College Student in Need of Your Advice

[Tazz]

Hey everyone, I hope you could help me with something...

I've been experiencing hair loss for a couple of years, I would say I'm about a Type III according to this Norwood Scale (except slightly more hair)

http://www.americanhairloss.org/men_hair_loss/the_norwood_scale.asp

Now I've done propecia, rogaine, etc and it hasn't worked, so I'm left with other hair restoration options. Since I do not want to opt for surgery I wanted to know this:

Is it possible to get some sort of "piece" that could be ingrained into my current hairline and not be noticeable? And if so, what would this piece be called?

Also might be important to mention that I do style my hair in a manner similar to someone like William Shatner (who is known to wear a piece):


...except I'm not completely bald and was wondering if this was possible.

Thank you so much for your help

[Winston]

A lot of young folk have trouble committing to what it takes to use a hair piece. You can purchase partial hair systems that can be replaced every few weeks or months, depending on how you treat them. I’ve heard Spencer Kobren recommend http://coolpiece.com/ on many occasions and I see that it has the AHLA logo on the site. Kobren talks about how some people try them but it takes a lot of time to learn how to apply them and learn to make them look 100% natural. It can be done and once you get how it works it probably becomes much easier to deal with. I’d be curious to see how you look if you try it so if you can post some pictures. I think if you buy online it’s not expensive.

[Tazz]

Do you think they look noticeable? I'm having trouble finding pictures of people with partial systems on

How much would it cost to get and maintain?

[Winston]

I’m not really an expert on hair pieces, but like I said, Spencer Kobren has said good things about them on many of his shows, so I’m guessing they are a very good company. You can probably email them and ask about your specific needs.

[Layercake]

idk dude. In my opinion wearing a hair piece shouldn't even be an option. don't bother

Hair-loss depresses me.... but the sort of sad desperation that are wigs and hair pieces take that depression to a whole new level.

Cause lets be honest ...it's a hat, a silly, hairy hat. Plus I can't even imagine the embarrassment of being in a situation where its gets pulled/blown off..... or rather I can imagine, and the thought alone makes me just want to die.

In addition ,I would rather die than tell a girl who I'm interested in and that I've been macking on/dating whatever .....that I'm wearing a piece. I just can't see that conversation going over well, I feel like words such as 'oh my god', 'tricked' and 'deceived' would be used, followed by 'good bye' and 'don't call me'. At least when your clearly balding you know who's shallow and cares and who's not.

There are just too many negatives just to look good at a distance when the wind isn't blowing and you aren't swimming/being physically active or really living life in the ways you want to.

I mean I wouldn't cut off my legs to make my hair stop falling out, I want to be active and live my life. You need to consider the sacrifices.

Lastly, its super expensive.

Sorry for the essay, but seriously forget the piece, desperate times don't always call for desperate measures.

[Tazz]

I know what you're saying bro, and initially I said to myself the same thing, so as my hair kept receding I just said c'est la vie.

What changed my mind is meeting one of my uncle's friends, I talked to him for about 30 minutes and my uncle jokingly told him how I'm terrified of losing my hair, so then he revealed to me that he was wearing a piece himself (and it looked terrific), I suppose he didn't care about telling anybody because most knew, since he went from a 6 on the Norwood scale to a head full of hair.

But if he didn't tell me, I wouldn't have known, and I don't think it easily flies off, he even told me he swam in it.

So that's what led me here, I'm not sure if a similar piece could be done to someone in a somewhat early stage of receding

[Fixed by 35]

I've been doing a bit of research into this myself. The first thing I would say is that I would not wear a piece to attract women, that's a definite no no. However, I am in a stable relationship with someone who understands that it's okay to want to look good to get on in life.

Anyone who says ugly people are as successful in their careers as people with an excellent appearance are idiots - when you look at any board room it becomes obvious that is not the case (most have a single token bald guy, who is probably far better than everyone else on the board at what he does). Therefore, I am thinking of wearing one in the interests of pursuing my career (I should point out that I'm planning to emigrate at the end of the year).

Now, there are some important considerations. First of all, will it fall off? Well, no, not with the glue they used these days. They use the same glue they use to attach prothetic limbs. Will it look real? Yes, it's human hair threaded through an untraceable lace 'cap.'

Another interesting point to make is that baldness is far more common statistically than it is on the street. I do wonder whether bald men are discriminated against because of the disdain bald men who cover up have for those who choose to be a skin head these days!

If the shaved head is not for you, don't immediately dismiss having a hair piece. It still looks better than 99.9% of shaved heads.

[geminidb8]

I wore a wig for 14 years to cover up my horrible scarring due to bad hair transplants before I underwent corrective surgery. They are a pain in the -SS! They can look natural but forget about being active. The main problem is it feels like a giant band-aid on your head. When you swim or work out you must go in a private place ( home) and reglue everything unless you can get used to that awful wet underneath feeling. You never feel free from it. That said it can look good after a long time styling it. I was always paranoid about it though. Try everything else first.

[Captain]

I wore a piece for about 4 years when I was 20-24. I’m now almost 45 and I still have occasional bad dreams about it. I wish it was more commonplace to just shave your head back in the early 90’s cuz i would’ve done that, skipped all the transplants, and I’d be much happier now. My advice is to ride it out as long as you can like you are, then just buzz it down. Wearing a piece is awful. I hated every minute of it.

[donaldspangler2019]

Hair-loss depresses me.... but the sort of sad desperation that are wigs and hair pieces take that depression to a whole new level.

Cause lets be honest ...it's a hat, a silly, hairy hat. Plus I can't even imagine the embarrassment of being in a situation where its gets pulled/blown off..... or rather I can imagine, and the thought alone makes me just want to die.

In addition ,I would rather die than tell a girl who I'm interested in and that I've been macking on/dating whatever .....that I'm wearing a piece. I just can't see that conversation going essaytyper over well, I feel like words such as 'oh my god', 'tricked' and 'deceived' would be used, followed by 'good bye' and 'don't call me'. At least when your clearly balding you know who's shallow and cares and who's not.

Everything you've told is so true. It's hard to accept the way without piece but once you did you'll feel comfortable and confident.