Time to do something

Why don't you consult with Dr. Rassman in Los Angeles? He is the only coalition doctor who provides the service. I may consider him.

I received an email from Good Look Ink last week saying they are going to be featured on Good Morning America this month and that I had better book now because after the show they will be booked up for six months. It sounds like another high pressure sales pitch to me.

Yeah, I was hoping after 9,000 grafts and four surgeries it would look better than okay but oh well. I tried Topik and Dermatch. Both are terrible. It looks fake, is messy and makes my hair look extreemly dull.

Any comments from the last pic I posted? Curious on what others thought of my results. I turned the flash off and suppored the camera with my hand against the wall to control the camera so the pic was clearer.

I emailed Dr Pak who performs the SMP procedures at Dr Rassmans NHI clinic, and he gave me a quote of $6,000. He explained to me that this is the price for full scalp coverage, and five procedures- and they do not reccomend anything less than full coverage. I too was unimpressed with NHI's gallery. To me the after photos just look too shiny and sticky. Not natural looking to me. At present my biggest concern is the fading and if the touch up process would be able to combat this. When I was having a conversation over the phone with a woman who works for GLI, she was very friendly and helpful, but as soon as I mentioned the touch ups and asked about pricing, I immediately noticed a change in her tone- almost defensive like I had insulted her. This kind of made me uneasy. I emailed GLI last night and asked if I would have a guarantee on the price of future touch ups, or would this price be subject to inflation as time goes by, and Im just waiting for a response. My other concerns are:

1) When the tech does a touch up, will they tattoo exactly over each of the thousands of dots or will some "new ones" emerge in between the existing dots causing more of a solid look?- which would not be good

 

2) Will going back over the same dots cause them to get bigger and bigger also causing a migration?

 

3) will it be difficult to get an appointment for a touch up (3 - 5 years down the road for example) since the clinic will only make a fraction of the original smp price? Or will they suddenly be booked?

 

4) Will the clinic have enough of an insentive to do a good job on a touch up, or will they pass me off to be a guinee pig to a trainee tech?

 

Just some things that concern me for down the road

Whenever I asked GLI a question they didn't like their tone changed. They became rude, short and acted like "how dare you ask that". I ran out the door.

Man I really wish I knew more about the risks of smp, but like you guys have already stated, there are no long term results available. All we have are the facts we already know about pigments and how they react over time when they are injected as tats on other parts of the body deeper than the dermis. I am about a norwood 3 and have hair coverage on most of my head but a good bit is pretty thin hair, especially my crown area . Ive been taking finasteride 2.5 mg and rogaine for 7 years, have visited a Bosley consult site twice over the last 5 years -(both times they said im not candidate) and I was completely hopeless until I discovered smp two months ago. I was so excited b/c I believed this was my solution, but after alot of unanswered questions and skepticism on these forums, I am unsure. I put down my deposit for a clinic called GLI in Minnesota, and I am really impressed with their professionalism, but we all know this thing is just about money. The price is outrageous to be honest, but I really want to look better. I am not sure if I am getting scammed and wonder if 5 years from now will I have problems with the pigments on my head. I wonder if in five years these businesses will still be around or will I get a "you have reached a number that is no longer in service or that has been disconnected" when I call. GLI is a BBB member, and they are supposed to be featured on good morning america soon, but I am really nervous about long term effects, and it is not too late to turn back, so if anyone has any advice or feedback for me, I would greatly appreciate it. This is a difficult decision with potential long term repercussions so I just am trying to see if there is info out there that I am not aware of yet. Thanks everyone!

I feel your pain brother. I'm in the same boat. I plan to remove my hair piece in September so I need to figure out what to do soon. I feel like I'm playing the tables in Vegas especially after what I've gone through with the hair transplants. We need to keep each other in the loop with any information we find. Jotronic sent me a message that he knows of a place that does awesome temporary micropigmentation but it is in Milan Italy.

I'm of the opinion the only way it works if you have your very, very short, as its meant to look like stubble.

I've seen guys with longer hair with micro pigmentation and it looks good. It lessens the contrast between hair and scalp.

Good points Scar5, I was thinking the exact same thing.

The message below is from "Jotronic". This is very interesting and I want to know more about it for sure. Does anyone else know anything about this? Is it available anywhere in the U.S. or Canada? If not how difficult would it be for a facility already doing it to simply use a different type of ink that is temporary?

"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".

Here is a pic I just took using the instructions I was given by other forum members. It is a little clearer.

Thanks Jotronic. I swear in person it looks like I have more hair up there than it does when I take a pic of it with the flash. It is as if the flash makes the hair disappear. However, I hate to think if I'm out with a group of people and someone takes a pic with a flash and posts it on Facebook that is how I'm going to look. Sorry but I guess I'm a bit vain.

