I have a 1500 graft FUT scheduled for 3/31 w/ a Top Doc.

I am curious about a few things so I welcome replies.

The donor area. After the scar has healed, a few months + after the procedure,...does the back of your head feel odd to your own sense of touch? Thinner maybe or just somehow peculiar?

Are there any suggestions for a pre-op regimen to best prepare myself for the surgery? I am currently on propecia and mega doses of Vitamin C.

thinkingaboutit,

I'm a couple years out from my procedure and I have no weird feeling at the donor area. At this point it isn't a concern at all. I had some numbness at an area at the back of my head near the top for nearly a year, but it went away finally. I can't even really feel the donor area unless I make a concerted effort with my fingers and press down hard.

Your physician should be able to tell you about some massage therapy to administer to yourself to help the flexiblity of your skin. I've always massaged my head anyway and I didn't have a problem with tightness of the scalp. At any rate, wouldn't hurt to look into.

msm....3000mg daily

[QUOTE]Originally posted by thinkingaboutit:

The donor area. After the scar has healed, a few months + after the procedure,...does the back of your head feel odd to your own sense of touch? Thinner maybe or just somehow peculiar?

[QUOTE]

Yes. The back of your head will feel strange and numb. This feeling will go away eventually. It took nearly a year for this feeling to go away after my first HT. However, I am at the 3-month point after my second HT and it feels as if the numbness is nearly gone on this one.

quote:

Originally posted by thinkingaboutit:
I have a 1500 graft FUT scheduled for 3/31 w/ a Top Doc.

May we ask who?

I am going with Dr. Cooley. It was a difficult choice between he and Dr. Shapiro.

I had a consult w/ Dr. Shapiro and I really liked him and I was impressed by his clinic.I was reluctant to post who the Dr. I decided on is because I have such high regard for Dr. Shapiro and feel a little guilty not having the procedure performed by him.

I was however, equally impressed with Dr, Cooley and there were just a few subtle differences and logistical factors that tilted me towards him.

This is sort of strange. I had transplants done in the 1970's. the donor area on the left side of my head never regained its feeling and has been numb since. In January, 2006 I had some repairs done by Dr. Bernstein and 2382 grafts and the feeling has reurned to my donor area after 25 years. I don't know if cut out the bad incision or what, but it is good to feel the left side of my head again.

quote:

Originally posted by thinkingaboutit:
I was reluctant to post who the Dr. I decided on is because I have such high regard for Dr. Shapiro and feel a little guilty not having the procedure performed by him.
I was however, equally impressed with Dr, Cooley and there were just a few subtle differences and logistical factors that tilted me towards him.

Nothing unusual here. As you can see I had my first (real) HT with Dr Hasson (I'm extremely happy with it) and next week I have one with Dr Epstein. Whoops had 2 with Dr Seager, then one with Dr Hasson, then more with a third doc. Pat himself changed docs. There are many personal circumstances that eventually make us choose one Dr over another, equally good one. I don't believe that the Drs here, especially those in the Coalition, are bothered. Most of them are happy to praise the work of their colleagues (see Dr Shapiro's recent post). So you should definitely not "feel guilty". Good luck with Dr Cooley.

When you get into the truly top hair transplant surgeons you are really comparing excellent to excellent, so the variation in results narrows considerably.

Every surgeon Hairworthy metioned above is a member of the Coalition. Personally I would do surgery with any member of the Coalition.

As for residual numbness, this can some times last as much as a year. I know I could detect some minor degree of altered sensation one year out. But that sensation is long gone now.

I'd wish you good luck with Dr. Cooley, but I don't expect you'll need it.

Pat

I agree with Pat...good luck...but you probably won't need it. After your procedure...you'll understand exactly what we're talking about. And the scar in the back is 99.9% undetectable. I get my haircut with a number 3 guard in the back with no detection. And a number 2 would only show it a little bit. There's no odd feeling in the back of my head...it feels the way it always has.

Congrats on your decision, thinking. I know you've painstakenly researched this for a long time.

From my own experience, the donor area is sore for a about two weeks. This isn't a constant, debilitating throbbing or anything, but you will be aware of it from time to time throughout the day. I find that the subtle soreness is useful in helping me to remember to take it easy on stretching my neck down or exerting any force on it, but that's just my forgetfullness talking.

There is numbness, but I don't think it's anything that you would mind - I haven't. I feel for those who never had full feeling return from their procedures, but I haven't had this problem.

I'm not trying to downplay anything or make it seem like it isn't a big deal, but my experience has been that it hasn't been anything I really had to think about since the soreness was so minute.

-Robert

For what its worth, I had an HT with Dr. Jeffrey Epstein on October 7, about 4.6 months ago. I did have some initial numbness in the donor area. I have no sensation of numbness back there now and only feel anything at all if I physically put pressure on the scar with my fingers, and then it is a very little bit sore. As for the receipient area, I feel nothing whatsoever.

wesley949,

I experienced the same thing. My first two procedures in the early nineties left my donor area permanently numb. After my first with Dr. Wong the feeling returned 100%. I imaging that the scar tissue was so thick (scars were wide) that they blocked the nerve endings from reconnecting. Each subsequent procedure with Dr. Wong had my donor returning to normal within six to nine months.

Glad to hear you've got some feeling back.