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This post was updated on June 27th 2016 with a new video, and re-posted on January 24th 2017 due to a marked increase in demand for this type of treatment. Always ensure your technician has specific experience treating women, as most do not.
Men are not the only ones who suffer from balding. Women can also lose their hair due to various events throughout their life. Stress, surgery, childbirth and alopecia can all cause the fairer sex to lose their hair.
Scalp micropigmentation for women is a fast-growing service being offered by some clinics. I wrote an article a while back about keeping your hair longer after scalp micropigmentation, and at first glance, my comments in this article may appear to contradict those in the previous. However, the pattern by which women usually lose their hair is different to men, and this difference significantly changes the options available.
Further reading:
The key difference
When a man receives SMP, the purpose is to replicate individual shaven hair follicles. However, when a woman is treated, the primary goal is to reduce the contrast between the hair and the bare scalp. This difference is important, because it totally changes the technicians approach.
When a man loses his hair, generally he goes bald in a set pattern that includes recession of his frontal hairline, and thinning of the crown, followed by the gradual onset of total baldness.When a woman loses her hair, she usually experiences diffuse thinning. This means she loses hair fairly evenly across her entire scalp, but is unlikely to go totally bald, and her frontal hairline will almost certainly remain intact. This enables scalp micropigmentation to be used very effectively in her favor.
Wait a minute. Don’t you have to shave your head?
Not necessarily, no. In fact, the vast majority of women would never do that, nor do they have to. Of course they can shave their head if they choose.
How does the process work?
The technician works through the scalp by repeatedly parting the hair section by section, applying pigment to the scalp in the usual way. The level of detail is not as important, nor are matters such as blending. However, it is vital to ensure your technician is using a pigment that will not change color. Reputable clinics generally know what they’re doing in that regard. The end result is effectively a shaded scalp – i.e, it becomes much harder to see the difference in color between the hair and the scalp, therefore making the hair appear much thicker.
What about alopecia?
Alopecia that manifests itself as a generalized thinning of the hair, can be camouflaged using scalp micropigmentation. Alopecia areata (patchy hair loss) or alopecia totalis (total hair loss) needs to be assessed on a case by case basis to determine suitability and the level of camouflage possible.
Can all women have SMP?
No. The procedure works significantly better on brunettes and darker redheads. Although scalp micropigmentation is commonly used on blonde men, is not generally recommended for blonde women.
Can women shave their heads?
Most women would never shave their heads, however the number who do is on the increase. Celebrities like Demi Moore and Jessie J may have had a part to play in this change. When women decide to get scalp micropigmentation in this manner and get their hair shaved, they will undergo treatment in the same way that men do.
Conclusion
There are far fewer published examples of women who have scalp micropigmentation versus men, simply because women are generally less comfortable publicly sharing their before and after photos.
However, make no mistake. Scalp micropigmentation for women is on the increase, and more clinics now offer this service.
If you’re suffering with female pattern hair loss, postpartum hair loss, telogen effluvium or alopecia, and want to do something about it, take comfort in knowing that thousands of women have trodden the path before you, and are very happy with their results. As always, just make sure you choose a clinic that can demonstrate quality results specifically on women.
