Time to do something

The Bald Reality 2012-I agree with most everything you said. You are very well spoken. I tried to stay positive through this ordeal or I'd have been a basket case. It is still not over but I'm getting closer.

Hi Dr. Charles, Thanks for your help last year when you evaluated how many grafts I may have left for Dr. Shapiro. It was much appreciated. Between the Caboki, SMP I'm considering in July and the crown hairpiece I'm finally seeing light at the end of this five year tunnel. You can visit Caboki's website and get information on the product. It has the opposite charge as human hair so it clings to it. I was impressed.

I had a bad experience with the first two surgeries. You can search my name and follow the saga here.

Here are some pics I just took. Sorry for the poor quality.

My Caboki arrived today and I must admit I'm excited. I applied it and it really does make me look like I have hair! It works far better than anything else I've ever tried such as Toppik and DermMatch. The only thing I'm not totally happy with is the fact that it appears to dull the hair. My own hair is very shiny and the hair on top of my head where I applied this is now much duller so it doesn't match the rest of my hair. Any suggestions on how to fix that? Also when I applied the product it appeared I had a head full of dust but after patting my head most of that apperance went away. They advertise that it will not come off of one's head because it has the opposite charge of human hair. However when I ran my fingers through it there was some there. Not much but there was some. Overall I'm very pleased with this product and I'm sure I will be even more so after I'm better at applying it. Good stuff!!!

Dr. Traquina wrote a paper back in 2001 about patients who received SMP in the early and mid-90’s. If we could find out what the condition of their SMP procedures are today this would answer a lot of questions people have. I sent him and email and left him a voice mail last week but have received no response yet. Saturday I sent a certified letter to his office and residence. Hopefully he will respond and we can finally get answers to the questions about how this procedure holds up over the years.

As soon as a large number of people have had acceptable results with this, it is proven safe, and affordable for the average person I'm in....if I'm under 90 years old.

Well said Mahhong. Take hair transplants for example. The first ones were very crude and done in the 1950's but it wasn't until 50 years later that they were perfected enough to look cosmetically acceptable and even now there are many issues with them which still doesn't cure baldness.

FYI-I borrowed this from another site: "There will still be some problems associated with cloning. One is an increased risk of cancer. The growth-inducing chemicals such as tetradecanoylphorbol acetate (TPA) used to stimulate cellular proliferation for cloning frequently promote tumors and cancer. While cancer risk is low for most cloned cell products, cloning hair follicle stem cells is riskier. Dermatologists have observed that many basal cell carcinomas, a type of skin cancer that is the most common human tumor, seem to originate from the hair follicle. Cotsarelis notes in the 2000 paper presented in "Dermatology Focus": "the fact that that basal cell carcinomas are slow-growing tumors composed of poorly differentiated cells that have the ability to differentiate into various adnexal structures strongly suggests that the cell of origin is a pluripotent, slowly cycling stem cell with a highly proliferative potential." What he's saying is that molecular and genetic evidence points to the hair follicle stem cell as the source for this common form of cancer. Cloning hair follicle stem cells with cancer-inducing chemicals will require many years of study to assure the safety of the cloned follicles that result." Thoughts? I'm not trying to dash any hopes, because I'd like to see a solution as much as anyone else. But this sounds like a potentially serious - and not easily detectable - problem.

Yes it is science. So was Propecia, Minoxidil and countless other baldness "cures". Back when those came out they were labeled to be the "end of baldness" and science had documentation that it worked. We know now that not only was it not a cure but Propecia had major side effects in some men. I also read that there could be even bigger side effects from implanting cloned/stem cell hair into the scalp. I'm not saying it is impossible. I'm just saying scientist/media have been calling wolf for too many years for me to not be skeptical. Based on past history why should I beleive this is the cure? That is why I'll beleive it when I see it. I'm not negative just a realist.

I saw a video on this today. I'll believe it when I see it.

