multiplier

Awhile back my dermatologist recommended one of these devices which has helped clear up my breakouts and skin tone.

https://revivelighttherapy.com/product/dpl-nuve-professional-acne-treatment-light-therapy-copy/

Does anyone know if it's the same kind of laser people have tried for hair (e.g., laser comb or helmet)? Would be great to try the same device for both needs! Although very skeptical it'd help with much other than superficial healthy appearance of existing follicles.

I bought a comb way back in around 2002, used it for a couple years and really saw no benefit. I haven't been as in the loop with hairloss stuff in awhile but I now see they're selling helmets. But...I thought the jury was already in that these home remedy laser devices didn't work? Is this just more of the same?

Yeah, hard to know. It was a known and respected doctor who just warned it wasn't a great long term move. But I also don't know of any true controlled study that shows growth will reverse if scar tissue builds up from needling...?

I'm wondering if you "cycle" it — do it 1x/week for 3 months, then take a month off, then cycle again — would be less harmful.

49 minutes ago, jj51702 said:

since you can’t use finasteride orally, have you tried topical?

I've been doing it every few nights, but it's expensive and I'm wary as some claim side effects. No idea whether to expect results.

I was speaking with a HT doctor who said about people who are microneedling: "Any type of chronic wounding will build up a lot of scar tissue overtime. These guys are likely seeing a temporary benefit, but I think they will actually accelerate and even worsen their hair loss in the long term." Anyone heard this?

Sounds like I'm gonna take the plunge with a Dermapen after seeing folks' results. Happy to report back or compare notes if anyone's interested.

16 minutes ago, hairman22 said:

maybe look into smp

Have actually done SMP here in NY for scars and the results are good. But I think it'd be weird if  patches were SMP and patches were obviously #1 bladed hair.

Wow, I'd only ever read that 1x/week is all anyone had done safely.

What I ordered in 2015 on Amazon and have been using since is called: "3-In-1 Kit Derma Roller by Diva d'or - Titanium Micro Needle Roller - 180/600/1200 Needles - Best Skin DermaRoller for Body and Face - 0.5/1.0/1.5mm N"

I've had 5 transplants starting since around 2001. Have a look at my blog/history if you're curious.

Basically bc of persistent sides, I had to quit finasteride in the summer of 2015. 4 years later, I keep my hair very short and give the impression of someone with short hair who is balding at the crown. But, my worse case scenario is coming true which is that the horseshoe shape is starting to define itself and I'm now losing hair on the sides of the crown. Which means that in a few years, the transplanted area will detach from the sides altogether and I will be f*cked. Other than removing the transplants in some miraculous surgery, I don't know what else to do and am feeling very depressed. Depressed enough, I might just go back on finasteride (though I apply topical fin 3/4x week and have no idea if it helps).

First I'll attach a photo from 2015, though obviously the lighting is very very different and I still had some native hair mixed within the transplants. Then I'll attach 2 photos from today that show the loss starting around the sides.

My current regime: topical finasteride 3-4x/week, dermaroller 1x/week, 5% Rogaine 2x/day.

Are there any other inside tips for small gains or regrowth I could try around the crown or any new developments in this world since I've been out of touch with the hair regrowth game for 5-6 years? Thank you guys.

just wondering how come you had so may so many procedures with such small fut sessions? I understand the 1800 grafts procedure but the rest of them seem kina low. From my understanding you loose grafts from getting cut open.

That first MHR surgery I got created a much larger scar than was necessary for that amount and done by an inferior doctor/company. So once that damage was done, it was harder for subsequent doctors to do larger sessions all at once, as it was explained to me by Dr Shapiro.

Sorry for the delay, I've been out of town.

Here are a couple photos. My donor density was never great and keeping my hair short was always the idea. Another note is that I quit finasteride due to side effects in 2015 so I have continued to lose in the crown. A couple months ago I did start topical finasteride though and have continued with Rogaine.

I guess my main issue is that the hair on top sometimes goes bird's nest-y when I try to comb it. And it sticks straight up (but at differing angles) and is coarse whereas the hair around sides and back is very very fine and straight and flat. Just trying to soften the effect in the front, if possible. I'm currently cutting my own hair with clippers: #2 in back and sides, #3 on top.

Well, it's been a couple years and they still seem like they go unnaturally in different directions.

