Hi there,
This seems like a nice friendly site and a good place to tell my story.
I always had thick hair that people commented on when I was a kid. I remember in my second year at university being with a rather smooth friend who was as usual chatting up a girl and he pointed at my head and said he wished his hair was as thick as mine.
It came as a big shock in the third year when I was at my girlfriend's one night. I went to use her bathroom which had harsh lighting, looked in the mirror and could see way too much scalp through diffuse thinning. Having gone from enviably thick to diffusely thin really sent my slef-image plummetting. Not that my GF cared - she still loved me - but I was obsessed with my hair loss.
This was 1994. I didn't have regular net access then and I don't think sites like this existed. My first attempt to do something was to buy a crazy book called "The Baldness Cure" which advocated a healthy diet, scalp exercises, regular exercise and hanging upside down. I didn't know any better.
I think I must have been quite stressed during those two years and that contributed to my hair loss. After that it seemed to stabilise and nothing really happened. The hair I had lost did not grow back but I didn't seem to be losing anymore apart from the temporal recession that seems to go with the move from a juvenile to an adult hairline.
I have been thinking about this a little more these days since I now have my hair cut short and am aware of raindrops plonking on my scalp at the crown. I caught site of it on a CCTV the other day and noticed a patch of scalp visible at the crown when I am under a bright light.
I tried to take photos of it to share on these sites but to be honest, even under the light in my bathroom the thinning does not really come across in the pictures on my camera phone and all you can really see is a small area where the crown is thinning. I guess this is a good thing?
Nevertheless, I still obsess about this and can't help but look at the hairlines and hair density of other guys I see every day. I am sure my current GF doesn't care. She must have noticed I have this thinning but she is too nice to mention it.
It seems the only things to do are go on minoxidil or finasteride or get an hair transplant or both.
I am scared about the shedding potential on finasteride and an hair transplant seems pretty drastic and an expensive gamble if you don't get a decent surgeon/procedure.
So I am at a crossroads really. As I thinned over 10 years ago, I have heard the drugs and topicals are unlikely to regrow anything although they may prevent any further loss and increase the quality of what I have (shedding notwithstanding). Is that right?
I am also wondering about talking to my GF about this as it isn't something I have brought up with her yet and I am not sure she knows how much it can play on my mind (luckily I work out a lot and am pretty fit so maybe she isn't that bothered about my hair anyway - lol.)
If nothing else, it is good to get all this off my chest. Any advice would be gratefully received.
This seems like a nice friendly site and a good place to tell my story.
I always had thick hair that people commented on when I was a kid. I remember in my second year at university being with a rather smooth friend who was as usual chatting up a girl and he pointed at my head and said he wished his hair was as thick as mine.
It came as a big shock in the third year when I was at my girlfriend's one night. I went to use her bathroom which had harsh lighting, looked in the mirror and could see way too much scalp through diffuse thinning. Having gone from enviably thick to diffusely thin really sent my slef-image plummetting. Not that my GF cared - she still loved me - but I was obsessed with my hair loss.
This was 1994. I didn't have regular net access then and I don't think sites like this existed. My first attempt to do something was to buy a crazy book called "The Baldness Cure" which advocated a healthy diet, scalp exercises, regular exercise and hanging upside down. I didn't know any better.
I think I must have been quite stressed during those two years and that contributed to my hair loss. After that it seemed to stabilise and nothing really happened. The hair I had lost did not grow back but I didn't seem to be losing anymore apart from the temporal recession that seems to go with the move from a juvenile to an adult hairline.
I have been thinking about this a little more these days since I now have my hair cut short and am aware of raindrops plonking on my scalp at the crown. I caught site of it on a CCTV the other day and noticed a patch of scalp visible at the crown when I am under a bright light.
I tried to take photos of it to share on these sites but to be honest, even under the light in my bathroom the thinning does not really come across in the pictures on my camera phone and all you can really see is a small area where the crown is thinning. I guess this is a good thing?
Nevertheless, I still obsess about this and can't help but look at the hairlines and hair density of other guys I see every day. I am sure my current GF doesn't care. She must have noticed I have this thinning but she is too nice to mention it.
It seems the only things to do are go on minoxidil or finasteride or get an hair transplant or both.
I am scared about the shedding potential on finasteride and an hair transplant seems pretty drastic and an expensive gamble if you don't get a decent surgeon/procedure.
So I am at a crossroads really. As I thinned over 10 years ago, I have heard the drugs and topicals are unlikely to regrow anything although they may prevent any further loss and increase the quality of what I have (shedding notwithstanding). Is that right?
I am also wondering about talking to my GF about this as it isn't something I have brought up with her yet and I am not sure she knows how much it can play on my mind (luckily I work out a lot and am pretty fit so maybe she isn't that bothered about my hair anyway - lol.)
If nothing else, it is good to get all this off my chest. Any advice would be gratefully received.
