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Scalp Tattooing

I came across your post “Horror story with a happy ending” and I would like more details. I have had several surgeries beginning in the early 90s, from plug work to micrografts and FUE. Most of this was corrective work. Unfortunately it wasn’t particularly successful, and the distribution of hair is abnormal. Fortunately though my donor scar isn’t that bad, as I was careful with the scar revisions to minimize a bad outcome. I am left with approximately 1 scar from my last revision, where a trichophytic closure was used. It runs from ear to ear and varies in width from 2 mm to 8 in a few places. Overall, considering the number of surgeries I’ve had it’s remarkably good. I’d like to fill in the thin spots with the “stippling” type of tattoo you mentioned in your post. However I am very concerned with the discoloration over time. Can you provide contact information of the dermatologists who had the tattooing done, or some more information about it (eg. type of ink, who did it, etc.). I’d much rather put my faith in the hands of someone who has seen success with this than take chances on an unknown. FUE, etc aren’t really options for me at this point for filling in the scar.

Thanks

Although I don’t have any information about the tattooers of the patient you mentioned, from what I’ve seen, tattoos on the scalp and scars have turned green over time. While it may not occur every time, this is a real problem for the two patients that come to mind. For that reason, I would hold off doing the scalp tattoo for the time being unless you are sure that the color will last and this is what you want, as today’s tattoos are not reversible (laser removal is quite painful and may take many sessions to get a decent result).

A new product is coming sometime later this year that is reversible, so if you did not like it after getting it, then you can make it go away a lot easier. It doesn’t make the pain any less intense, though. For more general information, see InfinitInk from Freedom2, Inc.

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Scalp Tattooing that Looks Like Hair?

Hi Dr Rassman,
Since I like the close cropped look and I am probably a Norwood 4 leaning towards 5, I am considering getting cosmetic hair tattoos to the scalp. What do you think about this place? The results look great in the photos, but I’ll ask to see some patients in person of course (thanks for putting that in my head!). Here’s the place. They are in the UK, but I’ve got family there and have been wanting to visit anyway.

HIS Hair Clinic

I would definitely want to see some real patients up close before deciding on tattoos like this. As I’ve written before, I have seen scalp tattoos that try to mimic hair, but what I’ve seen has been unimpressive and some even seem to have a greenish tint as well (maybe it is the ink or the artist — I have no idea, as I am not a tattoo expert). I understand tattoo technology has evolved, but drawing what looks like hair on the scalp can be tricky.

The photos presented by the clinic you linked to are quite nice, I will admit. I’m sure these results look fine from a distance, but I wonder if you’re sitting across from someone at dinner would it look like someone drew on their scalp with a pen? If the light hits your head wouldn’t it still shine like a bald head? Over time, tattoos with fine lines will blur… so how will that change on the scalp? I know there’s at least one scalp tattoo place that posts comments on this site from time to time, so perhaps they can post below to inform us about that.

I do recall one patient who did draw (non-permanent) individual hairs on his bald head to mimic a close shaved look, but it took many hours, special artistry, and skill. He eventually went on the have a hair transplant procedure.

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Scalp Stitches from Sports Injury — Will My Hair Regrow There?

I recently had a sports injury on right above the hair line in the center of my scalp. Six stitches were put in and later removed. it has been over a 2 months now and very little hair growth has occured since the injury. The scar is about an inch long vertically and about 1/4 inch wide. I was wondering if there were any ointments or other treatments other than a hair transplant that I could use to encourage hair growth. Thank you in advance for your timely response.

Based on what you describe, I doubt hair will grow on the 1″ x 0.25″ scar, and while there are no medications or products that will cause hair growth on this tissue, hair transplanted into the scar will work in most cases. A small scar like what you are describing should not cost a lot to get it fixed. First, I would wait out a period of 6 months before concluding that it is a permanent problem. Without examining you, I can not tell.


2008-01-09 13:32:08Scalp Stitches from Sports Injury — Will My Hair Regrow There?

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Scalp and Skull Injury After a Fall 2 Years Ago, Since Had Neurosurgery. How to Fix This!

The man above researched our practice and found Scalp Micropigmentation. He wanted to know if this would work for him since scars from accidents and brain surgery are very difficult to treat. He seems to have an elevated scar in the middle of other scars, which could be flattened with steroid injections prior to having Scalp Micropigmentation.

Alternative solutions would include a series of balloon expanders, but this would be expensive and take considerable time.


2018-08-24 06:55:36Scalp and Skull Injury After a Fall 2 Years Ago, Since Had Neurosurgery. How to Fix This!

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Scalp Severely Tender 11 Days After Hair Transplant

Hi! Thank you for providing so much helpful information! I had a hair transplant eleven days ago with a very reputable surgeon. I had 3700 grafts placed in my temples and frontal hairline via strip method. I have been having severe scalp tenderness in my crown where no hair was transplanted. The tenderness does not seem to be improving at all. The crown is much more tender than my donor sites. I don’t have any tenderness in the recipient areas. I contacted my doctor who said this was normal and should improve over the next few weeks. However, I have not read about any other patients having a similar experience. So I would greatly appreciate your thoughts. Do you think this is a typical problem after surgery? Do you think that it will completely resolve? If so, about how long do you think it will take to improve? Thanks in advance!

