Duncan McFly
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Note: The first part of this message is long and just talks about me and the problem i've been having with hair loss. If you don't want to read it, I've posted my specific questions in a seperate shorter section at the end of this message. Just scroll down.
Some background on me
Hi. I'm a 22 year old guy and I'm balding. It's just about the worst feeling I've had in my whole life. I'll state right up front, that some guys can pull off the bald look and it's fine, but I am not one of those guys in the slightest. I believe I can say with all honesty that I would look horrible as a bald man. Ever since I noticed the problem starting, i've done everything in my power to try and stop it or just slow it down. I don't want to be robbed of a youth.
I've met with a lot of hostility from others when I seek help on this issue, mostly because of my age. There's this stereotype that says that a 22 year old can't be balding. That it only happens to 50 year olds. That if you think you're balding at 22, you're obviously delusional, or a hypochondriac. Often people will just write it off without stopping to even look at the starts of thinning or recession which are readily apparent on your head. You wouldn't believe how quickly people dismiss it. I'm sure everybody knew at least one kid in college who was visibly balding, maybe even in high school. So people know it happens, but if you tell someone you know that it's happening to you they think you're paranoid. Well the fact of the matter is, that people can't comprehend someone this young balding, because in their minds it only happens to older men. And that's the worst part of it really. That it shouldn't be happening to us at 20. Because we will look like old men, and we will not get to enjoy our young adulthoods. This is when we're supposed to be dating, and having fun, maybe even falling in love. I don't want to be robbed of that. It's horrible and depressing. But I digress...
I first suspected something might be happening after I had just turned 20. By the time I was almost 21 I was positive as I now saw visible recession at the temples. I still had a youthful hairline, but I knew it was moving back. I saw a doctor about it and he told me there was no reason to worry, that everyone recedes a little and I shouldn't jump the gun prematurely. So I waited. Then I started receeding rapidly. By the time I was almost 22 My hairline had receeded almost a full inch. It was the sort of thing that I'm sure most people didn't notice because it still didn't look abnormal, but to me who knew where my hairline had always been it was very clear. What was more worrisome was how quickly it was falling out and at so young an age. I had never thought about my family history before but for the first time I did and I realized that both my grandfathers lost most of their hair, and my uncle was completely bald having lost all his hair at around my age.
I saw another doctor about transplants and he educated me a little, told me that the problem with transplants for someone with my stage of baldness, is that there's no telling how much hair I will lose, although if I am correct about how quickly it is progressing, then it is likely I will go entirely bald. If this is the case, there will not be enough donor hair to cover my whole head if I start the hairline too low. Well, I didn't want to wait until I was very noticeably balding badly to start transplants nor did I want to have an abnormaly high hairline transplanted down the road.
So I agreed with the doctor's advice not to get the transplants and I went on a regimen of Rogaine, Propecia, and Nizoral shampoo. The Propecia has possibly been effective in slowing down my hairloss but it certainly has not stopped anything as I see it get worse week by week. And it has caused a whole slew of other problems. Most noteably... it has made me virtually impotent (both through softening my erections, and through killing my libido), and it has caused me to develop a very bad, very persistent case of cystic acne (probably due to the havoc it is wreaking on my hormones).
Meanwhile, here I am a year into the Propecia and Rogaine regimen, despite the side effects, and I can see that I am finally starting to lose the battle. My hair has thinned out all over now. At first it was just deep into the temple regions but now it is everywhere. The hair on top of my head has gotten so thin that if I brush my hand through it, or even if it is just laying the wrong way on my head, areas of scalp are visible. There is the start of a bald spot on the crown of my head, and my temples are on the verge of fully noticeable recession, save for a ever sparser coat of increasingly fine hairs who's days are numbered. So that's my situation. I've been dealt the wonderful hand of going bald in my early twenties, and the only treatment that's been available to me is causing impotence and bad acne.
So, to sum up... balding, impotent, covered in zits, and 22. Not to mention I'm only 5 foot 4... which has always sucked, but it was much easier to accept and be positive about it when I still had my looks, my hair, and the ability to get an erection. Now I just wake up every day feeling like a sack of s--t and knowing that it's only going to keep getting worse.
Well, I didn't post this letter just to whine, or be negative. I'm determined not to let this beat me, and not to let it steal my youth away from me. I am willing to consider whatever is necessary to beat this. I woke up one morning in September, feeling so disgusted with myself, and hopeless that I could almost cry. So I called my mom, who has always been very wonderful and supportive and I told her about things. How bad the situation was getting, how crummy I felt, how transplants didn't look like a good option now, or down the line either, and how it all made me want to just give up.
