terrible pain in donor area after FUE procedure

[rpachigo]

He went too deep hence the neuralgia.

[Mr. GQ]

oh, ok my bad

i won't try to pull something like that again

[thanatopsis_awry]

Look at you go GQ, dishing out fancy, too-cool-for-school emoticons!

[Abedogg]

I have to admit, I thought the same thing, but it looks like he took way too much above the occipital notch - which umar didn't get close to on me.

[dakota3]

Posted July 23, 2009 01:50 PM Hide Post

guys,

 

I called the HT doctor after the 2nd and 3rd days as I travelled to see him - He advised that that pain/sensitivity was common

 

This is not very ethical of any doctor to say if it is not true.....Which from everything I've read and seen is not! Can you atleast say if this doctor is recommended here?? IMO Your doctor simply told you this to buy him/her time in hope's that your pain subsides.

[Bill - Seemiller]

I agree that it's up to the patient whether or not he wants to disclose the doctor's name or not. I also don't think it's fair to speculate and name drop since it hasn't been dislosed. However, sunchaser is welcome to contact me privately and offer the name of the physician if he feels more comfortable doing it privately if at all. But I'm not going to pressure him since that's up to him.

 

I also agree that some pain and sensitivy can be common after a hair transplant (including FUE), but it shouldn't be excruciating.

 

I'm glad your pain is now "manageable" sunchaser, but I really hope that within a day or two, you are no longer experiencing anything more than minimal sensation.

 

Please keep us posted.

 

Bill

[alvi singer]

Originally posted by paddy:

Im also thinking bisanga as his aftercare of patients is very questionable.

 

i doubt it was bisanga - to my knowledge he wont do procedures that large in one session with FUE , even if the session is spread over two days or more .

seems much more likely that its the "other" clinic from that area - they do megasessions and are also regularly featured here on this forum .

of course , i dont know this to be the case - just seems more likely to me .

[AMR1]

Till date I have never experienced any pain like this, I have had 3 sessions now and have been a small discomfort for few days.

 

This is an eye opener!

[keeping-it-short]

I recently recovered from this type of intense post-op pain which can occur with FUE. It happened with both FUE procedures that I underwent with a very experienced, safety minded HT surgeon who is regarded highly by other physicians, especially when it comes to FUE. I am his only patient to report experiencing this but he plans on doing some research and a presentation on the subject. I think some people may have dermal properties that make them extra susceptible to neuropathic pain following FUE.

My experience was waves of intense sharp needle-like pain across the donor area starting around the fifth day post-op which would stop me in my tracks with chills. Imagine someone wrapping a blanket of needles around your head and then shaking it around. It was as if the sensory signals from the nerve endings disturbed during the procedure were unblocked 4-5 days later in a bad way causing nerve signal fireworks. It would fluctuate in intensity, from a slight itch feeling (touching would bring instant pain) to occasionally being severe pain lasting hours at a time. Cold compress didn’t seem to help. Vicodin didn’t help. Doctor prescribed doses of ibuprofen may have given some relief and I already had a prescribed non-addictive sleep aid trazadone which may have helped as well. The HT surgeon thought that perhaps a neural pain reliever such as Lyrica or Neurotin may help, but I was already improving by the time I contacted him so I decided no more meds. I’m physically fit - light to moderate resistance training and stretching during periods of relief took my mind off the situation and kept my mood and energy up. I think nutrition can be important in recovery and I made sure to drink extra water and eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, seafood & nuts which are excellent sources of essential nutrients for the nervous system. I experienced waves of severe pain in the donor region lasting hours at a time days 5 through 11 post-op and then more of an itch feeling with the occasional sharp pain dissipating over the next few days (similar experiences with both FUE procedures).

I messaged Sunchaser to get an update on his situation. He stated that he had residual pain lasting 4 months and was told that its possible to have this type of pain last decades. I would advise anyone who is interested in FUE to first undergo a trial procedure to see how they respond (maybe something like 100-200 grafts). Maybe even monitor for donor scarring effect for 6mos if wanting to keep the sides cut shorter than quarter inch. If no problem, then go ahead with a larger session but I would still not recommend a procedure more than somewhere around 2000 FUE grafts at that point.

[Sparky]

Most people dont get this pain, (I havent had it) but you are the 3rd person that I heard of having it including Sunchaser, the other guy I know who had it, had his surgery 3 years ago, and although intense his pain didnt last that long.

[1966kph]

just a thought keeping it short but is it both you and sunchaser used the same doc,just interested to see if this has arisen from two different surgeons,,if this has already been answered somewhere and i've missed it sorry..anyway hope your both feeling hunky dory,all the best....

