Scar Grafting with Dr Cole

[Nicole007]

Hey All.....today I spent the morning with Nicole at Dr Shapiro's clinic to do a test with the temp SMP or Trico. Hopefully if all goes well we will go to town on monday. I will post some before and after photo's to see how SMP can compliment Not only scar repair but FUE in general. I'm exited about getting close to the final step of this journey. As for the beard grafting I did a year ago, its been a slow grow. It's early and some don't see much till 18-24 months so my fingers are crossed. At the very least, the SMP buys me time till that happens. I am currently sporting a .5-1 guard cut so not much hiding going on......stay tuned.

chicago..... the second pass did great. really not much redness at all if any on that lower scar.

Good morning northeast guy and friends, just wanted to pop in and say hi and express that we are very excited to be a part of finalizing this journey with you northeast. I'm Nicole the SMP specialist for Dr. Ron Shapiro and SMG. If any of you have questions about trichopigmentation (temporary SMP), please feel free to contact me. I am trained in both permanent and trichopigmentation (temporary) SMP technique, and, am happy to provide everyone information as a neutral resource. We actually just got back from completing some advanced training with Milena in Italy so we are very excited about the year to come and to share any new advancements, etc. You can email me directly at nicole@shapiromedical.com. And, I'll do a better job of keeping up with questions on here at well. I look forward to talking to you all and will be excited to discuss northeasts progress with you all along the way.

Trichopigmentation is more of a process than a "one and done treatment" and it may take multiple treatments to achieve the desired result. Northeast completed Day 1-2 of his treatment process and we are anticipating that we will see him two more times. Day 1 we really did more of a test patch than a treatment. We wanted to watch how his skin reacted to the pigmentation and see what kind of swelling he was going to experience. We had him rest over the weekend and then completed day 2. Generally speaking we space each scar treatment 4 weeks apart. We give the skin a full skin shedding cycle to heal. His Day 2 we considered really just the first pass. We like to move very slowly so that we are careful to avoid any type of pigment migration that may result from over treating the skin. Also, scar tissue (as I'm sure has been said) is extremely unpredictable from a pigmentation standpoint. Because of the FUE and laser treatments he is in a good position to start this process because he has better circulation and collagen production.
What we are monitoring for before we move on is:
1. Migration - we anticipate that the dots will grow approximately 10% with healing so we plan ahead and space the dots a correct distance apart to allow for some growth. Yet, keep them very still as micro-representations of hair follicles. It is very important that the dots stay tight and individual.
2. Pigment Retention: we do no blending in the first sessions because sometimes the scar will reject all the pigment and if we have put pigment into the healthy tissue surrounding the scar and it all takes it can create a highlight! This is the more common phenomena in trichopigmentation.
We will double and then triple his density at the next sessions. . . . . . . . . . . .
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This is a rough example, but, say that is the base. Now you see I have room to add more between these dots. Dots are never placed on top on one another, always next to and between to add darkness and density. This creates an irregular and natural pattern. (I know those look like straight lines and that pigmentation does not do that -- bear with me on that example).

The first session doesn't make a huge difference, it's really just the beginning and setting him up for success in the next treatments. We expect that after the third treatment is when it will be most desirable.

Thank you everyone,

Nicole

[Nicole007]

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This is what the diagram was supposed to appear like

[northeastguy]

Hey All,

Spent a good part of the day Friday with Nicole getting the second pass done. Here is a pre-photo I took outside just prior to the session. Once everything calms down and settles a bit I'll post a photo of the results from that session. I will be seeing her for 2 more visits... those however will be back to back in April. My current cut is a .5 up the back to a 1 guard on top mostly. I will not know what length I will be able to get away with till all sessions are done..... it is a process.
Also, I feel a have A LOT of beard growth to come.

[northeastguy]

Thought I'd throw this in.... this is a magnified view of the test pass we did last month. shows how small the dots are.

[northeastguy]

Photo is Post 2nd pass SMP at day 5. hair is between a .5 guard and a 1 guard. I ended up trimming this cut a little shorter after the session so it might look a little different in length from the above photo. Also, the ingrown hair is gone I will still post in a week or so after everything calms down and I do a fresh 1 guard cut for a good comparison.

[sweetpotato]

thanks for sharing

Wow. That's short. Looks so much better. With your hair that short I now think the people better understand why you insisted on SMP - especially looking at the small thumbnail picture (though If it were a little longer I don't think you would need it).

So cool that you are sharing. You have helped a lot of people by doing this.

I ended up getting Dr. Cole to put in around 500 in my 2-ish scars - about 250 per scar. Did this back in Sept. 2014. Now, it looks soooooooo much better.

I am down from an 8 guard to a 5 guard, and its strong. Here is what I mean when I say "strong" : before the procedure I used a 8 guard and it was weak. That is to say that if the hair gaped, gathered, or moved - a NAKED scar line would be exposed. After the procedure, I am down to a strong 5 guard. If the hair moves, the scar is still covered since hairs are in it. I go down to 4 guard in areas but keep it at 5 in the scar areas.

In the past, when my wife or my daughters or anyone, would touch the back of my head I would quickly react, cover, move away. Now... I'm good. Also, in church I do not worry about people staring at the back of my head. I could go on and on. Anyway, what I am saying is that Dr. Cole and team has given me a certain freedom back and the angst is over... finally.