I've received a few transplants in the last 5 years and while it's done a relatively good job filling in the balding areas, to my eye there is no mistaking that the transplanted hair on top looks different than the hair on the sides.

Currently I'm cutting my own hair with clippers: #2 on sides and back, #3 on top. I got SMP tattooing from Matt Iulo at Scalp Micro and it's done a great job allowing me to keep my hair short.

But, still - the transplanted hair on top is unmistakably coarse, twisty and wiry. I'm trying to figure out how to soften the appearance. I've thought of dying my hair silver like some hipsters do nowadays But I think my hair would have to be longer for that. Same with straightening it - a hairdresser told me it would have to be at least 2" and that's not an option.

I'm wondering if anyone here has succeeded in using softeners or conditioners or any other kind of procedure to help things look more natural. Thanks.

I just made a consultation appointment with Vinci here in New York.

I would also like feedback about them.

Thanks hairthere - I want to clarify that Ahead was totally helpful, well-informed and easy about the whole process and it's probably just something in my biology and nature of my scar that made it fade. I will follow up with you via email.

If anyone has seen photos of short hair with SMP on an FUT scar, I would love to see good examples or hear from people's experiences. I can't quite seem to find what I'm looking for via Google image search.

I am to the point where 3000+ grafts is simply not giving great coverage and the attempt by Shapiro to add 400-500 grafts to my FUT scar has amounted in negligible difference to the scar.

So I would like to cut my hair fairly short — not shaved — and obscure the scar. Have you seen any photos of this looking decent? I have seen a few photos on HIS forums that show a shaved head and scar and it looked way darker than the skin. It was almost like a black stripe across the back of the head which is worse.

FWIW, I went to Long Island and had temporary ink done there and it disappeared in 2 months. I am considering HIS for scar work, but am worried about it.

Has anyone had this done in a scar with success?

Hi all. I wanted to weigh in with my experiences, some of which can be read in my posting history from 2011 when I suddenly experienced some changes after 10 years on Propecia.

Below I'm going to post what I posted to PropeciaHelp.com, but which was never approved by their admin. I don't know why. I suspect because what I've experienced straddles the line between PFS and anxiety problems. But there's no denying the very distinct overlap in those symptoms and to this day, I don't know if they're psychological or brought about from finasteride.

This is what I posted to PropeciaHelp, and also the personal history I give whenever I see on of the many urologists, endocrinologists and psychologists I've seen since 2011. Apologies if it's explicit, but I'm curious if it resonates with anyone.

------------------------

Short version:

In late December 2010, the same month my wife and I split, I began to experience sexual dysfunction followed by severe depression, and numbness in other places like my teeth. This also happened to be the same month I bumped my 1mg/day Propecia habit to 1.5mg/day for 10 days. Libido issues have persisted since then and I’ve struggled to understand whether my problems are medical or psychological.

 

Long Version:

I’m a male currently in my late 30s. Back when I was a teenager I luckily did not have a problem finding girlfriends and I did have sex, with mixed results. But getting an erection was a huge source of anxiety. I would be extremely excited right up until the moment, then suddenly I’d become very self-aware, fear would set in and I’d start thinking of sex like a basic biological function. Not only could I not get an erection, it was like my penis was trying to escape into itself. It would just shut down. 50% of the time I had the opportunity to have sex, I was not able.

 

1998

When I was 24, I began noticing enough hair loss to try Propecia. I took it from 1998-2010 with a healthy libido and no side effects.

 

2004

I met my future wife. She was extremely sweet and accommodating, outwardly, but within months I also realized she was very depressed and self-loathing which manifested in various ways. Regardless, she was very loving and loyal, but it was a rollercoaster always. After a couple years, my perception of her began to subconsciously affect my desire for her. I realized I wasn’t as physically attracted to her as I should have been. It became a source of anxiety. We stopped being intimate much. Yet in 2008 we got married anyway.

 

2009-2010

After a calm life in Virginia, in 2009 my wife and I both found jobs in Manhattan. Both were ambitious, high-stress, creative and challenging, with long hours.

 

3 months in, her mother died suddenly and tragically. My wife shut down emotionally. She basically checked out for many months while I worked extremely hard to support both of us. I sat in front of my computer for long periods of time and let the stress slowly consume me.

