Five Year Journey Over

[Time to do something]

I have read on here many times that members wish other members would post after their hair restoration journey has been completed because so many people come on here when they are gathering information to consider the procedure then after they have it done they are never heard from again. After a five year journey in hair restoration I am offering my opinion at the request of numerous members who have sent me private messages asking for an update. I will attempt to keep this a brief as possible and want everyone to understand this is my opinion from five years of observation and my experience. Others may have had a different outcome. In 2007 I went to Jeffrey Epstein in Miami for my first hair transplant. He was highly recommended here as one of the top doctors. Nine months after my first hair transplant I posted a photo of my results here to obtain opinions from other members. I had never had a hair transplant so I wasn’t sure what level of progress I should have achieved by that point. To my surprise my photo created a firestorm of responses that something was not right, that I should have far more growth than what I did. Dr. Epstein saw the post and called me and said for me to come back for another procedure and it would be free of charge. I did that and received very poor results from the second procedure as well. I went to several coalition doctors for their opinion and they agreed for the number of grafts I was supposed to have received the results were lacking. I even went to a dermatologist that Dr. Epstein sent me to in order to rule out a scalp condition and I received a clean bill of health.

I requested a refund of the nearly $10,000 I paid Dr. Epstein and he refused. He asked why I felt I was owed a refund. I provided him with documentation from the other doctors saying my results were not what they were supposed to be and his observation during visits to his office that I had virtually no results. He refused a refund. Shortly after that the Hair Transplant Network revoked Dr. Epstein’s membership as a coalition doctor. I heard from several other guys who had the same experience the same time that I did, some he provided refunds to others he did not according to our correspondences.

Then Dr. Ron Shapiro in Minneapolis learned of my situation and offered to perform a surgery free. I gladly took him up on his offer because after dropping $10,000 with Dr. Epstein and seeing very poor results I had no money left to continue to try to make this right. After the first transplant the results were much better but I still didn’t have enough density to be cosmetically acceptable. Dr. Shapiro offered to complete another surgery free of charge, and again I accepted his gracious offer. Each transplant I waited at least a year before having another one. After the second one with Dr. Shapiro my hair was thicker than it was but still not cosmetically acceptable in my opinion. I was not bald, I had hair where there was no hair before but it was thin and looked even thinner if any light hit it. Now that my donor supply was exhausted and I still hadn’t achieved hair thick enough to be presentable I felt I was at the end of the road.

Then I started hearing about Scalp Micorpigmentation (SMP). I researched four of the largest companies in the country that offer this service. After nearly two years of research, consultations and soul searching I decided on Good Look Ink. I had reservations about this procedure but knew if I ever wanted to remove my hairpiece this could possibly be my only option to achieve that. That procedure did not turn out well for me although it has benefits for some which I will touch on shortly. In order for this procedure to look right one must keep their head shaved. If the hair is allowed to grow it will not look right with the SMP underneath. The day I was to board my plane to have the procedure done I received a voice mail from GLI saying they had reconsidered me as a candidate. They felt my hair color would not match their ink. I felt there was another reason behind it because they had seen me in person at a consolation, I had mailed a hair sample and sent dozens of photographs in the 18 months I had been considering the procedure before I actually did it. They knew exactly what my hair color was. I flew up there and had the procedure. I felt GLI did an adequate job on my hairline it didn’t look weird and overall what they did look believable. However, there was one huge problem. They could not blend or minimize my hair transplant scar.

When I left there I had a very visible scar across the entire length of the back of my head that looked like a giant smiley face. They assured me it would calm down and go away. It never did, so I went back for what they term an “enhancement”. Not only did the enhancement not change anything to make the scar less visible it now made it worse because they overcompensated with the ink and created a dark band directly above the entire length of my scar making it even worse. Now I was forced to grow my hair back to cover this hideous mess. As I mentioned earlier, the hair needs to be shaved or buzzed in order for this procedure to look right. The item that they felt would be a problem ended up not being a problem at all. I have no problem with the ink color or the way it was distributed. What ended up being a huge problem was the fact they could not minimize the scar and not only could they not minimize it but they made it worse by over compensating with too much ink above the scar. I had two other companies that provide this service provide an opinion of what they thought of the work. They both agreed it was not acceptable.

