winterheartlee
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Hey guys
Ive been reading the posts on this forum for the part few months, so i thought it was time i registered and introduced myself.
My name is Lee, im 20 years old and im live in Cardiff, Wales.
When i was 16 i decided I wanted to have long hair, so i began growing it. By the time i was 18 it was pretty long and i started noticing that the centre parting was starting to get a little wider...I used to hairspray the parting cos i didnt like the little untidy bits sticking out and I would also straighten my hair.
From that point I started brushing it back so i had no parting and I always used to have my hair tied back in a ponytail. Throughout these years I used to hairspray and straighten my hair, and i used to brush my hair about 4 - 6 times a day.
When i used to shower, i wudnt really find that there was loads of hair in the plug or anything, but when i would get out and comb my hair when wet (i realise now how bad it is to comb wet hair) and I used to just basically rip the hair out of my head, and since I would brush it back (against the way it was growing) then it used to come out very easily and i would have clumps of it in my comb and on my carpet.
I continued this bad treatment to my hair for the last 2 years... straightening, blow drying, hairspraying backwards and keeping it in a tight pontytail like that and brushing my hair way way too much.
It was my 20th birthday last september and i had recently started university. I could see that I had lost alot of hair, but i didnt quite believe it. I thought it was just because the way i brushed it back showed more scalp, but then i decided to have it all cut off in october. And on that day It really hit me how bad my hair loss was!
As most of you on this board probably understand, I was very upset... I dont think people at 20 years of age are supposed to feel like they are getting old lol... it was a slap in the face.
But anyway, yeh i had it cut off so that it was a few inches long, i wanted it spiked up at first, but that revealed to much scalp. So i mainly hid it under a black beanie or a bandana lol
The main areas of baldness was at the front of my head... my hairline had receded on the one side slightly, but the main problem was the lack of volume of hair all over the top of my head.... Except for temple, It wasnt so much male pattern baldness, but diffuse hairloss.
I went to the doctors to see get it diagnosed. He took some blood tests to make sure everything was ok, and confirmed that. He said then that its 'most likely' genetic baldness, and explained that it does not always follow the male pattern baldness. I tried pushing for Propecia on perscription (perscriptions are free in wales) but he said that I should try the less aggressive solution first with minoxidil and said if it hasnt worked in the year then he would send me to the dermo to talk about the other options.
Anyway, half way through november I had read enough about hairloss and treatment on the internet and decided to start using Regaine Extra Strength. I have been using it twice a day as directed, and im pretty sure i have so positive results.
I didnt really how much it had worked until I decided to have a number 4 all over back in febuary. Heres some pictures:
Before the cut 17th october (Can see the thin hair a right at the front of head, especially my left temple, cant see so much at back because hair is covering it up)
[attachment=2:1s1j7bkd]resize1.jpg[/attachment:1s1j7bkd]
AFter the haircut (see how thin the hair is in scalp)
[attachment=1:1s1j7bkd]15-10-07_1839.jpg[/attachment:1s1j7bkd]
9th april (left temple has grown back but still slightly thin and grows slower than the rest, and hair looks even all over, but its still not enough hair all over)
[attachment=0:1s1j7bkd]newhair.jpg[/attachment:1s1j7bkd]
So yeh, as you can see its not looking too bad. It looks worst on what ever part of the hair is pointing directly towards the camera... since its like a birdseye view on the hairs...and it doesnt help that my skin is very pale (being ginger and all that)
So this is after 5 months on Regaine extra strength, id say its doing something, although When looking at pics of my hair before i started growing it, i still had alot more hair on my head, enough so that you could bearly see the scalp, but it is still early days yet, and this is just with regaine alone. I think its important to note that i never had any shedding with Regaine... it didnt get worse which was pretty good, and also since its not really supposed to work at the front of the head and temples (which was my main affected area) its done the job pretty nicely i think.
Heres the catch... Im not quite sure if my hair loss was male pattern baldness or perhaps traction alopecia. My father was already really receded by the time he was my age, and same with his father I think (dont have anything to do with that part of my family) on my mothers side, my grandad was quite receded when i can remember him (dont know when it started) and he had a small spot on his vertex too.... he still had long hair covering most of his head when he died in his early 80's... My uncle is receded, so is my one cousin (brother is fine and other cousin is too) So yeh its very possible its male pattern baldness, but everyone i kno in my family has started with receded hairline... and my hair just kinda went thin the diffuse way (which hasnt happened to anyone in my family that i know of)
So its also possible that it was traction alopecia... I used to hairspray it, straighten it, comb it and blow dry it back in the opposite direction of growth everyday for 4 years. My hair is very thick and heavy and i grew it nearly 2 ft long.... As i said, hair wasnt falling out in the bath or shower, it was just falling out when i was doing all of the damaging things to it and 'pulling' it out.
So heres where i could like peoples opinions and wisdom if theres any people on this board who had long hair and mistreated it... I would love it if it was traction alopecia, would mean its growing back and its gonna stay like it, but due to the family history and my bad luck
it probably is male pattern baldness
Anyway, looking forward to hearing some replies
Lee
Ive been reading the posts on this forum for the part few months, so i thought it was time i registered and introduced myself.
