L
Levrais
Valued member
Royroy,
How are things looking in the recipient area?
How are things looking in the recipient area?
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R
royroy
Valued member
Levrais,
Things in the recipient area are going to be unbelievably good. I just hit the 3 month mark on Monday so you probably expect that I am at ground zero with some growth just starting. The truth is I already have super impressive growth from beard fues. Probably between 30% to 50% never even fell out and have been growing for 2 or 3 months. These hairs have already provided enough coverage to make a difference. I also feel (with my fingers) all kinds of new hairs coming in. The areas we did will be very much improved.
These beard fues do 3 thing on strip scars in my opinion. First they bring coloration (blood) back into an area that is shinny and super white. Sencond they creat little obsticles that your other hair gets caught in to create body. What I mean by that is if you have a big scar your hair naturally wants to part there. With beard fues in there, maybe even just a handful it tangles up your hair and it doesn't naturally part there. Lastly as the hairs grow they actually provide coverage. I am not in the 3rd stage yet but I am getting a great increase in my hair "body" from phase 2.
Its going to be great I can see and feel the difference. it will improve greatly over the next 3 months as these hairs grow and new ones come in also. We also did 100 scalp fues to my air line and they are just "poppin" out. This is the exciting time in the hair transplant cycle. As you may know the first 3 months are a torture in waiting. Thanks for asking hope I didn't put you to sleep.
Things in the recipient area are going to be unbelievably good. I just hit the 3 month mark on Monday so you probably expect that I am at ground zero with some growth just starting. The truth is I already have super impressive growth from beard fues. Probably between 30% to 50% never even fell out and have been growing for 2 or 3 months. These hairs have already provided enough coverage to make a difference. I also feel (with my fingers) all kinds of new hairs coming in. The areas we did will be very much improved.
These beard fues do 3 thing on strip scars in my opinion. First they bring coloration (blood) back into an area that is shinny and super white. Sencond they creat little obsticles that your other hair gets caught in to create body. What I mean by that is if you have a big scar your hair naturally wants to part there. With beard fues in there, maybe even just a handful it tangles up your hair and it doesn't naturally part there. Lastly as the hairs grow they actually provide coverage. I am not in the 3rd stage yet but I am getting a great increase in my hair "body" from phase 2.
Its going to be great I can see and feel the difference. it will improve greatly over the next 3 months as these hairs grow and new ones come in also. We also did 100 scalp fues to my air line and they are just "poppin" out. This is the exciting time in the hair transplant cycle. As you may know the first 3 months are a torture in waiting. Thanks for asking hope I didn't put you to sleep.
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L
Levrais
Valued member
Royroy,
Im glad to hear that you're getting good growth. I was at BHR just a couple days before you and I am noticing the same thing. My appearance has already changed at month 3. The next few months should be even better. And no you didnt put me to sleep, this is my favorite subject
Im glad to hear that you're getting good growth. I was at BHR just a couple days before you and I am noticing the same thing. My appearance has already changed at month 3. The next few months should be even better. And no you didnt put me to sleep, this is my favorite subject
R
royroy
Valued member
I just passed my 8 month mark so I thought I would do an update. I have thought all along that once my condition was resolved I would do an update to document my entire experience and relate how I eventually solved my issues. Unfortunately I continue to struggle with problems so I figured I would just do a general update. My current situation is that 90% of the holes in my face have resolved. Most all have filled in, unfortunately I still have very noticeable swelling in my face. I have jowls like chipmunk cheeks, and a double chin. Up until 2 weeks ago this swelling has just persisted. A month ago I went and consulted with my dermatologist (actually an HT surgeon who has done 2 strip surgeries on me but has an impressive background in dermatology). His opinion is that my swelling is not inflammation. He believes it is more of a fibrosis like state where all the scarring going on beneath my skin has pushed the neighboring good tissue out of the way. Resulting in a very inflamed appearance. A month ago he gave me a bunch of low dose Kenalog (cortisone) injections and also recommended that I start to micro-needle my face every night. Well the really good news is that starting about 2 weeks ago my swelling started to resolve and I would say at this point I have lost about 1/3 of my swelling. Of course I feel great that I have finally found someone who can help me. I am cautiously optimistic. I say cautiously because this has been a journey thru hell and as I sit here my face looks terrible and I have not left my house socially for almost 9 months. My self imposed isolation has left me with a damaged spirit not unlike the early days of my hair transplant problems 25 years ago when I basically would just detach myself from society. Anyhow enough of that, most of you can relate or you wouldn t be on this forum.
