and then.....depression set in

[carnage]

I know that most of you read through these boards and see the sob stories, and can even relate, but probably don't respond, because, after a while, they all sound the same. However, if you could, please take the time and give me some advice, because I am so unsure on what to do.

History:

48 year old male.

Norwood....hell,,,I have no clue. I have a pretty good size bald spot on the crown of my head and diffuse hair loss on the front. Sides and lower back are relatively thick.

I have been on minoxidil for the last three years or so. I have been on Finestride for about the same amount of time. I was on a round of avadart, but it *seemed* that I lost more hair while using it, so I dropped it and went back to finestride, of which I take 2.5 milligram ever other day.

Over the past 1.5 years, my hair loss has really gotten worse. It's depressing as hell. I use that toppik crap, which seems to help make it look a little fuller.

Where am I today?

I tried going as long as I could so as to hang in there for the hair multiplication procedures, but it doesn't seem like that is coming soon enough, so I am ready to take action. I tried cutting it really short, and all that did was to make me look really goofy. Solution one...fail.

Solution two is to go for the hair system/toupee. Scares the hell out of me to do that. I'm horrified of being laughed mocked at, but if I do want to do it, I *think* I should do it now, while I still do have some hair, so as not to make the transition so dramatic.

Solution three is the hair transplant. But you know guys, here is the thing that bothers me. If transplants work so well, then why do half the hollywood men wear hair pieces? I mean really....why are there ANY balding hollywood guys? I look at hair transplant pic's all the time, and occasionally, I will see one that doesn't look bad, but for the most part, they all just look like they have a piece of colored moss growing on their head. If I do the transplant, I will probably pay to see one of the best ones that you all recommend.

Anyhow, can any of you give me some direction? Am I seeing things clearly? Am I missing anything? Thanks for any of you who do respond with advice.

 

[s.a.f]

So its gotten to the point of no return then?
Well as for hair transplant's the more hair you still have the better as you can use more grafts on a donor area but TBH with a hair transplant you have to look at the limitations. In most cases where the hairloss is more than minimal eg nw3+ it can give you a acceptable amount of hair especially for someone of your age but if its a perfect NW1 you're after you'll have to go for a wig. This is why wigs are still popular in Hollywood as stars wont settle for 2nd best.

 

[carnage]

YES....it does feel like it is to the point of no return.

Thanks for responding

random thoughts........

David Lee Roth.....why? Why doesn't he have a hair transplant? That goofy guy...Leif Garrett....why hasn't he had a transplant? If they work, then why do these famous people go around bald???

Dr. Rahal.....from things I've read on here in the past, I'm guessing he is probably the best.

I guess, if a hair transplant didn't work so well, I could then go to the freaking hair piece.

There are so many horror stories all over the net about bad hair transplants that it scares me to death.

 

[RaginDemon]

dude no offense, but you are almost 50, its perfectly normal for a 50 yrs old to look a little bald.

I mean 70% of the people over 50 has varis degrees of hair loss.

 

[30_going_on_60]

I kinda have to agree. It's depressing at any age. Not too many people care after the age of 35..and you;re almost 50. There are barely any posters on here in that age category. It might just be some follicles dying out and it won;t actually be as bad as you think. But, I guess the only opinion that matters is yours so:

1) NO WIG!! NO WAY!!! Try to find one positive experience about wearing a rug. If you;re self concious about thinking people you;re losing your hair. Imagine the insecurity of thinking what if someone notices the wig? And someone said it on here before..if you;re caught with a wig...your life/credibility is pretty much over.
2) I'm still not sold on hair transplants, I;ve seen plenty of bad ones, and it looks WAY worse than being bald. All I can say is do your research.

Good luck!

 

[emex4]

yeah no kidding. man up, you f*****g pussy. i'm nearly 23 and im almost bald but you dont see me whining about depression. you must be one sad little insecure b**ch if you're getting depressed over a bald spot at age 48. i hope you decide to put on a wig and you get busted in the most embarrasing place possible.

 

[Deaner]

Some people are just angry. It's hairloss dude, age doesn't really matter. It's easy for everyone to say oh man, he's 48, why does he care. But do you honestly think that if you were older you'd stop caring? Something inside us makes us unable to cope with baldness. Many men cope just fine with the hand that's dealt to them, some of them being celebrities. It's all in how you deal with it. Face it, you're vain, I'm vain, we're all vain, and that's the only reason we're on a board like this. To carve someone of a different age bracket for caring as much as you is pathetic. And completely unnecessary.

emex4, if this is how you respond to people on a board sharing common experiences with a condition such as your own, you have issues that need to be dealt with other than hair loss. I'm not saying that I don't agree that in some respects with the whole "it doesn't matter as much as you get older" thing, but everyone takes it differently, and for all of us I think we're just built to care at any age.

 

[cal]

Hair transplants can't create any more hair that what you've got left. If most of your head is bald or thinning, then you can't spread the remaining hair all over it and have things look decent. There's just not enough supply of hair, plain & simple. And if some area of your head is gonna have to remain looking thinned, well, the naturally balding areas still look normal when they're weak. The back/side donor areas look like you've got cancer or something when they're visibly showing skin. So you typically have to leave at least 2/3 of the donor-zone hair untransplanted no matter what.


Take a look at the area on the back/sides of your head that is showing absolutely no thinning/balding at all. If there is no limit to how much money invested & surgical work you're willing to endure, then you have about 1/3 of that much hair to transplant IN THE ABSOLUTELY BEST-CASE SCENARIO. That's not a lot of hair even in the ideal situation.




Hollywood actors do get transplants all the time. It's like plastic surgery: You don't know about the good work, you only see the bad work or those who need more of it. The statistics for actors are no different than other people out there: By age 50, over half of the men have some amount of visible hair loss.

