Office Job - Post Surgery Advice?

[jwilly]

I had a consultation with Dr. McAndrews in Pasadena, who mentioned that although I'll be physically fine to work after the procedure, I'll want to wear a hat for a week after because it will be unpleasant to look at. I work in a business casual office setting, and wearing a hat would definitely be noticed.

Now I don't have too much pride to tell people I've had the procedure. But my preference would be to tell them if asked when hair starts growing back 6 months later. Even though it's not a big deal, my office setting is so mundane and uptight and conservative . . . way too many people would get way too much pleasure sharing that gossip (did you here he got a hair transplant? tee hee!) Trust me, it would suck and I'd be "hair transplant guy" from that point forward. I don't care that much, but it wouldn't do me any favors.

I'm trying to figure out how to work around this. I really don't feel like spending 5 vacation days out of shame. I think my best bet would be to level with my boss, and tell the truth without getting too specific. I think I'll say that I'm having a medical procedure done that's private in nature, and won't be able to come into the office, although I'd be perfectly capable of working from home.

I guess that's my only real option, but I thought I'd see if any of you had any insights to this. How long was it before the signs of your surgery went away?

[morelocks]

Hi jwilly, all depends on the type and size of procedure. You will get a better response from forum members if you give us more details. Few things that come to mind is
- how much hair have you lost and how much work are you wanting done
- strip or fue?
- will u need to shave your head for this procedure
- if your bringing your hairline down a lot you will most likely also experience some swelling around your eyes as well, personally I never have but many people do

Provide us with as much info as poss, maybe even some pics

Iv had 4 fue s and my first 2 were the easiest to hide BUT that was only after 2 weeks. I hear people say a week is ok but I can't relate to that. I think you need a minimum of at least 2 weeks before going back to work

[Don'tDoIt]

I would take that advice one step further and say that you should allow 3 weeks.

Your scalp will be red with some crusts still on the scalp at two weeks. People will notice. You sound like you want to keep your transplant a secret. The only way to do that is to take 3 weeks off from work.

[Dr. Glenn Charles]

I have had patients tell their bosses and/or co-workers that they had something removed from their scalp at the dermatologist offfice and he recommended keeping the area covered for a week. If you have the procedure on a Friday, you could actually get 9-10 days off with only having to wear the hat Mon-Fri at work. Of course if you can work from home for a week that would be great. I let my patients keep the hair longer so it makes it easier to camouflage after the procedure.

[jwilly]

Great . . . thanks so much for all of the information, Dr.! Extremely helpful.

[Dr. Glenn Charles]

I know the short term recovery period can be a pain in the butt. However, it should be the bigger long term picture that you should be focusing on. Good luck.