I'm not using my cell phone, I'm using my digital camera. Thanks for your opinion on the scalp tattooing. I just received an email from Good Look Ink that they are going to be featured on "Good Morning America" this month and I'd better book now because after the airing there will be a six month wait. I had no idea there was a temporary micropigmentation. That sound very interesting and I will research that! Flying to Italy would be a great vacation but I'm not in the income bracket to do that every other year. Maybe someone state side will start doing it. Thanks again for your very informative reply.

Here are some pics I just took. I had the transplanted hair colored Tuesday. You will notice the clear pic is with the flash which also makes it look very thin. I turned the flash off and it appears thicker but that also blurs the pic. Sorry, I tried several and I could not get a clear pic without the flash.

I think I am going to be a candidate for scalp tattooing. My only concern is that over the years the ink will fade and bleed. I suppose if I was going to get the procedure done and I was totally bald that could be more of a concern but since I have hair if the ink does fade and bleed it will be less noticeable since there will be hair over it. Any thoughts on that? I'm really looking for something that will lessen the contrast between the scalp and hair. Thanks

Bill,

I agree with you a different hairstyle will be more flattering and probably give an appearance of more desnsity once the hairpiece is goine. Keep in mind, the reson you see the “style” you do is because I wear a hairpiece and it needs to be a bit longer on the sides because of that. With the hairpiece I’m wearing the longer sides look completely normal and it blends in very well. The bulk on the sides disappears with the hairpiece. As soon as I ditch the piece the sides will be trimed down. I’m now in the process of growing out the transplanted hair. I will still have a small hairpiece on the crown which will not only cover the crown which never had any transplants but should offer a little help for density in front of the crown where the transplanted hair is. I plan to brush my hair forward and flip it up in the front with whatever hair I have there. I still have five more months of potential growth then it can even mature after that.

Why is scalp micropigmentation something you aren’t a real believer in? Are you basing this on individuals you’ve seen who have undergone the procedure? Do you think it could help someone like me who has hair but wants to use it to lessen the contrast between the hair and scalp? I honestly believe this may be the only hope I have in being able to remove my hairpiece for good. However, I don’t want to jump into something I will regret later. If I do it I’d feel more comfortable having a coalition doctor like Dr. Rassman perform the procedure rather than a tattoo parlor type environment. I had my stylist color the transplanted hair Tuesday night so the grey is gone. I’ll try to take a pic of it this weekend and post it. I’ll take it inside under different lighting conditions so I’m sure there will appear to be a difference in density from the pic I posted last weekend.

Check out my post "Hair Tattooing". There were a lot of good responses including several from Dr. Rassman who I believe is the only doctor to offer this procedure.

Bill,

Great to hear from you again. You are always the one who comes to mind when I get discouraged. You have been through just about the same as me. You’ve had four procedures and over 8K grafts. I am now allowing the transplanted hair to grow and I will trim the sides as much as I can (I need some length for the clips for the hairpiece). As far as style is concerned it is difficult to style which such low density but I’ve asked her to begin styling my hair as if I was not going to be wearing the hair piece. So your hair looks thin in direct sunlight as well? Have you thought about the tattoo process? I agree Dr. Shapiro was working with what he could after Epstein’s work. I do understand that my hair transplant will never be as thick as a hair piece and actually I don’t want it to be. However, I would expect it to be at least thick enough to look cosmetically acceptable and more hair is seen than scalp. I understand that my last procedure still has about five months until all the growth has surfaced.

There is a sweet spot for hair length and you have to find out what yours is. I would imagine that if you let the top grow out to about 2.5 to 3" and cut it about an inch on the sides and about 2" in the back to cover the scar you would look much different. Put a little product in it and see how it looks. As Joe said when you hair is very short and matted down as it is in your pic it just can't look decent. I would like to see some pics once you have done this and I bet it will look much much better and you can ditch the hairpiece.

Thanks! I'll take this info to her on my next haircut. I hear mousse makes the hair look thicker gel makes it look thinner. I'll post more pics once I have some length.

Will members post before and after photos of themselves who feel satisfied with their results. I'd like to see photos of NW5's in full sunlight. It is not acceptable for someone to think a hair transplant is only going to look acceptable under controlled lighting conditions. Who out there is never in sunlight?

thebaldreality2012-Thanks for your reply and reading all of my posts. You may be right as a NW5 there was too much bald area to cover. My crown was not addressed so I figured I'd have enough donor hair to cover 3/4 of my scalp. My hair is not whispy, just the opposite. It is very thick and coarse. I think I've got the physical part you mentioned covered. I'm 6'2' weigh 209lbs which 17.5" arms, 46' chest and 33" waist. Still I don't believe I'd look good bald. Just my opinion. Plenty of money? I do okay but I'd hate to think that is what I needed to boost my self confidence and have others interested in me. I'm not in denial I'm going through all of this for the first time and don't have the experience to judge yet. You may be right but I'm told by many on here that my last surgery has not matured yet and to look into the tattooing etc. I went to Epstein because he was listed as one of the top doctors on this site. I've seen other guys who were a NW5 with less grafts than me who look much better.

