and what you had done you may be able to cover it somehow, but you may just have to bite the bullet here as I did.

Nobody commented on it and there were no close up pics, so think it went as well as it could have. Some other mates and family commented and I said it was dermatitis 😂.

Did anyone comment on the proceeding growth spurt?

[Bamboo]

Could you not just skip the wedding? Doesn’t sound like you’re going to enjoy it anyway.

[Hairwolf]

7 hours ago, Scree said:

Did anyone comment on the proceeding growth spurt?

Not there yet mate…I am at baseline again I guess. Hopefully in another month it will start. 

[Bucky O Hair]

13 hours ago, Savemyhairline said:

So I have a wedding I’m supposed to attend, it is for a distant cousin and that whole family has made fun of my hairline for as long as I can remember. They are good people but very rough around the edges and just kinda being a-holes to everyone and even each other is their sense of humor. Anyway, of course this wedding will be right at the worst possible ugly duckling stage. I really do not want them to know I got a HT, I’m not ashamed of it but I frankly just don’t feel like being grilled by them forever on it. I see them all like once or twice a year, the next time after this would be 6 months post op where I’ll hopefully be looking a lot better. By this same token though, they are gonna know something is up with my hair seeing it at the 2 month then 6 month mark. They are the type of people who notice everything especially with hair. I’m honestly thinking of just making an excuse to not go to this wedding, it sucks but I don’t want to be extremely uncomfortable the whole weekend. Plus I’d need to wear a hat for the outdoor bits anyway, and a hat with a suit in 2023 isn’t really in fashion and will draw even more unwanted attention and questions. My HT was in my frontal third so im guessing fibers and other concealers aren’t gonna do much, but if someone has had a similar situation at the height of their ugly duckling stage and found a way to make it look presentable, please let me know!

 

I hear ya.

For this same reason, I ended up scheduling my HT to occur AFTER a big family wedding that I was invited to (otherwise I would have scheduled my HT a couple months earlier).

Like you, I am fine with some people knowing, but I don't want the world to know (especially those nosey ones who love to talk about others) so I get where you're coming from.  I never want to give them more things to talk about.

The bad news for you is that the 2-month mark is easily the worst point in the HT journey.  You will have gone through the shed, will unlikely have any new regrowth yet, and your scalp will likely still be a bit pink.  I don't think "concealing" it is an option...unless you had a very small HT and a lot of native hairs that you didn't shave off.

 

Your options are either to...

1. Not go to the wedding (and play off the recent COVID spike and claim that you're feeling sick, ha ha)

2. Go to the wedding and say that you have been diagnosed with psoriasis on your scalp (and that you shaved your head so you can apply betaderm cream on it) which is why your scalp is a little pink

 

The good news is at 6 months, you should be more than fine as your native hairs will have grown back, along with many of the newly transplanted hairs.  If anyone asks why your hair looks different, just play dumb and say you got a new haircut.  

"I am a new tie wearing"   

 

 

[Turkhair]

Someone seeing you bald then later with hair isn’t that big of an issue actually, people don’t remember someone’s level of hairloss. I should know because I flaunted my bald head for years and now when those same people see me, most see it as normal as if I was always like this, some look in surprise for a moment then act normal thinking this is how I always was. If someone is really inquisitive, you can just shrug it off as you had a bad hair day in the past or just tell the truth. They would be surprised and don’t believe it thinking you’re joking 😂 People’s perception of HTs is still of those old hair plugs and pluggy ones. < Yes all of this has happened to me. 
 

Someone seeing you bald is a different story though and the reaction is not good or negative. If it’s not your wedding, you can just consider this a bad painful day you have to go through. The same people who see you bald will act like you always had hair when you show up with hair few months later.

I should mention ^all of this doesn’t apply if you’re slick bald NW7, that’s a hard memory to mess up or forget. But if you show up as anything below NW7 with some level of surviving hairs (ie not slick bald) when you show with full head of hair, people just think you always were like this and now have better hair days.

Edited September 5, 2023 by Turkhair

[Bucky O Hair]

53 minutes ago, Turkhair said:

Someone seeing you bald then later with hair isn’t that big of an issue actually, people don’t remember someone’s level of hairloss. I should know because I flaunted my bald head for years and now when those same people see me, most see it as normal as if I was always like this, some look in surprise for a moment then act normal thinking this is how I always was. If someone is really inquisitive, you can just shrug it off as you had a bad hair day in the past or just tell the truth. They would be surprised and don’t believe it thinking you’re joking 😂 People’s perception of HTs is still of those old hair plugs and pluggy ones. < Yes all of this has happened to me. 

Yea, now that I have some hairs in the temples, it allowed me to cut my hair shorter and I got a lot of compliments on my haircut and how I should always keep it this short, ha ha.

