lorenzo

22 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Yea, he definitely did. There used to be a guy who posted a lot here @lorenzo his avatar was with Conte. 

I wonder what happened to Lorenzo? 😉

Well deserved. HTsoon is a great choice. HIs input and knowledge in the past was always with the goal of helping posters.

Hrsp

People like you are very valuable to this forum. You are here because you want to help and gain nothing by doing it. I enjoy reading your post and understand your passion. Glad the misunderstand got figured out.

Lorenzo I wonder if you had the ink tested for a cancer link?

& if you know anyone else who had the same treatment and got cancer?

Was the ink you had put on carbon based?

No I did not get the ink tested, not sure how I would do that and if so I am sure it would be expensive. I am not familiar with anyone else that got cancer after SMP. Not sure what was in the ink, it is the same ink used by alot of SMP clinic and is supplied from Italy.

Again I want to state I probably will never know what caused my cancer but I think its important to share my story.

BTW

I forgot to mention at Hasson and Wong we did an italian patient a few years ago that received 17500 hairs (9000 grafts). We also did another Italian last year I believe the hair count was about 16500 (8400 grafts).

When a clinic makes statements first do not mean much (without a result) and are incorrect , this show a lack of knowledge or professionalism. Smoke and mirrors is a marketing style used by clinics that are trying to get you to ignore the most important aspect, the result. These type of things are red flags, telling you to research more and most likely stay away from these types of clinics.

Regardless of the number of grafts results are important. I recommend anyone that considering any clinic should get as much information as possible. The best information is from actual posters that are legit and have gone to that clinic. Every clinic in the world regardless how good or bad they actually are, believe they are amongst the world best. In my opinion the best clinic usually have one office for surgery and the clinic is actually run by the transplant doctors and not by a businessman. I would never consider a clinic that is a chain and has many different locations around the world. This is not Mcdonalds and quality control is not easy to duplicate in more than one location.

Lorenzo - just to clear would you have smp again or recommend it, from your opinion?

After all that I have been through I will never do SMP again. As for recommending it I would tell the truth. I would share my story and then give them my opinion about SMP. This what I believe

1) I am very happy with how my SMP looks or looked. I still have SMP and in some places, it has been there for more than 5 years, I did not think this is normal

2) If done by the right person or company SMP looks very natural and great. I have seem some photos from Marks work and it does look top notch.

3) At no fault of the tattoo artist but sometime even with the best, SMP can fade very quickly (less than a month). This has alot more to do with the person than the SMP company. Again I am talking about top SMP companies.

I have enclosed some picture after I lost my hair during my second fight with cancer. All there is on my head is SMP, the side were done more than three years before the top was done a few time , last time I believe 10 month earlier.

I will tell you a funny story. I was seeing my radiologist shortly after these photos to discuss my full body radiation. She told me your hair looks very thick but I have to tell you that it may not come back that thick. She did not know I had lost all my hair with chemo and all she was seeing was SMP.

I agree there is no clear evidence but is there any possibility of a link?

 

I respect doing smp is someone's livelihood as well as making a huge difference to many but the safety side needs to be discussed,

 

So from the way I see it,

 

the moment the ink is put on etc in the body it is recognised by the body as foreign and it starts to work against it/ to get rid of it

(even if it takes x no of years).

Then it goes thru your body, cells, bloodstream, clearing process by the body, does this have any type of effect as it is defiantly not natural.

 

Many people seem to be getting cancer now all these environmental things we have brought upon ourselves.

 

Please correct me as I have low donor supply and a large hair loss area.

My family history is nw7 so been around nw6 does not give me any confidence to risk ht/s.

 

Smp would be a great option for me if only it is safe...

 

Thanks

Thanks I agree. http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/tattoo-health-1.4288837 interesting article.

Tattoo ink has been known to leak into lymph node as the picture shows. There could be many reasons for this but this is a possibility. It is not known if this causes cancer or not. There is no need to me to discuss this more since I have already shared my views and story.

MarkWestonHair

I recently had an oncologist as a client that came to me for my scalp micropigmentation application. This oncologist is a doctor with the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, they are second only to Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. I showed him a copy of the article from the link posted regarding tattoo ink spreading into lymph nodes.

 

I will quote what the onocologist advised me "That the source of this particular article is not recognized as a reputable source in the oncology community and is no different than a mere editorial or heresay of someone's opinion and is not supported by true facts."

 

So who in fact are the "researchers" referred to in this article? There has been nothing published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, JAMA or any other recognized medical journal regarding this particular subject.

