+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 6 of 6
  1. #1
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Posts
    6

    Question Can I have a Hair Transplant And still Wear My Hair Piece?

    Hi all,
    I've been using a hair piece for the past 7 years and would like to transition from the system to a less high maintenance existence. Can I make a smooth transition without people knowing? Can I have a hair transplant and cover it with my hair piece until it grows in?

    Thanks for your time.

  2. #2
    Senior Member gillenator's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Washington DC
    Posts
    1,418

    Default

    Rubicon,

    Yes most patients can. I went through this myself in my first HT in 1996. Prior to that, I wore hair systems for years with Hair Club for Men. I hated the maintenace and the continuing expense keeping them up. On the other hand, I did not want to undergo a HT until the FUHT method made the scene.

    The fundamental problem transitioning out of hair sysytems into transplanted hair is two-fold. The first challenge is dropping the density level of your systems over time BEFORE you have your HT. Most hair systems have high densities. Most HTs do not. The whole objective in surgical hair restoration is not to replicate virgin density levels, but rather to " achieve an illsuion of coverage".

    For many HT patients with average hair characteristics, achieving the illusion of coverage is possible but the visual "volume of hair" is missing compared to a hair system. That's why you are essentially lowering the "visual volume levels" that other people are used to seeing on you. That's why you will need to gradually lower it at least over a six month period, not suddenly.

    If your hairloss involves the front third of your scalp including your hairline, then you will need to wear your system throughout the regrowth period.

    The second problem to address is adherence of the system post-op. If you are polyfusing the system to your scalp, you MUST cease this approach. You will need to resort to the clip method to secure your hair system because you will need to take it off at night throughout the next year post-op. If you do not take it off at night and allow the air to circulate around your scalp, it won't breathe as needed and you can potentially affect the regrowth rate.

    My recommendation is that you restore the frontal zone first because you are viewed from the front most of the time and you will also have the frame to your facial features back. Thats' what I did in my first procedure. I have sustained four seperate HT procedures totalling 6900 grafts in my lifetime. I was between a Norwood class 4 and 5 and also started cutting Proscar (finasteride) in 1996 before Propecia was even available. I was freed from being captive by HCM!
    "Gillenator"
    Independent Patient Advocate
    more.hair@verizon.net

    NOTE: I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice nor are they the opinions of the following endorsing physicians: Dr. Bob True & Dr. Bob Dorin

  3. #3
    Bradley Wolf, MD
    Guest

    Default

    Rubicon,
    The information below is excerpted from the IAHRS info center. I hope it helps.

    While hair transplants cannot be used to replace every hair a patient has lost with or without a prior hair piece, it can greatly increase your volume of hair. Post-operatively, to realize full regrowth of the transplants, it is exceedingly important to wear your hair piece as little as possible. The actual regrowth of the transplants is directly proportional to the amount of time you are not wearing the hair piece. Ideally a patient should discontinue wearing the hair piece at all to get full and prompt regrowth. If you need to wear your hair piece while the transplants are growing, it is imperative to convert to the clip on system if you are not already using it, to secure the hair piece, not have any glue or tape on any of the grafts (especially the hairline), and wear the system as little as possibe. After surgery it should not be worn at all for a minimum of one week, preferably two weeks, then only worn during business hours and removed when sleeping and during weekends. You can wear a hat to cover the area.

    Finally, patients who wear a hair piece are used to seeing a lot of hair volume. Often hair pieces are too thick making them noticeable. Hair transplants cannot replace this amount of hair. So the patient must be informed and ready to accept less hair than they see in the mirror when wearing a hairpiece. As a result, more than one surgery is often necessary to attain desired density. In my experience, when properly informed patients are ready to discontinue the cost and maintenance of a hair piece, if they follow the recommendations given above, they are thrilled with the results of properly performed hair transplantation surgery.
    Bradley Wolf M.D.
    Medical Advisor IAHRS

  4. #4
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Posts
    6

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by gillenator View Post
    Rubicon,

    Yes most patients can. I went through this myself in my first HT in 1996. Prior to that, I wore hair systems for years with Hair Club for Men. I hated the maintenace and the continuing expense keeping them up. On the other hand, I did not want to undergo a HT until the FUHT method made the scene.

