Looking Into A Crown Piece, Hair Is Naturally Thin As Well

[Stephan02]

Hi all,

I currently have a small (1.5 inch diameter) patch of extremely thin hair on my crown as well as mildly thinning in the front. On top of this, I have always had thin hair naturally so even with relatively modest hair loss my scalp shows a bit. I’m looking into getting a hair piece for just my crown for now, I want to nip it in the bud early so that the transition isn’t as noticeable and eventually get pieces that cover more as I get balder. Have a few questions about my situation:

- will it be difficult to achieve a non-noticeable transition between my actual hair and the piece given that my hair is naturally on the thin side?
-what is the outlook in the long term once temples start to recede? Is it possible to have separate pieces for the temples?
- from what I’ve read, it sounds like there’s a learning curve so I’d like to have professional help when I first start off. Do people typically buy their hair solution from the salon that assists them, or call a salon that assists them in maintaining a hair piece they got from a 3rd party?
-going off the above, can anyone recommend a salon that can help in New York City?

Thanks in advance to anyone for advice!

 

[Noah]

Hi Stephan, that sounds like a smart idea in terms of achieving a stealth transition.

- will it be difficult to achieve a non-noticeable transition between my actual hair and the piece given that my hair is naturally on the thin side?

I don't think it will. The hair on the small piece will not just be sitting in one spot - it will obviously be spreading out all around the piece, bulking up the natural hair you have in those areas. And obviously you can adjust the density of the piece itself so that it is not too much higher than the density of your natural hair. The only issue in my mind is whether it would be better for you to shave an area which is a bit larger than the area which has gone naturally bald, to get a more balanced hair distribution from the hairpiece. It's hard to comment on that without seeing you, but it's something for you to consider. You can PM me a photo if you want, and I will give you a view. Total confidentiality of course.

-what is the outlook in the long term once temples start to recede? Is it possible to have separate pieces for the temples?

Terminology is important here. I interpret "temples" to mean the area of your hairline on either side of your forelock. Recession of your temples is normal as you get older. If it is too aggressive then you can get separate small hairpieces to fill in the recession. I have known a few guys to do that successfully. They are slightly fiddly to apply, but they can look good. An alternative (depending how advanced the recession is) is just to shave off your forelock and get a small triangular piece to fill in your temples and replace the whole hairline area. That's less fiddly.

What is more of a problem is recession of your 'temple points'. Those are on the side of your head - the part of your hair which grows most forward from your sideburns. Your temple points are very important for achieving a balanced look for your system. If your temple points are unreceded, you can have a youthful hairline position on your system. But if your temple points recede, then a system with a youthful hairline position will start to look unbalanced and fake. To restore the balance, you have to start moving the hairline of your system back too. The problem is that the hair on the temple points is very fine, and very hard to replicate with prosthetic hair. I think temple point restoration by hair transplant is the only real answer to this problem if it is serious.

- from what I’ve read, it sounds like there’s a learning curve so I’d like to have professional help when I first start off. Do people typically buy their hair solution from the salon that assists them, or call a salon that assists them in maintaining a hair piece they got from a 3rd party?

Most well established hair replacement salons will not work with systems sold by other providers. They want to sell you their systems, because that is where they make most of their profit. There are some who will, but they are the outliers. So to answer your question, typically people have no choice but to buy from the salon they are using. If you want to buy off the Internet (which can provide excellent quality for a fraction of the price a salon is usually charging) you will have a much more restricted choice of salon, and you will likely have to do some research.

-going off the above, can anyone recommend a salon that can help in New York City?

I will PM you on this.

 

[Stephan02]

Thank you very much!