Skin graft from MOHS surgery keeps growing long dark hair. Is repeated treatment to be expected with this outcome from surgery?

Question

The Dermatologist who did the surgery several months ago has used abrasion a few times and also zapped the whole side of my nose to kill the follicle, but again, another area is still growing long dark hair. I am tired of the pain, embarrassment and having my nose bandaged off and on for months. Is repeated treatment like this to be expected with this outcome from surgery? Is a graph taken from in front of ear wise? Should I be seeking a second opinion since he can't seem to finish the job?

Hooman Khorasani, MD · Answer

Thank you for the question.  Most surgeons will avoid using hair bearing skin for skin grafts because transplanted hair can be a problem.
If your skin grafts on the nose has some hair follicles there are multiple ways to remove them, once the graft is healthy and stable.  Plucking, shaving, laser hair removal, IPL, electrolysis, bleaching and Vaniqa can all be used to successfully create a hairless graft site.  I hope this helps.

Patrick J. Byrne, MD, FACS · Answer

Skin grafts are occasionally a reasonable option to treat MOHS defects on the nose. When possible, we choose donor sites that match the skin characteristics of the nose optimally. No donor site is perfect, but we often use the forehead as a donor site. This location is well known to match quite well with our experience performing paramedic forehead flaps. It turns out that taking a graft high on the forehead, along the hairline (but not IN the hairline) can work really well. Perhaps the hard follicles in your skin graft can be removed by raising the skin graft as a small flap, and removing the follicles from the undersurface of the graft. Laser hair removal may work, if the hairs are dark colored. Electrolysis is an option as well. If all else fails, and if the hairs are really quite problematic, you could consider removing that graft and replacing it with an alternative. I hope this helps.

Skin graft from MOHS surgery keeps growing long dark hair. Is repeated treatment to be expected with this outcome from surgery?

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Skin graft from MOHS surgery keeps growing long dark hair. Is repeated treatment to be expected with this outcome from surgery?

Answers (2)

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Everything you need to know about Mohs Surgery

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.