 

It had been obvious in previous few years we’d resembled roommates more than lovers. This was sharply obvious after 6 months in New York. She basically slept all day and seemed to have no interest in our relationship. As for me, my libido was through the roof. I fantasized about every woman at work, every woman on the subway, women I would have never considered remotely attractive before. I was ready for anyone. I felt like I had erections all day long. My heart raced. I masturbated constantly. My thought was, "if we break up, I will be sad, but at least I can console myself in dating and much-needed sex for awhile." These thoughts consumed me, but I also felt guilt. I could feel my mind coming unraveled.

 

Toward the end of 2010, I got a huge crush on a woman on my soccer team. She was all I could think about. I had to force myself to have sex with my wife. She represented darkness and depression to me, I think. After having a drink with this other woman, I knew: I would need to separate from my wife.

 

Within that same month, I thought I’d been noticing more hair loss. On a dermatologist’s recommendation, he said to try 1.5mg/day of Propecia, rather than 1mg. I tried this for approximately 10 days.

 

 

December 27, 2010

As all these things were swirling around my head on Christmas break, I woke up on the 27th with no morning erection. I couldn’t remember this happening, especially after the previous year of sky-high libido and desire. I got up and stood in the shower. For the first time ever, I realize I couldn’t masturbate. I felt physically and mentally exhausted. I felt numb. This worried me, but I assumed it would pass. I almost laughed: “Ah, so a bit more Propecia is bad for me, I’ll scale back down and it should fix itself in a few weeks.” But right at that moment a fear set in, also, which has never gone away.

 

January 2011

My wife and I agreed, mutually, to separate. She would move out on Feb 1.

 

In the weeks leading up to her moving out, I experienced other sensations. My urethra felt tighter. Sometimes the head of my penis almost felt sore. I felt like I had “butterflies” around my prostate, rather than in my stomach. Sometimes there was a light ache. I wasn’t getting morning erections and couldn’t masturbate. I felt like a nervous wreck and couldn’t sleep. “This will pass,” I continued thinking.

 

After a few weeks of this, I began reading online and that’s where I discovered PropeciaHelp. This made things considerably worse. After taking the drug for 12 years, this was my first time reading about people who had had side effects for years, long after quitting the drug. I didn’t even realize that was possible. I went into a fugue state for a few days, barely talking to my wife or anyone else.

 

I made an appointment with a urologist who understood my panic, but said I was one of many men he’d seen with my profile: mid-30s, working too hard, relationship ends, bottom drops out, serious anxiety sets in. He said it was really unlikely a drug I’d taken for 12 years would suddenly have side effects. We talked about prostatitis, but he said it was a meaningless diagnosis much of the time. He have me a scrip for Viagra and Klonopin and patted me on the back. The blood tests he took (testosterone, cortisol, adrenal, etc) came back completely normal.

 

On Feb 1, my wife did move out. Here I was, finally single after years of burning desire for other women. And not only do I become physically numb, I get mentally numb.

 

2 weeks of being alone, I had a horrible realization -- I'd just lost the most wonderful wife I could have, one of the sweetest people I’d ever known. I didn’t want to be single, I wanted to fix us. All I could focus on was how loving and decent she was, and how I'd never been able to reciprocate. Suddenly It was like I'd forgotten about every single negative trait her in her and could only see the good.

 

I began to spiral, badly. I couldn’t believe what was happening. Every night before bed I looked back over my life the previous 10 years and thought about what a shitty person I was. It was like the combination of impotence-fear and reality of divorce pulled back a shield from my eyes and the world looked like a very terrible place. Nothing was really ever quite the same.

 

 

Spring-Winter 2011

I barely held down a job during this time. Not only had I possibly ruined a meaningful relationship because my sexual desire had been out of control, now I was experiencing medical symptoms that might be permanent. Physically my penis felt like a 5lb weight was hanging from it. I had a lot of dire thoughts.

 

On my birthday, I was out with friends and my wife showed up. It seemed weird, but she wanted to be there and she walked me back to our old apartment, asking to spend the night. As soon as we walked in the door that night, all my symptoms went away. We lay in bed talking at first, then touching and eventually had sex. I took a long time to finish, but my penis was plenty hard, even though I was drunk. Being back with my wife, it was like my entire body felt a huge sigh of relief and physiologically I felt different, even just for that night.

 

For the next month, we lurched back and forth, sometimes thinking about working things out, sometimes not.

