Hair loss or alopecia can cause a person to feel psychological discomfort. And the greater problem is that if baldness has begun, it will be almost impossible to stop it. It is even more unpleasant to encounter this phenomenon at a young age. Although in cinema, the image of brutal bald men is carefully cultivated, not everyone is ready for such changes in their appearance.
A tattoo artist often gets contacted with different problems and requests for aesthetic correction, for some it can be a scar that needs to be covered, and for others, it could be a defect that needs to be blocked with a tattoo. Even correcting one tattoo with another is a common request that tattoo artists receive. The most challenging area for an artist to work on is the scalp. The skin in this area is thin and oily, which can cause threats while tattooing and develop blue spots as side effects.
Micro-pigmentation / tricho-pigmentation
A new cosmetic procedure that can help solve the problems of blue spots and other side effects of scalp tattooing is micro-pigmentation of hair or tricho-pigmentation. Its essence is the targeted implantation of pigment in the upper layers of the scalp using a very thin needle. This, of course, is not a treatment, but a kind of masking off areas that have lost hair and this masking is very effective. The pigment is introduced using a special device, and the tattoo master needs to manually “create” every hair strand on the skin.
As a result, visually thicker hair can be achieved if your hair is thinner, or if you are moving towards baldness. Besides, with the help of micro-pigmentation, you can adjust the hairline and also hide the scars on the head. This procedure is not suggested if you recently had a hair transplant or a circular facelift.
Sometimes micro-pigmentation is confused with tattooing, and some tattoo parlours even include it in the list of proposed procedures. Unfortunately, masters in such salons very often do not know the technique of tricho-pigmentation, and they carry out the process using ordinary machines and pigments that are designed for dry skin.
There are many sweat and sebaceous glands on the scalp, under the influence of which the pigment made for the dry skin changes its colour to red or blue, and the pattern merges into large spots or loses its clarity.
Another difference is that during scalp tattooing in regular parlours, the pigment is introduced much deeper into the skin, approximately at the level of the hair follicle. This provides more stable retention of the pigment, but it can lead to the destruction of hair follicles.
How to choose a specialist for micro-pigmentation?
Micropigmentation differs from tattooing even in the distance and diameter of the dots. Hence, the choice of a specialist is the primary condition for a successful procedure. The specialist conducting the procedure should, first of all, be a specialist trichologist and understand the features and problems of hair and scalp. Knowledge and skills in the field of tattooing, in this case, are not enough.
Therefore, it is best to contact the centres of trichology specialising in the treatment and restoration of hair. As a rule, they employ professionals in their field who have substantial experience and own advanced technologies. Also, specialised equipment and pigments are needed, which in general may not be available in tattoo parlours, and the use of a conventional tattoo machine sometimes leads to undesirable effects.
Micropigmentation of the scalp is an intricate manual work, which requires the master to have high accuracy, focus, a confident hand and sound theoretical knowledge so that the procedure done using pigments do not change colour and do not blur over time. Consultation and testing of pigment before the process is also essential.
