» Is it possible to ask the patient to grow his hair long so that it can
» better hide the strip scar after surgery ? This guy could have covered
» that scar had he grown his hair 1 inch longer before the surgery.
Firstly the coverage, if you note the FU groupings you will see he had a high % of single and two hair follicular units, these have to be packed closer together to ensure a density, the larger groupings can be spread further. The placement of grafts is an important factor in achieving coverage but it is not just about the graft numbers, but the natural groupings and general hair characteristics. We recently performed a 5325 FUT procedure with a higher % of larger groupings, although the graft number was 600 less than this case he had he had 400 more hairs.
Another factor with the coverage; the intention prior to this procedure was to look long term and the patient took and educated decision, knowing his options, to focus on a good density and then look at full coverage down the line with another procedure.
The scar line, the patient had a higher than average density, very good laxity, the strip was not aggressively removed to reach the number, was removed within the safety zone and not hard to close. The healing process of the strip will be over months, hence it is visible in the early outdoor post op pictures, again with short hair; now the gentleman feels comfortable with keeping his hair this short and considering his work, in the armed forces, where men can be quite vocal and jocular I would suggest it maybe not obvious, and only when scrutinised, knowing it is there and looking for it does it become more noticeable or an issue; and that is with very short hair.
Whether or not you feel it is aggressive is subjective, as is having a hair transplant in the first place, FUE or FUT/Strip, they are surgical procedures that will cause scarring in the donor area and all care is taken to reduce the scarring to a minimum. Unfortunately this is the trade off with a hair transplant, if you do not want your body impaired or changed in any way then a hair transplant may not be for you.
Helpmeout,
here are pictures with longer hair, post op 8 months outdoors, natural light