Losing Hair to male pattern baldness and Androgenetic Alopecia, just needing some input with the plan I put together.

[LongJohnTom]

Hello!

First off I would like to thank this forum since it is literally the only place on the internet where I was able to find the essentials and lots of added information on hair systems. I am 24 years old and am starting to bald due to both male pattern baldness and Alopecia from a drug I am newly prescribed. This of course took a huge toll on me since I had previously really thick hair. My mom basically told me one day your hair is thinning and you lost your hairline, (thanks mom). After looking into it I decided on getting a hair system.

I got some questions regarding the whole process so I will start with this.

I live in a remote place and going to the nearest hairdresser would be a while, think 2-3 hours since I live up North. I am also working long hours a day and wouldn't be able to factor in that time often, could I ideally just buy a stock unit and add a hairstyle to it and go off of that? Is that feasible or wishful thinking?

I am a bit on the smaller side, I got a smaller head too. I measured the areas where I am thinning and losing hair to be about 5-inches (width) and from front to back (length) to be 8-inches. Would this just be my size, 5x8? I will include pictures as well. I just don't want to get something way too large for my head.

My hair on my sides is virtually untouched as of now and are ridiculously thick, I have just receded a tad bit and diffused thinned a lot! I will include pictures to illustrate this. With my hair like this could I get away with a 5-inch across hair system since I still have so much hair on my sides?

I work from home for 80% of the year, barely leave the house to get to the grocery store or doctors at most. However, every Summer I do presentations on behalf of the business I work for down South at a convention center for about two weeks. This is mainly the reason why I want to get a hair system now, to be ready for that. With that being said would it be fine only wearing the hair system for about two days out of the week and just taking it off when I'm staying at home, (80% of my time). Would this be a problem, taking off the hair system and putting it back on a couple of times a week? How long would I be able to wear the same hair system, I am paying back student loans too so I cannot really shell out so much money monthly.

I am currently checking out www.lavividhair.com and am assuming that waterproof ultra hold tape and no shine toupee adhesive roll would be plenty to secure it down? I did hear some good things from that site I am purchasing from, but I am open to other suggestions.

As you can see in the pictures I am receding a bit and thinning a lot but my sides are still going strong.

I am open to hair system suggestions and other websites if you can. If you can even recommend me a hair system and supplies that would be great too!

 

[Hair2019]

Hello!

First off I would like to thank this forum since it is literally the only place on the internet where I was able to find the essentials and lots of added information on hair systems.

Welcome to the forum!

Hello!

First off I would like to thank this forum since it is literally the only place on the internet where I was able to find the essentials and lots of added information on hair systems. I am 24 years old and am starting to bald due to both male pattern baldness and Alopecia from a drug I am newly prescribed. This of course took a huge toll on me since I had previously really thick hair.

First of all, before jumping into getting a hair system, is there any way you can stop using the drug and grow your bio hair back? If that is in any way possible you should definitely consider that, but if not and you're sure that a hair system is the best path for you, then we will do our best to advise you.

My mom basically told me one day your hair is thinning and you lost your hairline, (thanks mom). After looking into it I decided on getting a hair system.

Does you mom know you're going to get a hair system, or are you going to keep it a secret from her? If the latter, you need to be ready to answer any questions about my you suddenly have a fuller head of hair. Personally I didn't tell anyone when I got a hair system (apart from the people in this forum), but I had been using hair fibres and hair loss concealer powder for several years so it wasn't like I just went from people seeing me with thin hair to suddenly seeing me with a full head of hair. I did the transition as seamlessly as possible. Anyway this is something to think about.

I live in a remote place and going to the nearest hairdresser would be a while, think 2-3 hours since I live up North. I am also working long hours a day and wouldn't be able to factor in that time often, could I ideally just buy a stock unit and add a hairstyle to it and go off of that? Is that feasible or wishful thinking?

Yes, you can order a stock (or custom) system and some hair system companies will be able to pre cut it to whatever style you want (ideally you would need to send them a photo of the style you want). Obviously now is a bit of difficult time for this industry due to the pandemic, but it can be done.

