Overcoming shame of a hair transplant scar

[Zao]

I would run for the hills if a doctor all of a sudden had an opening for me the next day after a consultation. This smells like desperation to me for some easy cash. I hope things work out for you, but I don't like this doctors tactics. Sounds VERY sleazy to me. Sounds like he took advantage of your desperation.

[Steven Gabel, MD]

Adam

Thank you for posting your situation on the forum, which will hopefully provide you with some options and educate others who are in the same boat as you. There are a multitude of reasons why people develop poor results at the donor area from a patient’s own intrinsic ability to heal to the technique that was used to harvest and close the incision. Unfortunately, some people are just more prone to scar then others.

One question I have for you – do you have any other scars or incision sites on your body that have healed well or not healed well? I ask this because if you were to have a scar revision (which gillenator was referring to in doing the scalp exercises to increase your elasticity and remove the scar) I would like to know if your body tends to form larger then normal scars. If that is the case, you have to be very careful to excising the scar as you may end up in the same spot you are in now. If you do heal well after a cut or prior surgical incision, then reducing the scar as much as possible prior to FUE may be in your best interest. Also, did you have FUE done in the entire scar or just a portion of it? You should monitor the results from the FUE into the scar very closely to see if it grows or not.

Steven Gabel, M.D.
Portland, Oregon
www.gabelcenter.com

[gillenator]

Adam

Thank you for posting your situation on the forum, which will hopefully provide you with some options and educate others who are in the same boat as you. There are a multitude of reasons why people develop poor results at the donor area from a patient’s own intrinsic ability to heal to the technique that was used to harvest and close the incision. Unfortunately, some people are just more prone to scar then others.

One question I have for you – do you have any other scars or incision sites on your body that have healed well or not healed well? I ask this because if you were to have a scar revision (which gillenator was referring to in doing the scalp exercises to increase your elasticity and remove the scar) I would like to know if your body tends to form larger then normal scars. If that is the case, you have to be very careful to excising the scar as you may end up in the same spot you are in now. If you do heal well after a cut or prior surgical incision, then reducing the scar as much as possible prior to FUE may be in your best interest. Also, did you have FUE done in the entire scar or just a portion of it? You should monitor the results from the FUE into the scar very closely to see if it grows or not.

Steven Gabel, M.D.
Portland, Oregon
www.gabelcenter.com

Thank you Dr. Gabel for your input and the additional points that you made regarding how a patient heals from cuts and lacerations. I remember when I used to work inside the clinic and insisting on having that area evaluation included in the patient's medical history.

In fact, as you no doubt are aware of, some darker pigmented patients can have a disposition to healing with raised scars (keyloiding). Not all but enough to want to discuss this with the patient before making any final decisions about moving forward with surgery. It should be covered with every patient IMHO.

Again, we do not have the benefit of seeing his scar in person, but just from viewing the picture he provided, his scar does not appear raised or even discolored. After observing endless linear scars from HTs for nearly three decades, he does not appear to me to have that issue. From my expereince, very few patients have an issue of healing with wide or raised scars relating to how they heal. His looks very clean, just wide.

These are just my observations from a lay person.

[varonil]

Hi Steven,
I'm really sorry I haven't got back to you sooner. I just haven't checked this blog out for awhile, and I guess I thought I would get notifications if I had comments.
I do have stretch marks between my shoulders and biceps from the heavy working out I did in highschool (never used steroids). So perhaps I am prone to scarring. I have got pretty good results from the FUE into the scar and will post those in a few minutes.
Now what I'd like to do is remove my old hairline grafts and repair the cobblestoning and just keep my head shaved close.
I will check this blog more regularly now, but can also be reached at acmc75@gmail.com
Adam

[caresabouthairs]

No one should really know what your scar is from unless they have looked into hair transplant surgery...or have had one.


They sell a scar creme at your local Walgreens for about 20 bucks. It worked for me. I used it on my donor scar when healing...

I had a bad scar on my arm from a tattoo I had removed with a lazer and the creme reduced the pink color very much.


On a lighter note...I worked in an office when I had my transplant done where there was no option of wearing a hat during the recovery.

I told the girls I worked with that I had fell off a peer in the lake and had to get stitches in the back of my head. As far as my frontal hairline...I covered it with my wifes make up and said I had some bad sun burn!!!!

No one knew the better!!!

[gillenator]

No one should really know what your scar is from unless they have looked into hair transplant surgery...or have had one.


They sell a scar creme at your local Walgreens for about 20 bucks. It worked for me. I used it on my donor scar when healing...

I had a bad scar on my arm from a tattoo I had removed with a lazer and the creme reduced the pink color very much.


On a lighter note...I worked in an office when I had my transplant done where there was no option of wearing a hat during the recovery.

I told the girls I worked with that I had fell off a peer in the lake and had to get stitches in the back of my head. As far as my frontal hairline...I covered it with my wifes make up and said I had some bad sun burn!!!!

No one knew the better!!!

Was it Mederma cream that you used for the scars?

[the B spot]

Excellent information Gillenator/Dr. Gabel!!!!

Varonil--- I can appreciate your situation---your story is one that we have heard many, many, unfortunate times. However, there are options--- From the pic you provided, your scar is not overly long, or overly wide and as mid 90's closures go, is not that bad(based on the pic).

However, 150 fue grafts will not make a huge difference in your overall appearance with your head shaved like it is.

It could be the 150 grafts were merely to test the vascularity of your scar tissue and test the potential re-growth of a larger follow-up session----I'm not really sure, so I will just state that I believe 300-350 grafts would provide better camouflage---not to completely eradicate the presence of a scar, but to break it up enough as to render it less of a conversation piece.

Also, if the tissue must be removed, Gillenator is right that a resection can be performed, any grafts removed transplanted to help disguise the old work, and a new scar produced that has a higher likelihood of accepting FUE grafts to disguise it.

Of course, that doesn't help you select the right clinic for you, etc... I would suggest working with Gillenator who is an independent patient advocate and can offer unbiased help--He has helped MANY people in your situation.

Take Care,
Jason

[dmeyer8]

Hello Gillenator, are you still on the forum?

[RobinPise]

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