 

In April, I decided to take a 3-week opportunity to return to Virginia, relax and work remotely. The first night away from New York City, I woke up with an erection. During the rest of the trip, I noticed very little “tension” in the groin and was able to masturbate 2-3 times a day. It was spring and I had missed the quiet of Virginia. I began to feel optimistic about my marriage. After 4 long months, it felt I was almost back to normal. It occurred to me: “The stress in NYC must be causing this.”

 

When I returned to New York, I did something stupid. I began taking Propecia again every other day. Within 3 weeks, I began noticing a lack of erections / weaker erections. I was on a tightrope, wanting to fix things with my wife while wondering if we ever should have gotten married. I wasn’t sleeping and feeling ragged and desperate. The muscles in my urethra felt sore and weak like an overused muscle.

 

Ultimately I decided staying in NYC was unhealthy. I left a very promising job and all my friends and moved back to Virginia. I also quit Propecia again.

 

When I got back I felt like I’d lost all enthusiasm for my job as a computer programmer. I didn’t look forward to anything. It was like all the optimism had been vacuumed out of me. Old friends told me I seemed different and fragile. It was like I’d inherited my wife’s depression.

 

Throughout the Fall my wife stayed in NYC, unsure about our status. I isolated myself a lot and didn’t get out of bed some days. The mornings would start ok, but by the evening I would feel extremely depressed and full of anxiety. The area around my perineum would feel numb or ache and sitting in a hot bath was the only thing I looked forward to. I could always get erect and masturbate while sitting in the bath. After a few more months it became obvious that my wife and I would not be reunited.

 

 

Winter 2012

In January, I decided to do something to improve myself. I went to Asia for a couple weeks to build houses with Habitat for Humanity. Toward the end of the trip, there was time to relax. I found a hotel with a pool and read books in peace. After 2 days, I noticed I wanted to look at porn in the mornings on my iPad. So I did and soon realized I had the urge to masturbate, sometimes a few times a day. I didn’t feel any strange sensations.

 

When I got back from my trip, I felt different. I could get erections in the morning and in the shower. It was like my mind/body just “decided” it was done with being fatigued and “chose” to feel better. I started getting up earlier. My mood shifted suddenly - I didn’t care about working things out with my wife. If I could indeed have sex again, I wanted to do that.

 

Once again, after a 4-month break from Propecia, I felt I was on the way to improvement. It lasted about a month. I don’t know if I was 100%, but I was excited for any progress.

 

But I went back to taking Propecia. I’d been nervous about losing more hair. Plus, I’d momentarily convinced myself (again) that this was all psychological anyway. Sure enough one morning I tried and failed to masturbate. Then again. I spiraled. “I will never get better” I told myself. I developed an anxiety to the thought of evening look at porn. Once again, I stopped Propecia.

 

 

Spring-Summer 2013

I visited New York again to hang out with friends. One night, a female friend and I flirted. Before I knew it, we were back at her apartment. Then in her bed, wearing just our underwear, making out. But I was thrilled to realize that whole time we fooled around, for 2+ hours, I had an erection. I don’t know if it was strong enough for sex, but it was something. The next night, it happened again. Luckily she was fine with some making out and dry humping with no pressure about sex or anything else. But it felt like a small victory.

 

Unfortunately it didn’t last. Back in Virginia, it was more of the same. When I became stressed about the anxieties of the last year, my urethra would feel tight. It almost felt like there was grit or sand in the urethra, something very small causing inflammation. I also developed another issue where my teeth felt strange like they were “vibrating” or numb. I continued to miss my wife, as counterintuitive as it seemed.

 

Once again, I saw a urologist. He did the dreaded prostate exam and things felt tight. A bit of clear liquid came out of my penis during the exam and he tested it in the lab. He seemed to think I had some prostatitis-like symptoms, but was otherwise stumped. He gave me a drug I can’t remember which, for a week, made the tension and soreness subside, but with a strange side effect: when I masturbated, nothing came out.

 

I also saw a series of therapists and general practitioners. Every single one of them urged me that this was a psychological problem that would resolve when things resolved with my wife. It was a sustained “fight or flight” kind of reaction. I thought back to those adrenaline surges during my teen years, when sometimes it felt like my penis was shriveling up due to fear or excitement.

