Tag Archives: suture line

Second Procedure: Day 5 Post-Op

If you would like to learn more about my story and how a hair transplant procedure can regrow your hair, feel free to email me or contact my patient educator Steve Cook at 305.416.8418 as well at steve@mcgrathmedical.com.

Hello everyone,

Today is Monday, November 16, 2015 and I am now 5 days post-op from my procedure.

More of the crusts are starting to flake off in the shower and the swelling that was in my face yesterday is beginning to subside. I figure by Wednesday the swelling will be gone and all of the crusts should be gone by this weekend.

One week from today I will have my sutures removed and I find that the tightness in my suture line comes and goes but every day I am improving and feeling better.

Check back tomorrow for my Day 6 post-op update.

All my best,

-Lance

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Photo on 11-16-15 at 7.10 PM Photo on 11-16-15 at 7.10 PM #2 Photo on 11-16-15 at 7.11 PM Photo on 11-16-15 at 7.11 PM #2

Second Procedure: Day 4 Post-Op

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Hello everyone,

Today is Sunday, November 15, 2015 and I am now 4 days post-op from my procedure.

I have a bit more swelling in my face particularly in my eyes, but unless I point it out it’s not a big deal.

I had a small scare early on Sunday when I scratched part of my suture line and a small piece of suture wire came out. My surgeon told me that in addition to the main suture line that keeps my head together, he used a bunch of smaller suture wires to ensure that the donor site was perfectly approximated and would properly heal so if a small additional piece of wire came out a few days later, it wouldn’t be a big deal. So although I had a small scare, I have nothing to worry about.

As more of the grafts begin to scab and crust off, I feel like I am turning the corner in my recovery.

Check back tomorrow for my Day 5 post-op post.

All my best,

-Lance

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Second Procedure: Day 3 Post-Op

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Hello everyone,

Today is Saturday, November 14, 2015 and I am now three days post-op from my surgery.

I am now showering twice a day gently massaging the grafts and sutures and I am almost finished with the bottle of H2Ocean spray to help my grafts heal.

The back of my head feels a little tight and itchy before I shower and I have a bit of swelling that has gone down into my forehead.

Usually the swelling subsides after a day or two and then the crusts will start flaking off by about a week post-op.

Thanks for following and I’ll see you all tomorrow.

All my best,

-Lance

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Second Procedure: Day 2 Post-Op

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Hello everyone,

Today is Friday, November 13, 2015 and I am now two days post-op from my hair transplant procedure.

Today was my first day taking a shower with the grafts in and I had to very gently massage them with the pads of my fingers and wash them by pouring a glass of warm water over my head.

The back of my head where the sutures are doesn’t feel as tight from the first day and the bottles of H2Ocean are keeping the grafts soft and lubricated. I have one more day of sleeping at a 45-degree angle to prevent swelling in my face and it was around the second or third day post-op last year when I experienced a lot of swelling in my face and eyes.

Check back tomorrow at day 3 post-op.

All my best,

-Lance

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Second Procedure: Surgery Day November 11, 2015

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Hello everyone,

Today is November 11, 2015 and I am immediately post-op from my second hair transplant procedure.

The procedure took about 5 hours to complete and lowered my hairline again, built out the temporal peaks, and removed the old scar that didn’t heal well. Overall I got 36.675 square centimeters of tissue and if you consider the scar tissue from my first suture line, I got about 6,500 total hairs in my second procedure.

I’ll later share with you all some of my pre-operative pics that show my old suture line as well as the marker line that mapped out the new hairline.

Starting tomorrow I will post pics and videos of each day of my recovery, so check out tomorrow’s update at Day 1 post-op.

All my best,

-Lance

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Second Procedure: Day 0

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Hello everyone,

Today is Tuesday, November 10, 2015 and I am at Day 0, the night before my procedure.

I just wanted to share with you all what the physical preparation is for a transplant procedure.

A few months before my procedure I am given a list of pre-operative instructions to follow so that my procedure will go well.

The major things I must do is three weeks beforehand stop taking any protein or dietary supplements that contain vitamin E that would cause a lot of bleeding and then two weeks before my procedure hold off on getting my hair cut, and 2 days beforehand stop drinking any alcohol.

If it’s your first procedure the sutures will stay in for 10 days and if you’ve had two or more procedures they will stay in for 12 days and will be removed by my primary care physician. The most important part to getting a great suture line is to refrain from any heavy lifting or intense exercise for at least a month after my procedure.

The reason why the right middle side of my scar did not properly heal is because even though I waited about three weeks after my first procedure to resume working out, ideally you want to wait about a month after your procedure before you resume any heavy lifting. Exercises like the squat, bench press, deadlift, standing overhead press, and olympic lifts all tense the neck and after the sutures are out the scar is still healing so it could stretch from those exercises.

In all, I’m super excited to go down this path again and depending on how I am feeling after the procedure I will see if I can post another video with pictures.

All my best,

-Lance

3 WEEKS BEFORE YOUR PROCEDURE

⇒ STOP using Minoxidil or Rogaine (to minimize bleeding).
⇒ Eliminate Vitamin E supplements.
⇒ Eliminate Multivitamins.
⇒ Eliminate any supplements containing Ginkgo Biloba and Ginseng.
⇒ Eliminate protein shakes and protein bars (most contain Vit. E).

2 WEEKS BEFORE YOUR PROCEDURE

⇒ We need to be aware of all the medication you are currently taking.
⇒ Please hold on to your present haircut and keep your hair in the back as long as possible.

10 DAYS BEFORE YOUR PROCEDURE

⇒ DO NOT take Aspirin (ASA) or drugs containing Aspirin: Tylenol may be used instead.