Well after a good deal of consoling me (for which I thank god for having someone so supposrtive), she said "I don't think it's as hopeless as you think. I know this may be hard for you to consider... but I've heard hair systems these days have come a long way. I think it's worth considering". Well of course my initial reaction was to be hesitant but surprisingly enough (even to myself) I didn't just brush off the idea. I thought about it, and I asked her if she ever knew anyone who had one. She told me she had dated a man a few years ago who wore one, and she wouldn't have known if he hadn't told her.
The more I thought about the idea, and did some research into it, the more I started to realize, that it doesn't matter if it's transplants, a system, medication, or whatever... the bottom line is, if I can restore my hair, and live a normal, happy young adulthood, then I should seriously consider all options. The medicine isn't cutting it, and transplants may not be a realistic possibility for me. So I started doing research, and I made a few free consultations to see hair system specialists in the next 2 weeks.
SOME QUESTIONS
My question is this... I'm looking for nonsurgical solutions at this point but all the research i've done so far has only revealed a limited number of methods for non surgical hair replacement (though they're called by 100 different names). It seems that for men who are mostly bald, they shave what is left of your existing hair, and attatch the system (on a highly thin, often flesh colored layer) to your head with liquid adhesives. Then you go in for maintenance, and replace the system every so often. That's all well and good, but I'm not completely bald yet, and I probably won't have lost all of my hair for another two years or so at the rate I'm going. So this method seems like a bad fit for me.
For men with thinning hair I've heard of hair integration, which seems to be where they increase your density by attatching extra strands of hair to your existing hairs. My problem with this is that hair grows, and quickly. I'd imagine the effect of my density being increased would last a few weeks at most and then the hairs would be grown out again. not to mention that this method becomes useless if I lose even more hair.
What I would love, is some sort of progressive system, where hair is integrated into your thinnning areas through direct adherence to the scalp. This could get me through these times where thinning is the issue. Then later on when I am no longer "thinning" but rather "balding" over most of my head, I could get a more traditional system, or possibly a transplanted hairline with a system for the back.
Does anyone have any experience with non surgical replacement for men who are thinning? Or any advice for me in general (besides to get off the medications, because I already know the side effects suck, but it's the only weapon I have right now... if non surgical replacement works, i will discontinue them and be thrilled about it). I'm trying to keep my chin up guys... it's just... I'm so young, and I look and feel so old... and it's not fair. Anyone with any information, or words of encouragement... i could sure use them about now. Thanks everyone.
Some background on me
Hi. I'm a 22 year old guy and I'm balding. It's just about the worst feeling I've had in my whole life. I'll state right up front, that some guys can pull off the bald look and it's fine, but I am not one of those guys in the slightest. I believe I can say with all honesty that I would look horrible as a bald man. Ever since I noticed the problem starting, i've done everything in my power to try and stop it or just slow it down. I don't want to be robbed of a youth.
I've met with a lot of hostility from others when I seek help on this issue, mostly because of my age. There's this stereotype that says that a 22 year old can't be balding. That it only happens to 50 year olds. That if you think you're balding at 22, you're obviously delusional, or a hypochondriac. Often people will just write it off without stopping to even look at the starts of thinning or recession which are readily apparent on your head. You wouldn't believe how quickly people dismiss it. I'm sure everybody knew at least one kid in college who was visibly balding, maybe even in high school. So people know it happens, but if you tell someone you know that it's happening to you they think you're paranoid. Well the fact of the matter is, that people can't comprehend someone this young balding, because in their minds it only happens to older men. And that's the worst part of it really. That it shouldn't be happening to us at 20. Because we will look like old men, and we will not get to enjoy our young adulthoods. This is when we're supposed to be dating, and having fun, maybe even falling in love. I don't want to be robbed of that. It's horrible and depressing. But I digress...
I first suspected something might be happening after I had just turned 20. By the time I was almost 21 I was positive as I now saw visible recession at the temples. I still had a youthful hairline, but I knew it was moving back. I saw a doctor about it and he told me there was no reason to worry, that everyone recedes a little and I shouldn't jump the gun prematurely. So I waited. Then I started receeding rapidly. By the time I was almost 22 My hairline had receeded almost a full inch. It was the sort of thing that I'm sure most people didn't notice because it still didn't look abnormal, but to me who knew where my hairline had always been it was very clear. What was more worrisome was how quickly it was falling out and at so young an age. I had never thought about my family history before but for the first time I did and I realized that both my grandfathers lost most of their hair, and my uncle was completely bald having lost all his hair at around my age.
