Hello folks - another newbie here with newbie questions. I've been considering a hairpiece for 3 years now & I still can't make a decision. Here's my story:

I started losing hair 10 years ago, at age 20. My hairloss has been stable since starting Propecia 8 years ago. I still have quite a lot of hair, but the loss is in a Norwood 5 diffuse pattern. With enough concealer it looks close to a full head of hair - albeit a whispy, lifeless head of hair that can only be styled one very lousy way and can't deal with wind, rain or sweat.

The obvious choice would be to try a piece and if I don't like it, shave my head & wait for it to grow back out. But I have an aggressive hair transplant at the hairline and if my hair is less than 3 inches long, there's a visible gap between my transplanted and real hair. So if I shave the top of my head & decide I don't like wearing, I have to spend 3 months parading around a very obvious transplant.

In short, I'm in two minds as to whether to try one of these things. If anyone can offer answers to the following I'd be really appreciative:

#1.) Is there any way to try a hairpiece without shaving my existing hair? In hairpiece terms, my remaining natural hair is about 35% density, about 3 inches in length.

#2.) Anyone have any idea on how badly a hairpiece effects existing hair? I'm going to Morocco for 8 weeks in October and I'm tempted to try one then…but I'm concerned that if I decide against it, my existing hair will be damaged/further receded.

#3.) My other option is a second FUE transplant, but because I have a diffuse loss pattern I don't think I'd get the results I want. Furthermore, I'm worried that if I thin out my donor area with FUE it'll make for a worse look with a hairpiece down the track. So, how much better does a topper look if your natural side hair is thicker?

#4.) I know there are a lot of different opinions on this, but how much could I expect to get away with before others noticed I was wearing a piece? I'm guessing girlfriends are going to figure it out(?). How about workmates I work with under fluoro lights 8 hours/day? Seeing as I have a fair bit of existing hair (and they only ever see it with concealers), what are my chances of going unspotted?


Many thanks - I've really appreciated browsing through this forum; it's helped me a lot. Any suggested sincerely appreciated.