Scar Grafting with Dr Cole

[Stevie R]

True story NE guy, but what grade are you at...it looked like a 2 grade...

[northeastguy]

she uses a #5 at the top and blends it down to a #1 at the bottom.

[Stevie R]

Since the lowest you wanna wear your hair is a 1 guard I feel you almost have an advantage with two scars as the eye doesn't focus on either one if that makes since. If that is a 1 at the bottom then I have been covering my scar with a 1 guard not a 1 1/2 so that's good news but still it looks like it is close to a 2 guard to me by the scars..... but either way it doesn't matter as it is coming along nicely and I think another round will end the HT thing for ya for good, how much more growth can be expected? If 50 percent more or so I think you may be able to take it down to a 1 guard after this scar grafting...

[northeastguy]

On December 18th I'll have hit the 6 month mark. My last haircut I was able to take my hair down with a #4 guard. Prior to the Grafting I was able to use a 6 guard and that's about it. All in all, good progress.
The top scar remains pretty flat and the color is good. Bottom scar is still slightly raised but the color has improved somewhat. My plan right now is to use a derma roller for a while to see if I get color improvement. I tried using silicone gel but it makes to much of a mess. After 8 months I'll consider seeing a plastics MD to do Steroid injections in the scar if he feels it will improve the scars height. Another option is to do nothing with the scars since they are going to go another round of grafting.
I'll take some photo's after my next cut. I may consider taking my hair down with a 3 guard at the 8 month period but I notice a lot of inconsistent density from the strip surgery's so it might be hard to hide that. This is were I think Trico might be helpfully if I still plan to use a 1 guard. I can't see any other option to blend the density other than using a large number of beard grafts and right now I don't think that's a road I want to go down. Times on my side right now so no need to rush my options at this point.

[Artista]

WOW, Northeast' Dr Cole did a fantastic job,,it is obvious that those scars will be somewhat taken care of

[topcat]

Personally I would probably opt for beard hair if you have the donor, otherwise it is looking much better at this point.

[Artista]

Topcat, I certainly agree. Maybe Northeast is comfortable with how his scalp improvement has developed.

[gillenator]

Originally Posted by northeastguy

On December 18th I'll have hit the 6 month mark. My last haircut I was able to take my hair down with a #4 guard. Prior to the Grafting I was able to use a 6 guard and that's about it. All in all, good progress.
The top scar remains pretty flat and the color is good. Bottom scar is still slightly raised but the color has improved somewhat. My plan right now is to use a derma roller for a while to see if I get color improvement. I tried using silicone gel but it makes to much of a mess. After 8 months I'll consider seeing a plastics MD to do Steroid injections in the scar if he feels it will improve the scars height. Another option is to do nothing with the scars since they are going to go another round of grafting.
I'll take some photo's after my next cut. I may consider taking my hair down with a 3 guard at the 8 month period but I notice a lot of inconsistent density from the strip surgery's so it might be hard to hide that. This is were I think Trico might be helpfully if I still plan to use a 1 guard. I can't see any other option to blend the density other than using a large number of beard grafts and right now I don't think that's a road I want to go down. Times on my side right now so no need to rush my options at this point.

So nice to hear of your continued improvement Northeastguy and I still think you have more potential for improvement as the months pass!

[ejj]

looks fantastic , not a better feeling than thinking those strip scars are hidden , the tissue appears to almost normalise with the hair growth , its like getting back to normal !

all the best

ejj

[northeastguy]

@ Gillenator ..... I can only hope your right. If I've had this much growth at 6 months, I'm excited to see what I'll end up with at 12. I'm also going expect the texture of the hair to improve. It's a little fine right now but as it grows I'm thinking I should see some improvement.

@ Topcat ..... Far from making this decision yet but I'm still not 100% sold on using high quantity of beard hair. Both the longterm healing of the face and the how it will blend with my existing scalp hair are my hold ups. Not sure if others have seen the show airing on The Discovery Channel. It's called Beard Wars. In a nutshell it a bunch of guys competing for the longest beard. Really bad show but My point? every one of them displays how vastly different in texture, wave, and color beard hair is to scalp hair. Honestly I'm hoping we can tap into scalp hair one more time and be done. I do expect to use beard hair in my second pass at some level. How much will be up to Dr Cole. Right now I have time.

@ Artista ..... thanks for the compliment. I am happy so far but I'm looking to make these scars history. I still have a couple more steps and one includes another pass with FUE. Ever paint a room and after the first coat you look and think wow that looks great, I may not even need another coat! Then you go ahead and hit it with a 2nd coat and the improvement is night and day..... that's what I'm shooting for. Right now I toy with options I might have after the 2 procedures mostly because I have a lot of time between now and then.

@ ejj ..... your completely correct. It's nice knowing that no one has a clue there are big scars back there. I do notice the difference in scar color as time passes. especially the top one. it almost completely blends.