 

A few weeks later, a very attractive and desirable woman I known for years spoke to me at a bar. The night wore on and I had her in the palm of my hand. When it was time to leave, we made out in her car for awhile and told me she wanted me to come inside for sex. But I felt nothing in my penis. No “movement”, no bloodflow. I felt like a wreck. I told her I wasn’t ready for that, then drove home. Back at home, I tried to masturbate and failed. I sank to an extremely low level.

 

July 2012

I knew things had reached a strange level when I decided to consult a hypnotherapist, but it felt like a last chance effort. I’d read online about hypnosis helping with sexual dysfunction.

I’d been having seriously dire thoughts and my nerves were shot. I was pessimistic, but was at the end of my rope.

 

I’m glad I rolled the dice because a lot changed that day. The therapist was a reputed behavioral psychologist in town who used hypnosis to treat anxiety and PTSD. We talked awhile and then did 20 minutes of hypnosis where I felt completely given over to what he was saying. I vaguely remember him telling me things would be ok, I would move on from my wife, the “weight” would be lifted, etc.

 

Walking to my car afterward, I felt something very strong. I felt physically and mentally “different.” Lighter and happier. I went home, lay on the couch and stared at the ceiling. Without much effort, I was able to get an erection. In the evening, I played a soccer game and scored 3 goals. Often after sports I’d felt the inflammation in my perineum area most, and usually couldn’t masturbate. That day, I felt no tension and masturbated fine.

 

The next morning I woke up with an erection. But throughout the day I noticed something else. After 18 months of my prostate feeling uncomfortable and penis feeling “tight”, those feelings were gone. No soreness whatsoever. That has continued to the present day. My libido wasn’t “raging” exactly, but I felt 80% better and could get above-average erections while looking at porn. It was strong progress.

 

 

Fall 2012-Winter 2013

I’m sure you can guess what came next. After 30 days of feeling better, I went back on Propecia. Again, I felt strongly this was all psychological and I didn’t want to lose more hair, especially if I was going back to the dating world.

 

A month later, I realized I was having less morning erections. But for months and months, I could still masturbate. My libido was average. The numbness, tingle and tightness in various places in the groin were gone. But there was also intense loneliness and some processing of what had happened with my wife and I in NYC. I obsessed over it. Despite everything, I missed her, and I still never felt very happy after the divorce was finalized.

 

The worst part is that even though my erections had mostly come back, I did not feeling excited about hooking up with women. It just felt business-like when I would masturbate. I felt almost indifferent. There were women whose personalities I liked, but I didn’t have that raw “I want to fuck” feeling. When I’d get flashes in my mind of naked women, they’d immediately disappear. That animalistic desire had never actually returned.

 

 

Spring 2013

After I went away on a backpacking trip for a few weeks, I returned feeling good enough to try dating. At this time I’d been back on Propecia for 8 months.

 

Before I knew it, there was a 25-year old woman who was smart and sexy and after a few nights of hanging out, I knew sex was imminent. Here is where the problems really began. I told her it had been 2 years and I was nervous and possibly couldn’t perform. And sure enough, no matter what we did, even just making out, I could not muster a strong erection. This went on for about 3 weeks. On top of that, she was seeing someone else and wanted our dating to be “open” which wasn’t cool with me. During this time, I also tried to masturbate when alone, but couldn’t. The pressure of imminent sex and suddenly below-average libido had me completely freaked out. Things fell apart and I was almost relieved.

 

It was at this point I decided to quit Propecia forever, even though certain things led me to believe my problems were all psychological. On May 1, I took my last pill. I wish I could say things got better.

 

Within 10 days, I noticed my penis shriveling and retracting. Having my penis actually appear differently was an issue I’d never experienced. Also the head of my penis was cold to the touch throughout the day. It felt strangely “spongy” like there was a serious lack of any blood flow. Was I imagining this? After another week I finally googled the symptoms and sure enough, all the results were about Propecia.

 

Why had this happened after stopping the pill? Why had hypnotism, of all things, helped so drastically in the first place?

 

 

Summer 2013-Winter 2013

 

The shriveling and coldness lasted for 2 months. I became seriously depressed. My penis felt like it simply wasn’t there. When I told this all to a therapist, she said the #1 issue for men is fear of impotence and the suggestion of one’s penis “not being there” is an age-old complicated anxiety. All the previous benefits of hypnosis seemed to have faded. So was the shriveling psychological or medical?

 

This past July, I threw myself at the feet of my urologist again, hoping he could recommend something. He gave me daily Cialis. This changed things greatly.