    The fundamental problem transitioning out of hair sysytems into transplanted hair is two-fold. The first challenge is dropping the density level of your systems over time BEFORE you have your HT. Most hair systems have high densities. Most HTs do not. The whole objective in surgical hair restoration is not to replicate virgin density levels, but rather to " achieve an illsuion of coverage".

    For many HT patients with average hair characteristics, achieving the illusion of coverage is possible but the visual "volume of hair" is missing compared to a hair system. That's why you are essentially lowering the "visual volume levels" that other people are used to seeing on you. That's why you will need to gradually lower it at least over a six month period, not suddenly.

    If your hairloss involves the front third of your scalp including your hairline, then you will need to wear your system throughout the regrowth period.

    The second problem to address is adherence of the system post-op. If you are polyfusing the system to your scalp, you MUST cease this approach. You will need to resort to the clip method to secure your hair system because you will need to take it off at night throughout the next year post-op. If you do not take it off at night and allow the air to circulate around your scalp, it won't breathe as needed and you can potentially affect the regrowth rate.

    My recommendation is that you restore the frontal zone first because you are viewed from the front most of the time and you will also have the frame to your facial features back. Thats' what I did in my first procedure. I have sustained four seperate HT procedures totalling 6900 grafts in my lifetime. I was between a Norwood class 4 and 5 and also started cutting Proscar (finasteride) in 1996 before Propecia was even available. I was freed from being captive by HCM!
    Hi gillenator,
    Thank you for providing me with such detailed answer to my question. I too was a Hair Club "member" until 5 months ago, this is when I found the Bald Truth and Spencer Kobren. I wish I had found the show sooner because the Hair Club was a nightmare for me. I always had a new stylist, the hair was very inconstant and I was forced to hide my hair line which made things very tense for me. I have been purchasing my hair online, I don't know if I can mention the name of the website, and things have been much better from me. I only had one problem with color, but the hair is so inexpensive and the lace base is undetectable when it's adhered correctly. I have lessened my density upon Spencer's suggestion on the radio show to about 60% which looks a little thin but very real, so I think the transition might be a little easier for me compared to someone coming out of a Hair Club rug.

    Like I said, my problem is that even thought these new systems are easier to maintain and I could just buy a new one every couple of months, I would still like to be FREE of the gluing, and the cleaning and all of the other concerns that come with wearing a system.

    If I take your advice and decide to start with the front, can I cut my piece down and use tape every day instead of clips. Maybe I can tape the hair behind my new hair line and comb it forward for a while like it was my own hair covering the the hair transplant. What do you think?

  5. #5
    Junior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Posts
    6

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Bradley Wolf, MD View Post
    Rubicon,
    The information below is excerpted from the IAHRS info center. I hope it helps.

    While hair transplants cannot be used to replace every hair a patient has lost with or without a prior hair piece, it can greatly increase your volume of hair. Post-operatively, to realize full regrowth of the transplants, it is exceedingly important to wear your hair piece as little as possible. The actual regrowth of the transplants is directly proportional to the amount of time you are not wearing the hair piece. Ideally a patient should discontinue wearing the hair piece at all to get full and prompt regrowth. If you need to wear your hair piece while the transplants are growing, it is imperative to convert to the clip on system if you are not already using it, to secure the hair piece, not have any glue or tape on any of the grafts (especially the hairline), and wear the system as little as possibe. After surgery it should not be worn at all for a minimum of one week, preferably two weeks, then only worn during business hours and removed when sleeping and during weekends. You can wear a hat to cover the area.

