Its been exactly 14 days since my surgery and I started to loose most of the implants. Now, I'm faced with those aweful scabs that looks like dandruf. I was playing it off like a sunburn that made me peal , but the closer that I look at them the more disguting they look and embarrased they make me feel when in public.
I have tried to gently take then off while combing my hair, but they come with a bulb sometimes attached to hairs which scares me senseless knowing that I paid a pretty penny for each one of those little bastards....
Any ideas as to how to get rid of those scabs in the receipient area? also, when can I shampoo normally like I did pre op? and when can wear a hat tightly? last but not least, can I do cardio workout like pre op?
thanks!

juan,

I'm glad you posted your questions here. I'm a little concerned because it seems like you were left a bit high and dry by your doctor and have no idea how to take care of yourself post op. Who was your doctor?

By day 4 or 5, you should have been washing your hair normally...so WASH NORMALLY NOW. Most people lose all the scabs between 7-12 days. Many people make the mistake of being too careful, as it seems you are.

Regarding your scabs...do not comb them off...that would be the equivalent of picking, and you don't want to pick at the scabs. Take a long hot shower, let the water run over your head, and shampoo normally. Run your finger tips (not your nails) in circles over the scabs and massage them off gently...but do not force them off. You may want to consider wetting your hair and putting shampoo in your hair and on your head and looking in the bathroom mirror while gently massaging your head so you can see where to massage with your finger tips. Don't expect the scabs to come off all in one washing...but I would consider washing twice a day (morning and night) and repeat the massaging process. Don't press too hard. More circles, less pressure...that's the rule of thumb. See my pictures below especially 3rd surgery and look at the progressive pictures.

I hope this helps.

Falc

thanks falceros! you are definitely a fountain of information!
You are right. I was super cautious and when Dr Rose saw the scabs, he said that I was overly cautious and recommended Tsalt shampoo.
So the ones that have come off with hairs are lost graphs? someone said that at this point its just the bulb and not the folicle it self and I wanted to confirm that.
thanks again.

juan,

Hairs are firmly transplanted between 5-9 days. Any hairs you are losing at this point shouldn't be in any danger of losing the follicle...just the bulb. So you are right.

You have given me comfort knowing Dr. Rose was your doctor. He is an excellent physician. I'm a little surprised that you were a little unclear on the post op instructions though...that's a little discouraging. I believe that post op instructions should be VERY clear.

Falc

It was probably me. Dr Roses tech were very very nice and checked up on me afterwards.
I figured that I would get my info from you guys anyways!
So what about the working out part? can I start running by now?

Juan,

Well I'm glad Dr. Rose and the techs were nice, but really, they should have provided you with detailed post op instructions, including detail on working out, etc. However, yes, we can provide you with good post op instructions too...but asking 14 days post op is a little later than we would have liked

I would say you can do some light cardio at this point and some light lifting...nothing heavy. Build your way up slowly week by week to get back into your normal workout routine. I'll be honest, at 3 months, I still haven't done regular bench press yet, just so I don't have to put any undue pressure on my head, especially since I still have some numbness (though I resumed normal bench sooner after my first and second surgery). So I've been doing hammer strength still...will resume probably in another month or so.

Falc

alright Falc. Very nicely detailed explanation. You put that when hairs fall out they have bulbs attached, i have noticed that when my hairs shed no bulbs are attached is this normal ?

About working out - I asked about this specifically, both the doc (Dr. Feller) and the technicians since I work out regularly and I was told 2 weeks or so till I can resume my normal workouts. I will likely wait 3 or 4 since I figure an extra 2 weeks can't hurt, but 3 months? That sounds surprising to me?

johnno,

The "bulbs" i'm referring to don't always come out...I'm just stating that it can happen and not to worry...because it's not the follicle...make sense?

Youngguy,

I was working out normally by 4 weeks...it's just that I didn't want to put any undue pressure on my head, more because it felt funny since I'm experiencing some minor numbness that is left over...improving every week. This was not a doc requirement...it was a preference since I felt I could get a great workout on hammer strength machines.

Falc

Keep in mind that there are two types of scabs: the dark scabs formed by blood and the little white scabs that form on top of each follicle. As stated previously, sometimes the hair sheds with the white bulb and sometimes just the hair sheds followed by the white bulb later.

After 14 days the grafts are secure in the scalp. You don't have to worry about losing any.

Cheers Falc, the post you referred to did make sense, i just wanted clarification that the shedding i am going through is normal.
Cheers Gorpy for the info!!

Gorpy, the scabs that I am talking about are white and sometimes when they fall, they have 2- 4 and up to 4 hairs attached to them... the scabs looks like dry tissue.. this is what scares me cause it does look like the folicle, but it doesnt make sense to have those fall at this point... I took ubber care of my head for the first week... I went to an extreme.

Here is a pic of what I am talking about
Here you can see 2 little hairs attached to the dead skin/tissue etc.. and it still has a little bit of what looks like the hair poking out of the end of the flake, scab etc whatever you want to call it.

FOLICLE.jpg (51 Kb, 111 downloads)

juan,

Again, at 14 days, you should be ok...but I must ask...was there any blood on your head when this hair/bulb/follicle came out? How many hairs like this are coming out? And is there blood on any of them? If so, how many?

Blood could indicate a problem.

Falc

Falceros, there was no blood, but this pieces of dead tissue are attached to 1, 2 and sometimes 3 hairs. most of the time, the tissue is not linked at the bottom of the hair, but more like towards the center, holding the 2 or 3 hairs together... the hairs can also slide if pulled while holding the piece of tissue together. Everytime I shower and I do the light rubbing that you mentioned before I'll get 4-5 of these.
thanks again for your advice

Uhmmm.....that definately looks like a lost follicle to me guys! WTF? Am I wrong?

I am not doing any shampooing, washing, or light rubbing until after the tenth day. I am just going to spray a mixture of saline and purified water on my head and then pat it dry with a towel a few times a day. This is my second HT and I still think during my first post HT experience I washed a bunch of graphs down the drain.

I have seen hairs attached to what looked like it could be the follicle, but they turned out to be just the hairs attached to some dead skin...not the follicle itself.

I'll be honest...I'm really not sure about this one...I think it would be best to get some doctor imput on this one. In this case, it DOES look like the follicle and not just dead skin attached.

Juan...have you talked to your doctor?

Falc

Guys, trust me, i'd be the first to freak out, but I think that in my case it may not be the folicle... the only reason why I say this is because I just looked at my receipient area really closely and saw the same pieces of dead skin that I had previously mentioned and they are attached to the center of the hair, while the hair is still attached to my head. Does this make sense? should I still be super worried?

here is a blurry pic of another one of these. You an see where the dead tissue is attached to the center of the hair and not the end where a normal folicle would go, correct?

Hair_011.jpg (15 Kb, 58 downloads)