 

The first day after I took it, I woke up with a morning erection. I walked to work and the sun felt warm on my skin. I felt like I was on an ecstasy pill. At work I found myself absently browsing porn for a bit and getting an erection at my desk for the first time in 2+ years. I caught a glance at a female co-worker and thought about her while I was in the bathroom, suddenly feeling myself getting an erection. Back at home, I found that I could look at porn and stand up with an erection and sustain it. I felt of giddiness and almost cockiness. It was like just the sight of a very firm erection kickstarted my libido, rather than the other way around. In those first few days, I remember driving to the grocery store, absently touching my penis through my jeans and having to wait in the car before going inside so my erection could subside.

 

For a few weeks, I essentially “forgot” about my libido issues throughout the workdays. It felt “solved” and I could focus on other things. Every time I went to the bathroom, I noticed my penis didn’t look like a chewed piece of gum. It looked and felt “full.” The shriveling was gone.

 

 

By the end of the summer I found myself missing my ex-wife intensely, irrationally, out of the blue. Even though I continued to take daily Cialis as an experiment, I noticed the shriveling had returned. Was the whole thing psychosomatic? I felt confused and pessimistic overall. If I’d tried to masturbate, it was fine, but I couldn’t deny I didn’t really think of sex at all throughout the day spontaneously.

 

So for the last 6 months, I’ve continued on daily Cialis. I don’t feel that “throb” in my penis during certain times of the day like I used to, pre-2010, but I can get an erection if I relax and concentrate.

 

In November 2013, I met my current girlfriend and would not have been able to get through that without Cialis. For the first 2 weeks I dodged the issue of sex, but as I got used to being around her and appreciate how easygoing and nonjudgmental she was, and especially how sexy she was, I finally just went for it. The first few times, I wasn’t 100% hard and would occasionally stop/start (although this had been true when I was younger occasionally, too). For the last 8 weeks, we’ve been all over each other, having sex sometimes 3x/daily. The more I’ve tried not to focus on “am I still hard??” constantly during sex and just enjoy it, the more sustained the erections have been. The sex is fun and intense. We really like each other. While I’m with her, I feel turned on.

 

Which is all great. But when I’m not with her and I’m not in Cialis, things fall apart.

 

When my girlfriend went out of town last week, I stopped taking it for 4 days to see what would happen, and also to save money because it’s expensive! Sure enough toward the end, I tried to masturbate and my penis was rubbery. I was watching a really intense porn, but it didn’t matter. Later when I went to pee, I noticed my penis was covered in a million tiny wrinkles, which had never ever been there prior to quitting Propecia last Spring. In my past experience, 4 months off Propecia is usually when I feel a blip of improvement. But my last doses were in May.

 

For the record, I don’t obsess about my wife anymore. I’m at peace with how things ended. I don’t feel outwardly stressed about anything except this issue. I’m thrilled to be in a new relationship and the sex is great. Cialis seems to give me confidence--

 

So why do I still have this problem? Should I go back on Propecia or stay quit forever? Am I now doomed to be on Cialis every day?

 

I was also 35 when the problem started. I will be 39 in March. I no longer know what a “normal” libido is even supposed to feel like at this age. Should it still be “raging” like it had seemed just a few short years ago?

 

I’m also happy that, with a few exceptions, when I’ve been with a woman who really turns me on, my penis has responded mostly pretty well. Yet I often can’t masturbate to porn these days when alone. It’s a strange problem to have.

 

Since experimenting with Cialis, I have gone back and read all the “Recoveries” posts at PropeciaHelp. To me, many of them sounded like they might have had a psychological component. A lot of the healing seemed to involve sleeping more, calming and exercising. But I have learned after reading forums for things like acne, sometimes the passing of time is all that helps and the other healthy stuff isn’t such a strong factor. But I don’t really know what to make of it.

I wrote the above in early 2014 and am no longer seeing the girlfriend I described.

Since then, I've continued to take 1/4 a Proscar every day. I took a doppler test with one of NYC's top urologists and was declared normal. I can get erections if I watch porn but there is a delay in getting an erection and some numbness and occasional difficulty finishing. I don't get morning erections or spontaneous erections throughout the day like I did prior to 2011. I am lucky to not be "totally impotent" as some have described it. When I'm with someone and with Cialis, I can perform, at least eventually. But undeniably, due to depression/anxiety or due to Propecia, my libido is weaker and sustaining the erection seems more difficult.

