Time to do something

You probably have not been following my posts which is understandable since you can’t follow everyone’s but I explained my interest in SMP in great detail in previous posts. I think you are familiar with my case and the disaster I had with my first two surgeries by the coalition doctor. Dr. Shapiro saved me from what could have been a terrible outcome. I’ve got hair on the top of my head now but not enough to appear cosmetically acceptable. It will not hold up to any light or water. I believe I am a candidate for SMP based on the low density of my hair transplants and the exhaustion of donor supply. I’ve been researching it and find more pros than cons and the cons are not negative enough for me to not move forward. According to Dr. Rassman it can be removed if necessary. I’ve come this far and gone through so much trauma that I can’t stop now or it would have all been for nothing. Dr. Shapiro is recommending this procedure for the right candidates. I truly appreciate your input and will listen closely. What is it about this procedure that you feel I would regret? Dr. Rassman is one of a handful of places I’m considering for this procedure. I’ve already had a consultation with one place and they said I am definitely a candidate. A member here had it done yesterday and sent me pics and it looks awesome. The worst case scenario from all the research I’ve done is it may fade in a few years and it is easily touched up. I’ am actually tired of waiting for my hair transplants to grow. I’ve been waiting five years and that is more than enough time. I plan to possibly have this done in July which would be one year from my last hair transplant and have the blessing of Dr. Shapiro and the companies offering this service that is enough time after my last transplant. Even if I have six more months before the hair has thickened and matured there is no way with what I have now that much more is going to surface, thicken or mature that will suddenly give me an acceptable amount of density.

I'm not sure if this is a coalition doctor but I found another hair transplant doctor who offers SMP. Tattoo Hair Simulation / Scalp Micropigmentation

You'd be in good hands with either Dr. Shapiro or Dr. Charles. I've never heard of the other doctor you are mentioning. I'd go with one who has a good history and can be easily located online.

I've heard good and bad about SMP. Probably more good than bad. Considering my circumstances I'm probably going to go through with it. I've done extensive research and have three places in mind. I've put together some questions which I will email them soon. Please chime in with any questions I should ask that I may have forgotten. Also does anyone know of any other coalition doctors in addition to Dr. Rassman offering this service? 1. Approximately how long will the ink last before a touch up is needed? 2. If the ink fades does it just lighten or does it turn a different color? 3. If it fades will it stay sharp or does it blur? 4. Will the ink bleed? 5. Is detail given to the hairline to taper and feather it so it is not a harsh hairline which looks like an ink helmet? 6. Will the dots be small and far enough apart to look natural? 7. Can a 3D effect be accomplished so it doesn’t look flat and one dimensional? 8. Will care be taken to place the dots between the hair and not on it or close enough to it to damage a hair follicle? 9. Will this procedure cause shock loss? 10. Can gray be sprinkled in with it? 11. I have hair and won’t require as many dots as a bald individual and I’m only covering a small area- ? of the front top of my scalp, will the procedure be priced accordingly vs. a full head procedure? 12. What would I need to do to prep for this procedure? 13. What would the approximate cost be? 14. Will the color be matched to my own hair? 15. Will more than one session be required and if so how far apart? 16. How much do touch ups cost?

I've heard good and bad about SMP. Probably more good than bad. Considering my circumstances I'm probably going to go through with it. I've done extensive research and have three places in mind. I've put together some questions which I will email them soon. Please chime in with any questions I should ask that I may have forgotten. Also does anyone know of any other coalition doctors providing this service other than Dr. Rassman? 1. Approximately how long will the ink last before a touch up is needed? 2. If the ink fades does it just lighten or does it turn a different color? 3. If it fades will it stay sharp or does it blur? 4. Will the ink bleed? 5. Is detail given to the hairline to taper and feather it so it is not a harsh hairline which looks like an ink helmet? 6. Will the dots be small and far enough apart to look natural? 7. Can a 3D effect be accomplished so it doesn’t look flat and one dimensional? 8. Will care be taken to place the dots between the hair and not on it or close enough to it to damage a hair follicle? 9. Will this procedure cause shock loss? 10. Can gray be sprinkled in with it? 11. I have hair and won’t require as many dots as a bald individual and I’m only covering a small area- ? of the front top of my scalp, will the procedure be priced accordingly vs. a full head procedure? 12. What would I need to do to prep for this procedure? 13. What would the approximate cost be? 14. Will the color be matched to my own hair? 15. Will more than one session be required and if so how far apart? 16. How much do touch ups cost?

