SMP vs scar revision vs FUE

[OopsHairTransplant]

I had a hair transplant 4 year ago and I was happy at first but unfortunately I have never been able to get away from concealing it with toppik for a full head of hair. Had 2500 grafts performed via FUT. Now as I have gotten older, suddenly I am realizing that I am not the only one that is going bald or is balding. If I could go back, I would have shaved my head and lived my life like that but unfortunately that is no long an option.

 

My hair has somewhat of a thinner texture which means I would likely need many more transplants to get an aesthetically pleasing result.

 

The scar on the back of my head bothers me (it is long and about 2-3 mm in width). I wish I could shave it and not have to live with the daily shame of all this.

 

Do you guys know of any good and realistic option for enabling me to significantly trim my entire head or shave it without being self conscious?

[hairlosscpa]

I had a hair transplant 4 year ago and I was happy at first but unfortunately I have never been able to get away from concealing it with toppik for a full head of hair. Had 2500 grafts performed via FUT. Now as I have gotten older, suddenly I am realizing that I am not the only one that is going bald or is balding. If I could go back, I would have shaved my head and lived my life like that but unfortunately that is no long an option.

 

My hair has somewhat of a thinner texture which means I would likely need many more transplants to get an aesthetically pleasing result.

 

The scar on the back of my head bothers me (it is long and about 2-3 mm in width). I wish I could shave it and not have to live with the daily shame of all this.

 

Do you guys know of any good and realistic option for enabling me to significantly trim my entire head or shave it without being self conscious?

 

I would say you need a combo of two to really get the concealment you desire. If it were me, I'd do FUE in scar and finish it up with SMP. Although the SMP might be temporary and require touch-ups, the FUE alone might be enough to hide your scar.

[hairthere]

Hey Oops,

Sorry to hear you are unhappy with your HT. IMO, you listed in your thread title all the viable options for dealing with a strip scar, and there are pros/cons with each.

 

SMP: I perform temporary SMP and have gotten really nice results (I just posted one on this forum). The goal with SMP is to camouflage the scar and cover as much skin as possible while retaining the look of hair stubble. This can be tricky with certain scars if they are keloid, concave, or red/pink in color. Ideal scars for SMP treatment are flat and white. We usually recommend performing a test patch with scar tissue. The other limitation with SMP into a strip scar is the client's expectations. The scar will always be there and visible to a certain extent. All we can do with SMP is disguise it and trick the eye so it is much less visible.

 

Scar Revision: This can certainly help if you have a scar that is wider than pencil thin/stretched. However there is no guarantee that the scar won't stretch again. This can be due to too many strips being taken or simply patient physiology. But it might be worth the gamble so long as your goal is revision and not an attempt to steal more grafts.

 

FUE: Much like with scar revision this can be a great solution, and probably the one that will come closest to making the scar unnoticeable because you are adding coverage and filling the gap with actual hair. But like with Scar revision, there are no guarantees that the grafts will grow, and you risk wasting grafts that you might decided you want to use later. This is probably the most costly option, too.

 

Hope this has helped you some!

[OopsHairTransplant]

Thanks for all the recommendations. Does anyone else have any examples of doing FUE and/or SMP to a scar?

[NicH0le007]

I have an example under FUE/Tricopigmentation combo on page 2.

 

It might be worth sitting down and discussing your options with a dr. so that they can discuss all our options with you, all the risks, and do some future planning with you. If your starting to thin more you may want to also discuss that with them. You could start with phone consults. They just require photos. Often, a combo of these procedures will give you the best result. But, you want to discuss the order etc. with a dr. so it is planned correctly taking future hairloss, complications, risks all into consideration.

[OopsHairTransplant]

Nicole,

 

That is funny you should mention that because I will be coming in to see Dr. Shapiro on Monday to discuss future options regarding my melon.