I wanted to find out more about the donor scar after surgery. I am worried on how noticeable the scar will be and what would be the shortest you could cut your hair before people would be able to see the scar.. A few responses would be greatly appreciated..thanks..

Headsup, First off...welcome to the network.
It all really depends on your doctor and how good he is at cutting the donor area and stitching it back up. Take a look at my 2 week pictures. I got my haircut with a #3 in the back and it's barely noticeable.

depending on the width of your scar, you my be able to go as low as a #2. Most people can get by with a #3 hair cut though.
All is dependant on the scar and the Dr. doing the surgery. Better skilled Dr.'s can keep you within 1mm scar.

You would have to research the doctors that you are interested in.

Headsup,

The above picture is my donor area exactly one month and one day post op shaved with a #2 guard. Notice that even though you can see a hint of the scar there, it really is not that big of a deal. As a matter of fact, when the lady starting cutting my hair, I had to stop her and point it out to her because she was not being as gentle around it (she did not know until I showed her) and I didn't want her to "jig" that guard in the scar by accident! I hope mine and Brando's pictures can let you see what you can expect. By the way, I got 2300 grafts and he got 1600 grafts extracted. My donor area now just looks like a thin, white line; not noticeable at all.

-Robert

Correction Social...I got 1200 grafts extracted. My donor scar isn't really visible except for one side...it seems to be wider than the rest...hopefully it'll better heal so I can get a #2 like Robert did.

I want to thank you all for your responses, your input and photos really helped put me at ease. This was something I was very concerned with,but, like you say, the DR. you pick for your surgery will make all the difference.
Since I am in NY I was thinking of going to Dr.Law Or DR. Feller. I have heard some good things about them both. Any thoughts would be much appreciated, thanks.

HEADS UP

headsup,

I have seen proof of exceptional results coming from both Dr. Feller and Dr. Law. For anyone else interested in Dr. Feller or Dr. Law, I have posted some links to their pages on RegrowHair.com. There is a link tho each of their "before/after" galleries on the left side of the page.

Dr. Alan Feller

Dr. Thomas Law

Dear Headsup,

I too would like to welcome you to this forum. I just wanted to encourage you to be sure that your donor strip is prec-calculated by the HT surgeon you choose. Your entire donor area should be evaluated for F/U density so that just enough tissue is taken. Typically the surgeon utilizes a device commonly called a densometer which allows the doctor to examine one cm surface area of the scalp in the donor area. Some may utilize a video telescope or some other instrument. They then calculate donor density by counting the total number of hairs and also the total F/Us within that area. They divide the total number of F/Us into the total number of hairs to acheive the average number of hairs per graft that will be moved in the procedure and also allows them to calculate how wide and long the strip will be to harvest as close to the number of grafts you enrolled for. I have to believe most HT doctors calculate donor density in this day and age but insist on your HT doctor explaining his/her analysis and calculations to you "before" your procedure. Also be sure the laxity of your scalp is evaluated. A tighter scalp may imply that the strip would be taken leaner and possibly longer in the donor zone. If you have never had a HT before, this probably will not be an issue for you, but good doctors should evaluate this for you. Hope I am not getting off on a tangent here but the more precise the calculations are the better chance your strip will not be taken too wide and leave you with a corresponding wide scar. Best wishes Headsup!

"I have to believe most HT doctors calculate donor density in this day and age but insist on your HT doctor explaining his/her analysis and calculations to you "before" your procedure."

Amen.

-Robert

Social, did you put some sort of concealer on your donor scar area? It looks a bit fuzzy

No, there is no concealer there. It is a bit fuzzy do to me taking that picture myself with a camera phone from that odd angle.

-Robert