What degree would you rate your HT procedure/recovery as far as pain was concerned? From a scale of 1 - 10, with 10 being the most severe pain you ever felt.
As far as I am concerned. I would rate my recovery pain in the range of 5-7. The procedure itself was painless, thanks to the medication, but the aftermath is a whole different story.
.5 for me... Not sure- I will admit that I am a pansy when it comes to pain... But I really didn't have any- Well- With the exception of taking the staples out! But that took 5 minutes or so... But nothing other than that- Are you the norm? Or am I? Interesting poll-
Futzy
Posts: 376 | Location: seattle, WA | Registered: February 10, 2002
I'd vote for a 2 although it is tough to classify because it is not a sharp pain, but only an uncomfortable feeling in the donor area that gradually goes away.
I would have to say my experiences with the pain of the two HT procedures I have gotten were perhaps on a scale of 2 out of 10. Maybe not even that much, because I believe there was more discomfort than actual pain. I was more miserable from the itching of the donor cut than anything else. I never took pain pills, and only a very few ibuprofin, mostly just wanting to combat potential inflamation or to prevent it entirely. I had a girlfriend smear antibiotic ointment on the cut on the rear, using the kind that contained some lanacaine in it. It worked fairly well. The whole itching phase lasted only maybe a couple or three days. I still have some very slight discomfort on the top back of my head, related, I think, to the nerves re-establishing their connections in the back after being cut for the donor strip. I really have no complaints at all. The entire processes were far less burdensome than I thought they would be. It humors me a bit to think that many of my family and friends think I am rough and tough for having weathered such miserable surgery. Truth is, it is no big deal.
For those who want to know, Dr. Shapiro did my procedures. And he'll do my third if I choose to do another.
