Hi all,
I'm from the UK and here is my story:
I started losing my hair when I was in my late teens/early twenties but I was young, carefree and full of confidence and wasn't too worried to begin with. I was in the Army at the time and started to notice over the following years that every time I took my beret off there was more hair inside than before, I would have a sneaky look at my mates berets and see only a few hairs inside compared to dozens a day in mine. I would take baths and watch in horror as the water emptied out taking 100's of my hairs with it. So I got on with life for a few years, left the Army and as my hair slowly departed so did my confidence. I would have nightmares that all my hair fell out in the middle of the night and would wake up and check the pillow to see if it were true... silly I know. I decided to take action and try to take control of the situation, I shaved my head and visited the Belgravia centre who put my on a programme (minoxidil and propecia). I felt good with the shaved head at certain times... Yeah my hair is falling out, who cares? That's why I shaved it! On holiday I could could swim in the sea, dive, snorkel etc, things I couldn't do before without anxiety kicking in. At home I would get out of the shower and be out the door within 20 mins, no messing about for ages trying to get my hair 'perfect'. There was a new found freedom to shaving my hair but then there was the other side of it. I turned kind of reclusive and didn't want to see anyone I knew before I cut my hair. The funny thing is I look back to when I first shaved it off and in some photos the number 1 all over looks pretty good! But my confidence was easily knocked. A comment here or there about my bald head and I would be back to square one. Looking back on it I suppose I was more care-free with a shaved head but deep down I wanted my hair back. Again the confidence started to drop.
A couple of years after first shaving my hair off my girlfriend at the time found a free trial of toppik hair concealer in a magazine advert knowing the amount I stressed about my hair, so I gave it a go. The first time I tried it was at a posh do and let me tell you, I was like a new man! Horray the old me was back! I thought I would only wear it on the weekends which quickly turned in to morning, noon and night but the following few years after that were good. I mixed between toppik and nanogen but always ended up back with toppik, I enjoyed a good social life, playing football on Saturdays and joined a boxing club all with my 'new hair' with only a few uncomfortable moments along the way with the stuff. I got caught in a torrential rain storm on holiday and after about 5 mins over the heavens opening I went from full head of heir to as good as bald on top! The people we were with looked more than confused as I made a dash back to my hotel room. Another holiday (maybe I should stop going abroad!) I was on a day trip with my girlfriend and our guide wanted to take a picture of us under a beautiful waterfall, the only problem was the tonnes of water crashing down that I had to walk through for this snap he was so keen on taking. I protested and eventually he and my gf got their own way and so I spent the rest of the trip with the hump and no 'hair'. Some friends I hadn't seen for a while were confused but my thicker grown out hair, some thought I had a transplant but on the whole the only people interested are the ones who are losing their locks, to everyone else I had just grown it out.
I got married to the lady above who introduced me to toppik a few years ago and thankfully on the wedding day had a 'good hair day'. Although I am still using the pro/regaine combo the top of my head has still been thinning over these years only much slower I imagine than if I didn't use them and in the past year a few comments have started to question how long I can go on using the concealers, after all they are not a lifetime solution to hairloss and as the hair still thins the concealers become less effective. In my passport photo I have a totally shaved head and passing through customs from Turkey a few weeks ago the passport control guy made a sprinkling gesture over his head and a brushing hair motion while having a full blown conversation with himself in Turkish as if to say, I know what you do! Very rude and very embarrassing! This event and a few smaller ones have led me to think it's time to go down the surgical route. Ironically I have been looking back in Turkey for transplants and hope I get a different customs officer!
Wow, I didnt realise I had written so much. If you are still with me then thank you for reading and thanks for having me.
I'm from the UK and here is my story:
I started losing my hair when I was in my late teens/early twenties but I was young, carefree and full of confidence and wasn't too worried to begin with. I was in the Army at the time and started to notice over the following years that every time I took my beret off there was more hair inside than before, I would have a sneaky look at my mates berets and see only a few hairs inside compared to dozens a day in mine. I would take baths and watch in horror as the water emptied out taking 100's of my hairs with it. So I got on with life for a few years, left the Army and as my hair slowly departed so did my confidence. I would have nightmares that all my hair fell out in the middle of the night and would wake up and check the pillow to see if it were true... silly I know. I decided to take action and try to take control of the situation, I shaved my head and visited the Belgravia centre who put my on a programme (minoxidil and propecia). I felt good with the shaved head at certain times... Yeah my hair is falling out, who cares? That's why I shaved it! On holiday I could could swim in the sea, dive, snorkel etc, things I couldn't do before without anxiety kicking in. At home I would get out of the shower and be out the door within 20 mins, no messing about for ages trying to get my hair 'perfect'. There was a new found freedom to shaving my hair but then there was the other side of it. I turned kind of reclusive and didn't want to see anyone I knew before I cut my hair. The funny thing is I look back to when I first shaved it off and in some photos the number 1 all over looks pretty good! But my confidence was easily knocked. A comment here or there about my bald head and I would be back to square one. Looking back on it I suppose I was more care-free with a shaved head but deep down I wanted my hair back. Again the confidence started to drop.
A couple of years after first shaving my hair off my girlfriend at the time found a free trial of toppik hair concealer in a magazine advert knowing the amount I stressed about my hair, so I gave it a go. The first time I tried it was at a posh do and let me tell you, I was like a new man! Horray the old me was back! I thought I would only wear it on the weekends which quickly turned in to morning, noon and night but the following few years after that were good. I mixed between toppik and nanogen but always ended up back with toppik, I enjoyed a good social life, playing football on Saturdays and joined a boxing club all with my 'new hair' with only a few uncomfortable moments along the way with the stuff. I got caught in a torrential rain storm on holiday and after about 5 mins over the heavens opening I went from full head of heir to as good as bald on top! The people we were with looked more than confused as I made a dash back to my hotel room. Another holiday (maybe I should stop going abroad!) I was on a day trip with my girlfriend and our guide wanted to take a picture of us under a beautiful waterfall, the only problem was the tonnes of water crashing down that I had to walk through for this snap he was so keen on taking. I protested and eventually he and my gf got their own way and so I spent the rest of the trip with the hump and no 'hair'. Some friends I hadn't seen for a while were confused but my thicker grown out hair, some thought I had a transplant but on the whole the only people interested are the ones who are losing their locks, to everyone else I had just grown it out.
I got married to the lady above who introduced me to toppik a few years ago and thankfully on the wedding day had a 'good hair day'. Although I am still using the pro/regaine combo the top of my head has still been thinning over these years only much slower I imagine than if I didn't use them and in the past year a few comments have started to question how long I can go on using the concealers, after all they are not a lifetime solution to hairloss and as the hair still thins the concealers become less effective. In my passport photo I have a totally shaved head and passing through customs from Turkey a few weeks ago the passport control guy made a sprinkling gesture over his head and a brushing hair motion while having a full blown conversation with himself in Turkish as if to say, I know what you do! Very rude and very embarrassing! This event and a few smaller ones have led me to think it's time to go down the surgical route. Ironically I have been looking back in Turkey for transplants and hope I get a different customs officer!
Wow, I didnt realise I had written so much. If you are still with me then thank you for reading and thanks for having me.
