What would you have done differently?

[jeffreyt21]

Hey guys,

I am a 26 year old kid and finally decided to take the plunge and get a hair transplant. I will be receiving 2500 grafts from Dr. Shapiro on July 17th. The question I have for all you who have gotten a hair transplant is, if you were to go back and do it again, is there anything you would have done differently, or not done for that matter? For example, would you have used certain supplements or creams or solutions to speed the recovery? Would you have cut your hair that you had a certain way before going in? What would you veterans suggest to me in terms of preparing for it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I am a bit nervous to get it done as I have my hair grown out in a way that hides my receeded temples and when I go to get it done, it will be cut down to a crew cut and I am nervous for the shedding phase when I will have no existing hair to cover the temples while I wait for the new hair to grow. So, if any of you have any advice for me in terms of speeding recovery or supplementing or anything, like I said, it would be much appreciated.

 

[Guest]

Jeff, did you receive your pre-op and post-op instructions from his clinic?

 

[jeffreyt21]

Gillenator,

I just received my packet in the mail today. It answered a lot of questions for me. It mentioned a graftcyte that is supposed to help in the wound healing. Is there anything you would add to that gillenator in terms of supplementing or shampooing that would be beneficial?

 

[Guest]

Glad you received your info. I used Graftcyte myself in my last two procedures and no you really won't need anything else. The key to Graftcyte is that it promotes healing within a moist environment.

Are you purchasing the entire Graftcyte post-op kit which has the copper-peptide enriched dressings? There are twelve sealed packets of these dressings that you will soaking your recipient area with twice per day for three days. The kit also has Graftcyte shampoo, an ointment for the suture line, and of course the bottle of Graftcyte spray that you will be applying to the recipient area between the dressing soaks.

The kit comes with directions and the manufacturer is Procyte Inc. Many docs offer them but you would have to check their cost or you can go online and find distributors as well.

 

[jeffreyt21]

All it says in my pre-op packet is that I will be receiving a solution that will last for a few days is all. Would you recommend getting the entire packet? What exactly does graftcyte do? Thanks in advance Gillenator for your help. I am a bit nervous about this whole thing.u

 

[jeffreyt21]

Gillenator,

I was just looking online at some of the prices for the graftcyte and noticed that tricomin was also made by procyte and was about a third of the price. Would that work just as well, or is the graftcyte definitely the way to go?

 

[Guest]

Then you will be receiving the Graftcyte spray bottle which should last you three days or so. That's fine because you will be spraying your grafts with the copper-peptide solution and that will advance the healing pretty quick. I mean if you really want to go to the Nth degree, you can buy the kit online. It's kind of pricy though. Don't worry, you're in good hands! :wink:

 

[Guest]

Tricomin is good shampoo to use on a continual basis in the future, I use it myself. BUT, you definitely want to use the Graftcyte spray because it will really soak the grafts with copper-peptide for three days post-op.

 

[jeffreyt21]

Gillenator,

The largest portion of my hairloss is the temples; however, my frontal area too has some overall thinning. They plan on packing that area as well to make it thicker overall. I have grown out that hair to cover my bald temples; but, they are going to cut it super short to be able to pack the new hair follicles in there. The question I have for you is, once the new hair sheds, my receeded hairline will be obvious, correct? And, I will just have to wait it out for however many months for the newly transplanted follicles to start growing in order to remove any trace of a receeding hairline? That is something I have been thinking about over the past few days and am a bit nervous to get my hair cut short since I have been able to do such a good job with the existing hair to cover it up. At the same time, it will be nice one day not to have to worry about covering it up, and if it takes a few months of looking like a baldy, then I guess that is what has to happen.

 

[Guest]

jeffreyt21,

Yes you are correct about the wait for the new growth, but honestly I really do not think anyone will think much other than noticing you decided to wear you hair shorter.

The real key is to never let on that you even care about it. If anyone should say anything to you, simply reply that you decided to try a shorter haircut for a change and leave it at that. The more normal you act around others, the less they notice.

Being somewhat nervous about your procedure is completely normal. We all go through that. I always tried to think about the new growth that would follow my hair transplants. :hairy:

 

[jeffreyt21]

Gillenator,

You're a stud. Thanks man. So, would you suggest getting the tricomin line of products to start using after my graftcyte spray is used up; and, is 4 days enough graftcyte spraying, or should I order more?

 

[Guest]

jeffreyt21,

You won't need the post-op Graftcyte spray beyond three days. The goal would be to use up the bottle in the three days. So use about 1/3 of the spray bottle throughout each day and into the evening. As soon as you wake up, begin the routine of spraying.

What you will notice is the rapid rate of healing in the recipient area and by the third day your crusts will be quite hard. The risk of popping any grafts drops significantly.

The two Procyte products I use are Tricomin Conditioning Shampoo and Tricomin Restructuring Conditioner. I'll give you a quick tip that will save lots of money. I first shampoo with a basic shampoo product that gets my hair clean. Then I apply just several drops on the Tricomin shampoo to the palm of my hand and rub my hands togethor. That evenly distributes a small amount on my hands and then I start a second shampoo application. You will find that just a tiny amount of Tricomin will suds up tons of lather. Let the lather sit on your scalp while you wash the rest of your body. That will give the suds five minutes or so to soak your hairs. Then rinse off and apply the conditioner. Rinse again and you're good to go.

The reason you want to allow the suds of Tricomin shampoo to sit on your scalp for five minutes or so is because it gives your hair time to absorb the triamino copper nutritional complex. The copper is then delivered to the dermal papilla inside the hair follicule and will promote stronger quality to the future grown hairs. It does not inhibit DHT though so Propecia (finasteride) is still important and I take that as well (finasteride).