Then for the maintenance (detaching, cleaning, reattaching etc), ideally you should learn to do that yourself so you can save money and have more control over everything. You don't want to be relying on a salon for the maintenance once you know what you're doing (though for your first system, it can be very helpful to go to a hair system salon so you can learn the basics). I would start by reading the resources in this thread, particularly the video and text tutorials from Hair Direct:

https://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/threads/please-recommend-resources-for-absolute-beginner-to-read-watch-through-and-learn-a-z-about-hair-systems.130685/

I am a bit on the smaller side, I got a smaller head too. I measured the areas where I am thinning and losing hair to be about 5-inches (width) and from front to back (length) to be 8-inches. Would this just be my size, 5x8? I will include pictures as well. I just don't want to get something way too large for my head.

I looked at the pics of your hair. and I think your best bet would be to shave the thinning area and get a hair system to cover that. It's impossible for us to say the exact measurements from a pic. Even if that area isn't that big, you will need to make a template and then cut the size of the base of your system to the template. (You can make a template without shaving your hair at first). You can either cut the base size of your stock system to match the template yourself, or some hair system companies will do that for you.

My hair on my sides is virtually untouched as of now and are ridiculously thick, I have just receded a tad bit and diffused thinned a lot! I will include pictures to illustrate this. With my hair like this could I get away with a 5-inch across hair system since I still have so much hair on my sides?

Definitely keep the bio hair on the sides of your head. You can just get a topper (partial system) to cover your thinning area (which you'll shave off) and then you can blend the hair system in with the hair on your sides to give the look of a full head of hair.

I work from home for 80% of the year, barely leave the house to get to the grocery store or doctors at most. However, every Summer I do presentations on behalf of the business I work for down South at a convention center for about two weeks. This is mainly the reason why I want to get a hair system now, to be ready for that.

Ok, so you're not going to wear your hair system in all of your everyday life? For me, I wear it full time (apart from when I detach it for cleaning).

With that being said would it be fine only wearing the hair system for about two days out of the week and just taking it off when I'm staying at home, (80% of my time). Would this be a problem, taking off the hair system and putting it back on a couple of times a week? How long would I be able to wear the same hair system,

You could do that, but most people who wear hair systems tend to wear them for a week or 2 (sometimes even longer than 2 weeks, though that's generally not recommended for hygiene purposes). I detach and reattach mine every 2 weeks on average. If you are going to detach and reattach a couple of times a week, I think you will very quickly realise that the constant detaching/cleaning/reattaching is 1) quite time consuming and fiddly, and 2) could cause more wear and tear on the system. I would recommend only doing it once every week or 2, then the rest of the time you can simply get on with living your life.

I am paying back student loans too so I cannot really shell out so much money monthly.

I would not pay a salon for monthly maintenance, I would go the DIY route, which is easy once you know what you're doing. Also, if you look after your system, it should last over 6 months, particularly if it's a lace base (my current system is nearly 7 months in and still looks great - but then again I've HAD to make it last this long because of the pandemic).

I am currently checking out www.lavividhair.com and am assuming that waterproof ultra hold tape and no shine toupee adhesive roll would be plenty to secure it down? I did hear some good things from that site I am purchasing from, but I am open to other suggestions.

I will PM you some suggestions, and I'm sure the other posters here would be happy to do so too. Supplies of hair systems are not too great at the moment, and there are some quality issues for various reasons, due to the pandemic. But it's still possible to start wearing now if you look around for the right supplier.

I am open to hair system suggestions and other websites if you can. If you can even recommend me a hair system and supplies that would be great too!

We will recommend you some reputable hair system companies. For hair system supplies, the best place to get them is www.hairdirect.com, as they are the top name in hair system supplies and you can be sure everything is genuine and not fake. Do not buy any hair systems or hair system supplies off Amazon or Ebay as there are a ton of fakes and low quality items on there!

 

[PaulMac]

I wore a system full time for 3 years until a couple of months ago. I had to redo the whole system every 6-9 days on average even though I don't work out, shaved my head well, tried various scalp protectors, tapes and glues. It only took around 30mins per clean, head shave and attaching each time though but how long you get out of it before reattaching is probably down to so many natural factors like how oily your head is and how much you sweat.

