Scar Grafting with Dr Cole

[northeastguy]

Hey All.....today I spent the morning with Nicole at Dr Shapiro's clinic to do a test with the temp SMP or Trico. Hopefully if all goes well we will go to town on monday. I will post some before and after photo's to see how SMP can compliment Not only scar repair but FUE in general. I'm exited about getting close to the final step of this journey. As for the beard grafting I did a year ago, its been a slow grow. It's early and some don't see much till 18-24 months so my fingers are crossed. At the very least, the SMP buys me time till that happens. I am currently sporting a .5-1 guard cut so not much hiding going on......stay tuned.

chicago..... the second pass did great. really not much redness at all if any on that lower scar.

[chicago99]

Hey NE, hope you have been well. Just wondering how the second laser treatment went? Did it get rid of all the redness? How long was the healing process? Any pics? Thanks in advance!

[Have Hope3]

I am looking to get my first round of FUE sometime in February. I have narrowed it down to Dr. Cole and Dr. Cooley. Both of these doctors seem to have great reputations with scar repair. I will base my decision on availability, price, and convenience. Is it possible to get a repair without exposing the scar and shaving down all my hair in the back? Also, I have heard that the price has come down in the last year or two. Is that true? I will have to go right back to work the following Monday and would like to keep this matter private. Hoping I can put this whole think behind me soon! Thanks

[dub]

Only do what your comfortable with and if that is 200+ then there is nothing wrong with that I don't think. I am not sure if the silicone helped or not it may have but hard to know for sure. I did have very slightly raised scar tissue on the left in one small section that I could feel (maybe 1cm in length) the needling I did helped with that a bit and carried little risk once you use it properly. I think what was left leveled out the remainder with the fue

[Have Hope3]

Dub, your 4 month post op pics look great! It is growing in very nicely. I think our stories are similar, and I am also looking to put this whole experience behind me. I don't want to have to think about this scar any more. I am a little nervous starting off with 400 Fue grafts. I was thinking of starting in the 225-250 range. Did you feel that the silicone gel helped?

[dub]

Ya I follow northeastguy's results however I am not that active on this forum compared to others where my handle is dubhain if you look around you will find my blog. I had my scar grafted into in July of this year. In the run up to it I was concerned about a slight pinkness that I still had in my scar. I went to meet a plastic surgeon who does fraxel and we did a test patch a couple of months before my FUE. He said for my scar the fraxel would only speed up what would naturally happen to the pinkness over time, as that was my only concern I decided not to continue with it.
It did indeed fade quite a bit in the run up to my procedure naturally. After the procedure however it went quite red again and really only started fading properly after 2.5 to 3 months post op. I am not sure how long you should wait post op to do laser treatments if you still feel they may be of help but I would definitely wait until the grafts are established before considering it.

[Have Hope3]

Hey Dub, Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I did consult with Dr. Cooley back in 2012. He was very open and honest with me. He thinks it might take a couple of passes to get down to the 3 guard. My scar still has some pink in it, so I was hoping that the first round of FUE would help with that. It is a little uneven in one small area but other than that seems to be pretty level. After reading about Northeastguys experience, it appears that I can possibly use the laser at a later date without effecting the transplanted hairs. I am hoping to get the first round of FUE sometime in February.

[dub]

Have Hope,

Whether or not you need to treat your scar with a laser or other methods before or after and FUE into the scar depends on your scar. If you have a scar that is level with the surrounding scalp and is scalp coloured or slightly pink I would just graft into it as the FUE may help to reduce any pinkness. You should consult with a few doc's that have a track record of grafting into scars and only them. Off the top of my head you have Cole, Feriduni, Mwamba, Bisanga and Lorenzo if you read around there is a lot more top docs that you could also contact. There is cases out there of all types and sizes of scars getting a substantial improvement from FUE grafts.

[Have Hope3]

Hello to everyone in this thread,

Wow! It is such a relief, to know that there are options out there for guys like me who hate our strip scars. Reading through this thread has been very informative, and has given me a true vote of confidence that it is possible to do something about my scar. I am very happy for NorthEastguy and the many others who have had success with the coverage of their scars. Northeastguy, outstanding work! It looks great! As I get older (approaching 38) it is apparent that I must cut my hair shorter due to my continuous hair loss. Right now, my scar is visible if I go any shorter than a 6 guard. My goal is to get down to a 3 or 4 guard so I can cut my hair shorter on top. I have gone back and forth on what I should do. I have decided to go with the Fue into the scar method. I think my scar is about 5mm. I went for a pre-op and the doctor thought the first pass should be about 200-250 hairs. He didn't think that a scar revision would be beneficial for me. After reading about the success NorthEastguy had with the Pulse dye laser, I was wondering if anyone thinks I should do that before the surgery? Is it better to do the Fue first or does it really not make a difference? I also want to go to a doctor who puts the hair follicles in ACELL before placing them into the scar. I know that each case is a little different, but do you think I can get down to the 3/4 guard after 2 passes? Thanks for any info that any of you can pass along!

-Have Hope3

[gillenator]

NEGuy,

Interesting to hear your experience with the beard grafts and the corresponding growth cycles of that particular donor source. This may be why we are not hearing from many guys who had beard grafts used. Time will tell and hope the growth cycle last as long as possible.

BTW, if you get down to a .5 or even a number 1 guide, that's a great achievement IMHO.

Thanks again for the update...

[ejj]

I know how it feels to get some peace of mind with these strip scars

all the best ne guy

ejj

[chicago99]

Great to hear NE.

[northeastguy]

There is no way anyone can tell I had any grafts taken from my beard. I can't even tell close up. early on if the lighting was right, I could tell a slight texture difference after I shaved but I can't even see that anymore. I'll post a photo of my neck area as well.

[chicago99]

Great to hear you are doing well NE! Looking forward to seeing the updated pics. How did the donor area heal in beard area? Can you see any evidence of extraction from that area? Thanks in advance.

[northeastguy]

Had my 2nd, and most likely final pass with the Pulse dye laser Oct 23. Every day that passes the lower scar looks better and better. Only thing I am going to have to except is the horses tail and angulation of the hair below the scar from being pulled up and improperly closed over the course of 3 strip procedures. I'm hoping at a 1 guard or .5 guard in that area, it won't matter. Most likely will but should be ok. It'll look more like a skin fold.
I will say this, beard hair takes a long time to grow. It does not abide by the 3 month dormant rule.
Currently going to put together a date in January to visit Shapiro Medical Group and blend things using Trico pigmentation.

I will post a few updated photo's in a couple weeks. After which, the next photo's will be before and after Trico using a .5-1 guard.