Funny thing is, I've cut my hair this short in the past, and nobody complimented me on it (because shorter hair doesn't look good with deeply receded temples).  Now, it looks better because I have a better framed face with the new HT, as my deeply receded temples are slowly filling in.  Although I am still recovering and the hair is a little too thin in the temples, it still does a lot to frame the face and work with your existing native hairs to make things appear fuller.

 

I agree with you that most people are not that detail oriented at all, and can't even tell the obvious change from a NW5 to a NW2.  It's only when you actually go from a non-shaved head look to a shaved head look (and vice versa) when people begin to notice.  

I know a guy who was somewhere between a NW2 and NW3, but always shaved his head on a zero guard.  He got a hair transplant to straighten his hairline, then grew his hair out.  Everyone is shocked at how good his HT is, but most of that shock comes from the fact that he grew his hair out from a zero guard to long hair.  The hair transplant was pretty minimal, and they are wrongfully attributing his newly grown out native hairs with the hair transplant overall, ha ha.  How everyone wants one, but they are using the worst possible example and all have inflated expectations.

I think though at 2 months the "shaved head look" is going to draw more attention than the HT itself (especially if you sporting a baseball cap outdoors, lol).  Gotta come up with an excuse to explain why you are repping your favorite baseball team during a wedding.  

 

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

@Savemyhairline,

A lot of people struggle with the very same thing and it’s especially more difficult when you’re only a couple months out from your hair transplant.  Around this time, patients often look their worst because not only did all of the transplanted hair shed temporarily, but mini experience shock loss of natural hair in and around the transplanted area.  On top of that, some patients are still experiencing postoperative redness and inflammation and even possibly pimples in and around the transplanted area.

so as I’m sure you’re already aware, trying to look natural and inconspicuous is a bit on the difficult side in and around this time period, often called the doldrums and/or the ugly duckling face.

Weddings and/or other formal events in particular are difficult because you can’t just hide your hair transplant under a hat.

now, it’s a little difficult to give you specific advice without seeing photos of  what your hair looks like before surgery, immediately postop and today.   Some of what you may or may not be able to do will depend on where the transfer that area is, the length of your hair, the amount of area that you feel looks like somethings different that your family and friends might notice, etc.

So without knowing this information, I can only give you some general advice.

You could always try some kind of topical concealer like Toppik, DermMatch, Couvre, etc.   You can also try coming and styling your hair differently to cover any areas that you are concerned about, etc.  

Now, if you don’t have that much shark loss, you might even look just like you did prior to surgery by the time you go to the wedding. In that case, nobody should notice or say anything.

so if you want to post some photos of what your head and hair looks like before surgery, right after surgery and now, we can give you some more specific feedback.

I hope this helps.

Rahal Hair Transplant 

 

 

[Savemyhairline]

1 hour ago, Rahal Hair Transplant said:

@Savemyhairline,

A lot of people struggle with the very same thing and it’s especially more difficult when you’re only a couple months out from your hair transplant.  Around this time, patients often look their worst because not only did all of the transplanted hair shed temporarily, but mini experience shock loss of natural hair in and around the transplanted area.  On top of that, some patients are still experiencing postoperative redness and inflammation and even possibly pimples in and around the transplanted area.

so as I’m sure you’re already aware, trying to look natural and inconspicuous is a bit on the difficult side in and around this time period, often called the doldrums and/or the ugly duckling face.

Weddings and/or other formal events in particular are difficult because you can’t just hide your hair transplant under a hat.

now, it’s a little difficult to give you specific advice without seeing photos of  what your hair looks like before surgery, immediately postop and today.   Some of what you may or may not be able to do will depend on where the transfer that area is, the length of your hair, the amount of area that you feel looks like somethings different that your family and friends might notice, etc.

So without knowing this information, I can only give you some general advice.

You could always try some kind of topical concealer like Toppik, DermMatch, Couvre, etc.   You can also try coming and styling your hair differently to cover any areas that you are concerned about, etc.  

Now, if you don’t have that much shark loss, you might even look just like you did prior to surgery by the time you go to the wedding. In that case, nobody should notice or say anything.

so if you want to post some photos of what your head and hair looks like before surgery, right after surgery and now, we can give you some more specific feedback.

I hope this helps.

Rahal Hair Transplant 

 

 

Thanks all. 
 

here’s where I was pre surgery:

 

and here’s where I am a little under 2 weeks out 

 

 

as you can see I essentially had my entire frontal third rebuilt. Pre HT I could’ve hidden my thinning fairly easily just with styling and maybe fibers but I have no clue how much shock loss I’ll have if any, plus my hair will be shorter at the 2 month mark than in that before picture, I believe my hair grows at around an average rate.

 

honestly thinking if just not going to the wedding, my parents/cousins will be disappointed but this is kind of seeming like too much 

[Savemyhairline]

4 hours ago, Bucky O Hair said:

 

I hear ya.

