Is it true that Strip surgery can cause nerve damage & scalp tightness?

[forlife]

I see on some other sites how negative people are to strip surgery. some of the things they say you can have permanent nerve damage,severe scarring,scalp tightness and some unpleasant feelings on your scalp for life. Any truth in this? Please elaborate!!

P.S. I know this people are very pro FUE!!

[forlife]

I see on some other sites how negative people are to strip surgery. some of the things they say you can have permanent nerve damage,severe scarring,scalp tightness and some unpleasant feelings on your scalp for life. Any truth in this? Please elaborate!!

P.S. I know this people are very pro FUE!!

[tberry]

forlife

I'm just over 3 months out from my initial HT with Dr. Shapiro. I had just shy of 2600 graphs. I had a little bit of tightness initially but it soon went away. I cannot tell that I have any loss of feeling or tightness in my reciepient or donor area. It really hasn't been a big deal for me. I worried myself to death before I had the procedure done, but again it just wasn't a big deal. I will have no hesitation about going in for the next one in about 8 months. The scar is in no way detectable in my case. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. tberry

[Rugger]

my donor and recipient area has no permanent nerve damage that I can tell..im not certain how big an area an individual nerve covers, but its not noticeable on my scalp...

 

Certainly, there is a risk of some numbness being permanent, but its minimal at best, with a good surgeon...a less than stellar surgeon can certainly mess you up that way...

 

my scalp, after six months, doesnt feel tight at all now...it sure did after the HT, but its subsided over time..

 

As far as the donor scar?..i had to point it out to my hair dresser, as she couldnt find it on her own..i guess thats a pretty good scar, wouldn't you say?....but as in most things, there are differing abilities and skills among surgeons practicing hair transplants...

[poet]

Both are possible yes. I suffer from it, but I think it was because I went to an unskilled surgeon.

[NC30]

Don't let them scare you....while some people have had legitimate bad strip surgeries, a lot of people on message boards are anti-strip for their own personal reasons and agenda. I'm 15 months out from my strip HT, and I haven't had any of the problems you mentioned. Like poet mentioned though, the quality of your surgeon will most likely determine whether you have problems or not.

[Robert_]

I asked about this very same issue in my consult with Dr. Cooley. This was one thing I was very concerned with, as I read somewhere on the internet (whether it was legit or not, i dont know) that a guy got nerve damage so badly that he couldnt take the pain and committed suicide. I was, to say the least, apprehensive. Dr. Cooley assured me that a case like this would be one in a million with even the worst doctors, though numbness can happen on rare occassions. Seeing how the back of my head isnt necessarily an "errogeonous zone" for me anyway, i could deal with some numbness. Im almost 2 weeks out and i have only the SLIGHTEST amount of numbness in the recipient area. this is only noticeable when i lightly comb the hair over it.

[Smoothy]

Yes you can have both! Both it is rare. Naturally when you remove scalp there is less scalp so it is tighter initially and takes time to stretch out-- skin is elastic and stretches over time. Now for nerve damage-- it happens to some but only a few. When your scalp is cut, it cuts the nerves and the nerves have to "rerout/regrow" after surgery-- no different than other types of surgery except the scalp has more nerve endings than most other parts of the body. You will loose sensation for a few months then it will slowly come back-- 12 months every thing is normal-- usually. Some bad surgeons who go "too deep" in excising the strip incision make permanent nerve damage. Just go to a top notch surgeon and you will be fine.

[hairbgoin]

I believe it is perfectly normal to experience numbness from any head wound. I was in a car accident, the glass from the windshield cut my head. I did not need stitches and the cut was minimal, which left very little scarring. You bet it hurt and left my head sore and numb for for few weeks. The tightness experienced from the swelling also went away in due time.

 

A similiar experience was felt post op. The donor area was tender ,a little swollen, and numb while healing. This appears to me as normal reaction and is part of the healing process with head wounds. I am not exactly sure how permanent nerve damage is caused, but I can tell you I have no numbness present. However, at around the 2 month post-op mark I started to worry the numbess wasnt going to go away, shortly after it started to subside.