Repair surgery with Dr. DeYarman

[SMH4]

Hi folks,

I recently had 3k graphs put in using the ARTAS machine with Dr. DeYarman (April 2016). The surgery went smoothly. To give you some background, I had 3 prior strip surgeries, 2 from Sword almost 20 yrs ago and 1 from Bosley about 10 yrs ago. I don't think any of these were of high quality so I have been doing the comb over with Toppik for years now. What a terrible way to go thru life.

I had him fill in the 2 strip scars with about 600 graphs (all singles). My goal is to keep my hair as short as possible (just enough to hide the strip scars). My expectations are modest. I will never have a full head of hair. I just don't want to go thru life with a comb over or an obvious victim of bad surgeries.

I will provide updates moving forward.

[SMH4]

Here are a couple from the donor area and can see the back a little. Left side was cleaned on day 2. Right side was used for donor area on day 2, has not been fully cleaned yet since I will do it myself (just being overly conservative).

[SMH4]

Here is another update -
L Side Day 12 Donor - healing well, still redness but overall looking good.
R Side Day 11 Donor - slower healing larger scabs than left but starting to flake off. Was a little concerned but starting to progress faster now.

Front - some larger scabs, some hair growth, looks healthy.
R/back - slower healing but progressing. left back looks better but don't have picture to post.

This just shows that the healing to may vary in duration. I was told 7 days and the donor area would look normal again using ARTAS. I'm not concerned as I have flexibility to wear a hat to work, others may not be so lucky. I'm still optimistic that in another month or 2 I will be able to keep my hair short (around 1/2 inch) with no notice of scars, this is my main concern. If not, am prepared to use concealer if necessary (hopefully not forever).

[ejj]

Hi Sm

I think it is to early to comment really so keep us updated. It is a tough ride being a repair
client so keep positive, will look a lot better as we all know when the scabs drop off and you can give it a good wash

All the best mate

ej

[SMH4]

Hey EJ...thanks.

Here is my 1 month update. I have cut my hair with clippers a couple of times, it grows unevenly, faster in the back. I used a 3 on the sides and back and a 1 on the top.

Front - I ended up going in for a wash. I was being very cautious in recovery and maybe left scabs longer than needed. My "original" hair is growing. I can see tiny hairs starting to grow from the transplant in the front but they are only a few MM's. Still redness on recipient area (especially in front). I have noticed the recipient area gets red easily if rubbed or after a workout. I'm thinking it's a healthy reaction and shows good blood flow??

R Side - Donor area is growing back slower than I would have thought but moving along (also I believe there is still some redness there).

L Side - Same as right side except it's growing in spotty. It has improved in the past week + but there were 1 or 2 pretty bald areas for a while (1 is still there). It's weird how the hair grows differently from each side, recovery and direction of the hair.

Back - you can only see this partially from the side picture. I did some experimenting with Dermmratch but the scar lines are still visible. Hopefully the graphs will start to grow soon/faster. Any suggestions for concealment would be appreciated. As it stands now, I will have to let my hair grow longer so it's not visible but I'm not happy with that at all (since I still won't have a ton on top, really wanted to keep my hair short).

[ejj]

I used a little bit of eyeliner. If you buy a stick and rub it on the back of your hand and spread it out a bit with circular motions, get used to spreading it. Then get a bit on your finger and rub it in the scar lines to darken the scalp and reduce the contrast.
Hope this helps

ej

[SMH4]

Thanks ejj, i'll give that a try.....the other thing I noticed, after shaving my head and wearing a hat, my hat has protected my head (grafts, donor area, etc.) But, I have a sun tan on the bottom part of my head below the scars. This actually makes everything look worse, it's like a light colored ring that draws attention to the scars above the ring. With summer coming, this will be an issue as well. My timing was wrong, should have done this going into winter.

[ejj]

I know that feeling I wore a bandana for 2 years 24 hours a day it took years for the skin tone
to marry up, I tried to avoid daylight for a while after I took it off and all social events, I think it was
about another 18 months or so before I felt comfortable in the company of other people

Keep positive

ej

[suarez]

Early days SMH and looks like things are happening .

All the best !

[SMH4]

Hey fellas, quick update......

I have been applying hydrocortisone 1% in the red area in the front for a few weeks now. Some redness is still there but it's definitely decreasing. I'm getting pimples (2 or 3 a week), some of them large on the back of my head where the grafts were placed on my old strip scars. Everything is progressing and will have another update at about 2 months with more pictures....

[Hairbrain]

Looks like this will be a good improvement from your prior situation. It will be interesting to see your updates. Do you still have additional grafts available? Also would you happen to have any additional before photos you could post? Best of luck!

[SMH4]

Thanks....I will post more before pictures in a future update.

I don't believe I have much if any donor remaining (and really don't want to use any). If I have additional work it will likely be from beard hair...

[SMH4]

Another comment/question..... I never noticed my hair being so thin in the back around my strip scars. I am almost 2 months after surgery and have cut my hair a few times with a #3. The problem is that my hair seems so thin surrounding the scars that were repaired. I know I have to wait for the grafts to come in but I thought I would have thicker/fuller hair around the area. Could this be shock loss? If I was thin back there before, I hadn't noticed, maybe because my hair was still about 1 inch in length.

Also, I have tried toppik and dermmatch and I think I have chosen the right color of my hair. But, it's so thin in the area, it's still noticeable (I guess the contrast, thin hair near the darker areas where the concealer was added).

[Hairbrain]

Yes more than likely your experiencing shock loss from your donor. Although I've never had FUE, it seems common this may take a few months to resolve.
Looking forward to your future updates.

[SMH4]

So, I'm at just about 2 months. There is not a lot to report so I didn't bother taking pictures.

Right side Donor Area- seems to be fully grown in.
Left Side Donor Area - much slower to grow in, but is almost all the way back (based on my expectation level, hopefully will have some more hair to make fuller)

Recipient Area Top of head - I believe all the grafts have fallen out or are dormant. There appeared to be some initial growth early on, but has basically stopped. The past week I have seen some new hairs coming up; these are so small pictures would not really help. Basically, the only hair on my head is from before the procedure.

Recipient Area back of head/repair. Basically same as above, although it's really hard for be to see any growth from the angles I have.

I hope to report significant progress at 3 months, as many do, or may take longer......