mocachin

yes - i have.

Am a vertex 3, I originally was just going to have a shaved look but after I had SMP I found out about toppik and a little sprinkling on my hair make it look like i've zero thinning.

Basically the scalp is darker than it was before so creates an illusion of density.

I am still confused why hair transplants and SMP aren't used in conjunction as from the few cases i've seen it makes a good difference.

I had SMP, then later grew my hair out and used a bit of toppik.

When I don't have a bit of topic, my skalp (around the vertex area) doesn't look anywhere near as thin as it did with hair before SMP.

Can't you just keep shaving it until it's coming in thick?

You mean like shave it all over at a higher grade each time to just keep it tidy(?) actually that would probably help somewhat

Its about the length Shia LaBeouf has in the picture below:

te length where there is a lot of scalp show.

Anyone have any advice when growning hair out from shaved all over.

I am 2 weeks in with almost 1cm of hair now dark brown, I tried toppik but the hair is too short - fibres just collect on the scalp mostly and as its all over my head not just in one area it looks unnatural, helmet coverage. Its also too 'long' so that I look untidy and unkept as its still not long enough to take direction or consider combing/styling etc.

I had smp and cut my hair around 3mm... its perfect however I have thinning at the crown, hairline is fine which is obviously more detectable if you were to mix hair and smp.

Google. SMP long hair and you'll see examples of it used.

I've seen it work too. The only issue I've seen with some guys with short hair is a lot of particles collecting on the scalp. This can be a bit of a "give away."

This^, i'm about 0.85cm/1/5 Inch and its definately too short to use unless you use like a fine eyelash brush to apply it directly to the hair otherwise at this length its impossible to avid the scalp. I would think when you can 'style/move' the hair then it would be effective, so like 2cm/ 3/4"?

....saying this, if you've longer hair all over but a bald spot I would think a combination of scalp concealer (or SMP) and toppik would work.

I am currently almost 1cm in length all over........ definately too short to use unless you use like a fine eyelash brush to apply it directly to the hair otherwise at this length its impossible to avid the scalp. I would think when you can 'style/move' the hair then it would be effective, so like 2cm/ 3/4"?

As good as Toppik looks, its also quite pain to apply daily. Mostly importantly you will be addicted to it, even after HT, you will apply it, coz of the dense illusion it gives.

Also during windy and rainy seasons it can messed up!

I've been doing lots of research hair spray before and after applying is the way to it from what i've heard, a lot of people either don't use spray or don't only use it afterwards

Depends.

 

My loss bothered me to the point where I wouldnt be seen without it. I would go in for light trims frequently as to avoid a full haircut. Maybe a little insane but I own it. If youre ok with being seen without it, all the better for your haricut.

with it in or not?

usually here in the uk, most guys that go in for a tidy up/trim will usually sit in the chair, the hairdresser will then spray the hair with water and then start with the cut. If you're going for a new style or something then they wash it first etc.

Concealers would totally mess with the look I am trying to achieve.

I thought that you style your hair the way you want it then add fibres? surely it would just boost up what you've styled?

As the title really.

When i get a cut I go in with clean hair without any products. Now using toppik would I need to remove it before i go in?

Thanks pkipling.

Always helps to take a step back and analyse

I think the SMP will help, its basically a permanent dermatch so it will hide add shade to the scalp areas.

You might be right about not needing toppik but I think with SMP i have the scalp sorted now it will be making the hair a bit thicking especially around the cowlick area.

I'll update when it gets longer.. its just annoying at the moment where its in this limbo stage where it looks like an unkept shaved head and its too short still to think about adding fibres. Not looking forward to the next few weeks where the SMP is more obvious through the hair.

Another doc said that the donor area wasn't great so I'd have to be careful if in the future the hairline moved using up a lot on the crown.

I've taken the advice on this thread on board, had a good think about things and this is my plan...

1. start taking rogaine (minoxidil)
   
2. grow the hair out in about 3-4 weeks after the shedding that you (hopefully) get with rogaine
   
   
3. take some natural dht blockers
   
4. decent shampoos
   
   
5. good haircuts - short back and sides
   
   
6. and.... toppik.... if i actually knew what this stuff was capable was I probably wouldn't have started this topic... i'm amazed with what i've seen and diffusers like me it seems to work wonders for in a few seconds. I know its a bit of a routine but that's fine.
   

