If I Don’t Like SMP to My Donor Scar, Can I Have FUE Into It Later?
Hi, if you do scalp micropigmentation to correct a donor scar with non-permanent ink. Can you later do FUE into that scar afterwards if you don’t like the results of the micro pigmentation. How long do you have to wait before doing it ? Must all pigments be faded ? Are there any risks ?
Thanks
Since we have been performing Scalp Micropigmentation (SMP), there have been various clinics that started offering something like SMP, but with non-permanent ink. Non-permanent ink is just like makeup or just drawing something on your head with a pen, in my opinion, so you don’t have to worry about other procedures (it will erase off like a pen eventually).
On the other hand, SMP is permanent… but like all tattoos or cosmetic/medical pigments, it fades to a lighter color over the years. You may need a touch up, but it will NOT just erase. SMP is great to disguise an old hair transplant scar if you are going to shave your head or buzz it short with a zero guard.
There is no issue if you choose to have another hair transplant (strip or FUE) after the SMP, or even transplant into the scar if that is what you want. It just means that there will be more scars (linear scar from strip or hundreds of FUE scars) and you will need to pay and go through the entire SMP process over again if you want to hide the new scars. Very few patients have actually had another transplant into the scar, because our satisfaction rate is extremely high.
Dr. Rassman
Comletely respect your site and your service to the industry, but these comments (which are just an opinion I realize) are a bit disagreeable. Temporary SMP or whatever you call it can and will serve a purpose in the industry and certainly your SMP is still realtively young in the long-term hair transplant business, so long-term data on its effects is hard to come by (vs. HT’s being around for 5 decades at least in some form, and modern techniques for 15-20 years). Temporary SMP give more OPTIONS to clients in many different respects.
In fact, I predict that at some point you will relent, bite the cost of teh R&D and start offering yourself.
There is no reason to suspect any adverse “long-term” effects from permanent tattoos, which have been around for decades (regardless of whether they have been used on the scalp or elsewhere). There is also nothing controversial or provocative about Dr Rassmans answer, which simply states that SMP uses permanent ink and SMP still allows hair to be transplanted, if the patient chooses so. If someone wants a non-permanent ink, I’m sure they can find this procedure, although I’m not sure why one would want to pay costs associated with something that is temporary.