Hello Dr!
Could you give us a ballpark figure on the costs of SMP? I think it’s a very cool procedure .
Thanks and as always your blog extremely helpful and I very much appreciate the efforts you and your colleagues put into it .
The cost of Scalp MicroPigmentation varies, but in general it ranges from $2000 to $6000 depending on each case. This includes all touch-ups and follow ups, plus anesthesia for a pain free experience.
Dr. Rassman,
The SMP procedure looks very promising and I’m sure you are getting tons of questions regarding it. Here is another one. On the HTN forums, a representative for Dr. Rahal said he had been impressed with SMP but did in fact see a patient whose pigment turned into a blurry grey mass. He didn’t know which clinic did the pigmentation. I was wondering if you have come across this at all and what NHI does to prevent this kind of outcome.
Much thanks!
The key to preventing the blending of the pigment dots into a blurry mess relates to:
I hope that NHI has all of this well controlled, as we recognized this early in beginning the business.
I had a few procedures to the front and temple areas. I wear my hair about 1″ 1/2 – 2″ long. Do you do S.M.P.in areas between hairs to give an illusion of more density. If the answer is yes with dark brown hair would you use different color inks.
We would have to evaluate you to determine the best approach to your desire to thicken your hair… but yes, we have used Scalp MicroPigmentation in between existing hairs to create a denser look.
Varying shades of brown can be achieved, though your candidacy is an individualized decision between you and us. We have very successfully used SMP in patients who wanted more fullness and in those who had previous hair transplants.
Hi,
In regards to SMP, can this be re-done or re-coloured in the future? If someone was to get black or brown SMP then as they aged their hair turned grey/white, can the original SMP work be ‘re-coloured’ or is it a one off, permanent solution?
For all realistic purposes, Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) is permanent. You can’t change the color of it, but you can have a touch up to enhance areas which may fade over the years. If your hair turns grey/white, SMP color will remain the same… but if you shave your hair or dye your hair after a SMP procedure is done, this should not make a difference.
As I researched the field of scalp pigmentation, I found a few other places that offer a similar service. How do I determine which place is the best? Its all quite neat to me but I’ve seen some really bad work from people that claim to be experts.
We are the first doctors in the United States offering scalp micropigmentation (SMP). The creation of the hairline is fundamental to what we have been doing over the past 20 years, so incorporating this skill is critical to providing a quality service with a natural looking hairline. We are also the pioneers for today’s ”standard of care” in hair transplantation worldwide, as we published almost every breakthrough in the field of hair transplantation over the past two decades. When this hair transplant experience is combined with scalp pigmentation — something no one else to my knowledge is doing — we can get the best out of both worlds.
Although this process is relatively new to us, having started in the fall of 2010, we have introduced the use of local anesthesia to minimize any pain (common in tattoo procedures, especially on the scalp). Patients who have had hair transplants and want more fullness can add scalp micropigmentation to the areas that still look thin (examples here and here).
Transplanting stubble hair with FUE in the pigmented bald scalp just enhances the illusion that the pigmented scalp is just a short or shaved haircut. The use of SMP in the pluggy patient with transplants from the 1980-1990s can be nicely treated by special applications of the pigment dyes. I just performed a SMP procedure on a patient with massive scars on his head that looked like he had shotgun wounds all over his scalp, and in one session, he walked out without the need for a baseball hat.
Each day is more exciting than the previous one as we explore the uses of SMP in various scenarios presented by interested people. The happiness of our patients is almost immediate.
Is there any risk of allergic response to the pigments?
I have had increasing allergic responses to a number of medications and foods over the past few years (hives). It would be catastrophic to have a whole scalp covered with this and then find out it triggers a hive response.
There is a risk of allergies to the pigments, which contain metal oxides. While generally rare, the most common allergy is to these metals. All patients are skin tested to the dyes prior to starting the full process, but this only covers short term detectable allergies.
According to BMEzine:
– snip –
While you could get spot tests done in theory with tattoo ink, this is virtually unheard of and in my opinion not entirely viable, and there is no readily available way to know in advance whether you will have such a reaction. Thankfully they are quite rare.“
I believe Dr. Rassman I can shed some light on a recent post. You have answered the question many times in regards to BHT and short cut hair. I agree that it does seem somewhat pointless to shave ones head after recieving a hair transpant however I do understand the logic behind it. With a short cropped haircut (even a #1 clipper shave) you can still see a visible hair line that defines the face much like the tattooing service you are now offering. With a completely shaved head it is not visible.
Many people such as myself would prefer real hair on their head rather than ink although I must admit that the results do look pretty good. None the less body hair is different than scalp but cut short can offer a more realistic illusion of stubble that in this day and age appears acceptable if not attractive. Counter argument it is very expensive for just stubble. Agree?
Why would you bother with body hair transplants (BHT) when you can use your scalp hair? Body hair tends to be texturally different. If you truly want a stubble look with real hair, using Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) with scalp hair extracted with FUE is a good way to accomplish this. On the flip side, patients who’ve had a hair transplant and want the closely cropped look would already have stubble, so SMP is a great option to add the appearance of fullness.
Here’s an FUE patient who had very little restoration work done — under 600 grafts to the front corners — and later decided to shave his head. On the top of his head, the hair is miniaturized so it appears thin and lighter in the picture. The following result shown is immediately after the first SMP session. This will fade slightly as the color sets and the client will return in 3 to 4 days for a touch-up. (Note that because the photo was taken immediately after the SMP session, you can still see some initial redness.)
Before SMP on left; After SMP on right. Click photos to enlarge:
Can people crop their hair, get this procedure and grow out their hair again? How would a severely thinning crown with hair grown out look if SMP has been performed on it?
There is a line where the SMP (Scalp MicroPigmentation) process can not substitute for a hair transplant. We have tried it on one severely thinning head of hair and it didn’t work well, even with low contrast between hair and skin color.
There must be enough hair to work with SMP. This can be imagined well if you think about using the camouflaging agent Toppik on a slick bald head. Toppik alone will not accomplish what it can do with real hair present. In the determination of this, you need to get a real expert to assess your goals and what can be achieved with SMP in combination with a hair transplant.
This patient received 1260 grafts in 1998, but over the years he continued to thin in the front and top of his head. He came in last month for Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) in hopes of adding fullness to the area immediately behind the frontal hairline. The results are spectacular and he avoided another surgery as a result.
The use of SMP for patients who were previously transplanted to create the illusion of fullness in areas where there is existing hair is nicely demonstrated with this patient. Click the photos to enlarge.
AFTER SMP:
BEFORE SMP:
I’m an African-American man, I have scarring aolpecia, especially on my crown. Will this Scalp Micro-Pigmentation (SMP) work work me?
In all likelihood, you would be a great candidate for Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP), because hair transplantation is definitely not an option for men with scarring alopecia. SMP is also great for people with alopecia areata or alopecia totalis.
See here for FAQ and more information about SMP.
