Category: Post-Operative

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Can Bonding Glue Cause Damage to the Scalp Before My Hair Transplant? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I’m gonna have a hair transplant in 2 months, In the meanwhile I wear a contact skin bonding foil system applied by glue on the scalp. Can this damage my existing hair or handicap my hair transplant success? I’m removing the contact skin on a weekly basis for washing my scalp.

At the moment there’s no single sign of irritation on my scalp, everything looks fine.

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The glues can cause damage to existing hair, but it shouldn’t cause problems with a hair transplant surgery as long as you don’t continue to use it after the procedure. Ask your doctor what they recommend in terms of your preparation and post-surgery concerns, as every doctor is different.

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Copper Peptides For My Itchy Transplant Scar? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I used minoxidil with no alcohol. Have had 3 transplants with a scar revision. My scalp periodically itches with dry skin flaking off. The scar line also itches at times. I typically use copper peptide solutions. You briefly commented once they can reduce redness after a surgery, but I do get a soothing effect if I apply the product to help the itching

1. Have your thoughts changed at all on copper peptides?
2. Do you they promote hair growth versus some soothing scalp effect?

Thanks Doc

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1. In my practice, I use a copper peptide shampoo for the first week as an option for hair transplant patients. My practice and thoughts on copper peptides is not new or different.

2. It does not promote hair growth nor does it provide much soothing effect on itchy scalp. I do know that minoxidil can cause scalp irritation (even without any alcohol).

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Severe Pain at the Donor Area Months After My Hair Transplant – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello doctor. My question is an honest one and one that hasn’t been asked before.

I had a hair transplant 2 and a half months ago but I still have a lot of pain above the linear scar (when I press it) and also the sensitivity on the top of my head in terrible and is constant. It’s like my hair is being pulled. My surgeon said in 17 years he has no idea what is causing it and never had this problem before. There is also a gap of about 10mm where the scar is and said he said to me he can do a scar reduction in a year. I am so sorry I had this procedure done as the pain is not letting up.

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It sounds like you may have a scar entrapment (nerves squeezed by scar) or damage to the occipital nerves in the scarred area. I have had patients report symptoms like what you’re describing when they had a nerve entrapment. Sometimes, a scar will form around the occipital nerves just from the strip surgery, or the nerves could be mechanically damaged, or even partially or completely cut.

Doctors who will examine you will look for something we call a Tenels’s sign, which simply produces some of the symptoms as the doctor taps the area above the nerve. Surgery is a last resort to fix the problem if it is just induced by the scar. If the nerve is cut completely, a surgery most likely wouldn’t help.

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Hair Loss InformationMy Head Is Scabby and Stinks 10 Days After My Hair Transplant – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I’m 37, male and had 1700 graft hair transplant 10 days ago. I’m very careful of not touching the grafted area even if when it itch. there still a lot of scabs and now my head smells. Even with daily use of shampoo, it still stinks. Is it infected or is it normal? Do I need to start rubbing my graft area when showering to get rid of scabs? Can I now use medicated shampoo like selsun blue or nizoral? Is the graft now fully secured?

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These are questions you should pose to your surgeon. It seems that you didn’t get proper aftercare instructions. I always recommend a washing routine starting on the day following surgery; however, it seems that you did not do this.

You might have an infection, so see your doctor to have that checked out.

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Hair Loss InformationMy Hair Stopped Growing 4 Months After My Transplant – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Dr,

It’s exactly 6 months since my hair transplant. I have plenty of hair that came through at month 4 but it hasn’t changed for 2 months! It’s the same weak, whispy hair that looks awful. I was hoping the transplanted hairs would match my forelock but no luck.

Why is it taking so long?

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Maybe it was a bad hair transplant. Maybe you still have have to wait 6 more months. I do not know. You may see results as early as 2 months and as late as 18 months. In general, it takes 6-10 months to see results from a hair transplant.

You also must consider that you may be losing your non-transplanted hair in the area where the transplant was done as a natural progression of balding (which has nothing to do with surgery). You will learn much over the next couple of months. In the meantime, you should follow up with your doctor.

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Hair Loss InformationWearing a Hat After a Hair Transplant – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

So, I’m getting a hair transplant over in India, which is about a 20-30 hour series of flights, and would like to know if it’s okay to wear a hat afterwards? Like even if it’s just a light bandana, would it be okay for it to touch the grafts lightly for the trip at 6 days post op?

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Wearing a hat should be fine. Just make sure that the hat does not rub against the grafts. We give out standard trucker’s hats after the hair transplant procedures we do. You can also double check with your surgeon to find out what he/she recommends.