I saw another doctor about transplants and he educated me a little, told me that the problem with transplants for someone with my stage of baldness, is that there's no telling how much hair I will lose, although if I am correct about how quickly it is progressing, then it is likely I will go entirely bald. If this is the case, there will not be enough donor hair to cover my whole head if I start the hairline too low. Well, I didn't want to wait until I was very noticeably balding badly to start transplants nor did I want to have an abnormaly high hairline transplanted down the road.
So I agreed with the doctor's advice not to get the transplants and I went on a regimen of Rogaine, Propecia, and Nizoral shampoo. The Propecia has possibly been effective in slowing down my hairloss but it certainly has not stopped anything as I see it get worse week by week. And it has caused a whole slew of other problems. Most noteably... it has made me virtually impotent (both through softening my erections, and through killing my libido), and it has caused me to develop a very bad, very persistent case of cystic acne (probably due to the havoc it is wreaking on my hormones).
Meanwhile, here I am a year into the Propecia and Rogaine regimen, despite the side effects, and I can see that I am finally starting to lose the battle. My hair has thinned out all over now. At first it was just deep into the temple regions but now it is everywhere. The hair on top of my head has gotten so thin that if I brush my hand through it, or even if it is just laying the wrong way on my head, areas of scalp are visible. There is the start of a bald spot on the crown of my head, and my temples are on the verge of fully noticeable recession, save for a ever sparser coat of increasingly fine hairs who's days are numbered. So that's my situation. I've been dealt the wonderful hand of going bald in my early twenties, and the only treatment that's been available to me is causing impotence and bad acne.
So, to sum up... balding, impotent, covered in zits, and 22. Not to mention I'm only 5 foot 4... which has always sucked, but it was much easier to accept and be positive about it when I still had my looks, my hair, and the ability to get an erection. Now I just wake up every day feeling like a sack of s--t and knowing that it's only going to keep getting worse.
Well, I didn't post this letter just to whine, or be negative. I'm determined not to let this beat me, and not to let it steal my youth away from me. I am willing to consider whatever is necessary to beat this. I woke up one morning in September, feeling so disgusted with myself, and hopeless that I could almost cry. So I called my mom, who has always been very wonderful and supportive and I told her about things. How bad the situation was getting, how crummy I felt, how transplants didn't look like a good option now, or down the line either, and how it all made me want to just give up.
Well after a good deal of consoling me (for which I thank god for having someone so supposrtive), she said "I don't think it's as hopeless as you think. I know this may be hard for you to consider... but I've heard hair systems these days have come a long way. I think it's worth considering". Well of course my initial reaction was to be hesitant but surprisingly enough (even to myself) I didn't just brush off the idea. I thought about it, and I asked her if she ever knew anyone who had one. She told me she had dated a man a few years ago who wore one, and she wouldn't have known if he hadn't told her.
The more I thought about the idea, and did some research into it, the more I started to realize, that it doesn't matter if it's transplants, a system, medication, or whatever... the bottom line is, if I can restore my hair, and live a normal, happy young adulthood, then I should seriously consider all options. The medicine isn't cutting it, and transplants may not be a realistic possibility for me. So I started doing research, and I made a few free consultations to see hair system specialists in the next 2 weeks.
SOME QUESTIONS
My question is this... I'm looking for nonsurgical solutions at this point but all the research i've done so far has only revealed a limited number of methods for non surgical hair replacement (though they're called by 100 different names). It seems that for men who are mostly bald, they shave what is left of your existing hair, and attatch the system (on a highly thin, often flesh colored layer) to your head with liquid adhesives. Then you go in for maintenance, and replace the system every so often. That's all well and good, but I'm not completely bald yet, and I probably won't have lost all of my hair for another two years or so at the rate I'm going. So this method seems like a bad fit for me.
For men with thinning hair I've heard of hair integration, which seems to be where they increase your density by attatching extra strands of hair to your existing hairs. My problem with this is that hair grows, and quickly. I'd imagine the effect of my density being increased would last a few weeks at most and then the hairs would be grown out again. not to mention that this method becomes useless if I lose even more hair.
What I would love, is some sort of progressive system, where hair is integrated into your thinnning areas through direct adherence to the scalp. This could get me through these times where thinning is the issue. Then later on when I am no longer "thinning" but rather "balding" over most of my head, I could get a more traditional system, or possibly a transplanted hairline with a system for the back.
Does anyone have any experience with non surgical replacement for men who are thinning? Or any advice for me in general (besides to get off the medications, because I already know the side effects suck, but it's the only weapon I have right now... if non surgical replacement works, i will discontinue them and be thrilled about it). I'm trying to keep my chin up guys... it's just... I'm so young, and I look and feel so old... and it's not fair. Anyone with any information, or words of encouragement... i could sure use them about now. Thanks everyone.
