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  1. #1
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    Default Getting FUE in 2 weeks. Anxiety about recovery period

    Hello everyone,

    I’m 44 now, began losing my hair at 17. Hit me pretty hard. Tried Rogaine and eventually wore a hairpiece for around 3yrs (still have nightmares about it). I basically wore a hat for 5yrs. I eventually decided on getting transplants. I had 2 sessions of FUT in 1997 with Elliott/True in NY. What a difference. The last 20 Years have been great! I got my confidence back, met my wife, marriage, kids, career, the whole nine.

    So, lately my hairline on the sides is starting to recede lower towards my ears, exposing the transplanted hairline, and my front hairline is now looking more unnatural too. I guess I’d be a N6 right now without prior transplants.

    So I decided to go back and get things updated. I’m going to get FUE in 2 weeks with Dr Dorin in NY to make my hairline look more natural and prepare for future loss on the sides.

    That’s my story.

    I’m taking 2 weeks off of work to regrow the hair as much as possible before heading back. I can’t wear a hat and I work pretty closely with my group at work. I’ve been filled with anxiety about how I’m going to look when I go back. Are they going to notice? What are they going to say? What should I say? You know. I’ve been buzzing to a #8 for the past 20 Years, so a bit shorter won’t look much different. I’m more concerned about pinkness, puffiness, scars, etc..

    Any advice you can offer to help alleve my anxiety a bit? I think things will be much better overall once I start to regrow, but these next 6mo or so are gonna be tough. Maybe everyone already knows and just doesn’t say anything. I don’t know. I’ve always felt like it was my little secret to hide. Maybe I’m making too big a deal of this? I know in the grand scheme of things this is pretty small.

    Any advice?

  2. #2
    Inactive
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Southern California
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    590

    Default

    I wish I could tell you that in two weeks time, your hair transplant will be completely undetectable, but there's unfortunately no way to know for sure just how quickly the pinkness/etc will last. Mine lasted about 4 weeks or so, but I've always had a fairly sensitive scalp, so it makes sense that it lasted a little longer than I had hoped.

    The best thing I can tell you about easing anxiety is this: Nobody cares about your hair transplant (in a good way). I'm speaking from my own personal experience and also from that of some friends of mine. When I got my hair transplant, I was soooo secretive about it and went out of my way to not let anyone know what was going on. I was fortunate to be able to wear a hat to work for the first month or so and even concocted a convincing story about why I had to wear it, etc. I confided in a few friends, and once I started seeing results, I confided in a few more.... And every time I told someone new, I was shocked at how much of a non-issue it was for any of them. It was always greeted with one of two responses:

    Either A) A nonchalant, "oh, cool. Good for you. Moving on"... OR B) A very supportive, "Wow! Tell me more! This is fascinating!"

    But never, not one single time, have I ever sensed any signs of judgment or mockery (and even if I did - ultimately who cares? That's their problem - not mine.)

    Not only that, but I have two coworkers now who are completely open and honest about upcoming procedures they're planning - and once again, nobody cares.

    I know this is easier to believe once you've experienced it first hand, and telling people at first and not knowing how they'll react is scary... But all I can say is that the anxiety you feel now and the horrible reactions you're imagining in your head are way worse than the reality of what you'll actually experience.

    And even if you decide you don't want to be upfront with people, you can always choose the route of "it's none of their business" and come to work, do your job, and get on with your life. You don't have to share anything with anyone that you don't want to. Even if people do suspect something, they'll forget about it in 3 months. Do you know how many of my friends have even forgotten that I ever had a hair transplant? lol. I'll mention it every now and then and they're like... "Oh yeah. I forgot about that." We're all so wrapped up in our own heads and problems and worries that I promise you people won't give this more than a seconds thought.

    So focus on the gratitude of having had a couple successful procedures already and look forward to how great you'll feel when this one is all said and done.... And then just breathe and smile and have tons of patience while your hair starts to grow.

    I am a patient advocate for Dr. Parsa Mohebi in Los Angeles, CA. My opinions/comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Dr. Mohebi and his staff.

  3. #3
    Junior Member
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    Default

    Thank you so much for your honest reply. Seriously! I think it’s exactly what I wanted and needed to hear. I was pretty sure I was blowing this all way out of proportion, and your words are very helpful and comforting. I still wish I could skip ahead to the fall, but I’m sure I’ll be ok anyway. Thank you!

