Hi everyone, I had a botched hair transplant and decided to go down the electrolysis path to repair this because I was quite worried about potential scarring from FUE punch outs. It’s now been about a year on my repair journey and I am looking for some advice, so I am calling on the hair removal brains trust to help me!
1. Context
I am almost finished with my electrolysis sessions; there’s just a few hairs left to remove. Overall, I am incredibly happy with my hairline position now, we brought it back up to where it originally was in the centre and there’s a feeling that I look like myself again and that hair isn’t ‘on my face’. Knowing that there would be scarred tissue from the transplant, I also consulted with a dermatologist and have been undergoing laser treatments to address texture and redness issues. These treatments were originally CO2 laser, but we have now switched to Ultraclear (for texture) and VBeam (for redness). Importantly, we have not been using the ‘micro-coring’ mode for Ultraclear. I’m really happy with how the colouration and texture of my skin is going and I know it’s going to keep getting better as time goes on.
The current issue which I am trying to figure out is that of ‘ridging’. Under the harshest overhead lighting there is a distinctive line between the affected recipient area skin and my unaffected skin. The next goal of my repair is to remove that ridging and I think this is where potentially FUE punch outs have an advantage over electrolysis. I’m in two thoughts of mind about the ridging, either it is a result of the transplant surgery, or it is from the electrolysis (due to the heating aspect altering that skin). I also believe there could be some actual hair transplant ‘ridging’ on the right temple from poor surgery technique which is where the shadowing is most prominent.
2. Proposed next steps
I have been reviewing reversal/repair cases online and it appears that generally FUE punch outs have not resulted in the ridging look I am experiencing. So, I think the argument that FUE punch outs can correct texture issues on the recipient area from a transplant surgery is correct. Breaking that down, FUE punch outs are essentially removing tissue resulting in volume reduction for the area and flattening that skin down, which allows it to blend with the surrounding skin.
With that in mind, my current thoughts on the next step is to begin using the ‘micro-coring’ mode on the Ultraclear laser which essentially acts as a miniature version of an FUE punch by removing tissue. I should have started this 6 months ago in hindsight but did not think that volume reduction to flatten the area would be so important. I am considering trying a couple of sessions of that to see if some aggressive laser micro-coring sessions can flatten out and blend the skin.
My plan was to have a second hair transplant procedure around June next year to fix the low density and other issues from the first transplant which are still present. If the micro-coring sessions do not result in much or any change to that ridging issue, should I consider having some FUE punch outs done at the smallest punch size to further aid in flattening out the skin and removing that ridging? For the raised ridge point on my right temple, I believe that issue may require a steroid injection.
I am hoping for some advice on this plan and what next steps you would take if you were in my situation? There’s some real experts on this forum so I feel like I am in good hands! I also understand that skin texture issues sit slightly outside this forum’s remit but because I used electrolysis for my repair I am hoping a few here might be able to give some good guidance to me.
Thanks everyone!
