You misunderstood a bit. I was not saying he has a complex, just he should try to avoid one and think about the joys of life. I am sorry, Surf, but hair is a trivial part of life when you factor in everything. He has his health and a (potentially) bright future ahead of him. A wife, kids, job success, friends, etc. are all more important and should be valued. That is all I meant. I can imagine that hair loss at an early age sucks, especially with society making it not cool...my point was there are worse things in life that can happen and better things on which to focus attention. I meant nothing negative about it at all, just hoping he doesn't get too upset about it.
I don't think it is legit to say that a person who isn't balding doesn't have ground from which to speak on the issue. That it is "easy for them to say" is a crock. It's easy enough to imagine what it'd be like -- or at least as easy at it is for some other balding person to imagine. After all, just as the experience of balding is different from the experience of having hair, so is the experience of one person's baldness from another's. Balding progresses differently in different people; balding looks better or worse on different people; people will react differently, one from another, to it happening to them. Perhaps you're sensitive about it and the advice you may have been given, but I don't see how it makes the advice illegitimate. What does make it legitimate is this: hair loss is mostly an issue of appearances, of how one is perceived in the wide world. That so many people would advocate shaving is a fair indicator that such a move would be well-accepted. With that out of the way, all you need to wrestle with is self-image. Not that I'm advocating shaving necessarily. I think it looks good (depending on the person), but I can understand going another way. But I wouldn't dismiss people just because they're not "one of us" and "don't know what it's like." (Besides the fact that some shaving-advocates here seem to be balding themselves.) Take the advice for what it is worth (at the least a barometer of public opinion) and make your own decision.
Haha not just yet. I will be picking up that rogaine stuff tonight as soon as im done with my lab class. I still have hope. And if worst comes to worst, i guess ill end up looking like this .
Be sure to get extra-strength, and use it at least 3 months before making a judgement. I prefer the brand name stuff myself... for some reason, my scalp reacted to over-the-counter brand. If you saw me, you'd think I had never touched the stuff. I don't have much hair at all. But after I started using it, the hair loss stopped a lot, and seems to have stabilized. And, everytime I've quit using it, I notice that I start losing what I've got left. I wish they had this stuff back when my hair-loss started. Maybe I'd have more than I do now. In fact, I'm sure of it. i've never tried Propecia, but I have a good friend who has used it. He thinks it works. He also takes Viagra.
There are much better things to spend money on than those topicals that keep some of your hair in for a little while longer.
I would highly recommend Propecia. Start early.... I only wish that someone convinced me to use it earlier in life because it is much more effective at preventing hair loss than it is at regrowth. I started to lose a little hair when I was about 20. I tried Rogaine at about 26 and didn't like it because it smelled like alcohol (not good to show up for work in the morning smelling like you just had a shot of vodka). I then started using Propecia. My hairline had receeded about 2 inches. The area where it receeded still had some peach fuzz and wherever I still had that, the Propecia grew enough back that it looks OK as long as I keep it cut short. I think the results I had would be considered extremely successful because Propecia specifically says that it is not proven to regrow hair, and I CLEARLY have a lot more hair than when I started using it (I am 32 now). BTW, I wouldn't go to the internet very much for info... I nearly freaked out when I went to a hair loss sight and read a bunch of nightmare side-effect stories about it. I simply can't imagine all those things about people who lost all their hair, their hair turned purple, the effects wearing off after 3 years, blah, blah, blah.... Just try it. You should know within 2-3 weeks if it is having some effect because you will shed some hair for a little while. The shedding won't make any appearance difference when you look in the mirror because you are only losing 200 hairs out of a million.
I know how you feel Samar...I initially started losing alittle from the front in my early 20s(genetic)..and knew it would eventually get worse since my old man was losing it on top....but once you get older...you really dont care. and this is coming from a guy who has had long hair for years... now, as I reach towards 40....Im having me alittle spot on top-back....and the front is getting thinner by the year...but the rest of it is still past my shoulders...I figger in a few years, Ill look kinda like Gallager(except with straight hair)....bald on top...and long on the sides and back...but ya know what....it really doesnt matter. btw....you will never catch me tryin to cover mine up by moving hair around and laying it over the bald spots. that is just lame. accept what nature is doing to ya with a sense of humor....I can almost guarantee that women will be more attracted to a good sense of humor than what ya got on top of your head.(loads of moola doesnt hurt either) hope ya learn to deal with it for your own sanity and pocketbook....
dr. parkers soultion to hair loss program. but really... some guys look better with receding (sp?) hairlines than they do with hair anyway. other than that... just shave all of it off... i remember a thread a while ago with several guys here that do it. if it's a "just the thought of being able to grow hair" thing... sorry... the only thing i've heard of is propecia also.
I've been trying a new radical method of treatment. The doctors are using my nose and ear hair to fill in my bald spots. It hasn't been approved by the FDA so I have to get it done in Mexico for the time being.
Dude, you have to shave it if it gets bad. That's all there is to it. I have many friends that had to do it, and they had long, flowing locks back during the grunge era. Recently I started to get a good amount of gray hair. At first it was kind of a downer, but one day I just totally accepted it, and now I like it. We sometimes cling to our views of ourselves, or how we would like to be viewed. Once you let go of this, you will be happier. BTW, I hated it when Kenny Smith first shaved his head, I thought it looked bad on him, but now I can't think of him being otherwise. But don't sweat it, there is always that spray hair in a can...
Birth of a hairdo The comb-over patent was born when the late Frank Smith and his son Donald, both of Orlando, Fla., began discussing Frank's baldness over some wine in 1977. Frank shaved his head, but had so many knocks that "it didn't look good at all," his son said. "So we went to Plan B." A toupee was out of the question. Donald noticed his dad had plenty of hair on the sides of his head. Why not grow one side long and sweep it over the top? "It seemed a hell of a lot more practical," Donald said. The comb-over patent — complete with instructional diagrams — was meant to allow Frank to bill himself as the father of the hairstyle and better sell a spray he developed to hold it in place, his son said. They never got around to producing the spray, but they did receive an Ig Nobel. diagram link
The reason you have to keep on taking rogaine otherwise you hair will fall out is because unlike propecia it doesnt hit the "root" of the problem. Propecia inhibits DHT receptors to stop the process in your body. Rogaine just cleans away the DHT from your hair, making it ineffective to your hair for a temporary period or as long as you keep on taking it.
Samar, My hair also started to thin in my 20's. I did a lot of research and began using a minoxidil with retin-a solution. The retin-a enhances aborbtion and makes it much more effective than plain minoxidil. It worked very well and regained most of what I lost, but you have to be really consistent in your use. You can find it at this site- https://www.xandrox.com/ You will also find other legitimate treatments at that site. Probably the best treatments out there other than Propecia, which I never used because of the potential side effects.
you poor, sad bald losers. no one is going to like you and you are doomed to live your lives as freaks.
I don't think the FDA evaluates and certifies combinations of previously approved drugs like this. Research it. You'll find that this is a very common and effective combination. It's available from many sources, other than the one I posted. I just found that source to reputable and reliable with relatively good prices.