  4. #4
    Inactive
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    Sep 2014
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    Southern California
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    Quote Originally Posted by Captain View Post
    Thank you so much for your honest reply. Seriously! I think it’s exactly what I wanted and needed to hear. I was pretty sure I was blowing this all way out of proportion, and your words are very helpful and comforting. I still wish I could skip ahead to the fall, but I’m sure I’ll be ok anyway. Thank you!
    How are the post HT blues treating you? Hopefully everything went extremely well and you're just patiently waiting for the results to come in. (And I hope you've had great luck with the redness and that it's been kept to a minimum.)

    I am a patient advocate for Dr. Parsa Mohebi in Los Angeles, CA. My opinions/comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Dr. Mohebi and his staff.

  5. #5
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    Default

    Sorry for the delayed reply. Life. The procedure went really well. 1205 total. This was last Tuesday, so I guess I’m on day 10. Donor area looks great, only now you can see the long scars from my original FUT procedures. That’s got me a bit nervous. I go back to work next Wednesday, that would be day 16.

    All scabs are gone from the top of my head, now I can see all the transplanted stubbly hair. Looks a bit awkward. I buzzed the top to a #2 the day before my procedure, so the length difference is noticeable, The pinkness is mostly gone which I’m happy about.

    So now my overall anxiety is reduced to 3 points: 1) when will all the transplanted stubble hair fall out, 2) what will that, coupled with the remaining pinkness look like, and 3) how noticeable will my scars be until the hair covers it.

    Pretty standard concerns I’d imagine.

    Overall I’m very happy. Can’t wait until everything is the same length again.

  6. #6
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    Default

    So my time off has run out. Back to work tomorrow morning. The top actually looks pretty good right now, even with the transplanted hair being shorter. But, I’m pretty sure I have some shock loss both on top and in the donor region.

    The donor region is still pretty short and my old scars are blatantly obvious. I’m realizing I didn’t take into consideration all the hairs that were pulled from that area would make it look even more sparse. Big Duh.

    I tried using both Dermmatch and Toppik yesterday to see if I could improve the look at all. Nope. So, I have to just wait until it grows long enough to cover up my scars. Not much I can do about this. My worry now is how my scars look. And then, what will it look like when the top hairs shed.

    I’ve decided to just go ahead and wear a hat to work. If people say something, I’m just gonna say I cut my hair too short and don’t like the look (which is true), so I’m gonna wear a hat until it grows out. If anyone decides to ask more questions or ends up seeing the scar, I’m just gonna tell them. I’m not one to spin a web of lies, I’ll feel better just being open and honest.

    I’m still really nervous though...

  7. #7
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
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    137

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Captain View Post
    Hello everyone,

    I’m 44 now, began losing my hair at 17. Hit me pretty hard. Tried Rogaine and eventually wore a hairpiece for around 3yrs (still have nightmares about it). I basically wore a hat for 5yrs. I eventually decided on getting transplants. I had 2 sessions of FUT in 1997 with Elliott/True in NY. What a difference. The last 20 Years have been great! I got my confidence back, met my wife, marriage, kids, career, the whole nine.

    So, lately my hairline on the sides is starting to recede lower towards my ears, exposing the transplanted hairline, and my front hairline is now looking more unnatural too. I guess I’d be a N6 right now without prior transplants.

    So I decided to go back and get things updated. I’m going to get FUE in 2 weeks with Dr Dorin in NY to make my hairline look more natural and prepare for future loss on the sides.

    That’s my story.

    I’m taking 2 weeks off of work to regrow the hair as much as possible before heading back. I can’t wear a hat and I work pretty closely with my group at work. I’ve been filled with anxiety about how I’m going to look when I go back. Are they going to notice? What are they going to say? What should I say? You know. I’ve been buzzing to a #8 for the past 20 Years, so a bit shorter won’t look much different. I’m more concerned about pinkness, puffiness, scars, etc..

    Any advice you can offer to help alleve my anxiety a bit? I think things will be much better overall once I start to regrow, but these next 6mo or so are gonna be tough. Maybe everyone already knows and just doesn’t say anything. I don’t know. I’ve always felt like it was my little secret to hide. Maybe I’m making too big a deal of this? I know in the grand scheme of things this is pretty small.

