Did I damage any grafts by sleeping in recipient area? 1 week post-op. (Photo)

If you did not see any bleeding, you did not damage the recipient area. Your post op care does not meet my standard as the crust are still there. This is my rountine: The recipient area requires daily washes as well to keep the recipient area free of crusts. I generally recommend the use of a sponge and supply my  patient with a surgical sponge to fill with soapy water and press on the recipient area daily. By repeating this daily, all crusts can be washed off without any fear of losing grafts. IF any crust are present, use a Q tip and dip it into soapy water, and roll it on the crusts and that will lift them off without dislodging them, but never rub them, just roll the Q tip on the recipient crust. I like to see no evidence of any crusting in the recipient area and the crusts from the donor area gone in 7-10 days with daily washing.

Thank you for asking this question.

Scabbing is a very normal phenomenon post-transplant and it has to go by itself. Any intentional scratch or attempt to remove it may end up damaging the hair follicle. As of now, looking at the pictures everything looks fine. It’s too hard to comment anything if that act has caused any damage to the surrounding follicle or not. Although 8 days later there is very less which can cause any harm to the transplanted follicle.  So, we would suggest just to relax and wait for the entire result to come.

Good luck!

Regards, Dr. Amit Gupta