Wound Management
Having your hair transplant is just as important as post-surgical care. The secret to getting very fine scars that are minimally visible to invisible lies in the minimizing of tension vectors at the wound margins. Consequently, all my FUSS patients get two-layer closures. The deep layer, is the workhorse, it brings the wounds margins close or nearly touching by interrupted sutures. Then the superficial layer is closed with a running baseball suture. I use all kinds of sutures; always of course an absorbable suture for the deep layer, as this will stay in place. The choice of suture in closing the superficial layer is immaterial, as this suture will be removed anyway.
A few days after your transplant you may feel well and ready for anything but it is important to remember that wound management can seriously affect your results. A question many of our patients ask is when they can get back to their work out routines. Here’s the question from the patient and the answer directly from Dr. Arocha.
Q: When can I go back to the gym?
A: Wait one week to restart your aerobic routine. Two weeks and you can go back into the gym and do light lifting as long as you do not pull on the neck area.
Skin is plastic and has tremendous elasticity. That is why we call it plastic surgery, because of the skin’s ability to stretch. The scar or wound area is even more elastic because it is a weaker structure until that wound or scar matures. The maturation of a scar takes between six and twelve months. That is why it’s critical to limit weight lifting that pulls on the margins and by that I mean squats and anything that pulls on your shoulders and neck, which can stretch an immature scar.