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Hair Loss InformationPimples On Scalp After Transplant Surgery – Will That Change My Surgical Resutls? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I had a hair transplant done about 7 weeks ago, with about 1200 follicles transplanted. Up until a month ago everything went as my doc had said. For the last 15-20 days i am seeing many bumps in transplanted site, which I showed to my doc. Firstly i took 50mg cynomycin and when my condition didn’t improve i was advised to increase the dose to 100mg (took total of 10 days). Now I am supposed to be using 4 doses of 750mg of amikacin injection, but so far I took 2 of them. Still, my condition is more or less the same. At this time there are more than 10 bumps and so far I have drained pus from more than 20 such bumps.

My doc got the pus checked for bacterial or fungal growth but there was none in lab finding. In all these days i took even more care than doc has asked to. I want to know if transplant has failed and have these bumps and pus damaged follicles? will these change the final result?

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Only your doctor can tell you what is going on and if your transplanted hairs will grow. After all, he was your surgeon and only he fully knows what happened.

In general, pimples after surgery can be common and they can persist for many months, reflecting the production of sebum under the skin from the sebaceous gland that was part of the follicular unit. In some patients, until there is hair growth the sebum collects in small pockets (unable to escape along the non-yet-existent hair shaft). We often drain them with a simple, sterile needle in the office. Transplanted hairs usually grow despite these pimples.

Most patients that experience pimples do not take antibiotics and do well, so it seems that in your case there may be something more than just pimples (with all the antibiotic you are taking). Again, this is something you and your doctor need to talk about as there are other diseases that show up in some patients with autoimmune diseases.

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Hair Loss InformationWhy Is One Area of My Transplant Growing at 7 Weeks But Other Areas Aren’t? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I am in week 7 after my HT and I am seeing plenty of fine new hairs in the left frontal area sprouting up while the right side shows not even a third of that growth. I realize that the transplanted hairs grow at different rates but the difference is too great to ignore. Another cause for concern is that the right side was also the first to shed (I noticed it as early as 10 days after the procedure) so I would assume it would have a ‘head start’ over the other side.

I know that growth usually starts after 2 to 4 months but it still leaves the burning question: why has one area started to show this kind of growth and not the other? My worst fear is that many of the grafts placed in the right area were somehow inferior or died off. I have voiced this to my surgeon, who is very respected and well known, and he tells me to just wait for the full effect after 11 months. I just wanted to hear your opinion. Thank you

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I frequently see different start rates on graft growth from different areas. I don’t have an exact answer for why one side grew faster for you. Assuming that the team members that placed your grafts were highly skilled, the only thing I can suggest is to follow your surgeon’s advice and wait it out.

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Hair Loss InformationDo Drs Rassman and Bernstein Disagree on Shock Loss? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I’ve studied a number of HT docs for hair loss info and I’d say you and Dr. Bernstein are at the top of my list as far as knowledge and being trustworthy. You say that shock loss or additional hair loss from a transplant is uncommon these day though Dr. Bernstein says that you will probably have some loss from the transplant itself. I think he said it would be unrealistic not to expect some loss. Obviously a confusing contradiction for me. Could you address this?

I also find your history with Dr. Bernstein interesting. How do you 2 originally connect? You were partners at one time?

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Dr. Robert Bernstein and I do not disagree on much. Hair loss secondary to a transplant is what is commonly called shock loss (it is a matter of degree of loss) and I think that is where your problem is. Traditional shock loss has been satisfactorily treated with finasteride in young men, but hair transplants do damage some existing native hair. Hair that is miniaturized is what is lost first, so what you see may not be a radical change even if you lose some miniaturized hairs that did not contribute to the hair bulk you have.

As for the second part of your email — Dr. Bernstein worked at New Hair Institute with me for 10 years before he opened his own practice in New York. We are good friends and colleagues. We published many groundbreaking medical articles over the years.

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Hair Loss InformationOne Side of My Hair Transplant Is Growing Faster Than The Other – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hello doctor,

Just over 4 months into my HT I’ve noticed 1 side is growing faster than the other side! Should I be worried?

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I wouldn’t be worried at this stage. The other side should catch up in the next couple of months. We frequently see different rates of growth in different areas for reasons that I can not explain. For example, when we transplant the front and the crown, often one area grows significantly ahead of the other area.

You’re only 4 months post-surgery, so give it at least 2-4 more months to give it a chance to grow in. The full results will be seen within the next 8 months (a year after your surgery).