24-48 HOURS PRIOR TO YOUR PROCEDURE

⇒ Please provide our office with your pharmacy phone number (to call in your medication).
⇒ For your convenience pick up your pain medication BEFORE your procedure.
⇒ DO NOT drink protein shakes, energy drinks or any alcohol (wine, beer, etc.).
⇒ Avoid strenuous, intensive physical activity (ex. working out).

THE NIGHT BEFORE YOUR PROCEDURE

⇒ Wash your hair well with HIBICLEANCE (or regular shampoo if not given Hibicleance).

THE DAY OF YOUR PROCEDURE

⇒ The morning of your procedure wash your hair well with HIBICLEANCE (or regular shampoo if not given Hibicleance).
⇒ Do not apply any hair products such as mousse, hairspray, gel, etc.
⇒ Have a regular breakfast or lunch (filling meal is necessary to minimize any chance of stomach queasiness or dizziness).
⇒ Avoid wearing clothing that needs to be pulled over your head. Please wear a shirt with buttons or zipper. NO T-SHIRTS! For your comfort we recommend to wear loose, easy-to-put-on shoes.
⇒ As a mild relaxer/sedative will be administered before surgery, you should not drive car afterwards.

One Year Update and Final Result (365 Days Post-Op)

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Hello everyone,

Today is July 14, 2015 and I am now one year post-op from my hair transplant procedure.

To give you all an idea of how much hair I have grown over the past year, below are my before, after, and today’s one year post-op pics.

Overall I’m really happy with the result I have and I think my pictures really speak for themselves. When you compare what I Iooked like a year ago to where I am now with a thicker, fuller head of hair it’s unbelievably believable.

For full disclosure, I think one part of the scar on the middle-right side of my head did not properly heal because even with a 4.5 around the scar, the right side still looks like a crease if I wore a baseball cap. I got a haircut on June 25 where the barber used a 4.5 around the scar and then he blended the hair below the scar with a 2 and then blended the top and front with scissors, and that one side showed a crease instead of my left.

It’s entirely possible that one side of a scar could heal better than the other so as far as I know, I didn’t do anything wrong during the healing process.

The next question is whether or not I will have a second procedure and I probably will. I was told coming into this that one procedure can get you 30 to 40 percent more density and realistically you might need a second procedure to have what many hair transplant doctors consider a finished product. I have some areas in my left and right temples that had no hair a year ago that could stand to be more filled in, but like I’ve said before, from months 12 to 15 there is even a 5 percent push, so we’ll just have to wait and see.

But overall, I’m am so happy with what I see in the mirror and how it makes me feel every day.

To all of my visitors and followers of this blog it has been my pleasure sharing my experience with you all and I hope that this blog will help anyone looking to embark on their own follicular journey, wherever it may take you.

It has been a pleasure serving you all.

All my best,

-Lance

Check out my one year post-op video on my YouTube channel.

[wpvideo D8Zbd9sB]

Before (7-14-14)

before-left

before-right

The plan (7-14-14)

1 year post-op (7-14-15)

11 Month Update (335 Days Post-Op)

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Hello everyone,

Today is June 14, 2015 and I am now 11 months or 335 days post-op.

Needless to say, my results are fantastic. The hairline is lowered and straightened, my temporal peaks are built out, and I have much better coverage of my scalp with better styling options.

Now that my hair is really growing in, I get all kinds of compliments on my hair and some say I look like a different person. Overall this has been a great experience since the day of my surgery and I couldn’t be happier.

It’s hard to believe that next month will mark one full year since the day of my surgery. Time really has flown by and it blows my mind when I look in the mirror and see how different I look now compared with back then.

Check back next month for pictures of my final result!

All my best,

-Lance

Check out my 11 month post-op video on my YouTube channel.

[wpvideo EK2zacNr]

10 Month Update (310 Days Post-Op)

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Hello everyone,

Today is May 20, 2015 and I am now 10 months or 310 days post-op. I was out of town the past couple of days hence, why I am behind on this month’s update.

I got my hair cut on May 1, so this month’s pics show how much more hair has grown in since my last haircut in February at the 7 month mark. Whenever I get a haircut I have to make sure that the barber doesn’t go too short on the sides and back so that the thin scar won’t be detectable. The barber went a little too short for me with a No. 3 (3/8 of an inch) on the back and sides so my scar looked like a crease in my hair like when you wear a baseball cap.

The thin areas behind my restored hairline are better filling in compared with last month and lately I’ve been styling my hair in a fauxhawk. Before my surgery I could have never worn a hairstyle like this without it looking terrible because of my receding temples.

Even though my hair looks better now than before I started losing my hair in my early twenties, I still have another two months to go before my final result.

Check back next month at 11 months post-op as I close in on my one year anniversary of my surgery.

All my best,

-Lance

Check out my 10 month post-op video on my YouTube channel.

[wpvideo nJRqe6nt]

9 Month Update (275 Days Post-Op)

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Hello everyone,

Today is April 15, 2015 and I am now 9 months or 275 days post-op.

As each month goes by, I am just amazed at how much hair continues to grow in.

Since the 7 month mark I’ve been styling and combing my hair from the new hairline, however some parts behind my temples are slightly patchy but are filling in. Because of this, some hairstyles look much better on me than others so my temples won’t look thin.

At this point I have another 3 months to go before I reach the final result but I am more than satisfied with what I have.

To give you all an idea of what the hair transplant timeline is like, from months 1 to 4 post-op you’re just looking for the new hairs to start sprouting up and then from months 5 to 7 you start to see a lot of growth to where you can start styling your hair from the new hairline. From months 8 to 12 and even up to 15 months, you’re then waiting for it all to fill in.

Check back next month at 10 months post-op for my next update.

All my best,

-Lance

Check out my 9 month post-op video on my YouTube channel.

[wpvideo 4AiD3KdZ]