Mark I do not have an financial gain or loss sharing my story. Just to let you know I have a cousin and her husband (head of department) that are lymphoma specialists at the Mayo Clinic, so believe me I have asked alot of questions. I am not going to get into the details.

I got cancer soon after my smp, went into remission got smp again and the cancer returned. Now this could be coincidence but for me it is IMPORTANT to share my story. People can do whatever they want, to me it does not make a difference. As I stated before I have nothing to gain or lose.

Let me ask you a question. Do you guarantee on a contract your clients signs that SMP does not cause cancer? Probably not because nobody knows for sure and if someone get cancer after your SMP it could have nothing to do with it. I understand this is your living and you want to protect your investment. My intentions are not to hurt anyone or tell anyone not to do SMP. I said it before it was reading the same story by someone else and had never had cancer, I would get SMP done because I would say even if the odds are low, it could never happen to me. :confused:

Details

Just an update on my post, Dr Yaman office has contacted me we have come to an agreement and they have refunded my costs of surgery in full.

I am glad you came to an agreement.

couple more questions for FUT - the longer your hair in the donor region the day of the surgery, the less noticeable the scar/staples will be in the few weeks after the surgery?

or do they need to shave the whole donor region down to a certain length? or can they just shave the strip that’s needed? longer hair would cover the scar/staples nicely then

All that is shaving during the day of surgery is the recipient area and where the hair is taken in the donor. When the doctor takes the donor from the back he will only shave the area needed. Once the area is closed the existing hair covers the staples. The remaining donor hair will not be shaved but keep it at least 2-3 cm when you come to the clinic. There is no length of hair that is too long in the back before you come.

I hope this answers your question. Good luck at the Super Bowl, hopefully your quarterback has better time management than McNabb did in 2005 and beat the Patriots this time!

You are a prime example of why basing a decision on price and location could be dangerous. The doctor that said 1800 is way off, I mean way off. I am not going to call him dishonest but maybe this is all he is able to do. You can not expect a Fiat dealership to try to sell you a Ferrari. Thankfully you decided to consult with an ethical doctor that gave you a realistic quote. When I see 5000 grafts I am think 50%-66% of the area will be covered (front to mid). Keep researching and maybe send consults to other doctors to get more opinion

HairResearch8

Welcome to the forum. I think it is great that you are researching first before making this huge decision. I would recommend that you broaden your area because there is also alot of good doctors also in New York. Without taking anything away from these doctors but the two biggest mistake alot of people do base their decision on price and location. This does not mean you can not find a great doctor in your area but it best to research and feel fully confident of your decision. Losing your hair is natural having a bad transplant is not.

Good luck on your search!

I appreciate that. I noticed H&W will be in NY in march. I might make the time to schedule a consultation since I'm relatively close (Pennsylvania).

It would not hurt. The more knowledge you have the better decision you make. Keep me posted! Good luck to the Eagles or sorry for the Steelers.

BTW even though I represent Hasson and Wong but first goal is to educate posters. What is important to me is that you feel comfortable with whatever decision you make and choose a good clinic.

could bending your neck in a downward motion put stress on the skin/scar making it wider?

I doubt it. Something like heavy weight lifting (squats) may stretch. There is many reasons that a scar may stretch. What is most important is that you choose a clinic that has a good reputation with scars. A doctors needs to know the limitations, and what a person skin can take for tension.This takes many years of experience. Sometimes due to a persons healing the scar maybe a bit bigger but in most cases the doctors has an idea before and make the proper adjustment to avoid this.

A lot of people are concerned about the scar before the procedure and this is expected and normal. Honestly after the results come in I have yet to hear from someone about the scar. Most patients are overjoyed.

Let me tell you a story, I help italian patients and one patient came from Rome and the day before his surgery he had doubts about the scar and cancelled the surgery. One hour later he got a hold of me and said he was scared but he was already here and decided to go ahead. He had a big area and knew it would take about 8000 grafts to fill in the area and take two sessions. Now he has booked his second surgery for his crown and is bringing his friend. He is so happy and do not even mention the scar once by email.

1. FUT scars seem so thin and undetectable from Hasson and Wong. Can anyone confirm this?

Hasson and Wong on an average do produce thin scars. I have seen a lot of patients/friends that have had surgery and the scar on average is 1-2mm

2. How do donor sites look with wet hair with an FUT scar?

This depends on how short you cut your hair. I have never had an issue or had anyone say anything to me when my hair is wet. Your hair in the donor should cover your scar without any issues.

3. What's the shortest you could go with a haircut with an FUT scar? #2 guard? #3 guard? Thinking about possibly using a fade haircut.