    Finally, patients who wear a hair piece are used to seeing a lot of hair volume. Often hair pieces are too thick making them noticeable. Hair transplants cannot replace this amount of hair. So the patient must be informed and ready to accept less hair than they see in the mirror when wearing a hairpiece. As a result, more than one surgery is often necessary to attain desired density. In my experience, when properly informed patients are ready to discontinue the cost and maintenance of a hair piece, if they follow the recommendations given above, they are thrilled with the results of properly performed hair transplantation surgery.
    Bradley Wolf M.D.
    Medical Advisor IAHRS
    Thank you too Dr. Wolf,
    I just saw yuor post. We must have been posting at the same time.

    Thank you!

  6. #6
    Senior Member gillenator's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Washington DC
    Posts
    1,418

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Rubicon View Post
    Hi gillenator,
    Thank you for providing me with such detailed answer to my question. I too was a Hair Club "member" until 5 months ago, this is when I found the Bald Truth and Spencer Kobren. I wish I had found the show sooner because the Hair Club was a nightmare for me. I always had a new stylist, the hair was very inconstant and I was forced to hide my hair line which made things very tense for me. I have been purchasing my hair online, I don't know if I can mention the name of the website, and things have been much better from me. I only had one problem with color, but the hair is so inexpensive and the lace base is undetectable when it's adhered correctly. I have lessened my density upon Spencer's suggestion on the radio show to about 60% which looks a little thin but very real, so I think the transition might be a little easier for me compared to someone coming out of a Hair Club rug.

    Like I said, my problem is that even thought these new systems are easier to maintain and I could just buy a new one every couple of months, I would still like to be FREE of the gluing, and the cleaning and all of the other concerns that come with wearing a system.

    If I take your advice and decide to start with the front, can I cut my piece down and use tape every day instead of clips. Maybe I can tape the hair behind my new hair line and comb it forward for a while like it was my own hair covering the the hair transplant. What do you think?

    Rubicon,

    You're very welcome. I had the same challenge with Hair Club. A new stylist almost every time because the local center had problems keeping their stylists. And from my observations, they hired the wrong type of individuals to begin with. Then I would have to re-explain what I wanted done every time I went in for service.

    Sure you can custom size your systems as you wean out of them. The issue is not whether one uses glue or tape to adhere the system. It is an issue of not putting anything directly on top of where the grafts were implanted. Otherwise the new growth will be interferred with. So if the tape is immediately behind the recipient area, and you comb the system foreward, yes that can potentially work.

    Just make sure you do not cut off too much of the system at a time, making sure you have not removed too much of it. A good idea is to make a template out of tape the same way HCM does it. After you tape over the scalp behind the front third, outline the area with a marker exactly where you want the edge (bead) of the system to align. Keep the line at least 1cm from the edge of the recipient area. Then remove the tape as a whole piece and cut around the border you just drew, and now you have a custom sized template to make a system with. Having some assistance with this would be a big help.

    If you live near Wash DC, I would do this for you free of charge!
    "Gillenator"
    Independent Patient Advocate
    more.hair@verizon.net

    NOTE: I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice nor are they the opinions of the following endorsing physicians: Dr. Bob True & Dr. Bob Dorin

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts

» IAHRS

hair transplant surgeons

» The Bald Truth

» Recent Threads

1800 graft repair case results by Dr. Lindsey
Yesterday 08:38 AM
Last Post By Dr. Lindsey
Yesterday 08:38 AM
Navigating the German Job Market as a Kenyan Citizen
11-04-2023 06:31 AM
Last Post By Keegan212
Yesterday 03:51 AM
DR HAKAN DOGANAY/ 4500 GRAFTS / Implanter Pen+FUE
03-26-2024 04:15 PM
Last Post By Hakan Doganay, MD
03-26-2024 04:15 PM
The Mane Event for Thursday, June 15th, 2023
06-15-2023 02:59 PM
Last Post By gisecit34
03-26-2024 08:05 AM
Sun Exposure after Hair Transplant
02-26-2009 02:36 PM
Last Post By gisecit34
03-25-2024 08:24 PM