Hi friends,

I’m writing this post to ask for your advice on the options I have in my present condition of hair loss. I’m quite new to the world of hair loss, actually my mother detected signs of hair thinning when I went home to Germany a couple of weeks ago. So the shock still lingers, and I am presently actually quite a bit frustrated.

As you may (or may not) see from my pictures, taken after a shower (first 2), and in dry condition (pic 3), hair is thinning at the front. The crown region is also thinning.

In the meantime I went to see a specialist, and here is his verdict:
„From our examination, you have a receding fronto-temporal hairline with mild thinning from the front towards the crown. For our estimate, you will need 1050 grafts (50%) or 840 grafts (40%) to restore the hairline. Since this is a cosmetic procedure, you can choose any number of grafts that you like. (...)

For the thinning areas, we recommend the following:
1) Finasteride 5mg, 1/4 tablet once a day
2) Minoxidil 5% lotion, 2x a day
3) Ketoconazole 2% shampoo- leave the lather for 10 minutes then wash off. Do this 2x a week.”

After some consideration, I opted against finasteride because of the negative effects associated with it. I am also not prepared for a hair transplantation. So presently I just take Minoxidil and the shampoo, as well as some coconut oil now and then. Ah, and hair fibres like Toppik to cover the crown region.

I have combed through the internet a bit and found several possibilities to cover up, or improve, thinning hair. However, I feel I can’t decide without your help. So what do you think of the following options?:

1. Natural products like argan oil, castor oil, Hair Fuel Extreme (Reborn Labs). Has anyone tried any of these, or other products, and to what effect?

2. Colouring the scalp with natural plant products, like indigo. Does that work?

3. Creating an (artificial) lower hairline with DermMatch or something else.

4. Does anyone know anything about hair extensions, or rather hair thickening? Do they work to cover up the hair line? There are so many options like flip-in, clip-in, tape-in, nano rings, micro rings, bondage etc. etc. Can you do it yourself, like buy some real human hair and tape it into the existing hair, or will that mess up everything?

5. I have heard of tape-in-quikkies to cover the temples. Any idea if that works?

I live in Bangkok, Thailand, so some options available in the US may not be available here. As I live on a Thai salary, I would also go for the DIY approach, if possible. However, I am very grateful for any constructive ideas!

Thanks a bunch
Andy

(09-17-2015, 09:23 PM)andynuup Wrote: Hi friends,

I’m writing this post to ask for your advice on the options I have in my present condition of hair loss. I’m quite new to the world of hair loss, actually my mother detected signs of hair thinning when I went home to Germany a couple of weeks ago. So the shock still lingers, and I am presently actually quite a bit frustrated.

As you may (or may not) see from my pictures, taken after a shower (first 2), and in dry condition (pic 3), hair is thinning at the front. The crown region is also thinning.

In the meantime I went to see a specialist, and here is his verdict:
„From our examination, you have a receding fronto-temporal hairline with mild thinning from the front towards the crown. For our estimate, you will need 1050 grafts (50%) or 840 grafts (40%) to restore the hairline. Since this is a cosmetic procedure, you can choose any number of grafts that you like. (...)

For the thinning areas, we recommend the following:
1) Finasteride 5mg, 1/4 tablet once a day
2) Minoxidil 5% lotion, 2x a day
3) Ketoconazole 2% shampoo- leave the lather for 10 minutes then wash off. Do this 2x a week.”

After some consideration, I opted against finasteride because of the negative effects associated with it. I am also not prepared for a hair transplantation. So presently I just take Minoxidil and the shampoo, as well as some coconut oil now and then. Ah, and hair fibres like Toppik to cover the crown region.

I have combed through the internet a bit and found several possibilities to cover up, or improve, thinning hair. However, I feel I can’t decide without your help. So what do you think of the following options?:

1. Natural products like argan oil, castor oil, Hair Fuel Extreme (Reborn Labs). Has anyone tried any of these, or other products, and to what effect?