I've heard good and bad about SMP. Probably more good than bad. Considering my circumstances I'm probably going to go through with it. I've done extensive research and have three places in mind. I've put together some questions which I will email them soon. Please chime in with any questions I should ask that I may have forgotten. 1. Approximately how long will the ink last before a touch up is needed? 2. If the ink fades does it just lighten or does it turn a different color? 3. If it fades will it stay sharp or does it blur? 4. Will the ink bleed? 5. Is detail given to the hairline to taper and feather it so it is not a harsh hairline which looks like an ink helmet? 6. Will the dots be small and far enough apart to look natural? 7. Can a 3D effect be accomplished so it doesn’t look flat and one dimensional? 8. Will care be taken to place the dots between the hair and not on it or close enough to it to damage a hair follicle? 9. Will this procedure cause shock loss? 10. Can gray be sprinkled in with it? 11. I have hair and won’t require as many dots as a bald individual and I’m only covering a small area- ? of the front top of my scalp, will the procedure be priced accordingly vs. a full head procedure? 12. What would I need to do to prep for this procedure? 13. What would the approximate cost be? 14. Will the color be matched to my own hair? 15. Will more than one session be required and if so how far apart? 16. How much do touch ups cost?

Are there any coalition doctors in addition to Dr. Rassman offering scalp micro pigmentation?

Did GLI make it on Good Morning America in April? If so do you know if the Youtube video is available?

Feel confident you've made the right decision. I look forward to your pics and talking with you! Good luck on your big day.

Second, third and fourth hair transplants take even longer to produce final results than the first one.

I can handle $2-300 if that is all it is. I went to GLI last year and met in person with the young guy I think you are talking about. It did look good. I felt they were pushing too hard to sell which worried me. I'm already skeptical about everything since I had a bad experience with the hair transplant. What did you have to do to prep for the procedure?

What I gathered from my conversation with him was that the color doesn't really change to some odd color it just fades a bit. It sounds like this is something that will need to be touched up every three to four years. I don't know if it would require the same amount of work as the original job. If so it could be costly, if not maybe more affordable. It sounds like we can put our fears of it bleeding and causing a "helmet look" as well. It seems like this is starting to look like a lower risk venture to me, especially for the right individual. If anyone has evidence to the contrary please share it. Thanks

I heard from Dr. Traquina today. He has not had contact with the patients who had the SMP done back in the 1990’s however, he did provide some good information based on his observations. He says the ink will hold up for three to four years and then the patient can go back to have it reinforced. He said if it is done properly and the right ink is used it will not bleed and turn into a “helmet look”. He said it is important to taper and feather it on the hairline so it give a natural appearance and that small dots are used and not close to each other. He said if the patient has hair that it is important that the ink is placed between the hair and not over it. The SMP procedure can also potentially cause shock loss for patients with hair but the hair will come back. He said this may help patients with transplants with low density achieve the illusion of more density. Scars are very benefited from this procedure according to Dr. Traquina. There was some talk here that one color is used for all patients no matter their hair color. The reasoning was that all hair no matter the color appears black as stubble. He said that is not true that the ink should be matched to the color of the hair. He said if black was used on everyone no matter their hair color it would not look right. He also provided a website for the company that provides the pigment for SMP procedures. He said they can be a wealth of information. The website is www.permark.com Please let me hear back from you guys on what you think about this! Thanks.

