New To Hair System World.. Have Questions Regarding Partial!

[FredFlinstone]

Anyone have experience with a hair piece for NW3 receded temporal hairloss? I have been receding for about 5 years now in a slow manner and have been in denial for the most part and now here I am in refusal to go bald. I still have most of my hair left but I’m limited to basically one style to cover up my balding temples. Like most, I considered hair transplant and saved a lot but after multiple consultations the transplant surgeons recommend that I start medication in order to save my existing hair and have been on finasteride for 5 months and feel like there has been no visible change in my hair. I also realize a transplant won’t be the best bet as I have pretty thin and fine hair on the sides and back of my head that I wouldn’t want to risk destroying. Now, the only real option I see to conserve a full head of hair is a hair system and I am amazed by most results but some can be pretty obvious. So last week I had two consultations at a pretty reputable location that offers these services here in SoCal and the consultant recommended a hair piece for my temples. I’d say the 1st consultation went pretty well after showing options and went on to the next day in template making of my receded temples (free of charge) and they basically drew an acceptable hair line. Basically the piece is a custom to fit my hair loss areas and I paid $200 for a lace piece. I have to wait 6 weeks to have it made. They cut some of my original hair to match as well. I’m looking to keep my hair style (unexposed hairline) with the piece. One question I have is if I made the right choice? Should I have just had them make a template of the hole top and shave off the rest off my hair? Do you think I can pull this off without much notice from people around me? The whole summer here in SoCal can be 100 degrees and above (38 Celsius), how can I pull this off during the summer? Just walking into my car gets sweaty, luckily I work indoors with AC but I have to be out sometime during the summer. I have attached pics to show my current hair and style. Sorry for the long post, like all I am new to the hair system world and would like to know as much as possible if I choose to go this route. I appreciate anyone’s input.

 

[Noah]

Hey Fred

I have to start by saying that your hair looks fine. Unless the pictures are very misleading, no one but you would notice that you are losing your hair. Most guys on here would give their right gonad to have that much hair. So I would say you are being preemptive to the point of paranoia. However, that is your right. I can't deny that there is something to be said for nipping hairloss in the bud by taking early action. However, to answer your question, you would be mad to shave off a substantial amount of that hair to replace it with a hairpiece. So if you are convinced that you need to go down the hair replacement route at this stage, I think you have made the right decision to just replace the missing bits of your hairline. What shape is the piece that your salon has ordered for you?

I haven't personally done what you have done, but I have talked to a few guys who did - small insets to fill temple recession, a narrow strip to lower a receded hairline, or a small frontal piece to recreate a thinned-out forelock. All are possible, but it is unusual to have a hair replacement salon that is flexible enough to do these techniques for you. They tend to want to stick to the package they are familiar with. The guys I know who did it all did it by themselves.

It is fair to say that the smaller the pieces are the fiddlier the process is. The two little side-pieces were very fiddly and would not have stood up well to close scrutiny, although they blended into the guys hairstyle quite well and fulfilled the job he wanted them for. The narrow hairline piece was fiddly to fit, but looked not bad. The forelock piece was a nice job.

This guy -

https://www.youtube.com/user/StickOnHair

cuts his own frontal units out of larger stock hairpieces, which is somewhat similar to what your salon will be doing. I wouldn't necessarily recommend his technique (he is rather a klutz, to be honest), but it will give you an unvarnished idea of what is involved. You probably won't have as many problems and mishaps as he has LOL.

I think provided you keep the hairline-covered hairstyle you currently have you should be able to carry it off without people noticing. Heat and sweating are not much of an issue provided you opt for a lace piece - it is really no hotter or sweatier than just having your natural hair. Skin systems are a different matter - they are sweaty. Do you know what kind of base you will be getting?

Noah

* incidentally, some of this post was cut and pasted from an earlier post on the same subject a few weeks ago.

 

[FredFlinstone]

Hey Noah I appreciate your input and response. I may be overthinking it but if I lose ground(more hair) the hair system route is the way I choose for future coverage. The piece/partial will be one whole piece about one centimeter down my existing forelock and covering 2.5cm down my receded temples. My right has receded a little more than the left so the template is slightly irregular. I would say the template is a c in shape. Unfortunately I don’t have pics of the template but the location where I got it made guaranteed they will keep it for future use. The piece will be French lace material btw.