Accelerated hairloss and life lesson jibberish

[underdog85]

Hi I'm 24 years old and may be far less wise then many of you here but here goes...

Just wanted to shed some light on a few things. First of all, I never considered myself to be a vain or self-centered person. All of a sudden, I find myself caring about how I look way too much. Almost to the point of an obsession, possibly even BDD. If I'm not focusing on my looks I'm looking at others.

Now hairloss may be played off as a joke to many and if you are not dealing with it you may not realize how lucky you are or even what dramatic psychological impact it may have on somebody. Health is important but so is mental health. Mental health is often times ignored and people feel it is not a real ailment, as we do not necessarily see the symptoms the same way.

Last summer I was diagnosed with testicular cancer and am happy to say that I am 100% fine now. I handled the situation very well IMO. I did what I had to do to get by and just never let any ounce of negativity really settle in. I look back and see myself at the time as being very strong. Ironically a few months later, I can be depressed for days about my hair and feel stressed about the future. What my head looks like. If i can pull off a buzzed or shaved look. Maybe my head is not the perfect size or I have a mole on the back. etc. Things that seem so trivial.. well radiation definitely didn't help my hair out but didn't have chemo as an excuse either. *sigh* Glad to say its all over with.

This is from a person who was ready to battle and brought his A game to the field. So for those of you who are suffering and obsessing I have to say that it is a real problem but just like any problem with some positivity we can make the best out of the situation.

1love...

 

[Draco88]

Thanks for sharing your story underdog85
Good to hear that your health is back on track. Btw i think you look pretty good with a buzzed head.

 

[underdog85]

Thanks Draco.. Learning to live with it! Not really a big poster here, more of a reader but thought I should share my thoughts with everyone.

 

[Mens Rea]

Not going to bullshit you mate obviously you looked like a very good looking guy with that head of hair. But that's life.

You still look good w/o the hair. I would say dont go completely slick though keep the stubble look and also groom a nice beard.

You have a great head shape for it, man. Be grateful.

I reckon you could style yourself up to look like "Style". Look him up - Neil Strauss!

 

[uncomfortable man]

Congratulations on overcoming testicular cancer, and on not being inflicted with advanced hairloss. A little temple recession so overall you have much to be grateful for.

 

[follicle84]

I think you suit the shaved look especially in that second pic.

 

[uncomfortable man]

I could look like that with the ACHM micro pigmentation by tattooing the scalp.

 

[wesleyBelgium]

a person on our hairforum had done that also but with a company that does tattoos and nipple reconstruction and other projects...
he payed 300 euro to do his head and the FUT scar on the back

other companys charge between 1000 and 2000 euro... insane price

also for the topicstarter :

0,5mg fina every day and in the evening a bit of minoxidil would halt and maybe reverse a little of your hairloss...
but buzzed its cool 2 , so dont panic, you got the looks, even without hair...

 

[Belmondo]

Great story, moving and inspiring. Thanks for sharing it with us.

By the way, I actually think you look better now.

 

[underdog85]

Thanks Del..

Sometimes I think I can pull off the look but I get really paranoid about my bushy-a$$ eyebrows and head shape.

I'm not sure if the pictures really show off my head shape that well but its kind of unorthodox :S... Don't know if this is a common concern among other hair loss sufferers.

I'm happy to hear that my preaching was heard too lol! In all seriousness, I understand how this is a struggle for a lot of people and I know my story is pretty unique and may be interesting to hear.

 

[underdog85]

Congratulations on overcoming testicular cancer, and on not being inflicted with advanced hairloss. A little temple recession so overall you have much to be grateful for.

Thanks Uncomfortable man.

I'm not sure whether or not your final words should be taken in a condescending way or not. If so please realize that those pics are old and my hairloss has accelerated post radio therapy. Regardless, I think forums are a good medium to support one another and share information and thoughts. They should not be used to compare our struggles and say one person has it worse off then the next. A NW2 may be struggling a lot more than a NW5 and this has nothing to do with physical apparance but the mental burden that hairloss causes people.

-----------------

P.S. you look pretty good in your pic. I remember reading the pessimism in your posts a while back and wondering what you looked like. I thought you must've been the weirdest looking bald dude on earth. After seeing your picture and thinking this guy rocks that look well, I was surprised to see your name linked with your avatar pic.

 

[uncomfortable man]

Thanks Udog. Radiation therapy aside, you may have male pattern baldness in which case you have my sincere condolences. I guess like anything, time will tell. I wasn't trying to be condescending (who knows what you will look like when you reach my age). Testicular cancer is heavier than male pattern baldness in terms of your physical health, although it is not something that is worn on the sleeve like baldness is thank god. Being bald kinda feels like your walking around with one nut hangin out though.

 

[Smooth]

That tattooing can work well with FUE strictly! and a well done one too, i think if you combine and design perfectly could work very good, the tattooed dots could then be implemented between the hairs AFTER the FUE session just to give it more volume and color... then you can buzz #1-0, that could give you the framed face you always wanted, would probably cost way less then a mega session, and most importantly wont look weird.
imo tattooing ALONE would look very bad, your scalp WILL shine outdoors and look extremely weird .

 

[uncomfortable man]

I'm not sure fue will yeild enough hairs to even remotely fill in the space needed...even to camoflauge the tattooed dots. I might as well go for strip mega sessions at that point then use the tattoo to hide the donor scars and then fill in the sparseness on top but I don't have that kind of money to spend on transplanting hairs just to wind up shaving them off anyway. If I did this micropigmentation, then it would force me into shaving my head to 0 everyday but the upside would be that I wouldn't mind going out uncovered nearly as much. And as far as the shine goes I could use a product called Matte.

 

[Smooth]

:shock: i actually have an idea for you, a cheep test run if you like ...
there are plenty methods for temporary tattooing & it looks real... (i know for a fact about a hand made temp tatts).
temp tatt your scalp exactly how you want, and I've seen somewhere something like a fiber topic, was ment for BALD guys to give an illusion of hairline (if you search you can easily find that online) you can order that will serv as your "temporary" fue... it wont look exactly like a real fue, but will sure give you some idea what to expect... blog too if you go with it.

 

[uncomfortable man]

Fiber toppik? Is that what it is called? I'll look into it but these temporary tattoo artists you mention don't have the same ultra fine tip points nor the artistic eye that Mark Weston has at ACHR. This is serious work for specialists, although alot of salons that offer permanent makeup are branching off into this area of work but they are NOT specialists and Mei Ling will most likely ruin you as a result so buyer beware! As a test run I can understand but I don't think the results are an accurate way to gauge the work done at AC. But I'll look into that fiber stuff. Thanks Smooth.

 

[toocoolforhair]

Your buzzcut would look better if you get the colour of your head to match the colour of your face. Try getting some sunshine on it and then it'll look great.

 

[Maelstrom]

UC Man - what is this Matte product you referred to?

 

[underdog85]

UC man hijacked my thread!!! lol.. jk

 

[uncomfortable man]

Matte is a cream for bald guys to take the shine off their heads. It also has SPF so I would be killing 2 birds.