Over harvested? Should I be concerned or is this normal? (Photo)

Question

Post op day 19. Robotic 1550, supplemented by manual (with drill like device) FUE for another 500 - approximately. Should I be concerned or is this normal?

Jae Pak, MD · Answer

You cannot tell if it is over harvested or "normal" with photos.There are volumes of unknown issues from your line of questioning.  If 2000 grafts were harvested to address a very small area of your scalp, then it would be considered "over harvest".  If 2000 grafts were harvested to address a large area of your scalp, it may be "under harvest".  If 2000 grafts were planned and you actually have 3000 "holes" on your head because there were many transected and ampuated (not usable) grafts, then it would be "over harvest".

Baubac Hayatdavoudi, MD · Answer

Below are critical questions that you need answers to before moving forward with an FUE clinic. 1) Is your Doctor the person doing the FUE harvesting or is a Physician Assistant or technician doing the harvesting? 2) How long has your surgeon been doing FUE and FUE harvesting? 3) How many FUE cases does your doctor perform monthly? 4) If your doctor does both Strip and FUE, Does your doctor perform more strip cases then FUE cases monthly?

Jeff Donovan, MD, PhD · Answer

Dear 71315, It's hard to get a sense of what area of the scalp the follicles were taken from exactly and the measurements.... and you won't really get a sense of over harvesting per se until 4-5 months down the road when all the healing has taken place more fully. But given your density in these photos and hair type,  you have many thousands of donor hairs. This should not represent over harvesting with 2000 or so hairs. To calculate, multiple length x width of the area harvested. Then multiply by 15 or 20. That gives a very rough idea of how many follicular units can easily be taken from an area. In fact, that's a low ball estimate. It's likely you're well in that range. But if unsure, speak to your surgeon. He or she can give you a sense of the math. Hopefully, this offers some helpful information to you.

Ekrem Civas, MD, FISHRS - Account Suspended · Answer

Seems normal. The donor site might still be red that's why it stands out from the rest of your hair. Give it time to see how it looks once the area has completely healed.

Michael Meshkin, MD - Account Suspended · Answer

donor depletion is one of the results of doing excessive donor  hair removal using  FUE Technique. This should have been discussed with you before the procedure.

William Rassman, MD (retired) · Answer

If you let your hair grow a bit, it probably will look fine. You are only 19 days after the surgery so wait out another months with reasonable length hair and then let it go long and see what it looks like.

Over harvested? Should I be concerned or is this normal? (Photo)

Answers (6)

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