Hair transplant & tying hair back

[zoe91]

I'm MTF and lucky enough to have a good hairline with only a little recession at the peaks. In fact a lot of the time I tie my hair back and most people don't notice. So this might seem silly, but I notice it and it bothers me . My hair is naturally blonde too (I know, lucky again) but it really helps me pass which is why it's important to me.

Anyway I'm considering getting transplants to correct it but I was wondering what will happen during healing. I still want to tie my hair back but how long after surgery will it be before I can do that? As it starts to grow back in will it also look odd for a while and for how long? I can wear it down for work and so on but for the gym I really need to be able to tie it back. As most people don't notice just now, how long before I can tie it back and people still won't notice? I guess I'm wondering if I might need to wait months before going back to the gym and/or tying it back?

[LizK]

Hi Emma

I had a half shoe balding pattern. As you can see by my current avatar there is not real sign of the hair loss. That is all my own hair and what you can't see is the number of new growth that cannot be seen and is not long enough to currently impact my hair. What you see there is from the first round of hair implants from earlier last year. I had a second round done in November but it will be May before they really impact my hair. HRT of course also helps.

With the hair implants you will get them erupting back through the skin like bad pimples but this normally only lasts about a month. It is messy and gross but an excellent sign. You have to be careful to stay out of the sun for the first 12 months other than that you can treat it like you would the rest of your hair. Feel free to ask any questions that I will certainly answer if I can. So first round was about May last year the second was November.

Hope that helps

Liz

[zoe91]

So are you saying about 4 weeks before tying back in a ponytail (once the pimple things clear up)?

[J2J]

Instead of just brushing it backwards and tying it could you not kind of mask the hair transplant by kind of tying it back by covering it up with your hair?

It's kind of hard to explain but instead of just pulling it straight back you pull it sideways on both sides then tie it at the back.

I'm sorry, having a hard time trying to explain.... 

[LizK]

No it depends on how quick your hair grows the main growth you can see with mine is 10 months from the first round of transplants the second round is not showing yet...Hope that makes sense. The hair will actually break off and after about 3 weeks you may even wonder if you wasted your money as it can appear that nothing is happening. Then over the period of the next three months new hair grows to replace the broken implants, this hair is just as strong as the rest of the hair on your head and you can treat it the same way.

Bottom line Implants in April, Pimple things stop late May,  By August the new hair should be grown in to a shortish length depending on how healthy you keep the scalp and all those kinds of things. Hope I clarified that for you

Liz

[LizK]

I think I know what you mean

I can clip mine back and sweep the hair to the side to cover the growing implants...it really depends on how much you are getting done...

So this is where I started

http://imgur.com/a/c3qRb

[alex82]

I'm MTF and lucky enough to have a good hairline with only a little recession at the peaks. In fact a lot of the time I tie my hair back and most people don't notice. So this might seem silly, but I notice it and it bothers me . My hair is naturally blonde too (I know, lucky again) but it really helps me pass which is why it's important to me.

Anyway I'm considering getting transplants to correct it but I was wondering what will happen during healing. I still want to tie my hair back but how long after surgery will it be before I can do that? As it starts to grow back in will it also look odd for a while and for how long? I can wear it down for work and so on but for the gym I really need to be able to tie it back. As most people don't notice just now, how long before I can tie it back and people still won't notice? I guess I'm wondering if I might need to wait months before going back to the gym and/or tying it back?

I had very slight recession at the temple, but you couldn't see it. Discussing hormones, my doctor said 'this one stops any recession, but that's probably not a problem for you'. I thought it was, so I had it done anyway. I mean you really couldn't see anything without me lifting it up, and even at that, a man heading towards mid 30's would be considering to be doing well with it. A woman, not quite right.

The surgeon said to me that I had great hair and that 'gentleman have crowns and ladies have tiaras' - so I said give me a tiara. So he kind of knew, without me having to explain it all any further. And he did, and he was fabulous.

My hair isn't blonde naturally but it has been since I was a teenager, thanks to dye. After about three months, my roots were dreadful, so I rang up and asked directly if things like peroxide and ammonia could be used or if it would damage, and he said go for it, by the third month you can treat it as you always did.

My salon always does an intense scalp massage too, and it must've realiy stimulated the blood flow or whatever. Within the week really, it led to a massive growth spurt. I was told not to smoke (but I did). The only thing that annoyed me was having to sleep upright for a few days - with a great prescription for fantastic pills that beg to be fully enjoyed flat out.

You probably won't be able to/want to tie it back for a good few months, especially when wiry new growth is appearing. In terms of working out, you can resume the full thing from the end of month two or thereabouts.

[alex82]

So are you saying about 4 weeks before tying back in a ponytail (once the pimple things clear up)?

No, those won't be happening until month two or three. And won't be disappearing until month six or seven.

It depends on you, how you heal, how healthy your hair is. As Elizabeth said, it's common for the transplants to fall out. It may even take existing healthy hair nearby with it.

That last part didn't happen to me, but yes, most of the transplant on one side fell out within a month. On the other side (the right temple) nothing fell out and it started growing naturally immediately.

I was really panicked at one stage because on day four or five I fell over and grazed the side of my head on a table. Thankfully it dislodged nothing. By day three or so earliest (a week latest) it should've all connected up, so I was assured. And in my case it had, despite the cigarette habit that slows down any healing process from anything.

It's just luck of the draw. Prepare for it to fall out and not to see it again for at least three months. Any that you retain seems to be unusual and a bit of a bonus.

[zoe91]

Thanks for all the responses I think it's helping to reassure me. In my case I'm not actually bothered at all if the implants fall out and then grow back in. As I said before my hairline is good so that may even be better if it means I can then ignore the fact I had it done and let it grow in naturally over the following months (and get more of the tiara which is what I'd like too :-)

As some more background I'm actually pretty healthy and cycle for about 12+ hours a week (in the gym and with a group) so I do pull my hair back straight sometimes although I also part it and push it back (it's parted when I wear it down). I guess what I want is just to be able to get back to my normal routine as soon as possible after getting it done and for it not to be noticeable and to look natural as it grows back in without having to hide it. A lot of people I know don't know I'm trans so it's really about hiding from them what I had done with the minimal downtime.

[snowboarderchic]

What was the cost of getting a hair transplant? It seems like it a few dollars a graft, but they don't tell you how much of an area a graft covers.

[LizK]

What was the cost of getting a hair transplant? It seems like it a few dollars a graft, but they don't tell you how much of an area a graft covers.

You need to have an assessment as to what is the best option and at that assessment they can tell you how many will give what kind of coverage. It is difficult to estimate, due to individual needs, the type of hair you have and  the way you want to wear it. My original plan was always to have the full 2500 implants and maybe even a bit more but my hairs regrowth has been nothing short of fantastic so there is no way I will be having anymore.

I had traditional MPB with like a skunk tail through the centre that was sparse...in my avatar photo there is at least that much again in shorter finer hairs still growing and maturing that cannot be seen, so it should thicken up further.

somewhere between 2-3000 is what most seem to have when we are talking MPB...less if you just need a fill in

This is where I started



hope that helps

Liz