I heard from Dr. Traquina today. He has not had contact with the patients who had the SMP done back in the 1990’s however, he did provide some good information based on his observations. He says the ink will hold up for three to four years and then the patient can go back to have it reinforced. He said if it is done properly and the right ink is used it will not bleed and turn into a “helmet look”. He said it is important to taper and feather it on the hairline so it give a natural appearance and that small dots are used and not close to each other. He said if the patient has hair that it is important that the ink is placed between the hair and not over it. The SMP procedure can also potentially cause shock loss for patients with hair but the hair will come back. He said this may help patients with transplants with low density achieve the illusion of more density. Scars are very benefited from this procedure according to Dr. Traquina. There was some talk here that one color is used for all patients no matter their hair color. The reasoning was that all hair no matter the color appears black as stubble. He said that is not true that the ink should be matched to the color of the hair. He said if black was used on everyone no matter their hair color it would not look right. He also provided a website for the company that provides the pigment for SMP procedures. He said they can be a wealth of information. The website is www.permark.com Please let me hear back from you guys on what you think about this! Thanks.

I heard from Dr. Traquina today. He has not had contact with the patients who had the SMP done back in the 1990’s however, he did provide some good information based on his observations. He says the ink will hold up for three to four years and then the patient can go back to have it reinforced. He said if it is done properly and the right ink is used it will not bleed and turn into a “helmet look”. He said it is important to taper and feather it on the hairline so it give a natural appearance and that small dots are used and not close to each other. He said if the patient has hair that it is important that the ink is placed between the hair and not over it. The SMP procedure can also potentially cause shock loss for patients with hair but the hair will come back. He said this may help patients with transplants with low density achieve the illusion of more density. Scars are very benefited from this procedure according to Dr. Traquina. There was some talk here that one color is used for all patients no matter their hair color. The reasoning was that all hair no matter the color appears black as stubble. He said that is not true that the ink should be matched to the color of the hair. He said if black was used on everyone no matter their hair color it would not look right. He also provided a website for the company that provides the pigment for SMP procedures. He said they can be a wealth of information. The website is www.permark.com Please let me hear back from you guys on what you think about this! Thanks.

Yes, I really like it.

Good luck Jholcollege11. I can't wait to see the results. Keep us posted.

Jholecollege11, A number appreared on my cell phone yesterday with a 707 area code. I could not answer it because I was wrapping things up at the office. I thought that might be Dr. Tranquina so I Googled the number and it as him! However he left no voicemail. ; ( He did try to reach me. If I don't hear back in a couple of days I'll call that number back. You are making a decision based on research. You will never know 100% if it is the right decision but you've got to go with your gut. As a last resort you could have it lasered off. I've heard as many pros as cons about it so it is impossible to be 100% sure. If I can get this data from Dr. Tranquina that will put a lot of our fears to rest, but maybe not. What if back then they were using inferior ink? If a better ink is being used today that could totally change the outcome. Were you the one who posted the strengths and weaknesses of the top SMP providers? I remember seeing that in a post somewhere and would love to see it again. I'm really leaning toward getting this done myself in July.

I just posted about this. Yes it can be done. I know of several guys who had transplants in the front but not on the crown and wear a hair piece only on the crown. They say it works well. I've not seen it in person but this is exactly what I plan to do by September. If you find any information on this please share it with me. I'm interested in the tricks to blend and style it so it looks natural. Thanks

In the next few months I’m going to be removing my hairpiece which covers the top of my head from forehead to crown. I had several hair transplants and those combined with concealer and possibly SMP will give me enough of an illusion of density to move forward. In order to maximize my grafts for the most density they were used on the bald area from the forehead to just before the crown. The crown is slick bald so I’m planning on wearing a small crown hair piece there about the size of a baseball. I know others have done this with success but can anyone out there offer me some tips on how to make this work and blend it to make it look natural? My stylist says she can do it but I want to be able to offer her tips from others who have gone through this and have experience with it. Thanks!

