I am a doctor and my work is up close with my patients. I perform wound care, debriding wounds on patient's legs while they are in a chair above me. It would be awkward for me to come back from a long weekend with a shaved head and visible donor areas. I am thinning on top, more severe at the vertex, but not bald. Is there a way for me to keep my hair longer and harvest in such a way that longer overlying hair can cover the donor area? I have thick, dark curly hair across the back of my head.
May 6, 2015
Answer: Covering a Transplant Hi Doc!You're asking a very important question about concealing the work of a transplant.It's not a problem in the donor area with either the FUT procedure or a smaller FUE procedure where limited grafts are harvested. The bigger challenge is hiding the implants. Can that be covered by the surrounding hair? Possibly, but it's going to be a little more challenging on the crown. That will depend upon the extent of the procedure, how you heal, the surrounding hair and a number of other issues. And of course there are novel ways to hide grafts...in fact I had a young man go back to work in a relatively short period of time by wearing his sunglasses on his forehead. So there really is a lot to talk about here and it may or may not allow you the affordability to work for you. I too have debrided my share of wounds! Good luck1John Frank, MDNew YorkOhio
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May 6, 2015
Answer: Covering a Transplant Hi Doc!You're asking a very important question about concealing the work of a transplant.It's not a problem in the donor area with either the FUT procedure or a smaller FUE procedure where limited grafts are harvested. The bigger challenge is hiding the implants. Can that be covered by the surrounding hair? Possibly, but it's going to be a little more challenging on the crown. That will depend upon the extent of the procedure, how you heal, the surrounding hair and a number of other issues. And of course there are novel ways to hide grafts...in fact I had a young man go back to work in a relatively short period of time by wearing his sunglasses on his forehead. So there really is a lot to talk about here and it may or may not allow you the affordability to work for you. I too have debrided my share of wounds! Good luck1John Frank, MDNew YorkOhio
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May 6, 2015
Answer: Hiding the donor area All in all, it will be difficult to hide the appearance of surgery in your crown. With FUT, it will not be a problem hiding the donor area - that's not even an issue. After 7-10 days, if you do a meticulous job washing and removing scabs, it will likely look only mildly red in the recipient area with small hairs in the area. Provided you feel comfortable, a lot of people wouldn't really know, but a small proportion could suspect something is different. These are common scenarios in our clinic, and after helping many people with thinning crowns hide their transplant and get back to work/life without people knowing, I must say this can be challenging. The more thin one is in the crown, the tougher it is to 'hide'. If there is some hair in the crown, we sometimes get lucky and camouflaging is easier, but for areas of near complete thinning, it's tough. 2-3 weeks off work is helpful. A lot of medical professionals will elect to change the position of the room they work in, or wear a scrub cap. There are a few other possibilities that sometimes work too. We've even had patients use a hair system to cover hair loss in the crown for a few weeks or months, then have the transplant and then put the system back on for a few more weeks/months. That's extreme, but it can work.
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May 6, 2015
Answer: Hiding the donor area All in all, it will be difficult to hide the appearance of surgery in your crown. With FUT, it will not be a problem hiding the donor area - that's not even an issue. After 7-10 days, if you do a meticulous job washing and removing scabs, it will likely look only mildly red in the recipient area with small hairs in the area. Provided you feel comfortable, a lot of people wouldn't really know, but a small proportion could suspect something is different. These are common scenarios in our clinic, and after helping many people with thinning crowns hide their transplant and get back to work/life without people knowing, I must say this can be challenging. The more thin one is in the crown, the tougher it is to 'hide'. If there is some hair in the crown, we sometimes get lucky and camouflaging is easier, but for areas of near complete thinning, it's tough. 2-3 weeks off work is helpful. A lot of medical professionals will elect to change the position of the room they work in, or wear a scrub cap. There are a few other possibilities that sometimes work too. We've even had patients use a hair system to cover hair loss in the crown for a few weeks or months, then have the transplant and then put the system back on for a few more weeks/months. That's extreme, but it can work.
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