need help on unsual situation

[andy31]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this site and have been reading post on here for a while now because I am considering hair restoration. My situation is quite different though and would like to know if hair restoration will help my situation. Im 31 years old and not going bald nor showing any signs of it, but my hairline and the sides of my head (the temple area) have always been a little thinner, which always kinda bothered me. Sometimes I would fill in the the temple area with a makeup pencil to make it look fuller as well as fill in my hairline leading down to my side burns only because i am a perfectionist about this and wanted to have a perfect looking hairline ( I have dark short hair). Well one day i decided to get this permanently tattoed in so i wouldn't have to pencil it in anymore. Well when i would do it myself it looked full and natural because i drew it in like hair strokes and the lines were very soft and undectable. Needless to say it didnt't turn out quite how i wanted it to. I have to wear my hair comed forward beacuse now I have a noticeable ink line around my hairline ( This person said she could make look like soft hair stokes but didnt do it that way at all). My question is could hair restoration be used to fill in the spots where ink is showing and also to fill in the temple area that was already a little thin?

Would a surgeon oporate on such a situation?

 

Thanks for the feed back.

[andy31]

Hi everyone. I'm new to this site and have been reading post on here for a while now because I am considering hair restoration. My situation is quite different though and would like to know if hair restoration will help my situation. Im 31 years old and not going bald nor showing any signs of it, but my hairline and the sides of my head (the temple area) have always been a little thinner, which always kinda bothered me. Sometimes I would fill in the the temple area with a makeup pencil to make it look fuller as well as fill in my hairline leading down to my side burns only because i am a perfectionist about this and wanted to have a perfect looking hairline ( I have dark short hair). Well one day i decided to get this permanently tattoed in so i wouldn't have to pencil it in anymore. Well when i would do it myself it looked full and natural because i drew it in like hair strokes and the lines were very soft and undectable. Needless to say it didnt't turn out quite how i wanted it to. I have to wear my hair comed forward beacuse now I have a noticeable ink line around my hairline ( This person said she could make look like soft hair stokes but didnt do it that way at all). My question is could hair restoration be used to fill in the spots where ink is showing and also to fill in the temple area that was already a little thin?

Would a surgeon oporate on such a situation?

 

Thanks for the feed back.

[Bill - Seemiller]

andy,

 

Welcome to the forums. Very interesting post and good question. I'll try to answer it this way:

 

 

Posting pictures of yourself at current situation showing the tatooing might help us a bit more understand your situation. Hair transplantation would surely grow through the tatooing, however, will it definitely cover the entire thing? I really can't answer that without pictures. The best thing you can do is consult with a few coalition doctors and see what they recommend: http://www.hairlosslearningcenter.org/hair-loss-content...s/our_physicians.asp.

 

FYI: Many people have gotten hair transplants to lower their hairline and do temple work even with no signs of recession. At 31 with no signs of loss, you may very well be in a safe position to get this type of surgery. Is there any signs of MPB in your family? When, if at all, have other members of your family started to lose their hair? This may help you determine whether or not you'd want to proceed. Combine this information with your situation regarding tatooing, and I believe you and a doctor could come up with a strategy to improve your situation.

 

Bill

[youngsuccess]

andy31,

 

I recently had my hairline lowered slightly and feel that I meet the criteria listed above by Bill to have had this done (without genetic risk of severe loss ocurring in other areas). I have quite a few tattoos myself, and always have been interested in the artform. I have heard of women having eyeliner and other makeup being permanently tattoed, and I once wondered if what you had done was possible. I guess it is, but sorry to hear about your unfortunate results. If it turns out the ink is too dark and concentrated for new hairs alone to cover it sufficiently, I wonder if you could first have the tattoos removed without leaving behind severe enough scar tissue to complicate a transplant. Definitley consult some docs first though like Bill suggested. I know that extra care and effort goes into repair work, and although this case doesn't technically fall under the conventional definition of "repair work" for hts, I would think and hope something can be done to correct this.

[andy31]

Hey Thanks guys for your replies, your information helped me out a million and I feel alot better, and that there might be a chance for me to fix this. Im saving up my money as we speak( not sure how much this would cost). I will talk to a few doctors and see what they say. Im also in the process of getting a tattoo lightening cream in the meantime. i will also try and post a few pics so you can see what it looks like. Youngsuccess how much did it cost you since my procedure may be similar to yours? Also there really isn't any history of hairloss in my family. my dad has a full head of hair and just one of my grandfathers has a small blad spot in the back of his head while the other has a full head of hair both in there 70's

[youngsuccess]

Andy,

 

Happy to give you some insight on my procedure, but just so nobody comes on here and starts yelling at me, I'll begin by stating that price range varies considerably depending on your doctor and the amount of work needed, so don't quote me on anyting My doctor starts at a base price of $3900 for smaller procedures, although he cut me a slight discount because mine involved only 600 grafts. Again, if I needed say 1500 grafts, still not a whopping number, it would have been more, probably $5000-$6000. Now, 600 grafts is relatively a small number, but for my area it was perfect. I posted the pics on a fairly recent thread in "experiences and surgeon reviews" entitled "new member: 4 1/2 months progress plus pics" (at 6 months I'll bother with the album thing). Seeking a youthful hairline is usually a controversial topic, but as you and I both have said, we feel we have a better chance of retaining most of our hair (you especially have a better reason for wanting the hairline refined now after the tattooing). I'll also mention that I have been on Propecia as a precautionary measure against future thinning and haven't experienced any side effects. Do try to get some pics up though if you are comfortable with that, because this is an interesting topic as it relates to ethical issues and hair restoration. Occasionally there are some bitter, negative posters around here, but I honestly believe that you and your case will gain the support it needs, by fellow patients and by doctors.

P.S.

About the price thing: it may cost you a little more, but you may want to look into some doctors who have expertise in hairline density, depending upon the appearence of the ink. Also, check out this link I found- talks about hair restoration over tattoos (guess you are not alone!) The doctor who posts on this q&a forum responds with two solutions, the second one relating to your case (first one is worse than yours, don't worry!) By the way, I am NOT recommending this doctor, just that the patient has a similar question.

 

http://www.baldingblog.com/2005/05/17/removing-scalp-tattoo/