Mikey1970

Before I underwent HT surgery I would want to know first & foremost that the surgeon is happy with the fee. The last thing I would want would be having my looks altered by a guy who has a gripe over $$$ with me.

Thanks. That is what I am afraid of! I am booked in with a plastic surgeon for a consult in mid January. Cheers...

I am currently buzzed down to a zero & wearing the almost shaved look atm - I have a sebaceous cyst smack bang on the middle of my crown. At present my hair loss has been confined to the frontal third & although there is some weakness at the crown it is all intact. Wondering if I could safely get this sebaceous cyst surgically removed without bringing on hair loss on the crown? Given my history of shock loss in the frontal third I am obviously nervous about this - but sporting the shaved look, this cyst does not look good. What do people think?

The beard is fine, no noticeable scarring - no problem whatsoever.

I had this kind of repair done in Australia combining 500 FUE beard hair into the scar & later added some SMP. It is a good result and I posted photo's on the SMP threads. PM me if you want the surgeon's details...

Permanent SMP

At 23 years old your potential for further loss if not taking propecia is extreme. Have you given any thoughts to how you will look with a band of transplanted hair in the front & thinning behind? Trust me, it is a worse feeling than recession. If you are going to go down the surgery route I suggest you give medication a lot more serious consideration. Good luck.

What size punch do Asmed use for the extractions? Are you happy thus far with the FUE scarring? 5000 is quite a large procedure. I think they do body hair too, any mention of that?

I wont be naming the Dr on a public forum. I think you are wise to be wary of your intended procedure but good luck if you go through with it. I have seen cases on this forum of guys that seem to have no probs with small touch ups.

Thanks mate.

I think the left temple area is improved but when I try to grow my hair out I have got dark transplanted hair at the front blending into much lighter native hair behind it and still a few small spots of shock loss. It is better for my mental health to shave it atm. I have had good work done on the scar which thankfully does let me get away with shaving. Thing is, I am seeing how good my hair was - FB memories coming through from only 2-3 years ago & I never should have returned for further work. That said, it was that tiny touch up of only 30 grafts that killed my hair and it should have been safe to do. It is a nightmare. I know other people are worse off with life threatening illnesses etc, but when you pay good money to a cosmetic surgeon this shouldn't happen. I returned to see the surgeon 4 or 5 times after, he knew how distressed I was & he gave a different excuse every time including making me believe for a long time that it would recover. I think it must have been caused by significant blood loss that damaged an area that was susceptible to weakening. I do recall his needling of the recipient area was very aggressive, especially given it was such a tiny procedure. It is really hard to try and put behind me that is for sure...

When I returned to see my initial Hair surgeon in April 2014, 10 years after my initial surgery I realize now that I had a great head of hair. Now I feel best left leaving it as a shaved head. I wish he had told me that the risks outweighed any potential benefits - now I think I am living with this for the rest of my life. I know some posters on this thread mentioned that my overuse of minoxidil could have contributed to the shock loss but I only did that when the problem was already obvious. Nothing more to say but it really, really hurts.

I dont think i get any stares at all. I think somebody would have to be looking for it, it certainly wouldnt catch the eye. Really it is pretty good. I think its good from 0-3 & becomes invisible if longer than that. & really only a line now, no bare skin of significance - the FUE worked well & the SMP topped it off. BUT it is still there - just as tidy as a strip scar can probably be.

It is a good result but in fairness I think the photograph compliments it. In reality it is still visible but not bothersome. I am shaving down to a zero atm & not conscious of it. In conversation when I discuss it with people, they tell me they can still see the scar & using reverse mirrors I can still see it but it is basically just a line, not an abhorrent scar. It is good with a 1 or 2 guard too but I prefer the zero these days. I did SMP 3.5 months after the FUE. My surgeon wasn't impressed, he wanted me to give it a full 9 months post FUE before considering any other treatment. Thing is, I had shock loss gaps in the front & felt most comfortable shaving down & hence wanted the best result possible for the scar asap. I do think that for the best results FUE & SMP is the way to go.