2. Colouring the scalp with natural plant products, like indigo. Does that work?

3. Creating an (artificial) lower hairline with DermMatch or something else.

4. Does anyone know anything about hair extensions, or rather hair thickening? Do they work to cover up the hair line? There are so many options like flip-in, clip-in, tape-in, nano rings, micro rings, bondage etc. etc. Can you do it yourself, like buy some real human hair and tape it into the existing hair, or will that mess up everything?

5. I have heard of tape-in-quikkies to cover the temples. Any idea if that works?

I live in Bangkok, Thailand, so some options available in the US may not be available here. As I live on a Thai salary, I would also go for the DIY approach, if possible. However, I am very grateful for any constructive ideas!

Thanks a bunch
Andy

Hey Andy,
I dont blame you for not wanting to mess with finasteride. Im someone who has always responded well to medication, so I never thought I would have side effects from it, and I took it for a little under a year. I had very low libido and when i was ready to go, it just seemed dull and more like a chore than anything. Also, All it seemed to do was accelerate my hair loss, that I thought was an initial shed. It never grew back though. I was using Rogaine too but It eventually gave me very dark circles under the eyes. The shampoo didnt seem to do anything at all except dry out my hair. It did make it FEEL thicker, but very dry and brittle too. So I stopped using everything. Now im on toplace forums seeking help from the experts here because it looks like genes will always win over any meds we have right now, and they dont even stop it, you just have a *chance* of slowing it down.

Im looking at getting a partial piece for my hairline right now. If the hair on top of your head is still okk, then maybe you should look into the same? People on here are very helpful. If you need a HT, a piece may be a better option..

Kyle

(09-17-2015, 09:23 PM)andynuup Wrote: Hi friends,

I’m writing this post to ask for your advice on the options I have in my present condition of hair loss. I’m quite new to the world of hair loss, actually my mother detected signs of hair thinning when I went home to Germany a couple of weeks ago. So the shock still lingers, and I am presently actually quite a bit frustrated.

As you may (or may not) see from my pictures, taken after a shower (first 2), and in dry condition (pic 3), hair is thinning at the front. The crown region is also thinning.

In the meantime I went to see a specialist, and here is his verdict:
„From our examination, you have a receding fronto-temporal hairline with mild thinning from the front towards the crown. For our estimate, you will need 1050 grafts (50%) or 840 grafts (40%) to restore the hairline. Since this is a cosmetic procedure, you can choose any number of grafts that you like. (...)

For the thinning areas, we recommend the following:
1) Finasteride 5mg, 1/4 tablet once a day
2) Minoxidil 5% lotion, 2x a day
3) Ketoconazole 2% shampoo- leave the lather for 10 minutes then wash off. Do this 2x a week.”

After some consideration, I opted against finasteride because of the negative effects associated with it. I am also not prepared for a hair transplantation. So presently I just take Minoxidil and the shampoo, as well as some coconut oil now and then. Ah, and hair fibres like Toppik to cover the crown region.

I have combed through the internet a bit and found several possibilities to cover up, or improve, thinning hair. However, I feel I can’t decide without your help. So what do you think of the following options?:

1. Natural products like argan oil, castor oil, Hair Fuel Extreme (Reborn Labs). Has anyone tried any of these, or other products, and to what effect?

2. Colouring the scalp with natural plant products, like indigo. Does that work?

3. Creating an (artificial) lower hairline with DermMatch or something else.

4. Does anyone know anything about hair extensions, or rather hair thickening? Do they work to cover up the hair line? There are so many options like flip-in, clip-in, tape-in, nano rings, micro rings, bondage etc. etc. Can you do it yourself, like buy some real human hair and tape it into the existing hair, or will that mess up everything?

5. I have heard of tape-in-quikkies to cover the temples. Any idea if that works?

I live in Bangkok, Thailand, so some options available in the US may not be available here. As I live on a Thai salary, I would also go for the DIY approach, if possible. However, I am very grateful for any constructive ideas!