[Live4evr]

Hi i read about the pain expereinced by sunchaser in his forum and the reason why i ended up here on this site is that even im goin through the pain in the donor area . a week ago i had fue with 1150 grafts ..it was all kind of normal but i started experiencing pain in my donor area from 5th day onwards... Pain is like very weired it starts to increase if i dont take any painkiller and resumes again after 8 to 9 hours after the pain killer effect is over...right now my concern is to know the reason for this pain...is it just post op trauma or i have to cope with it for a longer time...and one thing more i need to know the surgeon who performed fue on me told me that he used titanium punches instead of regular stainless steel punches ... But how can i diffrentiate between titanium and steel punch...i paid extra price for titanium punches

[AdamAJ]

my donor area was like that to.....it bothered me and was itching like crazy....but im now 7 weeks post op and it has completely went away.....doesnt even feel like anything happened back there!

[Live4evr]

Hi

You experienced the pain post fue in your donor area and how long it lasted back there ..

[janpaul]

Hello . I had 4000 graft FUE by Dr Zioga at the private clinic Harley street 5 days ago . Apparently I was a perfect donor and it was all done in 1 day. My donor area goes up to 1 inch above my ears , and 2 inches below my crown that received the hairs . I am a norton 5 I think .the problem I have is that my hairs are very itchy in the donor area and I have a painful feeling of pinpricks in the donor area .i am embarking on a long flight to a beach destination tomorrow . Having read a few threads here , it sounds like just taking some anti histamine is the only thing that may be able to help me ? Thank you

[janpaul]

Nobody even heard if her ? Actually I just found out that it was 4000 hairs , not grafts

[stinger99]

firstly, i really feel for sunchaser. i really hope that things have gotten better for him. what i dont understand is why he is not willling to divulge the doctor. i mean, any sugery has its risks and every patients can react differently to a procedure / meds. i think we are all smart enough to realize that there are certain risks in rare situations and wouldnt judge the HT doc badly because of it. what is really concerning is the post op care sunchaser was getting which i feel is totally uncalled for. this site has been excellent for praising docs and has help so many ppl make good choices. however, i think when a doc acts unethically, or gives poor post op care to patients, this doc should be identified. negatives reviews on ht docs should be welcomed and encouraged when warranted of course. it is disappointing to me to see that sunchaser has chosen not to divulge the name.

[raymond-fue]

I'm having the same issue. Small FUE procedure (650) and on the fourth day donor site pain kicked in, very painful. Same pain described by others in this thread. This is my second FUE procedure and although my first operation was twice the grafts there was significantly less post op pain.

 

I know it's early still, pain might be gone in a couple of days, so I'll keep you posted.

 

Hopefully the pain subsides soon, and this is a non event.

 

The difference is the doctor and the extraction tool, a drill was used for this FUE vs a manual tool the first time. Also this time I used ATP Healing spray.

 

I may be looking for advice soon.

I'll keep you posted.

[Bobilero]

Occiptal nerve damage is what it is from the injections. Ride it out with painkillers. Should subside in 7-10 days. Gets worse at night for some reason.

[sl]

I agree with Bobilero. I've had this pain once only after my first op back in 2006 and it was very painful at night, throbbing, and eminated from the occipital area outwards. It prevented sleeping also and at the beginning I also thought I had an infection but it was just nerve pain.

 

The pain kicked in at about a week and lasted a couple but what helped was painkillers for nerve pain, applying cold aloe vera and massaging the donor and also I took plenty of B Vitamins to calm the nerves also.

 

Not many patients do actually get it, under 10 percent from experience so not overly common but something that can happen and good to be aware of.

[Stublue]

Yeah I had it myself. As the guys have already stated it kicks in around 5 days post op and lasts around a further 5 days or so. And it gets worse at night. I can definitely vouch for the aloe vera too, it helps quite a lot.

[socates123]

Glad you are alright buddy. Hang in there.

[socates123]

Wonder which HT clinics offer great post op care anyway... having a doctor uncontactable can be a life or death situation...

[raymond-fue]

You know, I gotta say the pain has ramped up a notch today (day two of pain, day six post op.) Sleeping is an ordeal mixed with run away uncertainty.

 

Going to check in with the Doc tomorrow just in case something really bad is happening.

But I do think Bobilero and Stublues' theory/diagnosis is accurate.

 

It's my first time on any message board and didn't realize the impact I would feel when I read your posts. Really helped put me at ease, I mean I got surprisingly emotional.

I guess I'm a little more scared than I let myself believe (don't want to burden the girlfriend or family, so kinda going it alone).

 

Thanks guys for your help!

[Stublue]

Well as they say, "its good to talk", even on internet forums! Use them as much as you can, I know they have been invaluable to me.

 

I feel your pain though, as it is a tough 4 or 5 days to go through. Just be sure that it will subside and all will be well. You are right to check with your doc too. I had great post-op support and it really helped ease any concerns I had.