Doesn't Dr Knudsen utilize the Artas Robot for FUE? I think he is one of only two Australian Dr's to have an Artas? As that does all the harvesting & manual FUE isn't required he shouldn't need "FUE Skills" should he? It is my understanding that a lot of the top US Dr's including Dr Alexander use the Artas robot so wouldn't that level the playing field a lot?

I seriously think if you want the best possible result you need to do both. I think the FUE improved it 70% and the SMP finished it off...

I recently had SMP added to FUE for work on my strip scar & amazed with the results. Still bothered by a few small gaps and weakness on the front/top. I do like the shaved/short look so have become quite drawn towards SMP as a possible solution for adding density to my overall look. I understand how SMP can be effective on a bald scalp but how is it administered onto a head that has 95% hair still there? Do they just needle straight into existing hair - that can't be good if so? Also I do have a psoriasis type condtion & need to use a tar based shampoo which contains alcohol regularly. I have read that alcohol based products including minox should be avoided with SMP as they accelerate fading. Thinking I'm not the best candidate for SMP on the front even though it could be one solution for resolving the gaps.

Just wondering on whether doing SMP into thinning hair could cause shock loss like in a HT? I know the needle does not go as deep in SMP so am thinking it may not cause damage to follicles but would appreciate others thoughts?

This guy is no FUE Dr. No FUE Dr uses a 2mm punch these days - that is more like a biopsy size instrument. I think he was experimenting FUE on me & I didn't know enough about it then so went along with it - another mistake. I have had some repair work done & it is improved but I don't think it is as easy to recover emotionally from this kind of ordeal....at least that is what I am finding.

I think there is some reason to be a bit more optimistic than that myself Spanker. Now there are some giant cosmetic/pharmaceutical company's taking an interest in the next generation of treatments I think the odd's are good that much improved methods will be available in the next 5 years or so. Riken/Organ/Tsiju & Loreal have large funding at their disposal and this is the first time ever that serious company's with heavy hitter capacity have taken an interest in this field. Agree, both methods will still require a surgeon to do implanting however. I'm quite surprised that Loreal's 3d printer idea hasn't had any discussion of substance on this thread. Replicel reads as the ideal treatment (injection of dermal sheath cup cells to repopulate the dermal papilla) but that company is run on a shoestring and nobody really knows for sure what Sheisedo's expectations of this product are. Overall I think there is real hope on the horizon now with Riken/Organ/Tsiju & Loreal.

How about Loreal's news of 3d printed hair follicles. Does that warrant a mention?

The biggest HT fail imho is the patient that loses more in shock loss, than they gain with new grafts.

Hi Spanker. Yeah, I was still finding gaps on the front. Friends and Family told me they were barely noticeable to others but hugely irritating to me. I'm also finding that as I still have a lot of hair at the front, each procedure is fixing one area but causing shock loss elsewhere so one bad procedure has led me into this game of chasing shock loss & it really has the potential to completely do my head in. I would love to get it put to bed once & for all but don't know if it is possible? When shaved even I can barely notice the gaps & I look like I have a full head of buzzed hair. I think I feel more comfortable with that, even though of course I would prefer to have Brad Pitt's hair. At least the good work I have had on the strip scar does enable me to shave down as an option I wouldn't have had otherwise. Cheers.

I have undergone strip scar repair work of 500 FUE beard and SMP. Have uploaded photo's of my strip scar at its worst & then post FUE and again post FUE/SMP. I now have my hair shaved to a number zero and the strip scar is barely visible. I never thought such a result would have been possible and am absolutely stoked! The SMP was done by SMP Adelaide - Scalp MicroPigmentation Adelaide: Home

SMP Adelaide have provided me with photo's of the strip scar after FUE but pre SMP and then post SMP.