to me, the issue of redness potentially lasting for months is by far the worst "side effect" of a hair transplant. assuming you can get 2-3 weeks off work (which i realize a lot of people can't do), but assuming that is the case, even if you shaved your head completely you will have grown back enough hair after 3 weeks to make it just look like a buzz cut (also, i'm more specifically referring to FUE so scars are also not an issue in my situation). also, the scabs should have fallen off after this amount of time and if you have/had enough hair before the hair transplant, after it all starts to grow in and thicken up several months down the road, it will just blend in with your existing hair and it probably wouldn't even be detectable to outsiders. of course, it will be noticeable to you and you can probably start styling your hair differently (ie. not combing it forward to cover up the receeding, etc.). and if anyone does comment on it, you can easily just say that you started using rogaine and it's really been working! (and yes, i realize that the scenario above is not even close to everyone's situation, but i'm just wondering for myself and others in a similar spot.)
so long story short, everything's wonderful and happy. EXCEPT, the redness. how in the hell are you supposed to explain that you have this strip of redness around your hairline for a few months?
does anyone have any legitimate solution(s) to this problem?
one thing i thought of that might work pretty well would be to use self-tanning cream on the red area along the hairline to help cover it up and blend in with the rest of your forehead/scalp (presumably you'd have to use the tanning lotion on your entire face), but then i was thinking that the tanning lotion might be bad for these yet-to-grow-in grafts and possibly inhibit their future growth? anyone know?
or does anyone know of any other creative solutions to this problem that should not hurt future graft growth? i've heard that witch hazel may help and that there are antibiotic creams that contain certain steroids that may help, but does this actually work in any noticeable way?
any input or advice would be GREATLY appreciated.
outside of wearing a hat for however many weeks/months the redness lasts, i can't really think of anything. all the doctors seem to say that "it depends on your skin type/color, but the redness is usually gone in about 3 weeks." the thing is, based on hundreds of post-op pics i've seen on this and other sites, that never seems to be the case. it seems to last for 2-3 months or more most of the time.
so long story short, everything's wonderful and happy. EXCEPT, the redness. how in the hell are you supposed to explain that you have this strip of redness around your hairline for a few months?
does anyone have any legitimate solution(s) to this problem?
one thing i thought of that might work pretty well would be to use self-tanning cream on the red area along the hairline to help cover it up and blend in with the rest of your forehead/scalp (presumably you'd have to use the tanning lotion on your entire face), but then i was thinking that the tanning lotion might be bad for these yet-to-grow-in grafts and possibly inhibit their future growth? anyone know?
or does anyone know of any other creative solutions to this problem that should not hurt future graft growth? i've heard that witch hazel may help and that there are antibiotic creams that contain certain steroids that may help, but does this actually work in any noticeable way?
any input or advice would be GREATLY appreciated.
outside of wearing a hat for however many weeks/months the redness lasts, i can't really think of anything. all the doctors seem to say that "it depends on your skin type/color, but the redness is usually gone in about 3 weeks." the thing is, based on hundreds of post-op pics i've seen on this and other sites, that never seems to be the case. it seems to last for 2-3 months or more most of the time.
