NEWBIE with several questions before purchasing - Printable Version +- Toplace USA (https://forum.toplace.com) +-- Forum: TopLace Forum (https://forum.toplace.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=3) +--- Forum: General hair replacement discussion (https://forum.toplace.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=4) +--- Thread: NEWBIE with several questions before purchasing (/showthread.php?tid=5)

NEWBIE with several questions before purchasing - jball - 04-08-2010 Hello all, I am new to this forum and new to the whole hair replacement thing. I am a 27 year old male who has been losing hair since my early 20's. I'm pretty certain that my hair loss will end with complete baldness the entire top part of my head in the next 2-3 years. I have visited a hair replacement surgeon to see what my options are but unfortunately due to the nature of my hair loss I don't think it is an option for me. I love to wear my hair short and would rather shave it than grown it out to cover a huge scar. I think my best option now is to try our wearing a piece. I have very good sides and back and believe I will continue to for years to come (based on how similar my hair loss is to my father) I believe this will make me a stronger candidate for a hair piece. Before I move forward I have a list of questions I would like answers to. I will start with the most important. I appreciate everyones help in advance. 1. In respect to general use, how versatile are some of these pieces? I am a very active person who is constantly on the move. I often participate in the following activities: playings sports, swimming, boating, hiking, camping, biking, skiings, etc. My concern here is that I will be limited to participating in some of these activities because of wearing. I've heard you can swim and do things of that nature, but I've also heard its problematic and that there is always a chance that some of these activities will produce issues. How do these things look while wet, are they more noticeable, etc? Can someone help me with these concerns? 2. Scaring Alopecia? I've read in several instances that wearing pieces can further accelerate hair loss, and in some cases cause permanent scaring. I suppose my main concern here is that in the next several years there is a possibility for medical breakthroughs in respect to hair loss. I would hate to ruin the chance of growing my real hair back because i wore a piece and it gave me scaring. Can anyone provide feedback on this? 3. How short can you wear your hair? I usually have the sides and back of my hair guarded with a #2 or #3. I have very fine hair but I've been told high density. I will try to provide pictures later tonight to show the style and hair type. I suppose before i started losing my hair was styled similar to the below picture. 4. Finally, I am very concerned with producing a template. I am not very artistic by nature, and this seems like something that someone could really screw up easily. I have watched the videos and still have no idea how to do this properly. I plan on doing a skype consult and hopefully this can be explained in better detail (or at least in a way that is manageable for me). These are the initial questions I have. I plan on adding photos of my hair later so some can give me more personal opinions. I certainly appreciate your help as I am excited to take the next step forward in combating my hair loss. Best, Jared Re: NEWBIE with several questions before purchasing - ToplaceUSA - 04-08-2010 Hi Jball, Welcome to the forum. You're lucky that you have good sides and back--that will give you more hair style options and make things much easier. [quote]1. In respect to general use, how versatile are some of these pieces? I am a very active person who is constantly on the move. I often participate in the following activities: playings sports, swimming, boating, hiking, camping, biking, skiings, etc. My concern here is that I will be limited to participating in some of these activities because of wearing. I've heard you can swim and do things of that nature, but I've also heard its problematic and that there is always a chance that some of these activities will produce issues. How do these things look while wet, are they more noticeable, etc? Can someone help me with these concerns?/quote] We have customers that participate in all types of sports including swimming. I'll dig up some photos of customers swimming, riding amusement park rides, etc. Of course it's all going to depend on the quality and strength of your attachment. So as a newbie you'll want to get the hang of attaching before you get into serious sports. It just takes some time. It's not rocket science. [quote]2. Scaring Alopecia? I've read in several instances that wearing pieces can further accelerate hair loss, and in some cases cause permanent scaring. I suppose my main concern here is that in the next several years there is a possibility for medical breakthroughs in respect to hair loss. I would hate to ruin the chance of growing my real hair back because i wore a piece and it gave me scaring. Can anyone provide feedback on this? /quote] I've never heard that wearing a hair piece accelerates hair loss. Don't know why this would happen. And as for permanent scarring that may be in the 'olden days' when there were some weird ways of attaching. I've heard of 'clips' being implanted in the scalp to attach the hair piece---that was back in the '70's. That is not being done today. Today the tapes and glues are much improved and it's made hair wearing easy. [quote]How short can you wear your hair? I usually have the sides and back of my hair guarded with a #2 or #3. I have very fine hair but I've been told high density. /quote] You can go VERY short. I'll find a photo of Michigan Baldie with a short military cut. And Jake too. JRob has even cut his full cap into a mohawk. There's no limit to what you can do. [quote]. Finally, I am very concerned with producing a template. I am not very artistic by nature, and this seems like something that someone could really screw up easily. I have watched the videos and still have no idea how to do this properly. I plan on doing a skype consult and hopefully this can be explained in better detail (or at least in a way that is manageable for me). /quote] You don't really need to be artistic to make a template---just precise in the area that you want the hair piece to cover. If you feel the template turned out smaller than what you want then you can always use tape to add area to the the template that you want to expand. Another option is to get a stock piece first and experiment with it. Once you get it down you can then order a custom hair piece. You're doing the right thing by scheduling a private webcam consultation with Debbie. She's a real expert and will give you great advice. Good luck and remember you've got a lot of friends on this forum! Regards, John Re: NEWBIE with several questions before purchasing - Snipe - 04-09-2010 Jball have you read through my info link sticky? There is a step by step process with pics for making a template. Don't be intimidated its easy if you follow my instructions. RE: NEWBIE with several questions before purchasing - ToplaceUSA - 04-24-2010 Timguyperson, For the benefit of the readers what did you use to attach? Thanks, John