Titan

I think the SMP prior to Transplant is an interesting idea and in my opinion could work, but only in very specific situations. There are definitely a lot of factors to consider and unfortunately not a ton of examples out there. This video probably a decent reference and is actually the guy who did my small SMP session years ago I had SMP on a small area (approx 2"x2") to cover a bald spot on the top/front of my head from an old injury. It made the bald spot much less noticeable for a while (~7 years) HOWEVER once I started to experience diffuse male pattern baldness the SMP become noticeable if I cut my hair short. It was a bad look for me - light skin, brown hair and the SMP over time developed a grayish tint to it. I ultimately had the SMP removed via laser a few weeks ago and would say probably 90% or more removed in single session and am planning a transplant soon to fix multiple areas of hair loss including teh area I removed SMP from Things to consider -your hair color and length - SMP tends to look more natural for very dark hair colors, I think the pigment plus fading over time make brownish hair color hard to replicate via SMP. Also would probably work better for density effect with longer hair styles -Would talk to both SMP specialist (best your can find) and Transplant surgeons (same) and see if any have worked together and what their advice may be. Get examples of situations closest to yours. Personally I would try the transplant first and see how the density turns out before making a decision on SMP. Going the route of SMP for density only makes sense to me if your hair loss has fully stopped and you know what your working with, otherwise as the loss progresses you are left with the decision of - getting more SMP/tranplant to cover newly bald/thinned areas or having to laser it off down the line. Also if you do get SMP go as light as possible for desired effect as laser removal is not fun would not want to have to do multiple sessions of that

can retinol, specifically tretinoin, help hair regrowth when combined with minoxidil and topical finasteride

Have a bit of a unique hair situation would like to get some additional input on best way forward. 32 yrs old, minoxidil on and off for last 5 years, never tried fin - not interested in it short or long term I have a bald patch in the middle of frontal hair zone but behind the hairline. This stems from a childhood injury, never stitched up the wound and the spot gradually grew until I stopped growing. That area has been stable for last 15 years - and I had SMP there about 8 years ago to help camouflage the scalp. The SMP + toppik + combover helped conceal the area for a while while the sounding hair was still looking solid However starting ~5 years ago the mid scalp and crown have thinned significantly, as well as general thinning on entire top. This exposes the SMP in certain light and generally looks terrible. I cannott grow my hair long because the middle 'vertical third' hairs are very miniaturized. Had it not been for the bald spot and SMP I would be comfortable rocking a #1 or 0.5 buzz but that option is out as of now too Have meet with one HT surgeon and consulted online with a a few more, all have suggested transplant but with different graft counts and approaches. Seems my best options are: 1 . Large FUT (3k+) on bald spot, plus frontal and mid (crown too if possible but with least priority) 2. Small FUE on only the bald spot (450 to 600 grafts) - none of the consults have suggested lasering the SMP first. Anyone have experience with this? I'm leaning towards option 1 to get as much density as possible and hope to cover everything with longer, denser hair style, however concerned about what mid scalp and crown would look like and potential for shock loss in those areas. I Any suggestions on best approach forward?