    Any advice?
    Take a look at my thread. I had FUE into scar and there are weekly photos updates of the recovery process.

    https://www.baldtruthtalk.com/thread...car?highlight=

  8. #8
    Junior Member
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    Apr 2018
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    USA
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    Default

    Thanks for the reply. Yours looks good. Not sure I want to do something like that yet, but maybe in time. We’ll see how things end up for me. Maybe I’ll actually let it grow out a bit and go to a barber/stylist for the first time in 20+ years, lol.

    I’ve been back at work about 4 weeks now. I wore a hat every day for the first 3 wks. No issues dealing with that. Passing comments here and there but I played it off pretty well (I think). I tried the Dermmatch again and it’s really made a difference now that I’ve had more practice with it. Once the hair in the back got a bit longer it really helped to cover up the scar areas. I went without a hat this week and nobody was the wiser. I looked the same as I did before the procedure. Really made a difference in my outlook and confidence. All the pinkness is gone. It healed up really well.

    So now that’s gonna be my plan until the scar area is covered up by longer hair. Just use the Dermmatch. I’m really glad the first month is over, now it’s just the waiting until my new hair starts to grow. Things are looking up!

    Thanks for the support. Reading some of these threads and your stories really helped put my mind at ease.

  9. #9
    Inactive
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    Southern California
    Posts
    590

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Captain View Post
    So my time off has run out. Back to work tomorrow morning. The top actually looks pretty good right now, even with the transplanted hair being shorter. But, I’m pretty sure I have some shock loss both on top and in the donor region.

    The donor region is still pretty short and my old scars are blatantly obvious. I’m realizing I didn’t take into consideration all the hairs that were pulled from that area would make it look even more sparse. Big Duh.

    I tried using both Dermmatch and Toppik yesterday to see if I could improve the look at all. Nope. So, I have to just wait until it grows long enough to cover up my scars. Not much I can do about this. My worry now is how my scars look. And then, what will it look like when the top hairs shed.

    I’ve decided to just go ahead and wear a hat to work. If people say something, I’m just gonna say I cut my hair too short and don’t like the look (which is true), so I’m gonna wear a hat until it grows out. If anyone decides to ask more questions or ends up seeing the scar, I’m just gonna tell them. I’m not one to spin a web of lies, I’ll feel better just being open and honest.

    I’m still really nervous though...
    I'm not seeing your responses to this until now, so I hope everything worked out for you and nobody interrogated you on the hat situation.... And at this point, I hope things are starting to return to normal in regards to your hair transplant/scars not being noticeable. You're hopefully just a couple months away from seeing some growth, so fingers crossed.

    I am a patient advocate for Dr. Parsa Mohebi in Los Angeles, CA. My opinions/comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Dr. Mohebi and his staff.

  10. #10
    Junior Member
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    USA
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    Default

    I actually typed out a long update last week but apparently it never posted.

    I went ahead and wore a hat to work for the first 3 weeks. People saw I buzzed my hair short and I just said I hated it and was gonna wear a hat until it grew out again. I showed it from the front a few times to show how short it was. There was some breaking balls here and there but overall it was just fine. Don’t think anyone saw my scars.

    The pinkness and scarring I was worried about in the recipient area is totally unnoticeable. Even early on it looked great. Looks like I healed really well.

    Around the 3rd week I started experimenting with the DermMatch again in the donor area and kinda figured out how to apply it better. I’ve gone a full week at work since with just the DermMatch and nobody is the wiser. My wife says she can’t even tell there’s a scar when I have it applied. I put it on after I get out of the shower and dry my head. Then let that dry, get the kids ready with breakfast, then touch it up again before I leave. Hit it with some hairspray and I’m done.

    I’ll be happier when the hair is longer and I don’t need the DermMatch anymore, but overall I’m feeling great. There’s a huge feeling of relief now that I’ve got things figured out. My confidence is already coming back and the recipient area isn’t even growing yet. Now I’ll just cruise and wait for things to start growing!

    Thanks for all the support and advice. I read a lot of threads here the past 6 months and your stories (both successes and failures) really helped me get through this with ease.

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