For this same reason, I ended up scheduling my HT to occur AFTER a big family wedding that I was invited to (otherwise I would have scheduled my HT a couple months earlier).

Like you, I am fine with some people knowing, but I don't want the world to know (especially those nosey ones who love to talk about others) so I get where you're coming from.  I never want to give them more things to talk about.

The bad news for you is that the 2-month mark is easily the worst point in the HT journey.  You will have gone through the shed, will unlikely have any new regrowth yet, and your scalp will likely still be a bit pink.  I don't think "concealing" it is an option...unless you had a very small HT and a lot of native hairs that you didn't shave off.

 

Your options are either to...

1. Not go to the wedding (and play off the recent COVID spike and claim that you're feeling sick, ha ha)

2. Go to the wedding and say that you have been diagnosed with psoriasis on your scalp (and that you shaved your head so you can apply betaderm cream on it) which is why your scalp is a little pink

 

The good news is at 6 months, you should be more than fine as your native hairs will have grown back, along with many of the newly transplanted hairs.  If anyone asks why your hair looks different, just play dumb and say you got a new haircut.  

"I am a new tie wearing"   

 

 

I’m actually just getting over covid, that I probably caught while traveling internationally for my HT. I might just make something up for work and say my company needs me at our office that’s 20+ hours away from the wedding venue.

[Berba11]

1 hour ago, Savemyhairline said:

Thanks all. 
 

here’s where I was pre surgery:

 

and here’s where I am a little under 2 weeks out 

 

 

as you can see I essentially had my entire frontal third rebuilt. Pre HT I could’ve hidden my thinning fairly easily just with styling and maybe fibers but I have no clue how much shock loss I’ll have if any, plus my hair will be shorter at the 2 month mark than in that before picture, I believe my hair grows at around an average rate.

 

honestly thinking if just not going to the wedding, my parents/cousins will be disappointed but this is kind of seeming like too much 

 

If your hair still looks like this come the wedding then you'll pull the buzz cut look off no problem.

Honestly though? Just tell people and get it out in the open. I don't know why people torture themselves trying to hide it from everyone. Personally if it was me and by the time of the wedding things were looking ropey due to shedding and redness I'd either wear a suit-appropriate hat and tell people why I'm wearing the hat or just buzz down so everything is tidy and own it hatless (and tell people). In fact, I'd tell people in advance of the event so there's no surprises.

That's just my two cents...

[Savemyhairline]

8 minutes ago, Berba11 said:

 

If your hair still looks like this come the wedding then you'll pull the buzz cut look off no problem.

Honestly though? Just tell people and get it out in the open. I don't know why people torture themselves trying to hide it from everyone. Personally if it was me and by the time of the wedding things were looking ropey due to shedding and redness I'd either wear a suit-appropriate hat and tell people why I'm wearing the hat or just buzz down so everything is tidy and own it hatless (and tell people). In fact, I'd tell people in advance of the event so there's no surprises.

That's just my two cents...

Normally I’d agree with you but you’ve never met these people lol. They’re gonna bring it up at every turn and ask me all these condescending questions and just be annoying about it. I’m assuming the shed is gonna happen before the wedding but I guess only one way to find out 

[Bucky O Hair]

The shed will happen and your hair will look worse than it did pre-transplant.

2 month mark is the ugliest period. 

Based on your pre-op photos, you will look better than you did pre-op by the 4 month mark.  Just keep the hair growing and don't shave your head, just trim the sides and back to keep it clean.

 

 

[Savemyhairline]

10 minutes ago, Bucky O Hair said:

The shed will happen and your hair will look worse than it did pre-transplant.

2 month mark is the ugliest period. 

Based on your pre-op photos, you will look better than you did pre-op by the 4 month mark.  Just keep the hair growing and don't shave your head, just trim the sides and back to keep it clean.

 

 

Yeah, I’m leaning towards not going and making up some excuse. I don’t see why I should be uncomfortable the entire weekend, it’s a 10 hour drive too it’s not like it’s 5 minutes away. Plus emotions aside, it is outdoor and I am supposed to avoid sun exposure for 6 months. If this were 1925 sure a hat would look great with a suit but today that’ll just draw even more attention and questioning.

[Will_the_way]

Wow… those people sound like a great time🙃 I’d be looking for every excuse not to go. It’s already hard enough dealing with this process. Having a group of people dog you for a few hours about it definitely wont help. 

[Gatsby]

If these people are going to rib you about a hair transplant then what else are they willing to rib you about? I'd choose a different wedding and different friends. Focus instead on how good your hair is going to look a year after surgery! 💯👍

[mr_peanutbutter]

dont go, pretend you are sick. stay at home and make yourself a comfy weekend