I do not know how to answer your question without examining you. At 11 days post-operative, the differential diagnosis could be infection, too tight a closure with ischemia to the scalp (restriction in blood supply), nerve injury, and on and on. Your doctor needs to examine you and let you know.

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Scalp scar from forehead lift

This man had a forehead lift and was left with a scar that runs ear-to-ear.

His scar can be concealed with Scalp MicroPigmentation. A hair transplant would work well to address the frontal recession of his hairline.

 

forehead lift scar

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Scalp Scar After Motorcycle Accident — Will Hair Regrow There?

I recently had a motorcycle accident about a month and a half ago. unfortunately i was stupid and wasnt wearing a helmet causing a minor injury on my head. i went to the hospital and was told by the doctor that i would need plastic surgery to make sure my wound closed. however throughout the whole process of taking care of paper work and insurance to cover the plastic surgery my wound closed out perfectly fine. even the doctor told me i didnt need the surgery anymore.

however i have a scar about the size of a quarter, a little bigger id say, and i have no hair there. but people say i am gonna grow hair being that everything closed out normal no stitches or anything. i just wanted to clarify that. thanks

I would wait about 6 to 12 months to see if hair will regrow. If not, you can have that scar dealt with, either by having the scar revised or perhaps hair transplanted into the scar. At this point, you’re going to have to wait and see, and if the hair doesn’t return you can meet with your doctor to determine the next step.

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Scalp Reductions

I met with a doctor last week who suggested that I take out the bald area. I am very bald so the bald area is very big. Is this a good idea?

Removing the bald area (scalp reductions) were very popular surgeries 10+ years ago. Thousands of men have had it done. You might even see them at airports, where they have a scar down the middle of their head, like they had brain surgery. Starting with that as my answer, I think that you will see (from everything else I am about to write here) that I am not open minded about this surgery. First, I should state that I am a victim of this surgery, having had three such surgical procedures to remove my bald spot (much smaller than yours, I suspect). I was scarred, but I got lucky in that I did not pursue more than the three surgeries, for had I done so, I would have been really deformed.

These surgeries have many, many problems associated with them and they have been largely abandoned over the past 10 years, largely because of the efforts of myself and a small handful of other doctors who have brought the complication of this surgery to the public. The most important issue to remember here is that when you are considering a hair restoration procedure, you want low risk and high certainty in the outcome. These scalp reductions produced many, many risks and the outcome was only occasionally successful. This is not a good procedure to do. For more information, please see Scalp Reductions on the NHI website.

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Scalp Reduction Slot Deformity

I had scalp reductions many years ago, about 7 such surgeries. I have this long narrow straight defect in my head that looks crazy from the back. Many people think that I had brain surgery and ask me about my brain operation. Can this be fixed?

Thousands of men have had the bald spots of the scalp removed in a procedure called a scalp reduction. There was a naïve view by many doctors that bald areas could simply be excised surgically. When this was attempted, the surgeon might be able to remove about 1 inch per procedure and therefore some patients would have many procedures done to tackle extensive balding of the ‘Top and Crown’ that might be as much as 7 inches wide. What the patient found out, however, was that after 7 surgical procedures, they might have only reduced the bald area by 3 inches or so. The match did not add up.

That meant that the bald areas came back by stretching (“stretch-back” was the term used), and the patient was subjected to a never ending battle to remove all of the bald spot. Rarely was this ever successful for any large bald spot, but what was successful was the appearance of a slot in the back of the excision area which joined the two sides of hair that normally was on the side of the head, growing towards the ears. It was like a aprt in the middle of the head with a bald slot in the center of this slot that often measured 1/2 inch wide or so. This abnormal hair direction moved to the top of the head accentuating the slot deformity that appeared.

There have been many attempts to get this fixed, but only one surgery really works well. It is a triple flap procedure where scalp is moved around on the two sides of the slot. The hair direction is changed. The scalp reductions themselves are well exemplified in this article by Dr. Patrick Frechet, where the slot deformity as well as Dr. Frechet’s newer methods to remove the bald areas are shown.

You might want to go to France and consider having him do the surgery, as he is one of the few doctors world-wide that can achieve consistent results from this surgery with minimal risk of scalp necrosis (a common problem in inexperienced hands).

For more information, please see:

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Scalp Psoriasis in Women

I have been diagnosed with scalp psoriasis. I use a variety of topical ointments to keep it under control and it seems to be doing much better. However, I have lost a lot of hair because of this condition and now have a very thin area on the side of my head near my part. My question is, will using a hair growth product like rogain for women help “jump start” new growth in this area? And I also wonder about what I have read that once you start using Rogain, you have to use it forever or the hair will just fall out agian? Thank you so much for any advice you can give me

First, a doctor should determine if you have other causes of hair loss since psoriasis, by itself, rarely causes it. Most people with hair loss and psoriasis either scratch the skin constantly, pulling out hair and that can cause traction alopecia or they may have another condition that may be the cause of hair loss.

For women, you need an accurate run down on your hormones to rule out other diseases such as thyroid disease, etc. Make sure that you are not on a bizarre diet, as weight loss is a cause of hair loss. Both men and women need to have their scalp and hair checked out for miniaturization, looking for genetic hair loss causes. Other autoimmune and inherited conditions can contribute to this as well. Never assume the obvious, for the price is too costly in non-reversible hair loss.

For information about using Rogaine with psoriasis, please see: Psoriasis and Rogaine.


2006-01-20 11:50:54Scalp Psoriasis in Women