I think the SMP will mask the scalp and the toppik will make the appear hair thicker and the rogaine etc will hopefully be a bonus.

If the above doesn't work its back to the shaved head look that I'm fine with.. I guess I would just like the option to have hair and while I'm stil quite youthful I probably don't want to be in my 40's 50's with a shaved SMP head.

FUE - perhaps, I think I should take the advice from this thread and wait, who knows what the future holds and I would rather use my limited donor if my hairline decides to go back

thanks guys

1 doc replied and wasn't confident about my donor area, so that's a no.

you wear your hair so short, even FUE surgeries leave scars - albeit small white dots - do you want to do that to the back of your head? I doubt you'll be able to shave it as far down as you do now without there being some small signs of surgery. Remember any HT surgery is merely an "illusion" of density - at the expense of your donor area in the back & sides. And for most of us, in order to pull off that illusion, we normally have to wear your hair a little longer than how you wear yours - any surgery is always a personal thing, my biggest regret was doing a small procedure in my mid 20's that I had to chase to keep up to and had to have corrected as well -

I would grow my hair out to about an inch or so again. If I was wanting to keep my hair this short then I wouldn't go for FUE.

I see quite a lot of people putting off really young guys in there twenties but I can understand why they must really want to especially when you're a really young guy.

2,000 grafts is a high number but I feel like that number would leave you with a satisfied result, you could get away with 1,200 but the density is not gonna be as good, I don't recommend having a procedure though with out first getting on some sort of medication to slow hair loss, because you have a lot of hair that puts you at a higher risk for shock loss and id hate for you to look worse after the procedure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Minoxidil worked great for me, and I get no side effects other than occasional itchy scalp or greasy hair texture, but thats nothing compared to finasteride side effects. I recommend growing your hair out, I honestly think that with some good styling and the SMP you might not even need an HT yet, some thickening hair product and the SMP might be enough try it out before you really consider going the surgical route, I will say this, once you commit to surgery, you're basically committing yourself to more than one, its just the way it is, you'll always need to get more procedures to make up for continued hair loss, even those on finasteride end up getting more than one procedure, something to consider.

Thanks again.

I have purcahsed Minoxidil (regaine foam) and also some Alpecin Double Effect Shampoo

I understand about not just having one procedure, I did think I would have this done now and then leave it until my hairline starts moving back that is if it does ever.

It's very difficult to estimate a number of grafts based on a few pictures but typically 2,000 grafts clearly improves thinning hairline. Find a doctor you're comfortable with, look at lots of their before/after photos and get a consultation. Best of luck. I'm glad you're considering FUE. NO visible scarring versus the lengthy scar with FUT.

You worried me when you said 2,000 grafts clearly improves thinning hairline. My issue isn't the hairline

Good advice about Doctors, there are 4 IAHRS doctos that are in Turkey and at the moment I'm thinking Erdogan(asmed), Doganay or Civas. I'm not only looking at the before and afters (as i'm not always convinced with the 'wet hair' before and the 'blow dry' and styled afters) but reviews/journals etc.

My opinion is 0 grafts. Your hairline still looks good. Focus on preventative mediations at this point and SMP if need be. HT should be a last resort.

Agreed. Thank god there are still people on here giving good advice!

I appreciate your comments guys... although my hairline is good and has been strong since i was 19 the top is definately thinning, when i had 1 inch hair it was noticeable. I do see what you mean about hairline, i realise that its more important and i am lucky that the thinning isnt there.

Please look at the attached photo that was taken pre-SMP in the day under artifical light with a 1.5-2cm cut... its clear there is a big lack of density and if you zoom in its very apparent.

don't mess with God's perfection - I would not consider undergoing HT sugery if I were in your shoes -

Perfection? I am not someone that is really pissed off with my situation however I do think that a conservative 1500 or 2000 fue would be ok and leave me with enough donor to fix the front if ever my hairline started to start going back. I'm not looking to get a 4500 mega session to give me my 12 year old hair again

I took a little glance at your pics... you must be happy, great difference.

I'd say 2,000 grafts would make a huge difference on you especially with the smp,

2000 ok, quite a bit higher than I anticipated really. The flash photo + artificial light really is a killer

I will get a better picture of the SMP but basically I went from having a slight thinning area on the crown that looked like to looking like someone that shaves there head... I have hair so I don't have to wet shave my head but keep it quite short, about half a centimeter max and the illusion works well and

From doing more reading i've not seen any negatives and only positives about combining SMP and FUE so i'm really happy about that.

are you on any hairloss meds like fin or minoxidil?