I DON'T THINK I WOULD HAVE HAD THE GUTS TO DO IT WITHOUT YOUR THREAD HERE. THANKS!!!

[northeastguy]

Sweetpotato thanks for the feedback and love hearing that other people with scars are finding a little relief. You are very correct... when I am at a 2 guard the scar is totally unnoticeable. I would stay here but the hair on the top of my head from older grafting stands up a little funny and isn't a good look. I need to be at a 1 guard or just grow out and do a fade to longer length on top so it rests flat. I see Nicole 1 more visit and hope to put this to rest for a while. In the mean time, I'm sure the beard grafting will give me a little more growth.

[northeastguy]

Was playing around with some Dermmatch (very little used) over the weekend. That's a 1 guard folks and this is the result. I look at this and feel very optimistic about my next visit with Nicole. This should be the look I end up with..... hoping anyway. I see her 1st week in April. Photo's to follow.

[robodoc]

Dr Cole did an excellent job on me but his staff had much to desire. I was pressured into having body hair, one tech asked embarrassing questions, another little girl seemed like she was not trained as well as some others but the cake was the man I paid. He was unpleasant, unsmiling and got a serious attitude from him. His staff let me down and I would have second thoughts about going there, besides the "house" for lack of a better word was small, cramped and really not suited to do medical procedures......having said that Cole himself did impressive work so go knowing some of the pitfalls. Oh, and Cole charged me $2800 for body hair grafts and none grew in which I was not told in advance. There was in my case some pressure to have as much work done as possible.

Cole would not be for everyone and he never offered, I did not expect, to repay me for the failed body hair grafts he did NOT tell me do not grow....Glad the NEGuy had a good experience....it just is not a classy operation.

[sweetpotato]

... when I am at a 2 guard the scar is totally unnoticeable. I would stay here but the hair on the top of my head from older grafting stands up a little funny and isn't a good look. I need to be at a 1 guard or just grow out and do a fade to longer length on top so it rests flat.

OK. Try this. It sounds stupid but works. Wet/wash your hair. Slowly and carefully pull a stocking cap over your head... leaving your face out of course (I am sure your wife has some hose you can use to make it). Black guys do this all the time. It makes the hair lay down against your scalp. Do this first thing in the morning when you are getting ready. Then, brush teeth, shave, dress, eat, etc. Pull the stocking off here and there and put it on again. This avoids odd stick ups or whatever! After about 20 minutes or so, hair lays down (time depends on hair texture and the initial wetness helps with the process). Some black guys sleep with the stocking cap. It works. Simply and cheap. My grafts stick up at a 90 degree angle so I do this to make my hair lay forward. My top is a 4 guard but it should work at a 2 guard.

Yeah... go ahead and laugh... but try it.

[sweetpotato]

Don't leave us hanging northeastguy. How did the 3rd session turn out?

[gillenator]

robodoc,

Are you a repair patient? If not, than you definitely want to stick with scalp donor with FUE. Sorry, don't know anything about your case so I don't want to make any assumptions.

Anyways, do some extensive research on BH and you'll find the information you need because BH should only be considered as a last resort including repair.

[northeastguy]

And Finally...

So finally I am posting After photos of the entire process. I am hopeful I have a lot more FUE growth to come, mostly from the beard session....another 10 months will be the full 2 years on that.
I saw Nicole at Shapiro Medical Group almost 2 weeks ago for my final pass of Temporary SMP. I wanted everything to settle a bit before I posted the final photo's. I had a great experience with her and the staff I met. I can't say enough good things about my experience and how appreciative I am for all they did. The same goes for my experience with Dr Cole.
The results are a product of FUE grafting, pulse dye laser, and Temporary SMP.... 2 years and 10 months to the day tomorrow... I am convinced that proper repair of strip scars should involve not only a combination of 2 or more of what I utilized but those cases that involve very wide scars, scar revision should be used. The most important however, is FUE. NOTHING is going to replace the look of real growing hair coming from the scalp. everything else enhances this effect and camouflages the scar even more. Without the SMP, I would not be able to cut my hair as short as it is right now. After experimenting with various lengths, it was a purchase of a 1.5 guard ( 3/16" or 4.5mm length) that worked best for me.... I included a pre 2 guard cut just prior to any work done.

[sweetpotato]

Looks amazing! Judging from the photo no one would ever know. I would really like to see an updated video. I say this because photos do not always show what the eye can see in real life - nor does a video (unless HD) but it comes closer. You must be so relieved now that this is behind you. On another note, have you lost weight? Your head/neck looks as though you have. But maybe its just camera behavior.

Congrats!!! And thanks again for sharing!!!

[sweetpotato]

Northeastguy. I cut my hair down to a 4 guard in the scar areas and saw what you were talking about in some of your previous posts. It looks OK but if I look real hard in strong light I notice thinned areas. Guys like us that have had numerous strip procedures have a lot of stretched scalp on the back of our heads. In certain spots around the scars it seems like the hair is noticeably thinner due to the stretched skin/increased amount of spacing between the hairs (I don't have the dove tail thing that you talked about). Only SMP can help with some of those issues.

It's been quite a journey for you and what you have learned and shared with others is a big, big help to all. I am sure you are ready to get on with your life and enjoy not having to think about scar coverage all the time. Oh, and forget the request for a video. I again read you "final" post (even your photos are titled "final"). I am sure your are wanting to move on. THANKS AGAIN!