I was just curious to know what the most vulnerable "time frame" is for someones donar scar to stretch?
Is it more vulnerable to stretch between 1 and 2 months or is it just as vulnerable to stretch at 6 months?

Is there a "safe" time when the chances of it stretching are next to nil?(say 6+ months?)

For those of you out there that were unfortunate and your scar stretched, what time frame after your
HT did it occur? (1 month, 2, 3, 4...)

And finally, did you feel or know it had stretched when it happened?

Thanks.

male pattern baldness sucks!

Lavaman:

I felt no stretching either time.

I personally think months 0-3 is the most vulnerable time. The scar needs time to "settle". It is tough for active folks. Because if you like to run and lift like I do, the time off is a real "buzz kill". I waited over a month and still a little stretching. Guess that is just the way I heal back there.

vocor1
Knowledge is Power
-- If the worst question is the one never asked, then the worst answer is the one never shared.
-- The truth only matters if you know about it.

i think all reputable surgeons will correct stretched or wider than average scars free of charge,whether it being excision or fue work to camouflage.

Just out of curiosity, what size(in mm)
is an acceptable average scar?

male pattern baldness sucks!

Acceptable wide scar ?
Well I guess that is a personal thing. To me a strip scarline of 1-2 mm would be acceptable.
Ask yourself if a scarline itself is acceptable to you now FUE has come arround ?

1800 grafts strip followed by 2100 FUE by Dr. Jones for who I am doing consultation work in Europe.

SOn of a plug:

yes his policy as far as i understand is he will take the cost. I had the entire thing done over he only will use staples which ensure it all stays closed. He uses alot on me and trust me it was tight!!!!! OMG it won't be going no were for a long time. I cannot comment on the FUE part casue i have no idea. I think that the best solution is to simply rip it out and start over. i'm not surfe how big the stretched part was. You can ask PRGUY but do to the patient confiendialty i'm not sure he can say. The procedure was great and i can tell you i leanred the lesson. Since i caused it in the first place...

considering how much pain i was in after the second one i learned the lesson. I donot do any type of sergry well. SO since i learned i waited about three months. I coudl still do other types of activies but i stayed far away from the weight plates.

I built up slowly but only after asking full permission first as there is no way in hell i was going to get cut open again. That being said i do have another HT of around 2000 coming up,

I agree...I, like you, started working out about 1 week after getting my stitches removed. My scar also stretched. After about 3 months I no longer felt tightness in the donor area after workouts. Best of luck with your next HT!

Thanks! thinking about it makes my head hurt! I best not till it happens.......

I will post pictures daily for all to see, and for all to be scared.....

Two reputable doctors highly recommended on this site both told me that weight lifting would be fine as soon as the staples or sutures were taken out.

Think about this logically. If you say that you can stretch your scar by laying on your head while lifting, then those of us who have lifted regularly for a while should have excellent scalp laxity, and, therefore, small scars. :-)

weight lifting as soon as the staples come out in t wo weeks? I want those two doctors to reply as i 100% disagree. I so donot buy that logic. Two weeks is not enough time.

The incision in a strip surgery goes deep, and it is not something that heals completely in a week or two.

Some guys go to the weight room and they putter around, read the newspaper while they lazily pedal a bike, etc. This is going to be different than a guy who does heavy squates, deadlifts, leg press etc. A heavy leg press creates an incredible temporary rise in your blood pressure.

Have some common sense if you must return to the gym, do not put tension on your donor area, including "internal" tension from serious exertion.

[This message was edited by arfy on February 08, 2004 at 11:18 AM.]

I waited 3 weeks after my surgery, just like the doctor said. I was healing great up until then, no bleeding whatsoever. The very first week of going back to the gym, I came home from working out one day and I had a small amount of blood around an area of my donor scar. There is no way that a strip scar incision has healed enough for serious weightlifting after only 2 or 3 weeks.

Okay, so stay away from heavy lifting for 1.5 to 3 months. I'm going back to the gym next week (1.5 months post-op) but plan on lifting *very* light until the 3 month mark.

Now how about the guys who DON'T lift weights and their scar stretched? Any stories on when & how it happened?

male pattern baldness sucks!

Okay, Matthew -

How much can you bench? Maybe that was the problem. :-)

Seriously, though, I've been told that as long as you don't do any type of an exercise that flexes the skin on the back of your scalp, you should be alright after the staples/sutures are removed. How long do you think I should wait?

I mentioned already that you don't want to raise your blood pressure with extreme effort, such as doing leg presses etc.

The issue is not as simple as flexing the skin on your neck vs. not flexing the skin on your neck.

Raising your blood pressure temporarily under a heavy load could be bad for your donor area healing perfectly.

don't put a fantastic result at risk and the doc's good work by lifting too soon.
"Too soon" varies for each patient. Man, at least a month and more if possible.

vocor1
Knowledge is Power
-- If the worst question is the one never asked, then the worst answer is the one never shared.
-- The truth only matters if you know about it.

Consider the amount of time it took to lose your hair to the point where you were fed up enough to do something drastic like spend about 10K and expose your head to some rather serious trauma.

I couldn't imagine being miserable for that amount of time only to risk a proper healing period for the sake of remaining buff. I mean geez, we're only talking a couple of months here. Why chose a remedy and then create a situation where you have something new to worry about?

Chaos, panic and disorder...my work here is done.

Alright So we aint meant to lift for about a month...
But what if you had a physical demanding job... How would that work?
I plan on going back to work about 3 weeks after the procedure and I wonder how this will affect the outcome...?

Just think once you go throw your HT think about going through it all over again. Donot lift anything for a few months. maybe i'm different but the thought of being ripped open again makes me sick....

I learned the lesson as i said before. been there done that. I did start running after a bout a month.