transplant nightmare

[Jack21]

This is my real head, shaved and shiny.




And this is at Halloween with a rug obviously. Compare and cry.

[chasguy]

What could be improved? The appearance of the scar? As I understand it that requires further surgery. Surgery is what got me into this mess in the first place, and my surgeon was far from incompetent. He is in fact very well known. Having another surgical procedure to try and minimize the appearance of a previous surgical procedure MAY yield some positive results ultimately. I do not want to gamble on MAY.

I am perfectly content with the way I look with a shaved head - scar and all. I need to be strong enough to weather the months of insults and frightened/ horrified looks and wait it out until people accept my looks. My plan is to come back after Christmas vacation with my hair shaved with a #1. By winter I will be pale and the difference in color between my scalp and my face will not be so pronounced. The world is going to just have to get used to "Jack the bald guy" who used to be "Jack the good looking guy". I got through some horrible years in the army, I will get through this. I have to.

There are non-surgical methods of scar treatment. If you're going to shave your head anyway, look into silicone sheeting. Below are some before-after pics I pulled from the web. No one knows for sure why silicone sheeting works, but it does actually work for many people

http://www.rejuveness.com/Scar-Treat...tures-c37.html

[CIT_Girl]

CIT girl, I am surprised that you would use the before/after images for that patient who obviously has longer hair in the "after" photo. The longer hair makes it impossible to tell if Dr. Cole's work really had an impact. Why did you choose this case?

I see what you mean and agree that the after photo isn't a great comparative image because of the inconsistency in length (but we can't really make a patient in for a follow-up shave his head for the sake of our photos). I just grabbed that one from our website because it was one of the few scar grafting procedures where a patient was willing to his shave his head. Few of our repair patients are comfortable being photo released so the images I can share are somewhat limited. Here's another case on a patient with longer hair:




Regarding Jack21's shaved-head photo: I think you look great! I'm not sure why there are so many anti-shaved-head sentiments on this forum...could it be a regional or cultural thing, or is it just a common personal preference? I took a little informal poll of the girls in our office this morning and I got three resounding "YES!"'s to the question "do you like guys with shaved heads?" We even have a tech here who shaves his head and it seems like girls can't keep their hands of his head!

[Don'tDoIt]

Jack21, add me to the list of people who think you look great with a shaved head. You should go with that look. If any of the transplanted hairs look unnatural or pluggy, then get them lasered off.

Illinoisbaldy, a commenter on the Hair Loss Help forum had grafts removed by FUE and then had further grafts removed by laser. In retrospect, he wishes that he had them all removed by laser. You can certainly get those grafts removed if you so desire.

As for your scar, you seem dead set against the horseshoe look and you look great with a shaved head. For that reason, I think that you should consider FUE into the scar.

Keep in mind, though, that you will probably need two or more FUE-into-scar procedures to get the scar to be undetected with a buzz cut. Furthermore, even with a lot of FUE-into-scar, the scar likely will never go undetected with a shaved look. Also, as my previous post stated, there is little photographic proof that FUE-into-the-scar really works well. Even from Dr. Cole, who does a lot of it.

The bottom line is that you look great with either a shaved or buzzed head. I say ditch that rug once and for all.

[Jack21]

Thanks to all who have encouraged me to just go with the shaved head. I have pretty much already made up my mind to ditch the rug over Christmas vacation. As I said before, I am not at all unhappy with the way I look with a shaved head. I do not think that I look handsome but I do not think that I look gruesome either. Too many women around me have said just the opposite - that I must do something to maintain the appearance of hair. I am not sure why they would care so much either way. If I had people in my corner like those of you who have been encouraging I could easily get through the whole thing.

Jack21, add me to the list of people who think you look great with a shaved head. You should go with that look. If any of the transplanted hairs look unnatural or pluggy, then get them lasered off.

Illinoisbaldy, a commenter on the Hair Loss Help forum had grafts removed by FUE and then had further grafts removed by laser. In retrospect, he wishes that he had them all removed by laser. You can certainly get those grafts removed if you so desire.

As for your scar, you seem dead set against the horseshoe look and you look great with a shaved head. For that reason, I think that you should consider FUE into the scar.

Keep in mind, though, that you will probably need two or more FUE-into-scar procedures to get the scar to be undetected with a buzz cut. Furthermore, even with a lot of FUE-into-scar, the scar likely will never go undetected with a shaved look. Also, as my previous post stated, there is little photographic proof that FUE-into-the-scar really works well. Even from Dr. Cole, who does a lot of it.

