Is My Hair Transplant Scar Too High?
I recently had 2000 FUT’s by a well respected doctor in the field (and planning to get more, but this time, FUE’s). But I notice though that my donor scar location is about an inch above the occipital protuberance (I believe that is what that small bump in the back of the head is called), that is, one inch above the ears. He evaluated my hair and also I had a small previous scar from a prior HT done with laser (600 grafts) that he cut out with the new donor location. I am 43 years of age and I believe that I am a class 4 (or maybe close to 5).
My questions are: Is my donor scar too high? Are the chances high at my age that I will progress to a class 5 or 6 pattern?
I am fearful of future hair loss progressing down to my donor location. My Father and grandfather (both from my mother’s and father’s side) had full hair and of course normal thinning hair as they reached their 70’s. Except my uncles on my mothers side are classes 5’s and 6’s.
Thank you so much for your time
One can not predict hair loss with any certainty. It is clear that you do not follow the family pattern you identified in the body of your question. Scars that are placed in the wrong position may be impacted by the hair loss pattern, but without examining you, I can not make such judgments. An FUE procedure will not address the scar adequately in one surgery and as you have already had two strip surgeries, I generally tell patients that it is too costly to go the FUE route once you had strip surgeries. Maybe with good pictures and anatomical markers on them to show the notch at the back of your head and the location of the scar relative to the ears, I can get enough information to give you further insights. If you do wish to send photos, my address is on the Contact page.
Hello,
I went through several procedures with a well known medical group back in the early 90’s. I was a 6 at the time.
In 2002 I was called back to military service to head to Iraq. I am an Infantryman and nedless to say our haircut is ‘extreme’. I was ridiculed and questioned constantly as to my ‘scars’. My scar from my MPR is particular noticeable and shows as ‘hole’ in the back of my head that dark hair grows out of. Since this was highlighted by the fact that everyuthing around it was shaved the jokes became of an obscene nature.
Also, I was asked all of the time about my ‘smiley face’ scars on teh back of my head.
My hair has continued to thin on the crown and tapers in to a long almost 1/2 ” scar that trils down to the ‘hole’. Even with my hair grown out now my ‘friends” refer to the reverse ‘mohawk’.
Baghdad was hard enough without a year’s worth of snide remarks.
Do you think this is ‘fixable’.
I was upset at the amount of money I spent at the time only to end up being MORE self conscious then I was when I was losing my hair.
HELP!
Thanks
Thank you for the response. I am back now (I just moved to LA) and have started to grow my hair longer but the MPR scar leaves a noticeable strip even with the longer hair. It’s very frustrating. My hair on top has thinned away from the MPR site and with the scar I have this ‘balloon on a string’ thing going on. Being a newly back vet seeking employment my finances are somewhat limited and I’m frustrated at having spent the money I did onlt to end up feeling worse then I did before I got those procedures.
I would love to find a way to talk with you about what could be done to ‘fix’ this.
I am now living in Los Angeles.
Thanks
Don
You should call my office at 800-NEW-HAIR and set up an appointment. There will be no charge for the consultation, but I must see what you are talking about to give you any meaningful advice. We have an office in LA.