Hi I'm new and don't know who to ask about mouth hair...

Hi Alex

It's great that you had a successful op but the hair on the roof of your mouth sounds really annoying and I can see how it could affect your eating.  I had a similar op to you with a graft from my forearm but fortunately as I am not hairy there I have not had the same issue. However I do remember a post from someone who was having a similar issue some time ago. Unfortunately I can't remember the outcome so that is not much help to you but I think laser might have been mentioned.  However it must be an issue that your consultant sees fairly often so I would get an appointment with him and find out what can be done.

Hope you have a successful outcome.

Lyn

Hi Alexa , my hubby had mandibular cancer and jaw reconstruction. He had hes flap from hes leg and hes very hairy. Like yourself he had a hairy mouth infact hes was awful and he struggled with this but once he started rt it started going as it kills the hair folicals. After a few weeks it started to fall out so speak to your team to find out if and when you will be having rt. Wishing you all the best as know this isnt pleasant either and Pauls got quite long i remember we cut the hair at one point. Wishing you all the best xxx

Good evening Alex, I'm afraid I'm not much help to you, although I had a few skin grafts and a forearm flap plus ones from my stomach and thigh i never suffered from any hair issues, maybe because I'm not very hairy although I can see a difference in skin colour where they took skin and tissue from different parts of my body. It's the first time i have heard of this happening maybe your consultant is more knowledgeable of how the hair disappears, i know that radiotherapy can cause hair loss. I'm sure you will not be expected to put up with this issue. All the best with your continued recovery, well done in your progress so far as we all know how difficult it can be, good luck and take care.

                                                         Chris 

Hi. I had a fibula free flap about 2 years ago to replace my lower right jaw. Also had hair growth and fortunately didn’t need radiotherapy so the hair remained.

The NHS arranged for laser therapy which has mostly sorted it out. It’s basically the same process as having laser hair removal on any other part of the body, pretty painless, they ask you to wear goggles then put a small pen like instrument in my mouth to zap the hair follicles. Only takes a few mins each appointment, but I had to go half a dozen or so times. I expect the consultant will also want you to wait quite a few months for the surgery to heal first, I went about 9 months later.