HT Scar advice, desperately needed please!
Hi, Stupidly 2 years ago, I got a HT which left
me with a scar, ear to ear and live with it every day, either by wearing hats or bandanas
as the hair did not grow.
Moving on, I have thought about getting MHT, tattooing over the scar, but need to get rid
of the pinky/brown areas around the scar and was wondering if there was anything anyone
suggested to clear, soften this please?
Picture attached.
I have seen reports on a new treatment called Recell, but some say a chemical peel perhaps.
There are so many things, not knowing who to trust no more.
It would be good if someone could shed some light please.
Thank you
Riz
Thank you for your question!
In your question you wrote that 2 years ago you went for a transplant and clearly you
are really unhappy about the scar that resulted.
You submitted a photo of that scar.
It's a linear scar consistent with a strip method for a hair transplant and you also
mentioned some options as to how to make the scar better.
This is not an unusual issue and I think it's the result of really communication.
You see, hair transplantation whether it's the strip method or the follicular unit extraction
method still results in scars.
And part of our consultation is explanation and understanding of the scars.
I'm not only a hair transplant surgeon, I'm also a full body cosmetic surgeon so discussions
about scars is something I do all day long whether it's for tummy tuck, facelift or breast
surgery.
So our discussion about a hair transplant scar, I explain to our patients that we use
not only cosmetic surgery techniques to make these incisions as close as possible but we
also use a material called extracellular matrix and platelet-rich plasma which we use in a
treatment called Hair Regeneration to further enhance the healing.
Now, with that being said, wound healing is a process that happens in the course of 6
months to a year and even with the best closure with most advanced technology in terms of
biomaterials, you could still get a scar that's undesirable.
A scar that's undesirable can be widened scar, thickened scar or an irregular scar but it
is part of the understanding when we tell our patients that if you were not to have
the best healing, yes we can potentially revise the scar but it's about how the body heals
and that's something we can't always predict.
You mentioned some options like tattooing or new technology that is being used for wound
healing of burns.
The reality is that the scar is at a deeper level and what's responsible for the thickening
is more about the type of scars sometimes people refer to as hypertrophic or keloid
scar.
In our practice, if someone has a thickened scar like yours, we employ injections of material
such as 5-fluorouracil or 5-FUand kenolog.
We've also had very nice results with injections of platelet-rich plasma.
Platelet-rich plasma has been very successful for areas of hypertrophic scars or thickened
scars to soften them and ideally allowing some hair growth to occur through those scars.
Now that you had your transplant, you are somehow committed to have your hair length
a little bit longer to make sure the scars are covered.
If you are aware the your scars are obvious when your hair is wet or if someone is noticing
it, then you may want to consider a surgical scar revision or the treatment with injections
but I don't think any topical treatment will do that much.
I would caution you also about medical tattooing although it can look good in pictures, 3 dimensionally,
it might not look right for you.
So I think that you need to do some consultations with some cosmetic surgeons who have a lot
of experience with scars and understanding what your options are.
You can't erase a scar.
You can make a bad scar to a better scar but you can't eliminate it all together so I would
be cautious about what you pursue.
So I wish you the best of luck, I hope that was helpful and thank you for your question!