@Spuddy got your head tattoo’d? I take it you’re referring to micro pigmentation And not a prison inmate style tattoo
Haha yeah thats right. Baldness didn't bother me, I wasn't self conscious about it anymore I'd gotten way over that in my early 20's but just fancied a change of appearance. Plus if it went wrong it's pretty easy to laser off.
I would upload a pic for anyone considering getting it done but don't want to derail the OP's thread.
But for anyone wondering, yeah it hurts like hell. Mine was about ~20 hours spread over 3 sessions and each time my head swelled up like a beach ball.
Well if the links are prefaced with a statement saying "For example from a quick google search:" then you don't really need a PhD to spot it!
If there is stuff that's incorrect though then it would perhaps be useful to add any corrections or clarifications. I'm sure most people reading the thread are curious about the OPs results and/or indeed how these things turn out. For me personally I'm happy with it shaved at the moment and I'd be a bit wary about the current options available for transplants. I guess things have progressed from "hair plugs" and a large strip cut in the back of the head through to the FUE and FUT type transplants clinics are offering today.
Am not sure about a tattoo - I guess that could work, make it look deliberately shaved though it's still shaved regardless I guess. I wonder if people ever combine that with hair transplants...
I'd be curious about what future possible treatments are likely, where you'd see these hair transplants going? Things like lab grown hair etc...?
Also supposing you were going to get a transplant done - would you go to Turkey (as OP is doing) or similar (Thailand, India etc..) or would you pay the extra to get it done somewhere in the UK?
Haha true, there are a few too many to go back through but I'll try and keep an eye on this thread and add any needed corrections if needed on future posts.
Yeah thats right, I still shave my head every 2-3 days with a Pitbull shaver. Takes all of 45 seconds and its done. I love the feeling of a shaved head regardless so looking like it's still got hair there is a bonus. People do combine it with hair transplants for sure, especially on the crown as thats notoriously the most difficult place for hair transplants to take and also requires the most hair grafts to cover due to shape and location.
Lab grown hair isn't too far out of the realm of reality, I know of 2 labs currently working on such a treatment, one in the EU and one in Asia using different techniques. You're looking at about 10 years after its initially released to market before prices for the average person will be feasible though as production costs are insanely high right now. Big problem with this approach is pigmenting the hair as that means introducing melanocytes into the mix, otherwise hair remains white. Problem with melanocytes is they have a tendency to go rogue and the risk of developing a melanoma is increased significantly.
For anyone looking towards future hair loss treatments, cell based therapies will be your holy grail. Multiple companies are using this approach, one of which is in the UK right now but their technique is a bit... meh. Stem cells taken from your existing hair follicles via punch biopsy, expanded
in vitro and transplanted (injected) back into your scalp are showing promising early results but optimisations still need to be made. These stem cells of multiple origins migrate to your old and now miniaturised hair follicles (bald people still have hair but the hair shaft itself is so small its barely perceivable to the naked eye, although some follicles are completely lost), these miniaturised follicles are then reprogrammed into fully functioning organs and in special niches of scalp brand new hair follicles are also created. Of course the problem with this technique is making sure the cells don't change TOO much whilst being expanded in the lab before injection and potentially become tumourigenic, although current data points towards this not likely happening, whats more likely to happen is they change so much they become utterly useless to anyone or any function in the body.
If I was the OP I wouldn't mind too much about where I got the transplant done, reviews are king and techniques among different countries remain largely identical, so long as you check their background and see real world results and not just images on their website or facebook page. One thing I wouldn't do however is let them upsell me PRP, thats one of the bigger cons in hair loss treatments and often regarded as a bit of a snake oil.
I have a PhD in hair follicle biology so can spot the classic googling's a mile off.