Thanks a bunch
Andy

Hey Andy,
I dont blame you for not wanting to mess with finasteride. Im someone who has always responded well to medication, so I never thought I would have side effects from it, and I took it for a little under a year. I had very low libido and when i was ready to go, it just seemed dull and more like a chore than anything. Also, All it seemed to do was accelerate my hair loss, that I thought was an initial shed. It never grew back though. I was using Rogaine too but It eventually gave me very dark circles under the eyes. The shampoo didnt seem to do anything at all except dry out my hair. It did make it FEEL thicker, but very dry and brittle too. So I stopped using everything. Now im on toplace forums seeking help from the experts here because it looks like genes will always win over any meds we have right now, and they dont even stop it, you just have a *chance* of slowing it down.

Im looking at getting a partial piece for my hairline right now. If the hair on top of your head is still okk, then maybe you should look into the same? People on here are very helpful. If you need a HT, a piece may be a better option..

Kyle

Hi Andy .. I can`t answer many of your questions, as I simply have no experience of many of the products you mention.
However, I think that it`s come as a shock to you that your hairloss was pointed-out to you ..... I guess none of us were
happy to be told of it, or realize it ourselves. You can certainly ` mask` your thinning hair, with such things as` concealers` / hair fibers,
but they can have limitations such as if you get caught in heavy rain ,they can ` run` ..... personally, I think hair -grafts are so expensive
and have no guarantee that they will ` take` .. you also have to consider the look of the ` donor-area` ... I hope you get some replies
from guys who have experience of some of the things you mention..... all I wanted to say is that, with the style you wear, you can get a
pretty decent system to blend in with your side /back hair, if /when you decide the time has come.... it`s not perfect....nothing is as
perfect as having all your own hair, but we`re gone beyond that point [ you`re getting there] .... wearing comes with it`s own issues and
that often involves actually psyching yourself up before making the move ...don`t rush into it....one thing that I can tell you about,
is something I`ve been having done recently [this is a ` work-in-progress` and I`ll be doing a thread on it in the coming months] is scalp-
pigmentation ....... rather than having the skin tattooed with tiny ` dots`, pigmentation involves tiny cuts to the skin, similar to a paper cut,
into which a pigment is added ..the difference is these are little ` lines` similar to short hairs, rather than [relatively] ` heavy` tattooed ` dots`.
It isn`t cheap either.
However, I think that in your case, seeing as the thinning is at the [very visible] front and temple areas, if you were to get this area pigmented,
it would probably be a waste of money, because, it`s really best suited to being done on an area where hair is re-growing, rather than disappearing-from.
At least you have the option of wearing...modern systems are pretty good and, with Toplace, reasonably-priced.
You could spend thousands on all types of ` options` from transplants to ` potions` ..... to my mind, until someone, somewhere has a Eureka moment, and
discovers a ` cure` for hairloss, wearing is about the most practical alternative to going bald....hope that helps.

Thanks, Kyle and Paul,

I really appreciate your feedback and helpful answers. I see that you spend a lot of time answering comments such as mine, Paul. I am grateful for that, especially as I do not know where to turn to. Here in Thailand, where I live, hair systems start at around 1000 USD, and doctors naturally want to sell their hair transplantations. Though maybe cheap in comparison to other countries, they are still way above my budget - and I have some doubts about HT as well. Emotionally I am not ready for this.

I suppose that I will end up buying an affordable hair system in the foreseeable future. Presently, though, I still have just enough hair as you can see from the pictures.

I would like to ask all of you how you fix thinning hair at the front and also the balding areas above the temples. This is something nearly all of us experience, I suppose, and so there must be many ingenious approaches to this problem. I thought I would find some kind of stickers with real human hair to attach to the forehead readily available everywhere throughout the internet - but no! Basically there are hair extensions for the back of the head. Are they of any use to us, or what else have you come up to cover the problematic areas (apart from concealers like Toppik etc.)?

I am really interested in your answers, mates!

