What Are My Options For Hair Replacement?

[DavidBelfast]

Hi everyone,

I'm 35 and I've been slowly losing my hair for 13 years or so. I'm a norwood 3 at the moment, crown intact but heavily receeded, kinda like this picture:

The big difference is that I don't have my temporal points any more; this is one thing that I'd consider a small transplant surgery for - on one side my temple hairline goes back slightly as you go up from the sideburn, which gives a 'wide head' look, like the actor Kurtwood Smith:

...I think this could be corrected with a few hundred follecular units transplanted in that area, but I think it's too risky to get a full hair transplant as I don't know what my future hair loss might be.

I've never taken meds (tried finasteride briefly but got sides and came off it), so I have to assume that significant loss is in my future. I can feel my hair is thinning across all the top of my head to the 'centre' of the crown. Hair at the back of the head and side seems thick with the exception of missing temporal points mentioned above.

So I'm at a point now where I'm going to have to either shave my head or come up with a 'solution'....and I'm considering a hair system. As my name suggests, I live in the UK. I would prefer an unexposed hairline which I'm assuming will make things easier for me.

Can anyone offer any advice - in particular regarding the size of the piece - I'm assuming it's easier to shave the entire top of your head and just leave the back and sides rather than have only a small 'partial' piece, as that might look odd when it doesn't perfectly blend with the hair midway up the scalp?

Thanks,
David

 

[Noah]

Hi David

The conventional advice is that it is best to keep as much of your natural hair as is viable. So Kurtwood Smith, for example, if he had chosen to wear a system, would probably have been best off with just a front partial. There may be some exceptions to that, for example if you have very tight curls, where it might be easier to just shave the whole top than to get a good texture match for a frontal piece, but that's the general rule.

On the issue of temple points, if they are very receded it can be difficult to get a balanced natural look from a system, and small temple transplants can be an answer to that. But it may not be necessary to go that far. A couple of points to bear in mind (no pun intended!): first, temple recession only really seems to be a problem if the hairline running up from your sideburns is bending backwards. So Bruce Willis, although he is receding at the temples, would have no problem using a hair system, because his hairline curves forward. And even Kurtwood Smith would be OK, because his hairline is more or less vertical, and that is good enough to support a system and give a natural look. Secondly, it doesn't seem to matter how thick your hair is: even quite thin temple hair is enough provided it is in the right place - the eye subliminally registers that you have temple hair and concludes that the hair system on top is natural.

There are also a few little tricks you can employ if you are struggling in the temple hair department. First, you can add little temple flaps onto the design of your system. The hair on the flaps will fall down and supplement your remaining natural hair, eking out any shortfall. Secondly, you can go for an undercut style where you keep your sidehair cropped very short, and most of your hairstyle is cut onto the hairpiece hair on top. That is pretty popular now, and that is what I do. Undercut styles are great for guys who wear a system and have thinning sides, because the close-cropping completely conceals any thinning. Thirdly, if you have a vertical hairline up from your sideburns, you can shave into that vertical line at the bottom, to create a forward contour - a kind of artificially-created temple contour.

All these ideas depend to some extent on the shape of your face, your remaining hair, and the look you are going for.

Noah

 

[DavidBelfast]

@Noah

Thank you very much for your reply.

In response to the talking points raised:

- I do have a wave to my hair, but not tight enough that it'll be very noticable when the hair is short.

- One of my temples does go back ever so slightly - the other goes straight up. I'd be happy enough leaving the 'straight up' one as it is and perhaps try and restore the other to do straight up. So avoid doing an 'aggressive' temporal restoration but just enough that a piece can be used.

- I think the undercut is a good idea, I think keeping the sides very short (say a number 3 guard or shorter) - the reason for this is that if you keep the hair short around the side and wear a system on top, as long as there's a reasonable colour match then any differences in cosistency or thickness between system hair and 'real' hair will be harder to spot if that makes any sense?

 

[Noah]

Thanks David. I sent you a PM on this subject with a few pics, to illustrate what I mean.

 

[DavidBelfast]

Thanks David. I sent you a PM on this subject with a few pics, to illustrate what I mean.

Thanks Noah - only just spotted that and have replied - cheers!