I had a haircut last night and shared with my stylist what I'd been discussing on the fourm about my situation. She said (and I agree) that once hair reaches a certain length it starts looking thinner not thicker. I said maybe I should just buzz it short and be done with it. She said that is not an option for me since I have a donor scar. This is so frustrating, it seems there is an issue with ever corner I turn. I'm beginning to with I'd have never considered a hair transplant. I have nothing to show for it excpect a drained back account and scar on the back of my head. I will say Dr. Shapiro's work has amounted to something and he was very kind in giving me two free surgeries. He did what he could with what he had to work with.

When I said "off site" I meant this was a person they said removed the tattooing from at another location what was not associated with them and it was not a doctor. I believe it was a skin care specialist. It is very telling that they did not want me to talk with this person. Remember, there could be unforseen circumstances where you may need to have this process reversed and that is an important question to ask. Just asking if it can be removed is not enough. You need to know if it can be removed without damaging your hair follicles.

Hey time to do something, I read your original post and you talked a little bit about your bad experience with Good Look Ink in Minnesota. Were they not forthcoming with info and did they dodge your questions? If you could elaborate on your impression/experience with GLI, I would really appreciate it as this could help me greatly. Smp isnt cheap and is permanent so any info you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

The quality of their work may be okay. They just were pushing me to sign the day I was there and acted put out that I wouldn't. They couldn't answer my question about being able to remove the process if necessary for some reason with a laser that wouldn't damage the hair follicle. He said they had an example of someone who did have it removed but that is all they would tell me. I asked to speak to the person (off site) who removed it and they would not allow me to. The sales person became annoyed and shut down. He then said I'd have to talk to the owner. I asked him to please have the owner contact me but I never heard anything from them again. I just didn't get a comfortable feeling and that usually means something.

aaron1234,

Like any of us, sunlight is not something I'll be able to avoid so the hair must be able to hold up to direct sunlight in order to be acceptable in my opinion. Concealers are not going to work for me. I've tried them and they are messy and give the hair a dull apperance and don't look natural. My hair piece looks more natural than Topik. The tattooing is interesting but if something isn't right with it I'm stuck with it unlike the Topik which can be washed off. It is painful enough that the first doctor did a poor job but then took $10K for it.

Let me put it this way. I've got over 9400 grafts with Dr. Wong and several hundred more from before Dr. Wong. When my hair is short like yours ( one inch?) and I'm outside in the sun my hair looks far thinner than when it has some length. Being out in sunlight may be normal conditions for you but not with that hair style and length you have now. Your end goal was/is to be able to remove the hair piece and you can only do that once the HT has had time to grow in, get to a reasonable length, and get it styled. It will never be as full as any hair system as most hair systems try to recreate original or close to original density but your result can be far better than ANY hair system due to a natural appearance and far less maintenance.

 

In my opinion you should cut your hair on the sides and let the top grow out sans piece and work with a stylist to find the best style for you. Length and style are everything and will make or break a hair transplant. Period.

That makes sense and makes me feel better. The maintenance of a hairpiece is not fun. It looks pretty darn realistic but still a pain. I want to be done with it.

You're not being fair to yourself to expect anything more. Your hair is very short, it is flat and spread out in opposite directions and you are outside in brutal sunlight. There is absolutely NO WAY that your hair will look full in these conditions. You should allow the hair to grow longer, learn what the sweet spot for length is and find the style that works best.

You could be right. I may be too hard on myself. You are right the hair is very short and flat. However, I am out in sunlight a lot so these are normal daily conditions that my hair will experience in every day life. I suppose after I color it, possilby get the tattooing, and style it the right way the density may appear thicker. I'm still not sure what to do about the sunlight issue. That is something I can't avoid.

Hi StaggerLee123,I\

I had a consultation with Good Look Ink while in Minneapolis for my last surgery. I was somewhat impressed with their work and what they had to say. There was one question they couldn't answer and that was if the tattooing could be removed if for some reason it needed to be without damaging the hair follicle. They said they would have no trouble matching my color. Dr. Shapiro is taking a wait and see attitude with hair tattooing. He sees where it could benefit some in my situation. I would love to ditch the piece but I'm not one of the lucky guys who looks good with very little hair.