An added strange twist to this story is the fact that a “client” of GLI’s contacted me and claimed to be someone who was concerned and interested in my procedure and outcome. This individual messaged me on here. His profile name was Jholcollege11. He befriended me and we swapped email addresses then phone numbers. This guy messaged me daily which I thought was a bit over the top but figured maybe he was just friendly and wanting to compare notes on the procedure that he had supposedly had at the same time I did. Considering the problem I had with the service that GLI provided I requested a refund. Not only did GLI ignore me but then suddenly I began receiving threatening and harassing text messages, voice mails and emails from Jholcollege11. I know his real name and have his address. After this went on for a couple of weeks I contacted my attorney about it and law enforcement officials were contacted to have the threats on record. The threats stopped but had I received one more law enforcement would have taken action. I can only guess this individual was a shill for GLI. I can’t imagine why he would suddenly turn from a concerned party to sending threats after I requested a refund.

GLI ignored me and the complaint I filed with the Better Business Bureau. However, I took care of the situation on my own and I am satisfied with the outcome. If you are bald, have not had a hair transplant and don’t mind a shaved or buzzed look GLI can work for you. However, if you have had a hair transplant and have a scar from the strip surgery I would be very careful about this. The photos they have on their website showing before and after clients with hair transplant scars do not look anything like what happened to me. To sum up my experience it has been a roller coaster. If I knew I’d have to go through everything I did at the beginning I may not have gone through with anything. I have had to let my hair grow back to cover the scar which looks a bit odd with the SMP under it but I believe I notice it more simply because I know it is there. So I can’t recommend or reject hair transplants or SMP. It will have a different outcome for each individual. Mine has been a mixed bag I am somewhat happy with parts of it and unhappy with others. Good luck with your hair restoration goals.

[Davis91]

TDTS,

 

This is a very, very important e-mail update. THANK YOU for following through. So much is topical on SMP given other ongoing discussions.

 

You are a star and we are grateful.

[Time to do something]

Thanks Davis91! I appreciate that. Some on hear apparently don't want to hear the truth.

[Spanker]

Some people really take and a few people just don't.

 

I would love to see your results. Do you have any photos?

 

Edit: The last photo I saw of you was five months before it was due to be mature and your sides seem much longer that your top. Do you have any new photos you would like to share?

Edited December 20, 2012 by Spanker

[SADbutTRUE]

thanks for sharing your story, try to stay strong and positive, how is your hair with the results from smg, can you use concelears ,maybe this will help add thickness to the thin areas, sorry evertything diddnt turn out the way you wanted, how do you wear your hair now ? , what are your plans going forward in regaining more hair or are you done, maybe trying a different hair style will make the hair look better, thats a long road 5 yrs,

Edited December 20, 2012 by SADbutTRUE

[SADbutTRUE]

any pic to show current status of your hair or ur before, and afters from smg, , maybe guys can offer suggestions to help improve the situation, if you dont , i respect that, you been through alot. stay strong and thanks again for sharing, if your all striped out , have you thought about fue or beard hair.i know you showed pics before but i dont remember them, . have a happy holidays.

Edited December 20, 2012 by SADbutTRUE

[orlhair1]

Thanks for sharing. I feel bad that your situation did not work out better for you. The truth is that this is surgery and there are no guarantees. I remember reading your experience with Dr. Epstein and I am very thankful that you had shared it. Being from Fla. I considered him early on in my research. I feel very fortunate to have found and decided on SMG for my first HT.

[Raphael84]

Thanks for the update. Sorry that your journey has not been the adventure that you would have preferred. Your words really strike a long and tough timeline. Your honesty is appreciated, and I think big credit must go to Shapiro for extending their expertise and try to improve your situation. It would seem that you did everything right, research, recommended Dr and all! Your experience and write up will not go ignored, but this is little if nothing for you! I personally appreciate your words, and good luck moving forward!

[waitforanagen]

Just curious, are there any theories as to why you has such a poor result? i.e. the storage solution the grafts were held in, bad "cutting" of the strip (transection) etc....

[SADbutTRUE]

i think the problem was the growth from his 1st two surgries, but not 100 percent sure,

[aaron1234]

Thanks for taking the time to present us with your story TTDS. I can sympathize with the fact you went with a recommended doctor from this site for your first two surgeries only to be left with an undesirable result. This should be a warning sign to all newbie's who may take too many things for granted.

 

Weird & creepy story about the shill from GLI stalking you. But it sure sounds like them. Fortunately, they'll be out of business soon enough. Unfortunately, they got to you.

 

I wish you all the best my friend.

[hairthere]

Wow TTDS, you have been through a lot bro. I feel for you.