Is Hair Transplant Repair After 2 Surgeries Possible?Posted by doctorhasson on June 10th, 2010

I have had 2 transplants (3800 and 1500). The first left my recipient area pitted and looking like a golf ball or a pin cushion. I had the second one recently (Jan 2010) with the intent to conceal the pitting in the hailine. First procedure was with NHI (Oct 08) in Melbourne Australia the second with Dr Knudsen in Sydney. When I see your photos (and others) I almost begin to cry cause my recipient area is such that I cannot leave the house without a cap. I fear that the recent procedure will not be enough to conceal the damage. My only hope is to have another procedure (around 4000, donor area permitting) to get as much density as possible to conceal the mess as I am painfully aware that scars are for life. How long do I need to wait between procedures and is donor hair supply the only constraint on density or is there a physical limit at which you cannot place grafts together? Please help me. — S.H.

It would be best to wait until at least 8 months post-op to determine the result and plan for another procedure. If the recipient area is not able to be improved to the desired degree by the second procedure, a couple questions need to be addressed:

  1. will another procedure adequately conceal the old work and create a natural enough result ?
  2. will removing the old work be necessary before the next procedure to achieve the desired result ?

In many cases where the recipient area is scarred and damaged, the removal of the tissue and then later reconstruction will create the most natural hairline. There are several factors that need to be taken into consideration to determine the best approach if any for another procedure. There are too many factors to discuss here which would determine that. A clear set of photos, or better, a physical examination would be required to correctly assess the situation. For a free consultation and to upload photos, please submit a free hair loss consultation form.

While donor supply does factor into what density would be best to try and achieve, there is a physical limit as to how dense the grafts can be packed. If given a sufficient amount of raw materials (donor) to work with, many patients with otherwise obvious unnatural hairlines from previous surgeries can in the end have normal looking natural results.

— Victor Hasson, MD

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