Hello everyone. I'm Damien and I work for and represent HIS Hair Clinic. I manage and moderate the HIS forum and I'm heavily involved in our marketing activities.
Coopman, Hairkiller is not a representative of HIS Hair Clinic. He is a long standing member of our forum and a HIS customer, nothing more, nothing less.
http://forum.hishairclinic.com/user/176487-hairkiller/
I felt compelled to respond to this thread following some of the comments made. Whilst I do not expect everyone who learns about SMP to become an instant advocate, and nor do I believe that SMP is the perfect option for everyone, the knowledge being shared on this thread is largely out of date and in some cases, wholly inaccurate. Many things have changed in recent years. Hair transplant technology has improved, hair systems are more realistic and easier to live with than they have ever been, and similarly, scalp micropigmentation has advanced considerably from where it once was.
That is not to say that there aren't good and bad results achieved. We see poor results all the time and remedial action is almost always necessary. I say this not to bash our competitors because there are decent providers out there besides HIS, but to acknowledge that the industry as a whole still has a long way to go before guaranteed minimum standards are maintained.
I don't even know if this will ever happen to be honest, I mean, look at the hair transplant industry. Sharks still operate, and regular people are still left to pick up the pieces. Likewise there are certain surgeons who rise head and shoulders above the rest for the betterment of everyone. Clients get better results and a positive change in their lives, whilst the surgeon benefits from an enhancement of their reputation and the commercial gain that inevitably follows. In the SMP sector, there is a reason why a handful of providers have the best reputations, because they are the providers that have invested heavily in developing their technique, in training and the ongoing maintenance of high standards. These providers subsequently offer better results and are more successful from a business point of view as a direct result.
My point, directed primarily at Topccat29, is that you cannot generalise statements about an entire industry based on the actions and results of a few.
The top 4 providers, all of which generally offer excellent results, account for over 90% of all treatments completed. The majority of problems you see (blue heads, super-straight hairlines, big dots etc) are the result of treatments completed by the remaining 10%. Why? Because this 10% is populated by clinics that either fail to grow because their results simply aren't good enough, or by those who think they can make a million overnight, invest hardly anything in their technique and strangely, don't respond efficiently when the inevitable complaints start to materialise. I realise that this in itself is a generalisation, and of course every clinic makes mistakes from time to time, but these are the facts.
You also need to separate short term panic/blending issues/dot shrinkage and other related reports, from real long term problems. SMP is a process, and the real long term result takes several weeks to materialise. We see it on our forum all the time. The client kicks up a fuss because they panic (understandably of course), and refuse to be talked down, no matter how many people tell them that everything is fine. A few weeks later they generally return with a big smile on their face. Cases like these should not be confused with genuinely bad treatments and long term problems that need to be rectified. Do hair transplants deliver perfect results instantly? Of course not.
Topccat29, your opening statement
"Most of this tattooing of dots on the head is only a couple of years old"
We developed SMP in 2002. Other providers surfaced in 2007. The last of the four leading providers I refer to (90% of all treatments combined) was established by 2010.
"I m not looking for comments or debate just want to post my thoughts and bring some balance"
So listen to what I say and don't argue?? If you didn't want a discussion, why did you post this thread, then when no-one responded, posted three more times on consecutive days to bump the thread until someone did? You did the same after Salvar at Vinci chimed in on this thread - you posted no less than 5 times until someone responded. Just look through this thread. Over half of the comments are by you, often in batches of 4-5 posts. I don't want to call you an attention seeker, but I struggle to come to any other conclusion.
Furthermore, to suggest that the owners of the business should invite clients into their homes just highlights your general ignorance. The vast majority of people in business, whatever sector they operate in, would not do this. Their homes are private spaces for themselves and their families, and it is not the right of ANY client to expect to be able to invade that space. Your suggestion, and the fact that you imply that business owners who do not allow this are somehow unethical, is absolutely ridiculous.
As for the armpit photo, I would love to understand the relevance.
Coopman, your tattooist friend:
"A friend of mine is a Tatooist whom i have known since school. A few months ago, i had a conversation with him about SMP and his immediate reaction was one of laughter and disbelief. He could not understand why someone would want to tatoo fake dots on to their heads, to make out they are not bald."
I'm sure your friend is a genuine guy with the very best of intentions, but his occupation as a tattooist does not qualify him to comment with any authority on SMP. Tattoo inks are constituted of many different colours. When they are attacked by the immune system and exposure to UV rays, over time they break up into their constituent colours to create the blue/green effect that anyone with aged tattoos or bad SMP will be familiar with. Proper SMP pigments are constituted of PURE BLACK only, so this occurrence is a physical impossibility. The splotchy effect is created due to the penetration depth used when applying a tattoo. The penetration depth of a properly executed SMP treatment is much more shallow, so this does not happen.
Saving the usual self-promo BS for another time, we have treated more than 10,000 clients. Salvar at Vinci says they've treated thousands of clients too. I happen to know that many leading providers now also count their clients in the thousands. So lets say there are 25,000 clients out there with SMP (I'm guessing of course). If SMP is such a bad idea, where are those 25,000 complaints? There are a few to be sure, but proportionally its a small number. Then subtract from this number the clients who went to some back street provider, and then subtract those who had a short term panic which was quickly resolved given time or mild remedial action. How many are you left with now?
Perhaps you should compare this to the hair transplant industry. Think their proportion of complaints will be more favourable? I'm not so sure.
Contrary to a comment made at the start of this thread, I DO want to debate this. Lets have a proper grown up discussion without the pitchforks and witch hunts. Any questions fire away, and maybe Salvar can chime in too.
