Redness after Hair Transplant

[Crudance2006]

Typically how long does the Redness last after a Hair Transplant? Does the recipient and donor areas both heal at the same rate? Anyone used a natural product that helps reduce the Redness? Sorry for all the questions, just trying to cover every angle.

 

[sl]

Hi Crudance

Recipient and donor will heal at different rates, not sure if speaking of FUE or Strip but FUE the extraction marks will shrink and not be that visible at 3 weeks assuming FUE is the technique and the hair will grow also in the donor and there are some tricks to speed this up also.

Recipient redness lingering depends on skin tones, lighter take longer than darker, the density and amount of recipient sites cut and tools used and how the patient heals generally.

Most will fade in the first few weeks then linger but the patient can use products to help this healing process but some will have some redness at 3 months that will look worse under flourescent lighting than normal. I was always back at work at 2 weeks in my previous work that was mostly court cases and government meetings and I had no issue at a few weeks post surgery returning to work.

I found a laser comb helped speed up my healing and witch hazel extract also, aloe vera and a good diet with plenty of iron in it also helped and took plenty of anti-inflammatory foods also and avoid sun, artificial heat, hair dryers, sauna while the skin heals.

 

[Bigmac]

The redness should be easy to conceal in the area you're having work done, as Sl says try some of the items he used and generally be healthy.

 

[Crudance2006]

Thank Bm and SL for replying. SL which foods were most helpful to you? Also are there any differences between these laser combs

 

[sl]

If you can email me [email protected] I'd be happy to send you the post op hints and tips pdf that I send to patients that is a few pages and covers aspects of healing among other things.

I bought several laser combs to test as I was asked a lot about them and the hair max comb worked for me in speeding up healing on my last surgery and noticeably faster than previous surgery without usage. Some of the combs were poor quality but this was good but not cheap as such but you can still heal well without this so not worth the expense just for post op healing.

 

[Crudance2006]

Thanks SL, I've sent you an email.

 

[topccat29]

From my own research and my own experience over many years I am of the opinion that if one can get past the fear of adding more saturated fats in the way of pastured fed animal products and away from polyunsaturated fats in the way of vegetable oils then inflammation can be greatly reduced. Saturated fats are very stable and extremely high in vitamins A, D, and K all very beneficial to the skin. Cholesterol can either be consumed to aid in the wound healing or your body is forced to make it €™s own. Much better to consume it. Polyunsaturated fats in vegetable oils are very unstable and become rancid very quickly. So most processed foods generate a huge amount of free radicals and a tremendous amount of inflammation placing a great burden on the body during the healing process.

From my own experience I would also say that my own much higher consumption of saturated fat/cholesterol has protected me from any damaging effects of the sun. I spent a great deal of time this summer pouring concrete along with pouring one white elastomeric flat roof coating. It was like being under a magnifying glass with the sun overhead pouring that coating, yet my skin seemed to do very well.

Here is a picture of some who eats a diet very high in polyunsaturated oil as opposed to someone eating a diet high in saturated fats. If you look at the historical evidence of people and their diet it seems to be a common theme, saturated fat consumption seems to be very beneficial to the skin. The problem is getting past the fear and that can only be accomplished through having more information.

This is my own opinion and I have been doing this for a very long time.

These 2 ladies are the same age the second one eats a diet high in saturated fats while the first eats more of a vegetarian diet. Of course I €™m sure pictures showing something different can be found but in my opinion this is more representative of reality. Eating a diet higher in saturated fats protects the skin and moisturizes and protects it from the inside out and not the other way around.

 

[sl]

Great post..the first lady is a "food doctor" but I do agree with you.

 

[topccat29]

It €™s really easy for me to be absolutely firm in my opinion here too. The reason being is I have been doing too long, dozens of years. I would also be a good case study as I eat the same things day in and day out and never tire of it. So if I make a small change I can assess the effect, just kind of a hobby for me.

I can also say with absolute certainty that saturated fat is very stable and this is why is has a very long shelf life and doesn €™t go rancid quickly, hence free radicals are not generated. The saturated fat comes through the skin, not sure by what mechanism, the exact process but that is in fact what happens. It moisturizes the skin from the inside out. Would be good to learn more about the process.

Is it easy for most to lose their fear of saturated fat? Very, very hard to do as change in fear based dogma takes a very long time. Sometimes a lifetime and the sad part is many will pay a very hefty price.

 

[janna]

Crudance,
How long the redness lasts varies from patient to patient depending on how dark or light your skin is. The redness in the back disappears faster because the hair in the back grows longer to cover over the "red holes". The recipient area has to shed the scabs as well as the transplanted hairs so can look red longer. Since you have hair in the recipient area and the main hair loss isn't right in the frontal hairline, the redness in the recipient area for your situation will likely not show after a week. Eating a good, healthy diet certainly helps in healing.

 

[Crudance2006]

Thanks Topcat and Janna.
Janna I've just sent you an email

 

[janna]

Yup, I got it and replied. It won't be long now before your sitting in the chair. Let me know if you have any other questions or concerns. It's always good to get support from the ht forum community too. Looking forward to meeting you in person.

 

[Crudance2006]

Hi Janna, thanks for the prompt reply to my email. I'm asking questions to reassure myself even though I have read up on them. Just wanting to arrive at Smg totally relaxed. Wish I was arriving sooner!!

 

[mitchellthesuper]

I am gonna get some work done on my receding hairline but my biggest worry is the redness. I'd prefer my hair not to be cut to prevent others from understanding I had hair transplant and that is why I am also trying to evade redness. I see that some people here still have redness in their six months post op. that worries me.

 

[janna]

mitchellthesuper wrote:

I am gonna get some work done on my receding hairline but my biggest worry is the redness. I'd prefer my hair not to be cut to prevent others from understanding I had hair transplant and that is why I am also trying to evade redness. I see that some people here still have redness in their six months post op. that worries me.

I would worry too if the redness in the recipient area was noticeable after 6 month. This should be very, very rare.
Redness two weeks post op is rare in the recipient area with our patients because they are given the Liposomal ATP post op spray. The incision size and the graft size play a major role in how quickly you heal and how quickly the redness disappearing too.
When you have the hairline worked on, it's difficult to hide the transplanted area unless the native hairs are kept long to comb over the transplanted area so if you're keeping your hairs long, you shouldn't have to worry about the redness showing through.