Hi,

I am 31 and have been really stressed by my hair loss. I have a receding hairline that is between norwood 2 and 3 I would say and diffuse thinning with a little more thinning on the crown. I know much worse things happen to people than hairloss so I am trying to be greatful and have perspective with opptomism.

I shaved my head about a month ago to try that as a solution and I did not like the way people treated me so I have been growing it back.

How long should I wait to grow it back before I make the switch? I want to make it as hard to tell as possible. Also since I am closing in on a norwood 3 should I add recession when I do the template. I honestly think I am a good looking guy even with a receding hairline but bald I just look like a cancer patient.

I am really hoping this is a good solution. Also how long does that hair sample I send in have to be and should I make the template went my hair is short?

Thanks for listening,

A hair sample should be about an inch long and the diameter of a pencil.... bear in mind that hair from the back of the head tends to be darker than at the front, so try get the majority of the hair snipped from near / towards the front, otherwise the front of the system can look too dark compared to the side [growing]hair. People who know you are probably going to ` notice` something, unless you go for a very light-density for the first system, and then ` step-up` the density on subsequent orders..... you`ll need a ` decent` length of growing hair in order to blend the system in onto it..... just leave your hair grow back to where you had it before shaving it off. Make your template now, while there is relatively little hair ` in the way` and you can see what you`re doing. Pictures of you when you had all your own hair, and as you are now, will help get a good ` match`...you can send those by e-mail to John and he`ll be able to help get your order correct.Maybe a Swiss-lace with a ` lighter` density for your first system, and you could simultaneously get a heavier density system , so you have it to hand when you are ready to change-over ----- once people have gotten used to seeing you ``with hair``, you can then change over to the ` heavier` density / ` normal` -coverage system. That will ease the transition from how you are now, to what you require.

You know, there was a time when people would recommend you not cut the hair on the system shorter than 2 inches. As time went by people have experimented and we have seen guys like gel and some others have systems cut shorter than an inch long with good results. I myself have a short hair style, and where my temple flaps are the hair sometimes is cut to about 1/4th an inch or less. So it depends really.

I have given hair samples that were quite small and thin without a problem. Sure pencil size diameter is ideal, but I don't think its completely necessary. You just need enough hair where they can match a color to it.

Are you going to be wearing a small partial or more of a standard system

Thanks for the reply. I don't know whether to get a topper and shave the hair on the top of my head off or get a partial one for my receded hairline.

Thanks again.

Well I started with a small front partial for the front hairline. I used concealers on my real hair to thicken it up and hide bald / thin spots. Have you ever tried or used concealers before? Such as toppik, prothik, dermmatch? They can work extremely well.