I typed the subject line then realised it sounds like I’m trying to sell something! I’m not I just wanted to post my experiences with hair loss over the last 25 years and how I managed to stop it. In my early years of hair loss I spent a lot of time on forums like these and learnt lots of useful information so I’d like to try and give something back.
Background
I started losing my hair at the age of 16. I wasn’t the best looking fella to start with and to begin losing my hair at that age was devastating. I’m not going to labour the point because I’m sure most of you will be able to relate.
I had a strong family history of hair loss. My dad and his brother were both Norwood V by the time they were 30 and completely bald by their 40s.
At the time (1992) there wasn’t much useful information around. The Internet hadn’t really kicked off and the only books that were available suggested things like hanging upside down each day to increase blood flow to the scalp!
Fortunately, the Internet started growing around the time I was 18 and much more useful information became available from sites like these.
Hair System
By this point though my hair had already receded enough to be noticeable and I had been taken in by a famous (at least in the UK) hair system supplier. I say “taken in” but in all fairness I wanted to believe that their “hair graft” was the answer to my problems.
I had just started university and all my friends were going out and pulling girls every night but my confidence was too low for that.
I remember going to the consultation and seeing lots of pictures of happy smiling man with great hair then being shown a video with similar imagery.
I decided to go ahead and then had my head wrapped in clingfilm and colour samples of my hair taken...
A few weeks later I was back for the fitting. My face must have been a picture when they brought out what can only be described as a long-haired wig, shaved all my hair off then glued this thing to the hair that was left.
I know some people are happy with their systems but the combination of the sales techniques, the discomfort, the unnatural hairline and the fact that they didn’t tell me that the system had a very limited lifespan meant it wasn’t for me.
Hair Loss Drugs
I wore it for around a year during which time I continued my research. There was something around called minoxidil and studies of a drug to treat prostate issues had also demonstrated it to be useful in combating male hair loss.
I also read about a shampoo called Nizoral (ketoconazole), copper peptides, nicotinic acid and superoxide dismutase,
The day I took off the system was a great relief. My hair underneath have been shaved short so I just shaved the sides and back to match. It looked ok and I figured that if I could at least halt my hair loss I could maybe do something about the hairline in the future.
At the same time I started taking finasteride by breaking up 5 mg Proscar pills into quarters. I also started using Nizoral And Nano shampoo regularly.
At various times over the last 25 years I’ve experimented with using minoxidil and Proxiphen but, call me lazy, I never got on with the twice-daily topical applications.
Between the ages of 19 and 40 I religiously took finasteride and used the shampoos 4-5 times a week.
Results
Fortunately they did the job. My hair loss stopped and I had the same hairline 21 years later. This was the case even though I used anabolic steroids on several occasions which have been shown to increase hair loss.
As I alluded to earlier, I’d always had it at the back of my mind to do something about my hairline and I figured that after 21 years it was safe to assume the drug combination would continue to work.
So, I set about doing research on hair transplant doctors. This post is already quite long so, to cut what would be an even longer story short, I went to see Dr Feriduni who diagnosed me as a Norwood 2-3 and I had a hair transplant of 2,500 grafts in 2016.
I couldn’t have been more pleased with the results. After a year of recovery I had a hairline that matched other men of my age who haven’t experienced any hair loss.
So there you have it. I hope that my experience shows that there is hope. I experienced the despair of hair loss and came through it.
I think that if I had discovered the various hair loss drugs earlier I would’ve been able to avoid the loss that I did experience but that wasn’t to be. I’m also certain that if I stopped using the drugs the hair loss would start again so I'm committed to using them for life.
I may have been fortunate in that I’ve not experienced any side-effects with finasteride, although when you look at the studies the incidence of side-effects does seem to be a lot lower than you’d think if you just read hair loss forums.
I don’t think about hair loss anymore and haven’t frequented any forums since researching transplant doctors but I’m happy to answer any questions so will check back here from time to time.
All the best.
Background
I started losing my hair at the age of 16. I wasn’t the best looking fella to start with and to begin losing my hair at that age was devastating. I’m not going to labour the point because I’m sure most of you will be able to relate.
I had a strong family history of hair loss. My dad and his brother were both Norwood V by the time they were 30 and completely bald by their 40s.
At the time (1992) there wasn’t much useful information around. The Internet hadn’t really kicked off and the only books that were available suggested things like hanging upside down each day to increase blood flow to the scalp!
Fortunately, the Internet started growing around the time I was 18 and much more useful information became available from sites like these.
Hair System
By this point though my hair had already receded enough to be noticeable and I had been taken in by a famous (at least in the UK) hair system supplier. I say “taken in” but in all fairness I wanted to believe that their “hair graft” was the answer to my problems.
I had just started university and all my friends were going out and pulling girls every night but my confidence was too low for that.
I remember going to the consultation and seeing lots of pictures of happy smiling man with great hair then being shown a video with similar imagery.
I decided to go ahead and then had my head wrapped in clingfilm and colour samples of my hair taken...
A few weeks later I was back for the fitting. My face must have been a picture when they brought out what can only be described as a long-haired wig, shaved all my hair off then glued this thing to the hair that was left.
I know some people are happy with their systems but the combination of the sales techniques, the discomfort, the unnatural hairline and the fact that they didn’t tell me that the system had a very limited lifespan meant it wasn’t for me.
Hair Loss Drugs
I wore it for around a year during which time I continued my research. There was something around called minoxidil and studies of a drug to treat prostate issues had also demonstrated it to be useful in combating male hair loss.
I also read about a shampoo called Nizoral (ketoconazole), copper peptides, nicotinic acid and superoxide dismutase,
The day I took off the system was a great relief. My hair underneath have been shaved short so I just shaved the sides and back to match. It looked ok and I figured that if I could at least halt my hair loss I could maybe do something about the hairline in the future.
At the same time I started taking finasteride by breaking up 5 mg Proscar pills into quarters. I also started using Nizoral And Nano shampoo regularly.
At various times over the last 25 years I’ve experimented with using minoxidil and Proxiphen but, call me lazy, I never got on with the twice-daily topical applications.
Between the ages of 19 and 40 I religiously took finasteride and used the shampoos 4-5 times a week.
Results
Fortunately they did the job. My hair loss stopped and I had the same hairline 21 years later. This was the case even though I used anabolic steroids on several occasions which have been shown to increase hair loss.
As I alluded to earlier, I’d always had it at the back of my mind to do something about my hairline and I figured that after 21 years it was safe to assume the drug combination would continue to work.
So, I set about doing research on hair transplant doctors. This post is already quite long so, to cut what would be an even longer story short, I went to see Dr Feriduni who diagnosed me as a Norwood 2-3 and I had a hair transplant of 2,500 grafts in 2016.
I couldn’t have been more pleased with the results. After a year of recovery I had a hairline that matched other men of my age who haven’t experienced any hair loss.
So there you have it. I hope that my experience shows that there is hope. I experienced the despair of hair loss and came through it.
I think that if I had discovered the various hair loss drugs earlier I would’ve been able to avoid the loss that I did experience but that wasn’t to be. I’m also certain that if I stopped using the drugs the hair loss would start again so I'm committed to using them for life.
I may have been fortunate in that I’ve not experienced any side-effects with finasteride, although when you look at the studies the incidence of side-effects does seem to be a lot lower than you’d think if you just read hair loss forums.
I don’t think about hair loss anymore and haven’t frequented any forums since researching transplant doctors but I’m happy to answer any questions so will check back here from time to time.
All the best.