Meds - nope, I have started looking into minoxdil... fin seemed to have some sides that i didn't like the sound of.

Also have you ever thought of growing your hair out? I think you'd be surprised if you did, your hair looks pretty good probably even better if you grew it out.

Before I shaved my head and had SMP i had it like 1 inch classic short back and sides with quiff... it does look good from the front but I had a real hang up about even just going a little thin, i'm quite healthy, gym, weights so I made the choice i'd rather have shaved head with SMP so i just look like someone that shaves their head. In retrospect it was wasn't all noticeable unless under certain light and I could have probably styled my hair better, blow dry and used the other little tricks to conceal it however I just panicked a little and went with a shaved head then SMP.. which I am ok with but currently I am in a situation where i can afford to try FUE.

Thanks again.

oh btw... hairline, would it be worth softening the widows peaks a little while I can?

(question at the bottoms.. otherwise the history and general thoughts first)

Hi chaps,

In brief, I'm 33, light brown/mid brown hair, noticed thinning about 2 years ago on the top/crown area, i'm something like a vertex 3 however my hairline is good and has been like this since i was 19 when i lost the 'kids' hairline, when my hair is grown its was always about an inch long so the thinning wasn't really that noticeable but as soon as I noticed it started I panicked and in June this year I went for SMP in the UK.

I have had a shaved head before so it was really a no brainer and when i saw various pictures from around the web of people having SMP + FUE combination surgery or people that were thinning and had just SMP to add some shade to the scalp it made sense for me to get SMP as it would only enhaunce the FUE surgery at late date.

The SMP was great, i have nothing against SMP as you can see in the pic I just keep my hair shaved quite short and because my hairline is a good already and I have hair on top the illusion works well. The main problem I get is I often get "you should grow your hair out" or from balding friends "if i had as much hair as you i'd grow it out mate"

My Brother is 5 years old than me and started losing his at 27 in the same area until about 31 and since then its stayed the same where it looks noticeable in certain lights like outside.

I have been looking into travelling from the UK to Turkey, from my research its a great place for HT and of course the price makes it possible for me to get this done sooner.

Would love to hear from any SMP+FUE people

just a couple videos i've found on the net from a surgeon who talks of the benefits of SMP+FUE

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

Q.

Could anyone take a look at my pics and give me an idea of how many grafts I will need.

Photo 1 = hair cut with clippers quite short - before SMP + artificial light

Photo 2 = hair cut with clippers quite short - before SMP + artificial light + Flash AKA the killer!

Photo 3 = after SMP (sorry its not a great photo)

(question at the bottoms.. otherwise the history and general thoughts first)

Hi chaps,

In brief, I'm 33, light brown/mid brown hair, noticed thinning about 2 years ago on the top/crown area, i'm something like a vertex 3 however my hairline is good and has been like this since i was 19 when i lost the 'kids' hairline, when my hair is grown its was always about an inch long so the thinning wasn't really that noticeable but as soon as I noticed it started I panicked and in June this year I went for SMP in the UK.

I have had a shaved head before so it was really a no brainer and when i saw various pictures from around the web of people having SMP + FUE combination surgery or people that were thinning and had just SMP to add some shade to the scalp it made sense for me to get SMP as it would only enhaunce the FUE surgery at late date.

The SMP was great, i have nothing against SMP as you can see in the pic I just keep my hair shaved quite short and because my hairline is a good already and I have hair on top the illusion works well. The main problem I get is I often get "you should grow your hair out" or from balding friends "if i had as much hair as you i'd grow it out mate"

I have been looking into travelling from the UK to Turkey, from my research its a great place for HT and of course the price makes it possible for me to get this done sooner.

Would love to hear from any SMP+FUE people

just a couple videos i've found on the net from a surgeon who talks of the benefits of SMP+FUE

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

Q.

Could anyone take a look at my pics and give me an idea of how many grafts I will need.

Photo 1 = hair cut with clippers quite short - before SMP + artificial light

Photo 2 = hair cut with clippers quite short - before SMP + artificial light + Flash AKA the killer!

Photo 3 = after SMP (sorry its not a great photo)