In a majority of patients 2-3 is realistic. Yes you can do a fade haircut as long as the hair is not too short over the scar.

4. Do scars stretch/get wider over time?

If scars stretch it will usually take place in the first 6 months and in some cases up to a year. Usually after 6 months the scar will stay the same (may still be a bit of red but will fade with time)

5. What are the negatives of less laxity after FUT?

Depending on the laxity before you will feel a bit tight right after but soon after it will not be an issue. If there is a negative I am unsure

6. Why is FUT so much cheaper than FUE? Don't the techs/doctors need to extract the grafts from the strip the same why they would for FUE on the donor site?

FUE takes a lot of work and time. At Hasson and Wong they prefer to use only one tech doing the extractions. To extract 2000 can take up to 8 hours. The grafts that are removed are then cleaned under a microscope before it is inserted. Sometimes for 2000 grafts the patient will be at the clinic for 12 hours.

I am answering the questions to the best of my experience after helping the clinic for 15 years.

Thanks home1212 and hsrp10

Let me tell you a funny story almost two years ago. After all the crap I had been through in the previous 3 months against all odds I was approved to have my second bone marrow transplant. Part of the protocol was to have 12 session of full body radiation to completely destroy my bone marrow. Before this started I had a meeting with the radiologist (Lady doctor doing the radiation). All my hair had fallen out (from 3 months of chemo) and all that was left was smp dots from 2.5 years earlier (I had SMP prior to getting cancer but after I was diagnosed I have full SMP as I was bald from chemo)

The doctor looked at me and said I hate to tell you this but you have really thick head of hair and it will not be the same after radiation. I did not say anything but all she was seeing was my SMP dots. She was right my hair never came back as before and it is very thin now

Triotrex

My right side of lymph nodes became enlarged to the point I could no longer eat or talk.

After two failed bone marrow transplants I am doing a trial and have Pet Scan and Cscan every six weeks.

David

I just read this and sorry you are leaving. Your contributions are everlasting and will remain on this forum whether you are involved or not. When you have a passion for helping people and hair transplants at time it can get overwhelming as you start to absorb everything. I completely understand why a break is needed.

Wish you luck and hope you are back soon!

Mark I am only sharing my story. I am not blaming anyone. From what I have heard Beauty Medical is great company with no issues. I have met both Giorgio and Milena on a few occasions and they are great. Mine is temporary but after 4-5 years it is still there. That is the issue with temporary SMP you can not predict how long it last. My friends SMP only lasted 1 month.

If I read that SMP had a small chance of cancer before I did it, I would have still done it. This in no way is an attack on any company or on SMP but I think it is important to share my story.

Lorenzo, I hope your doing ok with your fight against cancer. This is what concerns me about SMP. As you said it is hard to prove that SMP gave you cancer but what a coincidence it happened to you months after you got SMP done both times. Did you get permanent or temporary SMP?

 

I've already had permanent SMP put into 2 old strip scars but I'm very hesitant about getting my scalp done.

Thanks. I did temporary but after 5 years it is still there. Again I am not sure what caused my cancer but only saying this could be a possibility.

When you opted for your first application in 2012, this was a very dangerous year for scalp micropigmentation. How many "sessions" did you have? Hundreds of new companies were emerging rapidly due to the high profit margin in this field. Most had no previous experience in any form of tattooing and opted for cheap supplies and pigments off such places as EBay. I would suspect this is what could have happened to you. Someone with no knowledge of the proper pigments and their ingredients wanting to make a quick profit and you are the one suffering the consequences

There used a temporary ink that was used by Milena in Italy for many years. Many places use her ink.

Does it really work? I have very elastic skin, but I heard scar reduction can cause the scar to stretch even more.

Yes it does work, I have seen many cases that have turned out great. Of course this depends on where your scar is located. If the a scar from a virgin donor is taken from the correct spot whether it is elastic or not should not make a different. In some case where your skin is thinner the doctor may ask you to keep the staples in a big longer

It's my opinion a surgeon that performs FUT and FUE expertly is the one to consult since they'll have the full spectrum of options available for you that are specific to your case and won't be trying to force feed your situation to cater to a singular specialty of practice.

I agree during a live consult a doctor that perform both techniques can give you the best advise to fix the scar.

Salva

In some cases the best route to go is first a scar reduction (if possible). Then after it has been reduced you can consider FUE in the scar. If you want FUE in scar then you have alot of doctors to consider.

I agree there is a bit of this story that either doesn't make sense or I do not fully understand. I wish the doctor that was recommended and trained by a reputable doctor would post a reply concerning this case.