My name is Lee, im 20 years old and im live in Cardiff, Wales.
When i was 16 i decided I wanted to have long hair, so i began growing it. By the time i was 18 it was pretty long and i started noticing that the centre parting was starting to get a little wider...I used to hairspray the parting cos i didnt like the little untidy bits sticking out and I would also straighten my hair.
From that point I started brushing it back so i had no parting and I always used to have my hair tied back in a ponytail. Throughout these years I used to hairspray and straighten my hair, and i used to brush my hair about 4 - 6 times a day.
When i used to shower, i wudnt really find that there was loads of hair in the plug or anything, but when i would get out and comb my hair when wet (i realise now how bad it is to comb wet hair) and I used to just basically rip the hair out of my head, and since I would brush it back (against the way it was growing) then it used to come out very easily and i would have clumps of it in my comb and on my carpet.
I continued this bad treatment to my hair for the last 2 years... straightening, blow drying, hairspraying backwards and keeping it in a tight pontytail like that and brushing my hair way way too much.
It was my 20th birthday last september and i had recently started university. I could see that I had lost alot of hair, but i didnt quite believe it. I thought it was just because the way i brushed it back showed more scalp, but then i decided to have it all cut off in october. And on that day It really hit me how bad my hair loss was!
As most of you on this board probably understand, I was very upset... I dont think people at 20 years of age are supposed to feel like they are getting old lol... it was a slap in the face.
But anyway, yeh i had it cut off so that it was a few inches long, i wanted it spiked up at first, but that revealed to much scalp. So i mainly hid it under a black beanie or a bandana lol
The main areas of baldness was at the front of my head... my hairline had receded on the one side slightly, but the main problem was the lack of volume of hair all over the top of my head.... Except for temple, It wasnt so much male pattern baldness, but diffuse hairloss.
I went to the doctors to see get it diagnosed. He took some blood tests to make sure everything was ok, and confirmed that. He said then that its 'most likely' genetic baldness, and explained that it does not always follow the male pattern baldness. I tried pushing for Propecia on perscription (perscriptions are free in wales) but he said that I should try the less aggressive solution first with minoxidil and said if it hasnt worked in the year then he would send me to the dermo to talk about the other options.
Anyway, half way through november I had read enough about hairloss and treatment on the internet and decided to start using Regaine Extra Strength. I have been using it twice a day as directed, and im pretty sure i have so positive results.
I didnt really how much it had worked until I decided to have a number 4 all over back in febuary. Heres some pictures:
Before the cut 17th october (Can see the thin hair a right at the front of head, especially my left temple, cant see so much at back because hair is covering it up)
[attachment=2:1s1j7bkd]resize1.jpg[/attachment:1s1j7bkd]
AFter the haircut (see how thin the hair is in scalp)
[attachment=1:1s1j7bkd]15-10-07_1839.jpg[/attachment:1s1j7bkd]
9th april (left temple has grown back but still slightly thin and grows slower than the rest, and hair looks even all over, but its still not enough hair all over)
[attachment=0:1s1j7bkd]newhair.jpg[/attachment:1s1j7bkd]
So yeh, as you can see its not looking too bad. It looks worst on what ever part of the hair is pointing directly towards the camera... since its like a birdseye view on the hairs...and it doesnt help that my skin is very pale (being ginger and all that)
So this is after 5 months on Regaine extra strength, id say its doing something, although When looking at pics of my hair before i started growing it, i still had alot more hair on my head, enough so that you could bearly see the scalp, but it is still early days yet, and this is just with regaine alone. I think its important to note that i never had any shedding with Regaine... it didnt get worse which was pretty good, and also since its not really supposed to work at the front of the head and temples (which was my main affected area) its done the job pretty nicely i think.
Heres the catch... Im not quite sure if my hair loss was male pattern baldness or perhaps traction alopecia. My father was already really receded by the time he was my age, and same with his father I think (dont have anything to do with that part of my family) on my mothers side, my grandad was quite receded when i can remember him (dont know when it started) and he had a small spot on his vertex too.... he still had long hair covering most of his head when he died in his early 80's... My uncle is receded, so is my one cousin (brother is fine and other cousin is too) So yeh its very possible its male pattern baldness, but everyone i kno in my family has started with receded hairline... and my hair just kinda went thin the diffuse way (which hasnt happened to anyone in my family that i know of)
So its also possible that it was traction alopecia... I used to hairspray it, straighten it, comb it and blow dry it back in the opposite direction of growth everyday for 4 years. My hair is very thick and heavy and i grew it nearly 2 ft long.... As i said, hair wasnt falling out in the bath or shower, it was just falling out when i was doing all of the damaging things to it and 'pulling' it out.
So heres where i could like peoples opinions and wisdom if theres any people on this board who had long hair and mistreated it... I would love it if it was traction alopecia, would mean its growing back and its gonna stay like it, but due to the family history and my bad luck
it probably is male pattern baldnessAnyway, looking forward to hearing some replies
Lee