Sorry for the length. I think it just helps to talk about it and try to figure it out.

Thanks, seeker.

When I got FUE back in September of last year, I told myself and Dr. Shapiro that I was done with surgeries. But like many people before me, the concept of "done" becomes more abstract as you continue to lose more hair, especially now that I'm 40. There are many days I just want to shave it all and be done with it, but that FUT scar is making that impossible. I'm wondering what it is about SMP on a scar that makes people wary.

This week I met with Dr. Dorin here in NYC. He was really down to earth and suggested he could do a very small FUE that would fill in the scar a bit more and touch up one of the temple points. But it would still require a shaved strip in the back of my hair. These days I have a pretty prominent job position that doesn't allow 3 weeks off for recovery time. Ideally I'd like to get SMP to cover the scar, wait a couple months, then shave down for FUE so the scar is sufficiently hidden. It's hard to put all these puzzle pieces into place and it has been 15 year process to try to look in the mirror and feel "good" about progress.

Anyway, it's a lot to think about. I appreciate the feedback so far.

I too wouldn't go near permanent ink.

Curious why specifically? Just because as your hair grays, you won't know how the the ink will blend long-term?

Clearly you don't live that far from SMG, if you saw Paul Shapiro, so why not see Nicole for work on your scar?

 

I live in New York. I had flown to Minneapolis to see SMG for those surgeries.

So did you get temporary ink with them and it looks fine? And you have to go back every year?

I did three sessions on my scarring and am very pleased with the results. Looking at your pictures I think you are an excellent candidate, definitely better than I was. And you've already done FUE into your scars, which is the optimal route for anyone considering doing SMP into scars.

I did around 400-500 into my scar in September of last year. I'm still not sure if I'm seeing the final effects. But I do know that when I cut my hair short, there's still a faint line across the back of the head that would give some people pause. I would rather take steps to eliminate it altogether if it's possible.

Sorry for the photo quality, I can't seem to find the right technique for taking pics of the back of my head.

I've definitely had good comments on the scar from people who would know. At the same time, when I see myself from the side, I can see that very white bright linear scar just underneath the hair and I'm always looking for ways to improve that.

So has anyone done temporary ink on a scar and had a good experience?

My history:

• In 2000, I got 800 grafts FUT from MHR

• In 2011, I got 1400 grafts FUT from Dr Paul Shapiro

• In 2012, I got 1800 grafts FUT from Dr Paul Shapiro

• In 2014, I got 1000 grafts FUE from Dr Paul Shapiro, divided between scalp & FUT scar

Photos:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8xystm05q1tkwtb/AACANdkoF3iSZIhRopVjify3a?dl=0

I will make another post soon with my progress over the years. But for now, since overall coverage is not great, I would just like to keep my hair cut fairly short without exposing the scar.

I visited HIS Hair Clinic in NYC last week and got an estimate of about $1500 for a couple sessions of permanent ink on the scar. The consultant mentioned it was quite a flat, thin and professionally handled scar and that SMP would be an easy job. Last year I had FUE hair put back into the scar but as you can see from the photos, it's still evident.

Please give me your opinions on permanent SMP tattooing. I cannot tell in my research whether it's ready for prime time or something I would regret. Thanks.

I have been through 3 FUT surgeries and at this point (after taking some time off Propecia and paying the price), but my hair is sparser than I'd like. Feel free to look at my Blog for more details.

My doctor, Paul Shapiro, said my scalp was simply no longer lax or ideal enough for another FUT, so we're going the route of FUE in a few months. Obviously this is more complicated since FUE will reveal a pretty long FUT scar until the hair grows back, although part of our strategy is to use 300 or so hairs to fill in the scar and allow me to keep my hair cut shorter. In all likelihood, this is the last hair surgery I will have. I have always been an average candidate, at best, and I don't mind having my hair pretty well buzzed.

My question is: if I'm planning a solo vacation during this recovery time, how many weeks before the hair grows back and remnants of the scar are covered? It's a bit abstract now because we can't now how successful filling in the scar will be, visually. But I'm curious if others on this forum have had a similar scenario.

A little too swamped at work to respond in full quite yet, but wanted to say thanks to Bill for expanding on some of these ideas and clarifying a bit on stuff like recommendations vs endorsements.