Hair Transplant for Scar

[Londinium]

Hello, I've searched all over the internet and I'm starting to lose hope that I'll ever find anybody who shares my problem. When I was young, maybe a year before I got into high school, I developed a cyst that had to be cut out from the back of my head. Unfortunately this left a bad car that I could only hide by growing my hair out long, which, felt ridiculous for me because I personally always had my hair cut short and I look like a mop with long hair. Anyway, once I got into college I decided enough was enough and cut my hair allowing the whole world to see my scar. At first it was nothing, I ignored the comments because usually people got used to it after seeing it for so long and stopped asking. But in truth I felt ashamed of my scar and began to increasingly wear hats to cover it up. A friend introduced me to hair transplant surgery, which I knew as being for balding men, and decided maybe that would be my ticket.

On the 8th of this month I went to Bosley in New York City and had surgery with Anthony P. DiBiase, who everybody I've asked at Bosley says has been in the field for a long time which I believe. Anyway, before anybody rants about how bad Bosley is I chose it because it's all I could afford and didn't know about its apparently bad reputation until after the fact. I did a strip, my donor scar stitches/sutures were removed on the 15th. The back of my head (as of the 17th), the graph area, is still covered in scabs and crust because I was VERY hesitant to touch it at all and I admit I did an extremely poor job of washing. My question is what should I do? Should I begin trying to remove the scabs now or let them fall off naturally? It normal to not see any hairs at this point? Please, I'm beginning to lose my mind over this because if this surgery fails it just means I have yet another damn scar on my head. I'm 21 years old male and haven't smoked or drank at all since the surgery or for a month before if that helps anyhow.

[ejj]

Hi
best thing to do is let nature take its course with the healing , perhaps a little aloe vera gel on the strip after the scabs fall off naturally , dont pull them !!

Results usually take min 12 months so best to wait and see how the growth comes along , get some pictures up if poss think you would get a lot more advice with photos

all the best

ejj

[Londinium]

I got some vitamin E and bio oil because I read that it'd help with the donor scar. Is this true? At the moment it itches so I'm assuming it's healing.

[ejj]

its healing at this stage as you are only ten days post op

I wouldnt put anything on it yet , leave it until all the crusting falls away , try not to touch it at all

What did the post op instructions say ? re healing and washing ? Usually you can wash a little more vigorously 12 -14 days post op , however check with your Drs Post Op Instructions

i wouldnt apply anything yet let things heal up , after few weeks i wouldnt of thought bio oil or vit e would cause any harm but i would check with your Dr before applying anything , try not to worry its very early days , did your Dr not explain at the consultation stage what happens post op ? as in transplanted hair falling out from grafted area and then taking several to twelve months before starting to grow back ? Grafts placed into scar take longer to poke through , my grafts into scar are still poking through after 20 months post op

Get the next couple weeks out of the way and try not to worry about it

all the best

ejj

[Londinium]

Yes, he did, ejj, but I keep reading about all these people having their hair shafts for weeks while mine fell out so early. It made me a bit nervous but I appreciate the advice you've provided because I was really torn between what to do. I know I wouldn't be dealing with these scabs right now had I followed the doctor's post op washing instructions but I didn't want to accidentally lose any grafts in the first 3 days from washing.

[ejj]

its understandable re washing the grafted area , i myself had to be told to be more vigorous when washing as i didnt want to damage anything , i think we all heal differently , my scabbing fell away eventually with very gentle washing , i think around 50% of my grafted hair fell out within the first week or two and the rest stayed put , again i wouldnt worry , some people shed them quicker than others

Keep us posted how things progress

ejj

[Londinium]

I wanted to also ask if anybody knows by when I can start working out again? I've heard people say to wait a month before doing anything major or otherwise risk stretching out the donor scar. Thanks.

[Londinium]

I'm posting again to ask a few more questions and hoping for answers. I read that I shouldn't have gotten a HT at my age (21) and that I have potentially placed my hair at risk. Is this true?

[ejj]

i skipped the gym for six weeks post op , have a look what your particular Dr advises though .

Regarding your age you transplanted hair to cover a scar at the back of your head that was the result of cyst removal so its very different to a 21 year old getting grafts to his temple points and hairline, as at such a young age its difficult to tell what your balding pattern is going to be , so with the onset of baldness a lot of young guys ` may ` find things problematic in the future due to the transplated hair remaining and hair behind falling out , this is why its not reccommended to perform hair transplants on guys of a young age

hope this helps

ejj