Thanks a lot
Andy

Hi again Andy ... Can`t really add much more than in my earlier post... at the risk of sounding flippant [ I`m not being]--
how we ` fix` thinning at the temples / front is by wearing a system!Just to say that your options are more or less as ` is` -- i.e. wearing a system, or trying grafts/ transplants---and before you decide on which route is best for you,
you can certainly ` mask` your thinning by using concealers such as Toppik etc.
I know from women telling me, that hair extensions are quite expensive and have a set ` life` to them ..they too have to be
replaced at intervals.....one told me she paid almost 500€ for them and they had to be replaced after a 5 or 6 weeks!
The cheapest and most practical route for you, and one with no risk of side-effects such as [possibility-of]
scarring of donor-areas, as in the case of grating etc., is to wear a lace or skin system.
I`ve used concealers too ..they have their place in the early stages ,such as you are at now....at least you still have some to decide.
Wearing isn`t perfect, but the alternative is worse, in my opinion.... there are many things to consider... you have to be prepared
for such practical things as maybe a potential partner ` discovering` you`re wearing .... some people have no issue with it,
others will ....you have to wear for the ` right` reasons for `you` ...there are the practical things too, such as care/ maintenance
and replacement costs..... getting a decent cut-in and so on ... I think you get the picture ! Kind regards from Ireland !

Thanks again.

Scalp-micropigmentation is an interesting idea, but as far as I have researched, it's rather for people who like wearing a buzz cut because it resembles one. It is also quite pricey.

I wonder whether or not there are some among the 3000+ viewers of this comment who have experimented with some sort of colouring of the scalp so that the loss of hair does not shine through so much.

I was told that a combination of henna and indigo only colours hair, but not the scalp. Aren't there any other natural, and non-toxic, products which achieve the effect of colouring the scalp for an extended period of time (like a few weeks or so)?

Kind regards
Andy

Instant solutions for thinning hair is hair pieces. My father is having severe hair loss and he is wearing wigs and glued them to make it stay longer and looks real. He is not using ordinary glue ofcourse. He got them online at https://www.prohairlabs.com/ and it also has a adhesive remover and more solutions for hair problems.

I did Finasteride. Felt some of the side effects and stopped using it after doubling the recommended time for a trial period.

Minoxidil .. well I did that as well as the Helsinki formula (dating my self , [and I wasn't a cheap date]) Used it all for decades. Slowed the thinning and grew some hair along the hair line. At that time I was pleased as punch to slow it down and regain a little.

I used Toppix and dermMatch. Both worked great for what they did. I still use topic on a thin unit until a have hair added to the HP.

I have seen dermMatch used to create hairlines. It can look ok in some cases , but almost always detectable up close, and it can smear even after setting it with hairspray.

You don't know me from adam , but HONESTLY. Once I got a Hair piece.. from DAY (1 even with the learning curve) I wished I had done it 10 years earlier.

I had that HP put on for the first time and OMG.. No Sh**T, I just said hadn't I done this before, I should have never waited to do it. I wouldn't have to have undergone all the fussing , and painting(dermMatch) , and sculpting and sprinkling (toppix) to cover thin areas and hairspray to make sure my hair didn't move. The amount of time wasted and hours sacrificed to look Passable were an absolute WASTE of my life . All the worry of going out in the wind, or rain on what it would do my hair after all that time I spent making my hair look just right (passable) was a Pain in the A**.

I put on the piece, I had a full head of hair, and it and I looked Great!

I was cautious, I didn't even shave my head and wore the HP over my natural hair. Just in case I didn't like it. You couldn't even tell I had hair under the piece. You may want to consider this approach. Until they figure out how to clone hair, transplants only work long term for a select group of people.

Minoxidil never did that much of a regrowth. DermMatch and toppix are great to a point. You have enough hair to get away with them for a while depending on your hair loss. If you're looking at Toppix there other cheaper alternatives out that that for me worked just as good. HSR comes to mind. But in the end the HP is AWSOME. Full head of hair. It's yours (because you Paid for it lol ) You can even design a new hairline that is even better than the one you were born with if it suits your fancy.

Biggest problem color matching the piece with your own hair. But if you're not allergic to permanent hair coloring you can go to a professional to get that taken care of.

Ok, that's my two.five cents worth.