hairthere

This is with shaved look after first 2 sessions. I was limited with hairline design because I knew his intention was to grow the hair long. Otherwise I could have given him an even better and more aesthetic hair line. And believe me, I did my best to persuade him to maintain the shaved look. 

This client came in after having 2 strip surgeries and an FUE surgery. The goal was to give density overall as well as conceal the scars. He agreed to shave down for the procedure and we treated him as a Shaved Look client. He is pictured with hair on top grown out after 3 sessions of SMP. 

19 hours ago, bald-and-bearded said:

Looks great.

He can actually get a diffuse transplant now and keep it cut very short to achieve some texture  

I've had quite a few people ask me about this very approach lately, but there are some  issues you should consider. Firstly, you will be PERMANENTLY scarring your scalp. And not just the donor zone. You will create scar tissue in the recipient area too, which can sometimes cause issues with the pigment (retention mostly). I know FUE is being aggressively marketed as "scar-free" or "scar-less" surgery--this is simply not true--as is evidenced here on this forum. The followup I get is, "Well you can then fix the scars." But why create a problem that needs fixing? SMP can definitely help conceal the scars, but it's not perfect. 

Secondly, while current transplant technology/methods (FUT and FUE) do produce ultra-refined grafts, they will NEVER be as natural as your native hair. And what I most commonly see is ridging along the hairline when the grafts are shaved down. Like everything else in life, you must weigh the risk versus the reward of this approach. In my opinion, if you're going for a shaved/buzzed look (zero guard), forgo the surgery and just do SMP. 

This client was lucky to consult with a few ethical hair transplant surgeons who told him he was not a good candidate for surgery due to signs of diffusion in his donor zone. He instead opted to restore his hairline and full density with three sessions of SMP. Thanks for looking!

I recommend posting some pictures to get a better idea of your situation. 

4 hours ago, smphero said:

I want to get my SMP at a center I have identify in the US. During our online consultation they said I would need upto 4 sessions and 10 days between sessions. But I am not from the US and I can't stay 30 days in the US just for this. So I think it's make more sense to just travel 3-4 times for this. But if I travel 3-4 times within a month, the immigration officers will start to ask me why. The first time I can say "leisure, travel, etc" (which is true coz SMP is like a tattoo you get on vacation). The next time, they will ask me "weren't you here just a week ago?"

I am not from Canada or one of those other european countries which the US lets in people without asking anything. Is the only option to just explain to the officer what SMP is?

sorry if this is a silly topic or in the wrong place of the forum

My SMP protocol requires you to have 2 sessions on consecutive days and then you return between 2-6 weeks for a third session. Feel free to email me pictures aheadink@gmail.com for a consultation. 

10 hours ago, Etownone said:

I actually went to your shop in Fort Lee a couple years ago, and had my consultation to get smp for density. 

But when I followed up to schedule my appt....  I was denied,  and told smp for density isn't done anymore due to mixed results.  

Are you back to doing smp for density?

 

 

That is still the case. Shaved Look and Scar procedures only.

1 hour ago, hairman22 said:

fue scars at back of head are so small though.

I get a zero fade & no body has ever mentioned the small dots.

They are noticeble close up but doesnt bother me at all.

 I have also seen FUE scarring that was quite undetectable. But there has been an influx of cases where the extraction pattern is very defined because the grafts aren’t spread over the entire donor zone. Also many of the clients I see with visible scarring are being over harvested.

On 11/27/2021 at 9:49 AM, ciaus said:

I agree big improvement. Can't see his face from the pics, but he's got a good head shape and his ears aren't big or projecting at a weird angle off his head. Probably would have been better doing this from the start and skip the hair transplants.

It's crazy lately how many guys are telling me they want to do a shaved head look but are considering having FUE surgery first because they want some real hair in the frontal zones before doing the SMP. When I point out they will be PERMANENTLY scarring their donor zone they reply "You can fix it though, right?" An explanation I often get for this approach is it seems they are worried that if someone runs their hands over their head it won't be realistic without some stubble. 

They also don't get that even if the smallest surgical punch is used the FU will still have some tissue which can lead to ridging in the front (especially when done by anyone other than a top HT doc).

Even though it is a source of income, I'd rather see guys not get this done to them. But thanks all for the positive feedback.

Here is the finished product. We added some more pigment to areas around the extraction pattern plus to the client's crown.

SMP should be deposited in the upper layer of the dermis (my machine deposits at .5mm). This is nowhere near deep enough as to damage hair follicles. 

