Post-Operative – Page 19

June 4, 2009

Best Post-Op Shampoo? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Are there any post op shampoo’s and/or conditioners better than others? I am currently using Nizoral, but I thought I read somewhere it has not shown to be productive in maintaining hair loss? I have had two follicle transplants and it seems the hair that was in place has thinned even more. I am hoping once the new hair gets into place it will appear much fuller than the previous transplant.

Also, I have heard that some anti-inflammatory organic products with Tea Tree oil and Rosemary can be beneficial. Is that true?

Topicals in shampoos, including tea tree oil and rosemary, will not impact the rate of hair loss. After our surgeries, we use Progaine and supply one bottle of it to the patient. You can find it for sale online at Amazon.

Update: Sorry, I had a brain fart. We use GraftCyte and provide that to patients.

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June 3, 2009

Swimming in the Sea After a Hair Transplant – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hi Doctor,
Does swimming in the sea(since summer is hot here) can affect the 7 months transplants? Thank you

You can go into the sea anytime after 3 weeks safely (possibly earlier). I tend to play everything on the conservative side.

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May 27, 2009

I Trust My Transplant Doctor, But I Think I Had Shock Loss – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Firstly, I would like to thank you for your input on the website; I’m a daily reader. I have read your previous posts regarding preventative transplants. I am in my late 20’s and essentially had a first transplant done 1.5 years ago in what was pretty much a preventative measure. The transplant definitely had the impact of which you speak, namely causing native hairs to fall out, replacing miniaturized hairs with a lesser number of transplanted hairs. My transplant was only done in the front portion of the scalp, not touching the crown. I was not taking Propecia before the surgery, although there is doubt as to whether or not that would have prevented the shedding. Either way, I now am being told the following from my doctor, whom I trust and with whom I’ve developed a very good relationship:

The procedure was not wasteful as if we had waited 1-2 years, there would have been less hair to camouflage the procedure.

You did lose some pre-existing miniaturized hairs, but gained permanent, terminal hairs that give much more of a cosmetic fullness than miniaturized hairs.

It is disappointing that you did not get the full potential cosmetic fullness because of miniaturized hair loss so the relative change wasn’t as great as you had hoped. But if you had waited there would have been less hair to camouflage what we were doing, and you would have been perceived as having more hair loss going into the procedures.

For now you can go on Propecia for 6 months to help maintain hair and perhaps beef it up somewhat. Then you may have a 2nd and 3rd procedure at some point for the frontal half of the scalp to get the density you can get with transplants. You can also do a second procedure at any time, and I know you will feel that much better when that second session is in and growing.

My questions at this point are the following: Should I do another transplant now or should I wait longer? I’m told that 70% of the hair in that area now is transplanted hair and that I wouldn’t really get much if any shock loss from the next one as there are very few miniaturized hairs between the transplanted hair. Should I take Propecia before going to another transplant and if so for how long or does it not matter because there will not be anymore shock loss?

Thank you for your answer. I have had a great experience with my doctor so far and trust him to the fullest. I simply post as an educational measure for myself and for all other readers as I think this is a topic of great interest to younger men in the initial stages of hair loss.

I am a bit critical of your doctor for not using Propecia prior to your first surgery, as this probably would have prevented much of the hair loss you experienced. Propecia (finasteride) is very important in young men having transplants to protect against shock loss. Anytime after 8 months you can follow up with another procedure. Best this time to be on Propecia before hand.

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May 19, 2009

I Started Seeing Growth 24 Days After My Hair Transplant – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I recently had a hair transplant. I started shedding my newly transplanted hair on day 9 and lost most all of it shortly after. I started noticing new growth around day 24. Is my growth ahead of the average patient? Will my hair growth be suffice before the 8th month? ( I’m also very young and very healthy.)

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About 5% of patients get growth within the first month, but most do not. Consider yourself lucky if it continues.

May 11, 2009

I Want to Shave My Head After My Recent Hair Transplant – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I’m just wondering how long after a transplant can I shave my head? My hairline is fairly uneven, and I want to conceal the asymmetry by doing some shaping (the doctor didn’t seem to help this problem). How long after a surgery do I have to wait to do this?

Also, I had some scabs rub off in the middle of the night while sleeping at about 6 days post op. I woke up, and had half the scabs I had before bed. What are the chances that I have damaged the grafts?

You can easily shave your head once the scabs are gone. At 6 days, some people have the scabs normally fall out so I would doubt that you lost hair grafts unless you scratched them at night while you slept.

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April 24, 2009

Even Today, The Quality of Hair Transplant Work Can Be Less Than Marginal (with Photos) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am not against capitalism, but last week I met with a young man who took advantage of “special pricing” for hair transplants at just $0.99 cents a graft by a clinic here in Southern California. Yes, you read that price correctly. This is the same facility where a man had died during his transplant procedure a couple of years ago (the only death I know of in the history of this business). This is unlike a 99 cent store that might sell some quality products. This was, of course, a cosmetic procedure that is presented front and center right there on your scalp… and he went with the lowest price he could find.