The-bald-reality2012, I agree with just about everything you have said and maybe only guys who have had terrible experiences like us can relate to one another. I believe there are guys here happy with their results but many who are not. I’m somewhere in between and it is too early to determine the final outcome since my last procedure has not matured. One thing I can say was the first two I received were not acceptable at all. Dr. Shapiro restored some of my faith in the industry by giving me two free surgeries. He had absolutely no reason to do this except he is a decent human being and didn’t want one doctor who was generating a lot of negative publicity on the industry tarnishing it for all other doctors. I would have never been able to afford the work he did for me to attempt to achieve what I was supposed to get with Epstein. If it weren’t for Dr. Shapiro I can tell you I’d have gone into a major depression. He saved me in so many ways. I’m at a point now where I can use concealer and it will give an acceptable appearance. Concealer is not an ideal situation but it will provide the illusion of enough density to be acceptable. I still have the issue of it coming off on my pillow, coming out when I swim and I still have maintenance which is the entire reason I went for a hair transplant in the first place. I wanted to get away from the maintenance of a hairpiece. Now it appears I’ve just swapped one type of maintenance for another. I am being very cautious on the SMP idea. I have contacted a doctor who performed that procedure in the early and mid-90’s asking for photos of the patients today so we can see how the ink held up over the years. I don’t plan on doing anything else other than the possibility of SMP after it has been completely researched. I’ve seen guys who have had it done and it looks very good to me. However, you are right, we don’t know what it will look like in 20 years. I’m not looking for a head of hair like I had when I was 20. I know that will never happen and I’m not sure I’d want it if I could have it. What I do want is enough hair to cover the scalp so one doesn’t see more scalp than hair. You are right about another thing, unsatisfied patients finally give up in defeat and they are rarely heard from again here. I find it ironic that this site that is supposed to thoroughly screen candidates to become coalition doctors and recommended one to me who took my money and gave terrible results. They finally revoked his membership but too late for me and my 10K. At this stage of my life I had a few options. I could continue to wear a hair piece, which actually looks pretty damn natural, take it off and be slick bald on the top, or go for a hair transplant. I didn’t want the first option because I’m tired of the maintenance and the older one gets the less thick hair can be pulled off. High density in a hair piece (if properly styled and maintained) can look natural on a younger guy but as one ages thicker density isn’t as believable. Taking it off and being slick bald was not an option because I don’t feel I’m one of the lucky guys who can do that and look good. That left one option and that was a hair transplant. I now have hair where I didn’t before so for that I’m happy. Do I have the amount of hair needed to look(in my opinion) acceptable…no but I think with concealer and proper styling I can pull it off. It may not be what I was expecting but I will be able to ditch the piece (except for the crown which is nothing) and even though I’ll have maintenance I believe it will be less than what I was dealing with. Epstein kept telling me I was an extremely unusual case that most of his patients were very happy and their work a success. If that is true then why wouldn’t he have considered my “rare case” the price of doing business and refunded my money since the overwhelming majority of his patients are happy according to him? He did offer me a second surgery which I took but totally regret it. I should have realized if the first one with him didn’t work the second one wouldn’t. However, my bank account was drained and I was desperate. Thank God for Dr. Shapiro’s generosity. I do commend this site for one thing. Had it not been for this site which exposed my terrible experience Dr. Shapiro would have never known about it and offered me help. One can have all of the confidence in the world but the brutal statistics which don’t lie say people find bald people less attractive and bald people earn less than their hirsute counterparts.

There was a bit in the sink but not what I saw when I used Toppik. If you go online you can get a free sample. I'd give it a try. Let me know what you think.

One of the limitations I see with Caboki is swimming. It comes off with water. This is why I'm considering the SMP in conjunction with Caboki. SMP will of course not wash off with water so I'll still have an illusion of more dense hair even when swimming.

I may have a little more left but I'm finished with hair transplants. Dr. Shapiro said I could come back for a touch up and I suppose that isn't out of the question but no more full blow hair transplants. What I have is what I'll have to work with. Epstein was a nightmare. Didn't refund one cent of my money after several coaliton doctors indicated I did not get the results I should have for the number of grafts planted. He gave several other patients refunds right around the time I had my issue with him. I guess he figured that he couldn't give all of his unhappy customers refunds or he'd go out of business. I don't know how he sleeps at night.

So the paste will make it shinier and not interfere with the product? I heard many styling products including pomade makes hair density appear lower. If this has worked for you I'll try it!