I've got a complete mess of a scar that I need to get fixed

[john74]

Hi all,
I had 2 hair transplant surgeries done a number of years ago that left some pretty nasty scars on the back of my head. I've already had one scar revision surgery done about a year ago to cut out part of the scar, but to be honest I think it actually may have made the scar slightly worse (wider). I'm looking for a doctor that's skilled in scar repair and is preferably on the east coast of the US. Any help would be appreciated. I've attached a pic for reference.

[Artista]

And that is one of the main reasons i am so hesitant to go for a HT. Tell me, how does the hairline look now? Does it at least look better for you,,aside from having a bad scar in the back that is?

[DAVE52]

Not trying to hi jack your thread
I had 1 HT 12 yrs ago
Here's my thread with 2 pics

http://www.baldtruthtalk.com/showthread.php?t=8147

[chrisis]

A good surgeon won't leave a scar like this.

Best of luck getting it fixed john74.

[chrisdav]

John 74.

You should not have a strip scar like that, that is bad.

I know that Dr Lindsey, who is a very good surgeon but also one of the very best around with minimising and reducing scarring.

From memory he was a plastic surgeon before a hair transplant surgeon.

He is great guy and I have met him personally in London last year.

I am sure Spex would be happy to show you some of his scar revision if you mailed him.

[ejj]

Hi John

Looking at that picture , in my opinion you were not a good candidate for a procedure in the first place , regarding comments that scars are not common ,i would disagree .

Going forward if its stretched once i would be extremely careful with a possible revision , the higher scar looks almost to be in the lower crown area , i would look into fue into scar , feel free to have a look at my thread

all the best

ejj

[john74]

Artista, my hair line looks a little better I guess. I think my problem was that I went to a bad HT doctor.

[Artista]

Well that is the positive side to your HTs' ,,Im sure if you heed the advice that may be given to you here at TBT forum , you can have good revision work done in time.
You and I seem to have the same type of hair. My hair has always been fine in regards to thickness and actually very pliable. My hair volume overall was always good. Until I hit my mid 40s. Do you have the same type of hair ? If so what did the doctors tell you about it?

[Jeffrey Epstein, MD]

Yes, this is a challenging case, and realistic expectations are a must.

Given my extensive experience with these cases, I’d anticipate the best approach would be, assuming you have at least reasonable scalp laxity, excising both rows of scars and combining them into one incision scar. While this scar may heal up to be less than 3 to 4 mm wide, there is a chance it will be somewhat wider, which can then be treated to be filled in around 40 to 50% with one procedure of 400 to 500 FUE grafts transplanted into the scar, then if another 400 to 500 grafts were done a year later, the filling in would go to 70% or so.

If your scalp laxity is not good, really the only approach, other than trying to just fill the scars in with grafts, would be the definitive approach of expanding the surrounding scalp with balloon expanders, which then 6 weeks later with twice weekly inflation with saline, could make it possible to excise both rows of scars, leaving the very best result. Currently I have two patients receiving this treatment- one lives in Las Vegas, the other in Buffalo, NY- and we’ve begun the expansion procedure in both of these men.

[northeastguy]

John sorry your dealing with this issue. I'm in the same boat and have 2 separate scars from previous strip procedures. Mine are not as close together as yours but just about as wide. I am in a situation where I will be having Dr Cole do grafting in the lower scar via CIT and some added density to my temple areas. After 8 months I will evaluate the growth and address the upper scar. More than Likely unless I have enough donor hair to do the top scar with FUE, I will do a revision first to try and decrease the width....requiring fewer FUE's to finish the job. My ultimate goal is to buzz my hair with a #2 or 3 clipper.

I'm not a Doctor by any means but if your scalp has the laxity for a revision by all means go see Dr Hasson of Hasson and wong. don't let distance be a major part of your decision. You can later do FUE in the scar after it has fully healed. Also, Dr Feller likes to do revisions in stages which allows for less stretch back. He's on the east coast and is regarded as one of the better strip surgeons.

Do your homework and talk to as many surgeons as you can.