Instagram marketing can be quite deceptive. Spend the extra $3k for peace of mind. Also I'd leave the crown alone, it looks strong to me for now. 

Gatsby has given you sound advice. I had similar hair loss as you that started at age 28. I stopped taking Fin at 30 years old because I was trying to start a family. 20 years and approximately 9 hair transplants later I have a pretty full looking head of hair. The crown is still a bit thin but I cover it with proper styling and hair length. The majority of my surgeries were strip. I doubt I could have achieved the same with just FUE. Just know that once you start down the rabbit hole there's no turning back so make informed decisions and consider the what ifs. 

My man you have ZERO hairloss. You even had a top HT surgeon tell you so. However, if you're attempting to control every aspect of your life you might start causing your hair to fall out from the stress! 

It's possible but very difficult to tell by just seeing pictures. A hair transplant surgeon or a trichologist could probably tell you if those hairs are miniaturizing but honestly I would not worry about this now. 

Looks totally normal to me. Might have some minor signs of thinning but nowhere near enough to waste time on this forum. Go enjoy life and that nice head of hair.

12 minutes ago, ciaus said:

 

I think the estimates of how many guys can pull off a shaved look is a big unknown and probably a big underestimate. Because most guys never dare to do it. Myself included up until this prolonged lockdown/work from home stretch we've had. And it turns out I like it and I've gotten compliments on it, so even though I've had some transplants I'm looking into SMP for going forward and just doing a mixture of mostly ink and maybe minor additional procedures.

Look at these pictures from @hairthere gallery of his shaved head patient results. Alot of them are just every day normal guys. 

edit -adding the link to scalpmicrousa too, didn't realize alot of hairthere's have their faces blurred out.

https://www.aheadink.com/gallery

https://scalpmicrousa.com/results/hairline/

 

Thanks for the mention.....FYI My web site is terribly outdated. My Instagram and Facebook have more recent results.

The stigma men face with balding is troubling to me. Whereas everything else is considered "body shaming" a bald guy is still fair game for making fun of. Something genetic and out of our hands? It makes no sense to me. 

On 11/10/2021 at 6:41 PM, SLA said:

Huge difference!

Thank you

20 hours ago, hairman22 said:

tbh im not really seeing a huge difference between ahead ink & smp ireland

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ8I9VZqj2m/  thats a flawless result

this looks very good too https://www.instagram.com/p/CUKYa7VqxHP/

 

i do think the ahead ink https://www.instagram.com/p/CGkPWpJp28p/ density is better but its very very dark ink

FYI That’s not my (Ahead Ink) work you linked to it’s a different company. 

Update: Here is the featured client fully healed. We did another session today to blend a bit more. I'll update with more pictures from today’s session in a few weeks when he returns for a checkup .....

3 hours ago, Etownone said:

What size needle did you use for this?  

Im noticing some artists use bigger dots when going for density cover up, and other artists using smaller dots for shaved look or skin tight fades. 

For this particular client I used a 3-point needle. I also have single point needles that I use. Sometimes I mix the two. Bigger dots can sometimes mean the artist injected deeper. 

Sorry to see you went through all that. I have witnessed an increasing number of guys going to Turkey only to come back with crazy low hairlines, pluggy work, and highly visibly scarring. I suppose the lure of cheap pricing and promises of zero-visibility scarring are great. That being said I've also seen some quality HT work from Turkey. Be careful out there guys!

12 hours ago, SD1984 said:

Following...

Would like to know how long the ink lasts and what happens after a while. Like does it fade into a grey/greenish tint or does it fade completely?

From my experience FUE treatment clients tend to get more mileage out of the SMP than shaved look clients. On average three, sometimes 4 years, before requiring any type of touchup. There are rarely issues with color change/perception in FUE treatments. Strip scars are a different story. Ideal strip scars for SMP are flat and white. This is sometimes not the case with strip scars as they can be stretched or keloid. To mitigate color issues I use medium brown strictly as my base color. Then we can tone up or down with an agar that is mixed in to the product. But I will explore options with strip scar clients to improve the overall scar when and if possible. This includes scar excision/reclosure, laser treatment, topical treatments, and grafting into the scar. 

18 hours ago, MachoVato said:

Do you need the hair cut that short to do this?

Yes I require a zero guard shave for all procedures. 

I am located in Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Here’s a recent client pictured after 2 sessions of SMP. He will return for one more session to blend the crown and nape areas a bit more.