More on Scarring – Page 14

January 12, 2009

FUE Scarring? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Hi Doctor,

If one were to get a FUE or FUE2, and in the future decide to shave it all, will there be left over dotted scars in the back from the donoring?

What kind of scarring can one expect from FUE or FUE2?

Thanks

Block Quote

Pencil Yes, any incision made to the scalp will result in a scar of some kind. It is not an entirely scarless procedure and any doctor that tells you there are no scars is feeding you a load of bull. Scarring for FUE will be a small pinhole… like a pencil mark. If your density is low, scarring can be a problem with the follicular unit extraction (FUE) procedure, because the amount of hair to cover the donor excisions will be less. If the density is high, it hides well. Shaving your head like your facial hair, will leave ‘dots’ of white circles measuring between 0.7 – 1mm wide, or if your surgeon used a wider instrument, it will be even wider.

I just saw a patient who had 3300 grafts with a FUE technique by another doctor and the back of the head looked like he was shot with 3300 holes from a pellet gun; few of the grafts grew after a year. Your skin and other factors will determine how visible these scars are with your head completely shaved to skin level — but why would you bother getting a transplant if you’re just going to shave your head anyway?

January 7, 2009

Hair Growing to the Edge of the Scar Where a Mole Was Removed – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I had a mole removed about a month ago, and the actual scar is healing very thin and good. The hair is growing right up to the edge of the scar from the top, and even at some points looks like it is growing through it. My concern is that underneath the scar, there is patches where the hair is scarcely coming in, and even patches where no stubble is visible. Can you shed some light as to how hair grows around scars, could the surgery have put the hairs beneath the incision into the resting phase. I have been worried about their growth and realize it’s way too soon to start thinking about FUE to fix the scar, although I realize it may be a solution if the hair doesn’t return to its normal growth. Any light you can shed would be greatly appreciated.

Yes, damage can be done when surgery is performed in the scalp. Sometimes, the hair follicles are amputated while the stubble remains and this may be a cause of hair loss from a local excision. The stitches that are placed can produce damage to the hair along the leading edge of the excised mole (as in your case). Wait it out a full 6 months and hopefully the hair will grow. If it is a problem, transplants work very well here.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

December 30, 2008

Trapped Nerve After a Hair Transplant? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

Your blog is incredibly insightful and useful, can’t believe its a free resource. I’ve had a strip excision, my question is that there is one area directly above the scar line, about 3 cms wide and maybe 3 cms high (where scar is probably about 20 cms long) that feels raised and different. if I run my finger from below the scarline in that area up and over you can feel how that area becomes distinctly raised even sometime after transplant. the other areas above the scar dont have that feeling. could it be a trapped nerve ? and how easy is it to treat ? my doctor (even though giving good cosmetic hair results) doesn’t have your diagnostic capabilities. thank you !

Block Quote

First, with regard to the free service, I have never turned down money offers or checks in the mail. I haven’t received any, but still…

You raise a series of questions that pose different problems. Some people heal with elevated scars that are like mini-keloids (heaped up scar tissue on the skin edge). These scars can be difficult to control and the wider they are, the more difficult they are to treat. Steroids injected into the scar helps on those that are fresh (under 6 months old). When you don’t have feeling about the scar, if it is just the area within an inch of the scar, it may be attributable to cut nerves, which occur in everyone who has had a strip. The feeling usually returns in weeks of months after the surgery. If the area is more extensive, like a hand’s width, then you may have a cut major nerve trunk. The nerve may be cut or just squeezed in the scar tissue. You will need a skilled surgeon to make the diagnosis.

December 19, 2008

Scar from Hair Transplant Looks Like a Zipper – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

I went in for my second HT yesterday. When I asked the Doctor if my first scar was normal he said, “it was very thin” but, the stitches left marks and it looks like a zipper? (You know, the thin line marks you see on top and bottom of the main horizontal scar line). He said that’s very rare. Is it? and if so, is there a way to eliminate that if I had another HT in 6 months or so with your group of Doctors?

Block Quote

Zipper The zipper effect means that your doctor placed the suture far from the edge. That will produce the zipper effect. There is no practical solution other than if you have another transplant and remove the “zipper” along with the hair you need for the transplant. There are techniques that avoid the zipper effect, which most doctors use today.

If you’d like to come to us it can probably be eliminated, but I’d have to see you first before promising surgical solutions. If you opt to go elsewhere, you’ll obviously want to be sure that your surgeon does not do the same thing again next time.