Leif Garrett? I dunno. He's on drugs lately.

David Lee Roth? I think he's already had a bunch of hair transplants just to look as hairy as he still does now.

 

[ADL]

emex4:

yeah no kidding. man up, you f****ing pussy. i'm nearly 23 and im almost bald but you dont see me whining about depression. you must be one sad little insecure b**ch if you're getting depressed over a bald spot at age 48. i hope you decide to put on a wig and you get busted in the most embarrasing place possible.

Maybe you're not depressed emex4, but somehow I have a feeling you're not totally sane in your brain.

 

[s.a.f]

hair transplant's have been performed for the last 50 yrs there are many old techniques and 90% of the surgeons doing them dont specialise in them. Its enevitable that there are so many bad examples but if you do your research and find a world class surgeon you can get a good result. Things are getting better all the time.

I heard that Dave Lee Roth had some hair transplant's but that was probably about 15-20 yrs ago. Things have progressed alot since then. Who knows maybe he'd be nw6 without them.

 

[carnage]

Deaner...and to some of the others, thanks for the nice comments, along with the advice.

Emex......I will only respond with this.

Maybe it's because you are young, or maybe it's just because you are an ***, but the thing is, getting older doesn't mean that it gets any easier. In the corporate world, and honestly, the world in general, you are measured by how you look. When you are trying for accounts and competing against people who are younger than you are, then you need to be at the top of your game, and one of the ways to be at the top of your game is to look as good as you can. A lot of business is image.

Insecure? I guess I am. I feel that people measure you in many ways, so I want to present my image in the best way possible. I thought that by finding a way to regain some of the hair that I lost was one of the ways to do so.

Personally, the age thing doesn't matter to me at all, because if someone is 68 and it bothers them, then why should they be berated for looking for an answer to something that bothers them? Why should people, as they age, just give up on having the best appearance possible?

To those of you that do have problems with older people seeking solutions to hair loss, I am sorry that you feel that way, and I certainly didn't mean to imply anything in my post that come off as trivializing anything that any of you are going through, and if it come off that way, I do apologize.

 

[emex4]

your god damn right age does matter, buddy. you said it yourself that in your business world looks are super important. well think about this, you had hair up until you were 48, so that gives you 25 more years of having the upper hand in the business world than me (im 23) you had all this time to establish yourself in a business where, you say, having hair matters. well doesnt that mean i'm fuckin screwed? im only 23 and im supposed to try to build a career when im already half bald? think about that next time your crying about a bald spot or glueing your wig to your head, buddy.

luckily though, that was just a scenario. because i dont work in an industry based on that sh*t. I work in the oilfield and forestry industry. it still sucks though losing your hair this young.

 

[Guest]

dude no offense, but you are almost 50, its perfectly normal for a 50 yrs old to look a little bald.

I mean 70% of the people over 50 has varis degrees of hair loss.

Well 50% for guys in their 50s, 60% for guys in 60s, etc. I see some exaggerations on here for those #'s but if younger people are balding earlier in life than the older numbers shouldnt change much from the historical averages that I mentioned.

 

[Guest]

your god damn right age does matter, buddy. you said it yourself that in your business world looks are super important. well think about this, you had hair up until you were 48, so that gives you 25 more years of having the upper hand in the business world than me (im 23) you had all this time to establish yourself in a business where, you say, having hair matters. well doesnt that mean i'm fuckin screwed? im only 23 and im supposed to try to build a career when im already half bald? think about that next time your crying about a bald spot or glueing your wig to your head, buddy.

luckily though, that was just a scenario. because i dont work in an industry based on that $#iT. I work in the oilfield and forestry industry. it still sucks though losing your hair this young.

you're an a**h**. this board isn't for sh*t like that. either shut up or leave, you little b**ch. but don't harass other members for caring about hair loss, no matter how old they are. there are no age limitations on this board.

 

[Hans Gruber]

yeah no kidding. man up, you f****ing pussy. i'm nearly 23 and im almost bald but you dont see me whining about depression. you must be one sad little insecure b**ch if you're getting depressed over a bald spot at age 48. i hope you decide to put on a wig and you get busted in the most embarrasing place possible.

ok so you dont whine about depression but you clearly have anger management issues,hair or no hair you sound like a typical macho arsehole :thumbsdown:

 

[Guest]

probably napoleon complex, more likely.

 

[Knendell]

Younger is harder but it still destroys self confidence. I know I have been balding since 18 and am 30 now. All I know is looking in the mirror everyday and seeing deterioration at any age sucks. Searching for the fountain of youth has been going on for how long now. Just my rant and emex4 lighten up.

 

[RaginDemon]

I agree balding sucks at all ages, it is however for the younger fellas to accept it.

 

[30_going_on_60]

this thread's a lot like the one where the guy with PERFECT hair came on and asked if he was losing his hair. A lot of people probably thought "I wish I had HIS problems." Just like a lot of posters on here would love to have hair until 50, and thinking the same thing.."I wish I had HIS problems." Well, to put things into perspective, if ANY one of us went to an "accepting terminal cancer for teens" website....they;d all laugh at our "problems" too.

 

[Guest]

this thread's a lot like the one where the guy with PERFECT hair came on and asked if he was losing his hair. A lot of people probably thought "I wish I had HIS problems." Just like a lot of posters on here would love to have hair until 50, and thinking the same thing.."I wish I had HIS problems." Well, to put things into perspective, if ANY one of us went to an "accepting terminal cancer for teens" website....they;d all laugh at our "problems" too.

i get the point you're trying to make but that's a terrible analogy. a guy concerned about losing his hair but having good hair at the moment coming on a hair loss site is not even close to being equivalent to the analogy you gave about a balding person going to a terminal cancer forum.