The patient I met just had a surgery at this clinic and was thrilled at the bargain price he got, but when I saw him (just a day out from his surgery) I was shocked by what I saw! He looked like a victim of a shotgun blast, with blood all over his head and wounds big enough to drive a truck through. Well, maybe not a truck, but you get the idea. This is absolutely NOT the normal look for a person the day after surgery (this is an example of what you should look like a day after surgery). Many of the grafts were hanging out of his head, either partially or fully, and they were embedded in the clots that lay on top of the skin. The patient also reported that the facility was not clean and it was crawling with ants. A real bargain, indeed!

This is one of the more shocking cases I’ve seen in a while and he agreed to let me share his story. I washed off most of the caked clots from his recipient area before these photos were taken. Once again, these photos were taken the day after his surgery at another clinic and I only saw this patient after he came into my office for help. Click to enlarge.

A “bargain” hair transplant

April 23, 2009

23 Days After Surgery, The Hair Never Fell Out! – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dear Sir:
i had FUT 23 days ago and my doctor told me that the transplanted hair will fall out in two weeks, then start to grow again. The transplanted hair didn’t fall out up until now and the hair covers the bald area and i feel that it is slightly longer. is this is a good sign and means complete success of surgery? or does it mean nothing? thanks for your time and patience and hoping to answer me back.

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If it continues to grow, you will be like 5% of people who never lose the hair after a transplant. You won’t know for another few weeks and it is not unusual that the hair appears to be growing as it is being pushed out of the skin. The hair length below the skin varies with race, but for a Caucasian, the length is between 5-6 mm, for an Asian it is often longer by a mm or so. I hope that you join the ranks of the 5% who keep on growing. Drop me a line and let me know and I will post your comment here on the blog linked to this post.

April 7, 2009

Shock Loss 6 Months After FUE Procedure? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Its been 6 months since my HT Follicular Extraction surgery, and I notice that i have been shedding hair for the last month. The hairs that have been falling out have been robust and as thick as my donor hair. Initially after my HT, I never remembered any of my transplanted hairs falling out. Is it possible i never had an initial shed?

As I usually map out the scalp hair for miniaturization in advance of a hair transplant, I know quite a bit about what is happening when someone like you has this type of problem. Shock loss can occur as long as 6 months after a surgery, but I agree with you that it should not impact normal, non-miniaturized terminal hairs.

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April 3, 2009

Am I Doing Damage By Scratching My Head Hard 18 Months After a Hair Transplant? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I had a hair transplant about one and a half years ago. The hair has grown and reasonably thick. I do however have dandruff and ocasionally scratch my head quite hard, even on the transplanted sections which are at the temples and also use a tooth comb to scratch it. is it possible im doing damage to the transplanted sections, or because its on the skins surface the hair beneath wont be affected? thanks

By the way you phrased your question, it seems you already know the answer. Of course, scratching hair will potentially cause hair loss from what might be traction causes. After a year and a half, you’re not going to pull out any grafts, but treat your scalp and hair with a good anti-dandruff shampoo rather than scratching hard on your scalp. If you have a scalp condition, see a dermatologist or your family doctor. Heavy, hard scratching does not produce much value and can harm your scalp or hair.

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March 27, 2009

Hair Loss InformationA Patient that Followed Hair Transplant Aftercare Instructions – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dear Dr. Rassman:

Thank you for a very comfortable and professional session yesterday. You and your competent staff made my day enjoyable; quite different from my prior experience in the early 1990’s.

I experienced no pain last night before bed at 9 pm and took no medication, until I became a slight bit uncomfortable around 1:30am. I took one Vicodin and one Valium, and slept until 5:30am. This morning I took the Prednisone.

I used one half cup of hydrogen peroxide and one half of cup of water for 5 minutes, as directed. I washed my hair; the donor and recipient areas as directed, and experienced very minimal bleeding in the donor area, a couple of drops in one location in the frontal area, and none in the crown area. There was minimal crusting in the donor area, and it was cleaned with a cue tip. This will be done again tonight. My wife also applied the anti bacteria ointment, as directed. I have not taken any Vicodin today, and am not experiencing any pain at all.

I will wash my hair again before bed as directed.

Best regards

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I don’t usually post testimonial style emails like this, but I just received this note from a patient who had 2159 grafts earlier this week. I wanted to show how a patient is following my post-operative instructions for washing and medicating, and isn’t experiencing any pain or heavy scabbing.

The lesson here is for anyone interested in getting a hair transplant — follow your doctor’s aftercare instructions!