I'd really recommend just going for the system just now man, unless you plan on getting a transplant in the next year. It really is life changing in a great way and the maintenance becomes easy. Especially if you only need it to look good for 2 days per week. In my experience it always looks fantastic the day after reattaching and for a few days after that before you'd have to redo the hairline. In your case you might get 2 weeks out of it and only have to touch up the hairline once in that time.

A stock unit might work for you because your hair is fairly straight. If you go stock I'd recommend getting a very short fade in the back and sides and potentially dying your hair or the system to match exactly if need be.

 

[Noah]

Hi Tom

Some great insights there from Hair2019 and PaulMac. Kudos to Hair2019 in particular for such a long and detailed post.

Firstly let me say I'm sorry you have experienced this degree of hairloss at 24. It's hard when you are that young.

Yes, essentially you can just buy a stock unit, add a hairstyle to it, and go. Stock systems come long and shaggy, so they need to be "cut in" to blend with your remaining biohair and to create a hairstyle. I wouldn't recommend doing the cutting yourself. If you don't have a hairdresser near you who can work with hairpieces, you can have the system cut in remotely, so that it is ready to wear straight out of the box. There is a maintenance commitment - you need to take the unit off probably every 10 - 14 days, clean it and reglue it back on. Since you live in a remote place, you should learn how to do that yourself. It's not that difficult, and you have plenty of time. We can help.

Stock systems are sold oversized, and are meant to be cut down to fit. The easiest way to do that is to create a template of the shape you need your system to be. If you need help doing that, let us know. You do have some very thick healthy side hair, but you also have some rather thin straggly hair on top. You will get a better blend for your system if you buzz that thin straggly hair off, and have the edges of the system abutting the thick healthy hair, so your system will basically cover the whole top of your head.

You can certainly wear the system 2 days a week and take it off the rest of the time. You will probably want fairly light-tac adhesives if you plan to do that. Most hairpiece adhesives (like No-Shine and Ultrahold) are designed for people who want to wear their units full-time for 7 - 14 days at a time, so you probably don't want them. Have a look at the Hair Direct store for tapes and glues for short-term wear. Just keep the piece in a dark place when you are not wearing it, ideally on a polystyrene wig head. I get about 5 months full-time wear out of my pieces, and I would say 4 - 6 months is about average. Wearing 2 days a week you could maybe expect to get 9+ months out of a piece if you are careful when taking it off each time.

I will PM you some ideas on suppliers.

Noah

 

[LongJohnTom]

First of all, before jumping into getting a hair system, is there any way you can stop using the drug and grow your bio hair back? If that is in any way possible you should definitely consider that, but if not and you're sure that a hair system is the best path for you, then we will do our best to advise you.

I was prescribed Accutane due to spontaneously getting some of the worst acne I have ever had on my cheeks. I would overall need to stay on that medication. With that in mind, I will most likely be just losing more and more hair so I will continue on with the hair system plan.

Does you mom know you're going to get a hair system, or are you going to keep it a secret from her? If the latter, you need to be ready to answer any questions about my you suddenly have a fuller head of hair. Personally I didn't tell anyone when I got a hair system (apart from the people in this forum), but I had been using hair fibres and hair loss concealer powder for several years so it wasn't like I just went from people seeing me with thin hair to suddenly seeing me with a full head of hair. I did the transition as seamlessly as possible. Anyway this is something to think about.

I do not live with my mom, however I did visit her for Christmas where she saw my hair thinning away. The main issue would be my wife who I haven't told yet. I assume she thinks I am fine with the balding since I don't mention it or talk about it. It is a very awkward elephant in the room situation most of the time. I just need to tell her one day, she is incredibly understanding about these things but I have always had an issue communicating about my insecurities to her, with my friends I can blurt it out no problem. Maybe you can relate? The good thing is I haven't been outside in the normal world for so long that the last time most people have seen me, I actually had a decent head of hair. They wouldn't really notice it too much and possibly just overlook it completely if I am lucky.

I looked at the pics of your hair. and I think your best bet would be to shave the thinning area and get a hair system to cover that. It's impossible for us to say the exact measurements from a pic. Even if that area isn't that big, you will need to make a template and then cut the size of the base of your system to the template. (You can make a template without shaving your hair at first). You can either cut the base size of your stock system to match the template yourself, or some hair system companies will do that for you.

