Do you wait to see if your head swells, or is it inevitable? And should I already be putting ice on my head even though I've had no signs or feeling of any impending swelling?

Thanks.

I was given Prednisone for the swelling and have slept with my head upright for the first few nights. So far I have no swelling and will not add any ice unless I do.

Since most of your work was to re-enforce the defused hair (with only a little temple work), you probably wont see the forehead swelling I was expecting from my high density frontal work.

DeWayne,

No ice on the grafted areas! Most of the swelling is due to the fluid from the injections being pulled down your face due to gravity. The more hailine, temple work you have, the more likely you will swell in the face area. If you had say only crown work, you would probably not swell in the face the same way.

Dewayne,

Not every patient experience swelling. The instuctions you get to start icing immediately after surgery, taking Prednisone or other anti-swelling meds, etc., are to minimize your changes of swelling. The swelling will typically start at day 3 post op (right where you are today). The swelling will start at the top of yor forehead and drain down a little each day for the next three days. I don't think icing as soon as you see swelling will help much. Swelling will not effect your grafts or the final outcome.

I've heard many patients say they iced the donor area for relief as it will feel especially tight until the sutures/staples are removed. Congrats on your surgery btw.

I only had swelling the first surgery where the hairline was the focus. It happened about 3 days post op as mentioned. Ice worked well in addition to time..

You know, I just searched through my bag and found the Prednisone pills I was supposed to be taking. The envelope said 3 on Friday, 2 on Saturday and 1 on Sunday (today). I just took the first one.

I guess I forgot about those, and will start taking them today. Here's hoping I don't swell up too bad.

Don't worry about.

I had swelling 3 days post-op.
Under my eyes a bit and in front of my ears.
It lasted a few days.
You don't hear many guys complaining about it...so it can't be that bad.

I'm sure you're relieved it's all over.
Welcome to the club !!!

MH

The cases where I've seen tremendous swelling have generally been mondo-sessions...e.g. LondonLad's, where he truly liked the "elephant man". I had pretty minor swelling at around day 3; I was rigid in sleeping at an incline with my head up for the first week, which may have helped mitigate swelling.

Dewayne,

As others have stated, swelling doesn't always occur but it does in many.

The interesting thing is, I've heard different views on icing. My first two physicians instructed that I ice the forehead (not the grafted area) to help prevent swelling however, my third physician said there is no point to icing because the swelling comes from injected fluid in the scalp in which case, icing would not prevent it. I didn't ice for my third surgery and oddly enough, I had the least amount of swelling. Of course, I also had the least amount of fluid injected into my scalp because they gave me the long lasting anesthetic.

Swelling however, only lasts a few days typically.

Falc