On a positive note I have made recent progress. The areas were the swelling goes down leaves skin that looks pretty good. Areas that show small holes or remnants from the fue punch seem to improve significantly with micro-needling. I will probably need another round of cortisone shots. This is not desirable as cortisone is nasty stuff that can cause problems. The less you expose yourself to this the better but unfortunately I may need another round. I will certainly need a lot more micro-needling and a may need another fraxel procedure. Anyhow that is where I am at, shocked to have an issue at 8+ month yet very grateful that I have made more progress in the last 2 weeks then on the past 4 or 5 month combined.
On a positive note I have made recent progress. The areas were the swelling goes down leaves skin that looks pretty good. Areas that show small holes or remnants from the fue punch seem to improve significantly with micro-needling. I will probably need another round of cortisone shots. This is not desirable as cortisone is nasty stuff that can cause problems. The less you expose yourself to this the better but unfortunately I may need another round. I will certainly need a lot more micro-needling and a may need another fraxel procedure. Anyhow that is where I am at, shocked to have an issue at 8+ month yet very grateful that I have made more progress in the last 2 weeks then on the past 4 or 5 month combined.
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topccat29
29 year HT veteran
Royroy I wish I had just the right answer for you to solve your current dilemma. I don t know if this is going to be helpful but it has been my experience along with observations that I have made that if you can get past the emotional discomfort and try to look at the problem as logical as possible you might be able to find the solution. Your experience with poor healing does not seem to be the norm when compared to the experience of others who have had a similar procedure including myself. With that being said would the cause be the procedure itself or something unique to your physiology or maybe something that you are unknowingly being exposed to that is the cause.
It seems like your initial problem has resolved itself but now you are presented with a new problem. Is it possible that in your haste to try and solve the initial problem somehow this has caused a new set of problems? It s hard to say.
Just give this some thought. Because of my own experience in the past I am very observant of how others handle medical and health issues. 99% of the time they are just too quick to find a solution by going to a doctor whose job is to be perceived as an expert and have the right answer. More often than not the answer is wrong and either makes the situation worse or begins the chain of a completely new set of problems. I have seen this time after time.
It would be nice if someone here could just give you a quick solution but the road to figuring things out when it comes to these types of issues can sometimes be very long. What I would add is that what is also important is that you can post about your experience without the worry of it being deleted or of being attacked and the additional support that it provides can help get you through what is hopefully just a temporary setback.
One experience I had about 3 years ago did kind of scare me. I looked at my face in the mirror upon awakening and it was bloated and sagging at it looked like I had aged 20 years. This is not an exaggeration. The first words out of my mouth to my significant other were what the f*ck happened to my face I tried to trace back what I was doing different looking at foods and habits then I realized I had started Rogaine Foam about 1 month earlier so I did some reading. Wow was that enlightening and I stopped immediately. My face got back to normal after about 2 weeks. I have never had this happen in the past with Rogaine, but the foam turned out to be a complete nightmare. I have had similar types of experiences over the years and I always try and trace back what it was that I might be doing differently. You almost have to become a detective but it does make you very aware of your own body and can only be beneficial in the long run.
It sounds like things are getting better so hopefully it will be just a matter of time.
It seems like your initial problem has resolved itself but now you are presented with a new problem. Is it possible that in your haste to try and solve the initial problem somehow this has caused a new set of problems? It s hard to say.
Just give this some thought. Because of my own experience in the past I am very observant of how others handle medical and health issues. 99% of the time they are just too quick to find a solution by going to a doctor whose job is to be perceived as an expert and have the right answer. More often than not the answer is wrong and either makes the situation worse or begins the chain of a completely new set of problems. I have seen this time after time.
It would be nice if someone here could just give you a quick solution but the road to figuring things out when it comes to these types of issues can sometimes be very long. What I would add is that what is also important is that you can post about your experience without the worry of it being deleted or of being attacked and the additional support that it provides can help get you through what is hopefully just a temporary setback.
One experience I had about 3 years ago did kind of scare me. I looked at my face in the mirror upon awakening and it was bloated and sagging at it looked like I had aged 20 years. This is not an exaggeration. The first words out of my mouth to my significant other were what the f*ck happened to my face I tried to trace back what I was doing different looking at foods and habits then I realized I had started Rogaine Foam about 1 month earlier so I did some reading. Wow was that enlightening and I stopped immediately. My face got back to normal after about 2 weeks. I have never had this happen in the past with Rogaine, but the foam turned out to be a complete nightmare. I have had similar types of experiences over the years and I always try and trace back what it was that I might be doing differently. You almost have to become a detective but it does make you very aware of your own body and can only be beneficial in the long run.
It sounds like things are getting better so hopefully it will be just a matter of time.
