Im almost a week post op. Is there any way to know if i have harmed a graft, lost one? Im trying to take the guess work out of my post op experiance… Should i expect any to fall out? and at what point would this happen? what point would it be safe to know their not going to fall out anymore?
I was instructed to wash every day, twice a day for a month with baby shampoo, and to keep the area moist with vit. E lotion applied twice daily after the washing. i guess the shower is the riskiest place to lose grafts. would i be able to know if i did lose any in there? would it bleed ?
also im just about out of fucidin H cream for my doner area. I dont know if i should get anymore of this stuff because my doner area is still constantly sore, maybe neosporin would be more gentle?
Any other thought on how to preserve my precious grafts would be much appreciated.
You are one week out. You are pretty much ok with them “falling out”. They are pretty solid by day 3 to 4. Now just relax, follow your docs instructions. Within the forst 24 hours post OP was your most vulnerable time. If you made it past that time frame without bumping your head, raising your blood pressure, you are fine bro.
Now just wash and relax. Around the 14th day mark, you should be able to have most all of the crusts and scabs worked out of the scalp.
i did bump my head once… lol im 6 3" it was on the plane home. i dunno if that caused any real problem, i didnt hit anything sharp. I posted clear pics on here as soon as i got home n washed.
if i did harm anything? would there be alot of blood?
» if i did harm anything? would there be alot of blood?
eeek… That would be a call sign of graft disruption and possible loss. Fully describe what happened including what you saw in your hat or head wrap, amounts of blood and/or follicles seen after you bumped your head.
» » if i did harm anything? would there be alot of blood?
»
» eeek… That would be a call sign of graft disruption and possible loss.
» Fully describe what happened including what you saw in your hat or head
» wrap, amounts of blood and/or follicles seen after you bumped your head.
i dont really recall any blood at all, or follicles. well just have to wait and see it that was a multi thousand dollor bump i took… 
No blood post bumping head makes me about 95% confident that you will be fine. Especially since you were 1 day out.
I have seen the worst case scenario with bumped heads. Once this guy bumped a head and it became necrotic and infected.
I have seen several bumped heads with graft loss. And a few incidents where I met the patient to put them back into the head. And even at hotel rooms.
I think you will be ok.
» No blood post bumping head makes me about 95% confident that you will be
» fine. Especially since you were 1 day out.
»
» I have seen the worst case scenario with bumped heads. Once this guy
» bumped a head and it became necrotic and infected.
»
» I have seen several bumped heads with graft loss. And a few incidents
» where I met the patient to put them back into the head. And even at hotel
» rooms.
»
» I think you will be ok.
thanks for the info:-D
Snowrider28:
I lost a graft (a “mini” graft) the day following my first procedure at Bosley. I jabbed my thumbnail by accident into my scalp when I was sleeping. The thing that woke me up was the trickle of warm blood running down my forehead. If you lose a graft, you WILL know it. I also bumped my head on the overhead luggage compartment when boarding a plane. I was scarred shitless, but everything worked out okay - no loss of grafts due to the bumping.
» Snowrider28:
»
» I lost a graft (a “mini” graft) the day following my first procedure at
» Bosley. I jabbed my thumbnail by accident into my scalp when I was
» sleeping. The thing that woke me up was the trickle of warm blood running
» down my forehead. If you lose a graft, you WILL know it. I also
» bumped my head on the overhead luggage compartment when boarding a plane.
» I was scared shitless, but everything worked out okay - no loss of grafts
» due to the bumping.
The big risk for loosing a graft is the first night. After that, you can rest far easier. Follicular units become increasingly more difficult to dislodge on a daily basis. I’ve had difficulty removing them with forceps in a controled environment even on the third day. There was a very good study done this year, which showed that on day 6 you can remove the scab and tug on the hair in the graft without removing the graft.
The way you will know if you have lost a graft is by the presence of blood. If you do not see bright red blood, you have not lost a graft.
My own recomendations for over 15 years have been to treat grafts gently for the first 10 days. After 10 days, you can do what ever you want. This more recent study essentially points out that you can be more agressive on day 6.
I recomend you wash your scalp agressively after the 10th day to remove any non-growing hair and scabs. You do not want to retain non-growing hair fragments. You want to get rid of them. At this point you can even begin using a wash cloth.
Baby shampoo is good because it does not produce as much lather so you can get rid of the soap with less rinsing. After the 6th day, you can use what ever shampoo you want to use.
Best of luck, but you can rest assured at this point.