Dr. Alvaro Traquina published a paper in the journal, Dermatologic Surgery, Vol 27, Issue 2, p 123, Feb 2001, entitled, "Micropigmentation as an Adjuvant in Cosmestic Surgery of the Scalp" . It is easy to get hold of it on the web. He did retrospective review of 62 patients he treated for micropigmentation between 1993 and 1999.

This link should direct you to where you can find the actual article. It was from 2001. Micropigmentation as an adjuvant in cosmetic s... [Dermatol Surg. 2001] - PubMed - NCBI

Hello Dr. Traquina, I am not sure what a valid address is for you so I’m sending this to several I was able to locate in hopes you will receive one of them. I am writing you on behalf of several individuals who are members of the “Hair Transplant Network”. We have been posting on the forum about the subject of Scalp Micropigmentation. We are all considering having it done but have been able to find very little information on the subject. We are unable to find any doctor or company that has been doing it for more than a few years. Then one of the members stumbled across the paper you wrote entitled “Micropigmentation as an Adjuvant in Cosmetic Surgery”. This was like a gold mine for us because you wrote about individuals who had this procedure done back in the 1990’s. What we are all looking for is an example of people who had this done more than a couple of years ago so we can view the results. The overwhelming fear among people considering this procedure is with time the ink blurs/fades, bleeds and turns a different color. Another question people have is if the procedure needs to be reversed for some reason can it be with a laser without damaging the hair follicle? If you could answer some of these questions or better yet provide photos of the individuals who had this procedure done in the 1990’s we would very much appreciate it. In my case I’ve had four hair transplants with almost 9000 grafts. I was a NW5. The first two were done by an unscrupulous doctor and I had very poor results. The last two were done by a much more qualified surgeon but he only had so many grafts to work with. I’m right on the threshold of my hair transplants looking cosmetically acceptable but with my donor supply exhausted the only option I can think of is the Scalp Micropigmentation. I wear a hair piece and want to remove it by the summer. My last hair transplant was in July 2011 so if my concerns are laid to rest I plan to have the Scalp Micorpigmentation in July 2012. Thank you for any help you can give me and the other forum members in the same boat.

I found a couple of email addresses for Dr. Traquina. I sent the email below to him this morning. If I don't receive a reply I have a couple of physical addresses I can send it to as well and a fax number. Hello Dr. Traquina, I am not sure what a valid address is for you so I’m sending this to several I was able to locate in hopes you will receive one of them. I am writing you on behalf of several individuals who are members of the “Hair Transplant Network”. We have been posting on the forum about the subject of Scalp Micropigmentation. We are all considering having it done but have been able to find very little information on the subject. We are unable to find any doctor or company that has been doing it for more than a few years. Then one of the members stumbled across the paper you wrote entitled “Micropigmentation as an Adjuvant in Cosmetic Surgery”. This was like a gold mine for us because you wrote about individuals who had this procedure done back in the 1990’s. What we are all looking for is an example of people who had this done more than a couple of years ago so we can view the results. The overwhelming fear among people considering this procedure is with time the ink blurs/fades, bleeds and turns a different color. Another question people have is if the procedure needs to be reversed for some reason can it be with a laser without damaging the hair follicle? If you could answer some of these questions or better yet provide photos of the individuals who had this procedure done in the 1990’s we would very much appreciate it. In my case I’ve had four hair transplants with almost 9000 grafts. I was a NW5. The first two were done by an unscrupulous doctor and I had very poor results. The last two were done by a much more qualified surgeon but he only had so many grafts to work with. I’m right on the threshold of my hair transplants looking cosmetically acceptable but with my donor supply exhausted the only option I can think of is the Scalp Micropigmentation. I wear a hair piece and want to remove it by the summer. My last hair transplant was in July 2011 so if my concerns are laid to rest I plan to have the Scalp Micorpigmentation in July 2012. Thank you for any help you can give me and the other forum members in the same boat.