December 4, 2008

Got a Cut on My Scalp a Week After My Hair Transplant – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

I had a graft procedure 7 days ago. I hit my head and caused a small cut about the size of a pencil eraser where I had transplants. Will I lose the grafts in the area?

It would be unlikely to lose grafts 1 weeks post surgery, however, if the skin separated that distance and healed on its own, it will develop a scar in the area. I am sure you have seen many men with these small scars in their heads that came from such injuries.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

December 4, 2008

Remedies for a Bald Spot I Got from an Infection? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Hello. When I was in 7th grade I contracted an abscess on the back of my scalp resulting in inflammation and pus and as it healed it left a bald spot. I thought it was from the dirty wrestling mats but never knew exactly where i contracted it. I am 29 today and hair still does not grow in that spot. What are some remedies or things i could do to grow hair back in this spot.

It would depend on the size of the spot to see if it could be excised. A hair transplant would solve that problem. I highly doubt medication would help you in a case like this.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

November 19, 2008

Getting Shock Loss on Sides of My Donor Scar – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

At 4 weeks post op i have significant shock loss on the donor area primarily just behind each ear where the loss is. Not so bad in middle but still some. Is it normal for more loss behind the ears and will it grow back?? Is that area more prone to shock loss than the middle of the back of the head.

Thanks

Block Quote

Sometimes the donor area can experience hair loss from the stress and/or tension from the surgery. Unlike the shock loss in the recipient area, the hair loss in the donor area should grow back in a few months to a year. I would follow up with your surgeon and have him/her further evaluate it.

November 13, 2008

Hair Loss InformationGoodbye Wig! A Hair Transplant Repair Case (with Photos) – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

This patient came in last week, a few years after having 709 grafts taken from a very depleted donor area. Half of the grafts contained just one hair. Getting those 709 grafts was a challenge, as his scalp was tight and the donor area heavily scarred. Because of the anticipated poor yield, I elected to spread the grafts over an inch from the plugs (forward) creating a loosely built thin hairline. When he allows his hair to stand up rather than pull it back as shown here, the results are even more spectacular. This patient gave up his wig and is thrilled with his result. We will try to do another procedure with up to 700 grafts in the recipient area to thicken it, but that will be even more of a challenge because the scarring is very bad and the density of the donor area is very low and he knows it.

Many of what I will call the “normal transplant patients” we perform surgery on today who have not had the old type of plugs, may look at pictures like those shown here and get very frightened. I understand the fear that gets invoked by these patients, but some of my most satisfied patients are those who walked around for years and found that people never looked into their eyes, only to their hairline. This man is an example of a patient where just a small change had a major impact on his life, allowing him freedom from a wig he despised to cover a pluggy look he hated.

Click the photos below to enlarge.

Before:

After:

November 6, 2008

Hair Growth After Transplanting Hair Into Scar Tissue – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Dr. Rassman I want to first thank you for maintaining such a top notch site. I have a question for you regarding transplanting hair into scarred tissue. I recently (4 months ago) had hair transplanted into a 1 and 1/2 inch long scar running front to back. I am seeing very little growth…if any. What seems to be present are a few graft which never fell out and have continued to grow. I am aware that growth in scar tissue may take a little longer than if it was to be transplanted into virgin scalp, however, to put my mind at ease I was wondering in your expert opinion, what is a reasonable timeline to expect growth in the scar? Thank you very much in advance for your reply.

It’s only been 4 months, so seeing a little growth is completely normal. I tell all patients to wait for a full 8 months before judging the hair transplant results. You just have to be patient.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

November 6, 2008

Can I Shave My Head Bald After FUE? – Hair Loss Information by Dr. William Rassman

Well I am black male and currently shave bald. I want to continue to shave bald. I am thinking of FUE to give me some hair in a thinning area. I have few questions: What does the donor area look like when you shave bald after FUE, does it show scarring? I mean razor bald like MJ. Is it worth doing?

I’m confused as to why you’d want a hair transplant only to shave your head bald. All wounds to the scalp will cause some scarring. With FUE, the scars are tiny dots, instead of a straight line scar like that of the strip transplant and they may have a white color to it that would show up after healing an FUE donor area. With dark skin, that might be a problem and one way to tell that is to have a test FUE session done of just 2-4 grafts and assess the healing at 3 months. These tiny scars allow you to keep your hair very short without noticeable scarring if the whitish scar does not appear, but that being said, completely shaving your head may make these scars visible. Again, a test is worth a try.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):