Hey all. I'm a male, 17 years old, nearly 18. My hair has been thinning for almost 2 years now in a funny pattern. I don't know if it's baldness but it's gradually getting thinner all over. I've tried everything I can think of, I even tried Propecia and all it did was give me side effects. Shaving isn't an option because I don't like my head, it's big and I've been told it has a weird shape. This didn't matter at all when I had lots of hair to cover it up, but now that I'm faced with the prospect of losing my hair it's starting to matter a lot, which is why I'm looking into hair pieces. Some guys my age can pull off a very short hair/shaved look, but I just can't.

I feel like such a loser walking around in public with my pathetic thinning hair. I can't have it styled the way I want it anymore because it's not thick enough. I do use concealers for special occasions but they're not going to work forever.

The main reason I want a piece is to feel better about myself. Obviously I wouldn't go around telling people I was wearing it, but if a few people found out it wouldn't be the end of the world. I would just explain my situation to them. It's not like I asked to lose my hair.

I want to shave my hair off and get a full cap which looks like my old hair. I'm going to try and drag it out as long as possible before I do this, because I realize wearing a wig every day is not going to be easy. But it's the only realistic option I have, because as I said the medications don't work for me and I can't shave my head, it just won't work.

I want to get a medium length custom full cap that looks something like this:

http://i44.tinypic.com/dpai34.jpg

I'm young so I could easily get away with a dense style like that. I just want to know, how much maintenance would be involved? How often would I need to take it off? How often would I need to wash it? How hard would it be to remove it and attach it again?

I'm not too worried about the maintenance because I already worry about my hair for hours each day, so compared to that the maintenance for a hair piece is almost nothing. But I just want to know what to expect.

Wearing hair every day is actually easier than you might think. You should be able to get away with weekly attachments (after gaining a little experience anyway) and the time you spend per week on your hair will keep reducing as you get into a proper *routine*.

Keep a positive attitude and you will be fine. JRob can give you the maintenance specifics on a full cap, but for me my toplace takes up about 1.5 hour per week - which is quite good! I would imagine a fullcap would take about the same, or maybe 2hr per week.

I just have to mention here that it is very unusual for a 17 year old to be thinning all over to the extent of wanting a full cap. Most your age experience typical male pattern baldness. at 17, if you are thinning all over, it could be perfectly normal for you .......but I don't think it would hurt to get it checked out by a Dr. just to eliminate any other cause. Just to be safe.
DebbieS.

Yea, at that age I would see a doc first.

After that if you are still interested in a full cap, that style is not only doable but probably the easiest to create and maintain a realistic look. I've gotten several emails from the younger guys looking for styles that are a little longer and fuller like that and I have to say you're lucky if you are young and can get away with it cause wearing will be a breeze for you.

i agree with debbie get it check out before you even thing about wearing

Yeah dude its not difficult the doctor will probably make you go through a blood test to check for deficiencies and stuff definitely worth doing that first. I feel your pain dude lol i'm 19 myself atm and had same problems at your age. Unless its a medical problem or you can appreciate a shaved head hair piece is the way forward tbh.

Thanks for the replies. I've already been to my doctor, it was probably 9 months ago now. He sent me to a specialist, who took one look at my hair and told me I'm not going bald. Then the specialist sent me to get all those blood tests done and the results came back saying there is nothing wrong with me, yet my hair continues to thin out all over my head. It's weird. I've exhausted pretty much all the possibilities and I still don't know what's causing it, and I probably never will, so the next step is to just shave my hair off and get a full cap.

Ok, well if you've had it checked by a doctor and have even tried meds, then a hair system is the best choice for now. Who knows, maybe in a couple of years it will start growing again, and in that case you can just grow it out and see what happens.

You are lucky to be starting so young - I think the younger you are, the easier it is to adopt a new routine and just accept wearing as a part of life. And not to worry about it, and enjoy your new hair!

Hi Sean

I agree with Mr Burns. If it will make you happier about yourself, just go for it. Just ask questions here whenever you need help. All of us went through what you are going through now too. And by the fact that we all are here, you can see that most of us decided to go the hair system route.

And since you are still so young, you can get away with alot of mistakes (thickness etc) so might as well take the chance to experiment 1st.

Regards
Drog

If you have already seena doc and are ready for a piece I would go for it. you will feel like a million bucks with a full cap with that style.

I would recommend an all French lace, 70% density, bodywave, with #7 (on the darker side) or #17 (lighter side) color (or send a hair sample if you want an exact match). Get crazy and throw in some highlights. you can do whatever you want with this style.....it's more about the cut than anything. Your template doesn't even have to be extremely accurate. You could probably wear the thing backward and nobody would know.

Seriously....this would be the easiest full cap ever.