Even if a new baldness "cure" is around the corner, people may be very disappointed if they wait years for it and it doesn't turn out to be the "cure" as advertised. Remember years ago that is what was being said about Minoxidil and Propecia? Not only did they NOT cure baldness but Propecia had terrible side effects in some men. I agree with you Jholcollege11. I'd just be cautious about what could happen down the road with SMP. I think we know what it will look like after you leave the office, in most cases if you went to a reputable company you should look fine. However, the years down the road is the big question mark. I agree, I've accepted the fact I'll never have long flowing locks again and I'm okay with thinner cropped hair. I just don't want to look like I'm wearing an ink helmet in 15 years. Why don't we all put our collective efforts together and try to find the people who had this done in the 90's?

Jholcollege11, I'd thought about the fact much of the bad press was coming from hair transplant doctors and is it because this may take away from their business. I suppose there could be some truth to that. I'm sure it is a fine line they are walking because in some cases they have patients who have had hair transplants and have no donor hair left but still don't have cosmetically aceptable density. This is a case where SMP may be a benefit. I know Dr. Shapiro is taking a wait and see attitude but he has sent a few of his patients to GLI I beleive. Dr. Rassman is a HT doctor but he offers SMP. I believe that a hair transplant and SMP can work beautifully together. In my opinion I beleive SMP will look more realistic with the texture of hair vs. a slick bald head. I wouldn't base the credibility of SMP on the fact it is going to be on Good Morning America. I've seen many products featured on national news stories that turned out to be bogus. Until we can get a hold of photos of these people who had the SMP done back in the 90's we will never be able to decide if this is worth the gamble.

I think we already discussed the possible limitations with this but I thought I'd post it here for anyone who hadn't read it on the other thread here.

Here is a message "Jotronic" from Dr. Hasson's office sent me. Regarding the tattooing option, forget about it. The bleeding out issue that you think might not be such a big deal will be a big deal even with hair on your scalp. You don't want a blue scalp. I've seen it on a guy that had hand and it ain't purty. The blue scalp was very visible under the hair. If you want to consider anything remotely similar to a tattoo then you shoud consider a temporary micropigmentation. I've seen the results from several companies now and when I was in Italy last month I met a woman that , in my opinion, offers the most realistic option available and it is temporary so if you don't like it you don't have to live with it. It lasts for up to two years and she can customize the color for you. She speaks about three words of English but her partner is marginally more proficient with English. Her clinic is called Beauty Medical Milano in Milan, Italy. I've seen the work and it's probably the best I've seen to date. __________________ I am employed by Hasson & Wong as a patient educator. My opinions are my own and might not be that of Dr. Hasson & Dr. Wong.

GLI told me they could match any color except platinum blonde. My impression from our conversation was that they matched the color of each individual's hair. I'd need to investigate that further.

I've only heard people talk about the ink turning blue which I assume means it is black ink for people with black hair. What about those of use who don't have black hair? I have auburn/strawberry blond hair. What could happen with that color? I'm told my color would be no problem to match.

TTDS yeah, I have no idea what happened to Dr. Traquina's patients! Or whether they are still happy. Good point though. I'm gonna keep looking into cosmetics and scalp stuff though. Thanks! Please keep us posted. My plan was to do something in July with SMP.

Jholcollege11, I'd be nervous too which is why I did not continue to talk with the folks at GLI. I had a phone consultation with them and a personal consultation in their office. Maybe if we can get some pics of these people that Scar5 mentioned that had the SMP done in the 90's and it looks good that will put our minds to rest. If you do decide to go with the SMP with GLI I would pay by credit card so you can dispute the charge if by chance something doesn't go right. It is in their best interest to keep you happy because with the power of the internet today their business can be destroyed. GLI was very good at avoiding questions when I was there. They did answer many but not all. If you are feeling unsure the best bet is to sit on it for a while. They aren't going any where.

Scar5, Great info! Who are some of the other doctors that perform SMP? I am also surprised to see people had this done almost 20 years ago! I’d love to see pics of these people 20 years after the procedure. I think that would settle a lot of skepticism here. None of us want to make a mistake we can’t reverse and will regret so due diligence is crucial in a situation like this.

Is Dr. Rassman and NHI the same thing?