Red Head? How long will my head look like a bleeding pin cussion afte my transplant ?

[Topview]

Getting a transplant in January and looking for some feedback as to how long my head will be red/scabby / bleeding and I guess not look like I just had 5000+ hairs transplanted

Is it okay to wear a hat to the office or should my head be able to breathe? I will be getting it done on a Thursday and taking the entire following week off as well.

Thanks in advance

[Dr. Glenn Charles]

If you are having the transplant on a Thursday and do not have to be at work for a week and a half there should be no scabs remaining. The only thing that may be visible is some slight redness in the recipient area. It is more common to have a little prolonged redness if you have very fair skin. Here in Florida patients can just say they went to the beach and forgot to put sunblock in that area. You can wear ball cap starting 2 days after the procedure without risking any harm to the grafts.

[Condor]

Greetings to Toronto, I used to live there (Riverdale). OK, let me tell you, sorry to say, but doctors tell you bull$%#it. All the time. I was in the same situation as you, my scalp looked like a bleeding pin cushion for a long time, I would say about 2 months or more, not 2 weeks or 2 days. And I wore a baseball cap practically the whole time, or a bandana. The whole "Oh it's only going to be a few days" is total garbage. And I'm Italian, so they can quit the crap about fair skin. Be patient. I'm 7 months into it and my hair looks great. Still thin and red around the donor area, but overall, I have to say, I'm more than pleased with the results. I don't know if I would go through all the worry and the blood again, but I did, and now I have hair. You've done it, you can't go back. Just remember that every day is one day more towards recovery and better hair...

[Condor]

Oh, and BTW, I had my HT done by
Walter Unger, who is considered one of the best in the world.

[Borntoosoon]

I'm sorry to say, Topview, but Condor's experience was the same as mine. If I could recommend anything it would be to try to keep in close contact with your doctor, once a week at least, to keep tabs on your progress. I waited a month to wash off my scabs which happened during my first follow up. My doc said, 'Oh, you could have washed those off two weeks ago.' That would have been very nice to know, but again, my fault for not staying in closer communication.

I've heard one can wear a cap. Here are my thoughts on that.

I didn't want to risk damaging the grafts, but at the same time I would be very anxious about the back of the cap rubbing against the donor area. That area is going to be pretty raw for a little while and needs time to heal up. Again, ask your doctor and stay in close contact with them because what works for one patient may not work for all.