The post op period

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  • 04-29-2012 07:56 PM
    chrisis
    The post op period
    I'm wondering how guys who've had hair transplanted dealt with their hair post op, in terms of styling options and methods to hide the scar and grafts.

    It would be a huge concern for me, because my life revolves around socialising, and I'd feel unable to see people if I felt hideous because of the post-op period.

    It seems that it takes at least 6 months before the hair looks "ok" again, and up to a year to 18 months before it looks good.

    Any thoughts on this please?
  • 04-29-2012 09:57 PM
    Tracy C
    Hi Chrisis,

    I can share my experience if you like. As you may know, I have had two strip procedures. I was still wearing wigs at the time, so my hair was buzzed down to 1/2" to help make wigs more comfortable. I did look pretty bad for the first couple of weeks post op and I could not wear wigs during those first two weeks. I stopped buzzing my hair and just let it grow back out as I healed. About two months after my first surgery, my hair just looked like it did before I had surgery only longer. At the six month point the transplanted hair was showing. At ten months a lot more of the tranplanted hair was showing, though it obviously was not as long as the rest of my hair had grown by that time.

    I had a second surgery ten months after the first to build up density. My experience was very different with the second surgery and this was probably because we were building up density. My staples were removed ten days after surgery. The day after my staples were removed I had a massive shed. My hair was literally blowing off in the wind. It was shock loss. I looked really wacky for several months after that and there was nothing I could do about it except go back to wearing wigs. There were many times that I thought very seriously about just buzzing it all off again and starting over. Fortunately at about the six month point, my stylist was able to do her magic and make my hair look a lot less wacky. I get my hair done every six weeks. Every time she does my hair there is more hair blending in.

    It looks like your only concern is in your hair line and you obviously wear your hair much shorter than I do. My experience with my first surgery tells me you will probably look like you did before surgery after a month or two.

    I hope this helps,

    Tracy
  • 04-30-2012 10:13 AM
    chrisis
    Thanks for taking the time to write that up Tracy.

    I'm thinking it may take more than a month or two... I like to wear my hair spikey and straightened, so for it to grow to this length (a good 2-3 inches), I think it will take considerably longer than 1-2 months, possibly more than 6 months... and 12 months to 18 before it actually looks good.

    That is a major deal to me. I'm not even allowed to wear hats in the workplace and going out with friends will be so difficult... :(
  • 05-02-2012 05:46 PM
    Folly
    Hi Chrisis,

    Hope you're ok mate. Here's my 2 cents on your question.

    I had 1,250 grafts to the front 2cm of my hairline via FUE last year. I had dense hair behind my hairline, so i purposely grew it long pre-op, to around 3-3.5 inches. Post-op i was able to wear my hair down covering the areas worked on and no-one knew the difference. There's a guy on here called 'Spreadlocks' who had had the first half of his head worked on by Dr. Feller and he had enough hair behind it to cover the recipient area. Not sure if you have seen his 'combover' pics but they're epic !! Having dense hair behind the hairline is a life saver when it come to hiding your transplant.

    I've seen you pics and you have dense hair past your hairline, so you should be able to cover your hairline by wearing your hair down.

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by chrisis View Post
    I like to wear my hair spikey and straightened

    You definitely won't be able to have your normal style post op. I believe you are considering Dr. Feller, so he will also be shaving the area to be worked on. Assuming you don't have any shock loss, you will be back to your normal hair length in around 4 - 5 months. If you don't like wearing your hair down, then you're gonna have an unpleasant 4 - 5 months....i ain't gonna bullshit ya !! And if you have shock loss, you're looking at a good 6-9 months before you are wearing your normal style with confidence. The redness can linger for a long time as well. Mine didn't go for 4-5 months.

    I can't comment on what the strip scar looks like post-op, but with FUE the donor area looks pretty much back to normal after 10 - 12 days. Again, if you have shock loss in the donor area then it will take around 1.5 months before it looks normal. That is, the hair in the donor area grows long enough to cover the 'patches' of loss. I had shock loss in both the donor and recipient post-op. Really bad in the recipient. Luckily i still had a lot of hair, so i got by. Not sure if that would be the case now though.

    FYI: Dr. Hasson told me if you had agressive shock loss in your first HT, you are more likely to have it again in any further HT procedures.

    Hope that helps. !!
  • 05-02-2012 06:40 PM
    chrisis
    Hi Folly! Thanks for your comments, and yes very helpful!

    I just checked Spreadlocks' post again and yeah - his comb-over post-op is absolutely epic!

    I admit that I'd not be comfortable with doing the same though. I don't suit my hair forward and I just can't see how it would work.

    This whole post-op situation is starting to make me question whether I really want to go ahead with the hair transplant. 4-9 months of social isolation would be so difficult to bear...

    Would it be possibly to live under a hat for all that time? Although I'd have to get the approval of my employer... which might be difficult since they're a bunch of c@nts :(
  • 05-03-2012 01:07 AM
    Spex
    Chrisis,

    Covering the scar is a non issue with hair above it if you grow your hair out slightly ie 1 1/2 - 2inch.
    Same for the front however shaving the front down can hinder. Give yourself as long off as possible, minimum 4 weeks in my honest opinion.

    Rather have the time off and not need it - Than need the time off and not have it ;)

    Grow hair out pre op will give you the best chance to help cover and disguise any areas shaved down and worked on.

    It can be done and also you can use concealers to help such as toppik, courve etc. :cool:
  • 05-03-2012 09:27 AM
    chrisis
    Thanks spex! I'm sure we'll cover all of this and more during my consultation.

    I'm wondering if I have any legal right to ask for holiday after the surgery. My employer can be really difficult and not very understanding, so I'm not sure they'd let me take so much time off. If I got a doctor's note (not necessarily authorising "sickness", just annual leave) maybe it would help my cause. I'd definitely prefer at least a month off and I'm trying to conserve as much of my annual leave entitlement as possible for that, just in case.

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