The bottom line is that you look great with either a shaved or buzzed head. I say ditch that rug once and for all.

[Jack21]

Thanks for that link. I will definitely try it. I also have some burn scars on my chest that could benefit fro this stuff. We'll see. Hopefully I'll have some luck.

There are non-surgical methods of scar treatment. If you're going to shave your head anyway, look into silicone sheeting. Below are some before-after pics I pulled from the web. No one knows for sure why silicone sheeting works, but it does actually work for many people

http://www.rejuveness.com/Scar-Treat...tures-c37.html

[chasguy]

Thanks for that link. I will definitely try it. I also have some burn scars on my chest that could benefit fro this stuff. We'll see. Hopefully I'll have some luck.

I have a scar on my ankle I'm testing Cica Care on right now. Maybe in a few months I'll have a personal experience to share

[jsw72]

Hi,
Just read your story and wanted to add my sentiments. I started losing my hear around 20 years of age - I'm now 38. It bothered me a lot at the start and as the years have gone on, I'm ok with with it. Sometimes it pees me off just because I can't change my appearance, other than growing a beard which sees me looking like a member of the Taliban (I keep it shaved - with a razor for about the last 8 years but in the last year, started letting it grow a little but only to a stubble).

The only reason I'm on here is because I saw someone on telly with nice thick hair and I thought 'lucky b@stard'. I started Googling hair transplants and was shocked by the number of celebs who have had transplants.

Anyway, just registering to pass on my support from the UK, and tell you that you look really good (I'm not gay or ought). You're probably finding it tougher because you're a good looking dude - if you were ugly you might not be as bothered.

I've not seen your scars but in my (completely unprofessional opinion) I'd see what the experts advice would be on minimising it and shave the dome. It's the way forward.

Good luck.

[Jack21]

Thanks for your comments. They are very much appreciated. I think I can tell from your English that you're from the UK. I lived in England for a year a while back and I noticed that it is far, far more common for men to shave their heads in England than in the US. For the most part the only guys you see in the States with shaved heads are African-American. I hardly ever see a Caucasian guy with a shaved head here. Obviously in the military shaved heads (for guys who were bald and guys who had hair) were everywhere. Every other guy has a shaved head. In the white collar working world, however, it is just really not accepted as made only too evident by the horrendous reaction I got at my job. My brother shaves his head as does my best friend, but both are blue collar guys - firefighters. It is completely ok in some contexts, but utterly rejected in others. I find it disgusting that I was treated the way I was when I shaved my head and for the weeks afterward. If one lives in a society or in part of a given society that does not disparage baldness, mock baldness, equate baldness with weakness - such as the military - one is never made to feel anything "less than". I should have just stayed in the army for the rest of my life. Too bad I began to have moral objections to some of our "adventures" and resigned my commission.

Hi,
Just read your story and wanted to add my sentiments. I started losing my hear around 20 years of age - I'm now 38. It bothered me a lot at the start and as the years have gone on, I'm ok with with it. Sometimes it pees me off just because I can't change my appearance, other than growing a beard which sees me looking like a member of the Taliban (I keep it shaved - with a razor for about the last 8 years but in the last year, started letting it grow a little but only to a stubble).

The only reason I'm on here is because I saw someone on telly with nice thick hair and I thought 'lucky b@stard'. I started Googling hair transplants and was shocked by the number of celebs who have had transplants.

Anyway, just registering to pass on my support from the UK, and tell you that you look really good (I'm not gay or ought). You're probably finding it tougher because you're a good looking dude - if you were ugly you might not be as bothered.

I've not seen your scars but in my (completely unprofessional opinion) I'd see what the experts advice would be on minimising it and shave the dome. It's the way forward.

Good luck.

[jsw72]

...and weirdly enough, my mum also had alopecia. My mum and dad split up when I was born leaving her to look after three kids; she quickly lost her hair (in her early thirties) and it has been very patchy and thin ever since. Now she is in her sixties and it's much less noticeable because a lot of people her age have thinning hair. She's dealt with it admirably, especially because at the time there was little knowledge of it. A positive thing about the internet is the spread of knowledge and greater 'acceptance' of these things.

Just read your reply...yes, you're right, a lot of guys over here shave their heads. At one stage, a few years ago, most guys shaved their heads; now (sadly) it's becoming slightly less common with the change in fashions and longer hairstyles but that's life I guess...