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R
royroy
Valued member
Toppcat,
I appreciate your input and I agree that using logic is important. I have really tried all kinds of regimes during this experience and nothing has had much of an impact. I am a notoriously bad eater so I tried to eat better . Adding fruits, got rid of soft drinks and hydrating mostly with water. I got into zinc, I tried walking 3 miles a night for months for improved circulation, at one point I felt a reduced sugar intake was helping. I went 3 weeks were I washed my face in ice water 5 to 7 times a day. I went 6 weeks without shaving, shaved with electric only, changed shaving creame and blade type. I think I tried to vary things a lot. Sometimes I thought something was having an effect but ultimately I don t think anything did. Ice water would reduce the swelling quite a bit but it was temporary and always came back. Really when I come back to it I think the Dr I am following right now is the only guy that has had a handle on this thing since day one. He looked at me maybe 6 weeks after my surgery and pretty much everything he has said has been pretty accurate. He doesn t claim to have all the answers, he says this is unchartered waters and he is just using his vast experience in hair transplantation and dermatology to offer suggestions. He is an extremely intelligent, knowledgeable guy and very ethical. Here is basically what he feels. He thinks everyone is different. He feels that for whatever reason my face couldn t physiologically handle the number of fue s we did. Why, who knows. I have had a lot of HT s and other surgeries and healed well. I have a very healthy immune system. For whatever reason 800 fue s was for me as an individual to many for my face. Doesn t mean I won t heal it just means it was to many for my face to handle promptly like others have. He doesn t believe that shaving on day 6 or 7 had an effect. I don t either and I think there is good documentation on the internet that others have shaved early without problems. I am not dismissing the shaving theory just stating that I personally don t believe it was a cause nor does my Doctor. Though my Dr does not perform Fraxel he believes that the fact that I did Fraxel at 3 months and then again at 5 or 6 month helped and didn t hurt. Others may have another opinion, not sure. As you say so much of my treatment and concerns were geared towards the holes at that time the swelling became more of a concern later. It was always there but I felt it would subside when and if the holes filled.
As of today the only thing that appears to have helped is cortisone and/or micro-needling. Even then how do I know the reduction in swelling is not a coincidence and not cortisone? I have read a lot of bad stuff about cortisone but I may have to try it again. Anyhow like I said I appreciate your input and am glad to see the results you are getting from you last procedure w/ Dr Bisanga.
I appreciate your input and I agree that using logic is important. I have really tried all kinds of regimes during this experience and nothing has had much of an impact. I am a notoriously bad eater so I tried to eat better . Adding fruits, got rid of soft drinks and hydrating mostly with water. I got into zinc, I tried walking 3 miles a night for months for improved circulation, at one point I felt a reduced sugar intake was helping. I went 3 weeks were I washed my face in ice water 5 to 7 times a day. I went 6 weeks without shaving, shaved with electric only, changed shaving creame and blade type. I think I tried to vary things a lot. Sometimes I thought something was having an effect but ultimately I don t think anything did. Ice water would reduce the swelling quite a bit but it was temporary and always came back. Really when I come back to it I think the Dr I am following right now is the only guy that has had a handle on this thing since day one. He looked at me maybe 6 weeks after my surgery and pretty much everything he has said has been pretty accurate. He doesn t claim to have all the answers, he says this is unchartered waters and he is just using his vast experience in hair transplantation and dermatology to offer suggestions. He is an extremely intelligent, knowledgeable guy and very ethical. Here is basically what he feels. He thinks everyone is different. He feels that for whatever reason my face couldn t physiologically handle the number of fue s we did. Why, who knows. I have had a lot of HT s and other surgeries and healed well. I have a very healthy immune system. For whatever reason 800 fue s was for me as an individual to many for my face. Doesn t mean I won t heal it just means it was to many for my face to handle promptly like others have. He doesn t believe that shaving on day 6 or 7 had an effect. I don t either and I think there is good documentation on the internet that others have shaved early without problems. I am not dismissing the shaving theory just stating that I personally don t believe it was a cause nor does my Doctor. Though my Dr does not perform Fraxel he believes that the fact that I did Fraxel at 3 months and then again at 5 or 6 month helped and didn t hurt. Others may have another opinion, not sure. As you say so much of my treatment and concerns were geared towards the holes at that time the swelling became more of a concern later. It was always there but I felt it would subside when and if the holes filled.
As of today the only thing that appears to have helped is cortisone and/or micro-needling. Even then how do I know the reduction in swelling is not a coincidence and not cortisone? I have read a lot of bad stuff about cortisone but I may have to try it again. Anyhow like I said I appreciate your input and am glad to see the results you are getting from you last procedure w/ Dr Bisanga.