Understood, basically I would need to go the template route for my needs and wants in terms of getting and maintaining a hair system with little outside help from hair dressers. I have been looking up videos for making templates and will be making a couple today!

Definitely keep the bio hair on the sides of your head. You can just get a topper (partial system) to cover your thinning area (which you'll shave off) and then you can blend the hair system in with the hair on your sides to give the look of a full head of hair.

I like this idea, but I will go with a full hair system since I will just continue balding and believe that the best course of action would be just to get a full hair system now. definitely will take advantage of whatever I got on my sides for blending purposes.

I will PM you some suggestions, and I'm sure the other posters here would be happy to do so too. Supplies of hair systems are not too great at the moment, and there are some quality issues for various reasons, due to the pandemic. But it's still possible to start wearing now if you look around for the right supplier.

Sorry, but I can not find the PM inbox on this website user interface, I may just be missing it completely. I would also like to add that I am Canadian as well if that changes anything with possible hair system companies.

We will recommend you some reputable hair system companies. For hair system supplies, the best place to get them is www.hairdirect.com, as they are the top name in hair system supplies and you can be sure everything is genuine and not fake. Do not buy any hair systems or hair system supplies off Amazon or Ebay as there are a ton of fakes and low quality items on there!

Thank you for the suggestion! I will take a look at it now.

 

[LongJohnTom]

Firstly let me say I'm sorry you have experienced this degree of hairloss at 24. It's hard when you are that young.

I would be lying if I said it hasn't affected me much. It has made me dread the idea of having to go on stage for work and talk in front of a bunch of people, something before I could do with little issue. Furthermore even going outside for groceries feels a bit odd. I can definitely tell I am getting a bit more self-conscious about it even though it is just hair.

Yes, essentially you can just buy a stock unit, add a hairstyle to it, and go. Stock systems come long and shaggy, so they need to be "cut in" to blend with your remaining biohair and to create a hairstyle. I wouldn't recommend doing the cutting yourself. If you don't have a hairdresser near you who can work with hairpieces, you can have the system cut in remotely, so that it is ready to wear straight out of the box. There is a maintenance commitment - you need to take the unit off probably every 10 - 14 days, clean it and reglue it back on. Since you live in a remote place, you should learn how to do that yourself. It's not that difficult, and you have plenty of time. We can help.

I will most likely need to go with suggestion. I would need to add a precut hairstyle and hope it looks fine, maybe try out a few. Work has me really busy and I am falling behind on some work at this very moment. But I am glad there are options like this available.

Stock systems are sold oversized, and are meant to be cut down to fit. The easiest way to do that is to create a template of the shape you need your system to be. If you need help doing that, let us know. You do have some very thick healthy side hair, but you also have some rather thin straggly hair on top. You will get a better blend for your system if you buzz that thin straggly hair off, and have the edges of the system abutting the thick healthy hair, so your system will basically cover the whole top of your head.

Got it. I was assuming that I would be going for the old dad look with the hair completely shaven down the middle with the sides remaining.

You can certainly wear the system 2 days a week and take it off the rest of the time. You will probably want fairly light-tac adhesives if you plan to do that. Most hairpiece adhesives (like No-Shine and Ultrahold) are designed for people who want to wear their units full-time for 7 - 14 days at a time, so you probably don't want them. Have a look at the Hair Direct store for tapes and glues for short-term wear. Just keep the piece in a dark place when you are not wearing it, ideally on a polystyrene wig head. I get about 5 months full-time wear out of my pieces, and I would say 4 - 6 months is about average. Wearing 2 days a week you could maybe expect to get 9+ months out of a piece if you are careful when taking it off each time.

Thanks for the estimates and the numbers. I will keep those in mind.

I will PM you some ideas on suppliers.

Noah

Once more, where would I find these PM's. I must just be overlooking, however I just can't find it on the website layout.


Thank you for the valuable input it means a lot to me.

 

[Noah]

Hi Tom. You should see a little envelope icon in the top right hand corner of your screen. If you don't, feel free to email me at emptyheaded1976@yahoo.co.uk and I will email you the info.

Noah