Be HONEST...are hair pieces REALLY that bad & a hassle? In other words, does it SUCK?

[kenz9]

I'm at around a Norwood III-IV and am 25. I really wouldn't mind being bald at 40-50, but not in my 20's

So with that being said, I want to take the plunge. There aren't really any 'established' places besides Farrell and Hair Club for Men --- which I heard were nightmares. Now I have a few questions and would appreciate COMPLETE honesty:

1) First and foremost, does it suck? In other words, are you CONSTANTLY thinking about it? I knew the glue/tape is supposedly very secure, but surely you've thought of it falling off, has it ever happened to you? Is it really a huge hassle?

2) What do you do, if you're like me, and you're super-active and sweat a lot. I mean if I go for a workout at the gym, does it "ruin" the piece of I sweat a lot? Can't I just shower and not have to remove, change, alter it?

3) How do you deal with your friends/roommates/SO's? Do they know, do some know, do any know? If I live with three roommates, is it inevitable they know?

4) This might be the hardest question to answer or the easier one and that is...is it worth it? Is there any advantage of a piece (besides cost) over a surgury?

5) What would you recommend a beginner do or start?

***Last question only applies to the younger guys***

6) How did you guys in your 20s (30s even) deal with it?


Thanks again guys, I really appreciate your help with and am GLAD I found people who can relate to this.

[Artista]

Im glad that you created this thread Kenz9, I cant wait to read all of the SINCERE responses that you will receive.

[Tracy C]

1) First and foremost, does it suck?

For the most part, regardless of the quality level of the prosthetic you choose, the most sucky thing is the fact that you need one. Aside from that, the better quality the prosthetic is, the less it sucks.

[drybone]

Hey guys. I will give you my story .

I am almost 47, but I can tell you my journey because I started to lose hair at 20. I was devastated. I watched all my other friends have their perfect hairline and mine was breaking up.

(I was still a NW 2 and would remain that way until today even. My hair is thinned on the top but even if you count it as bald, I am a NW 3 A with little crown thinning. )

But its still devastating nonetheless, regardless of what NW you are at whatever age.

By 23 I went to see this guy about a 'hair system' . The idea was he would blend my hair with fake hair held in by clips. If its behind the hairline its fine.

However, my whole problem was my hairline. I was fine behind it. The harshed thing of all is he STILL tried to sell it to me. For $1500 no less.

Thats a lot of dollars in 1989.

So after this guy tried to sucker me, I then decided if I could just fix my hairline, all would be well. At the time there was this guy 'Bosley' who claimed all these fantastic results.

So I duly watched the infomercial . I called them up toll free and they sent me a package in a plain white envelope so the postal guy or my landlord wouldnt be nosing in on my business. That is the only thing I can credit Bosley with.

I get the glossy color brochure, and my first thought was wondering where he got all this money to spend on fancy commercials and glossy state of the art mail.

What was more troubling was the testimonials. These were NW6 guys who now had a 'reasonable' hairline . They seemed very happy and its better than being bald on top but at 23 I wanted my 20 year old hairline back

So the Bosley guy told me that it was no problem , if I just forked over $8 per graft all would be well. He said a guy like me needed no more that 1000 grafts tops.


I had no $8000 , and even if I did, I was way too much of a cheap b#stard regardless to chance a procedure when there was no evidence that a young guy like me was going to achieve bliss.

So I told that guy where stick his grafts.

I regret not putting on the rogaine but again, it seems like it helps the crown, not the hairline which was my problem. Propecia was not released until I was 31 and by then my friends hairloss had caught up to mine and even surpassed it in many cases. So I let it go.

Now at age 46 my hair is so thin my receded hairline is now a problem so I went to a doctor in Orlando who performed the surgery for $3 per graft. I gave her $4000 which netted my 1333 grafts . Her staff did a great job.

Surgery is not the infomercials you see. Beware that is blood and guts surgery. They either rip out part of your scalp FUT or punch a thousand holes in your head FUE .

However, the procedure is no scam. It works. The quality has always been a never ending debate riddled with salesmanship as they fight over the transplant dollar. So each poster will have to attest to their surgeon.

I dont want to lose any more hair. After my surgery , I realized first hand its far easier to keep your hair , rather than transplant it from another area. So now I am on finasteride with low side effects that have turned into no side effects.

I hope my story helped.

[samdee]

I am not against hair pieces but how will you explain it to everyone that has known you their entire life. They will notice hair.

[kenz9]

I hope my story helped.

It really did.

I'd love to consider the surgery but I think my hair in general is thin and I'm not sure my donor hair will cover it well enough.

[standbyme]

Its a difficult one and dependant on many factors.

I started to lose my hair late 20's and when it hit it hit hard.

I ended up growing my hair out, then went down the concealer route. This lasted until I was well into my 30's...but got tired of the same old fashioned style.

Decided to wear a small hairline piece and mix it in with my existing hair, I still do it now approaching 40, best thing I did, barely any maintainance, cheap, gives me a more fashionable style. Heck my sister was putting a million more hair on her hair extensions than my tiny hairline piece.

But others may be different. If you have little hair it would be very hard to get away with wearing without people knowing because who goes from little hair to no hairloss overnight. There are some who dont care that people know though.

Peoples views on hair pieces tend still to be of the terrible wigs of the 70's but like most things hair pices have progressed and can be amazing.

If I was a good candidate for a HT I would have probably gone down that route, not sure though, but my choices were limited and wearing a hairline piece was by far the best option to me it just makes my life so much easier and as I mix it in with my existing hair its impossible to detect, and as I looked as if I had lots of hair before I wore no-one ever would know.

Theres pro's and con's about all hairloss treatments, HT's can are very expensive, often people need more than 1 HT, it may mean you are dependant on med's that can have serious sides, and HT's are no guarentee of a good outcome. Hair pieces can make some paranoid some can look terrible etc etc....

But like I said before it really depends on your situation, and the attitude you have.

My opinion is be open minded the choices are out there, everyone is different some will hate the idea of wearing, some will wear and not like it, and some will say wearing is the best thing they have ever done.

good luck.