I’m heading to Taiwan in September (finally!!). This last month I have begun to notice and also been commented by others that I am starting to have very early signs of baldness. For now it is not very noticeable unless I pull back my hair and show exactly where it looks like it is receding, but I don’t want the situation to get any worse without at least trying.
There’s a couple of items I have already looked into but my number 1 plan when I arrive in Taiwan is to do the following two things:
See a specialist to see how severe it is.
Start using Rogain or a similar product.
I also of course thought of the idea of getting a hair transplant in Taiwan because the surgery is much cheaper than in the USA and probably the same quality, although I would like to hear from some Forumosans about that before reaching this conclusion.
I’m not sure if any of few on the forums have already gone through this experience and have tried to fight it using shampoos or other types of medication. I’m trying to also change my life style to wash my hair more often and also avoid the rain, but I’m not sure if either of those things have a positive effect on hair (such as the former) or a negative one (such as the latter). I used to always jog in the rain in Shanghai and thought that the occasional rain on my hair won’t do any damage, but now I really am starting to regret having done that.
Lastly, I know to an extent that at some certain point unless I get a hair transplant I will need to accept the baldness. I am willing to accept it, but I really want to preserve my hair as long as I can before it falls out naturally. Any tips or appreciation would be great.
I also read through this that was posted a few years back:
I think, besides surgery, there is nothing you can do to prevent baldness. It’s just in your DNA. Some lose a lot, some lose a little. There are a million products out there that ‘claim’ wonders, but few actually show results. Rogain is a form of a steroid for your hair, pretty heavy stuff. I myself have had an island being formed at the top of my hair since I was thirty, but then the men in my family are all the same. Most guys I know that are losing their hair change their hairstyle to accommodate the change up top. You can just hope that you don’t lose too much-and keep your scalp clean!
**Also, women are a major source of male pattern baldness, scientifically proven. Go ahead, google it! When having a fight, just walk away, no matter how irrational they seem, just walk away. It will be better for your scalp in the end.
Rogaine works. Not perfectly, but it will help until something better comes along.
There were some news articles recently about severe, permanent side-effects with Propecia. In a small number of patients, it basically shuts down their sex drive completely and permanently.
I don’t think things like washing your hair or not going out in the rain make any difference. It’s hereditary, as another poster said.
If you’re worried about your attractiveness, in my experience women (the ones who aren’t silly and shallow, anyway) are more put off by a man’s insecurity about baldness than the baldness itself.
yeah I think the whole receding thing is a good look anyway. manly. women love that shit. if you look aafter your physical well-being, etc, men look better as they get older. You think Jason Statham has any problems?
the fear of baldness and the remedies thing is weird - only men care.
I have a weird problem when it comes to hair loss, and its not really obvious.
The hair at the front of my hair is thin, thin enough that scalp is visible and the hair there would not grow longer than 3 inches for whatever reason. There just isn’t that classic sign of male pattern baldness and I have no idea what that is. Strangely information on hair loss is very hard to come by, google offers absolutely no help at all. Most of the information basically revolves around Minoxidil and Procepia.
The hard part is that there are very few treatment options available and no one seems to be finding anymore options (mostly because whoever makes Rogaine makes a crapload of money on minoxidil?).
No matter how many products you see at the shelves of Carrefour, Watsons, or any other super market, it’s all based on Minoxidil, says so right on the box. And other than Procepia (which has to be prescribed by a doctor) which also costs another arm and a leg and a kidney, these products must be used continuously in order to have any effect and for the effect to last. The minute you stop using either of these drugs the hair you regrew or didn’t lose will lose itself immediately. In fact according to various sources (you can google them), scientists have no idea why they work, just that those medications were initially developed as blood pressure medications and had hair growth as a side effect. You would think given the number of men (and woman) who have this problem, there would be more research on hair loss, but so far, probably for the last 50 years, there have been absolutely zero advances in this area.
Your only other option is hair transplants but even that is not 100% and its expensive too.
I personally think the best solution is just let it look the way its meant to look, not like there’s much you can do about it because it’s all genetics. I mean we all hope we have the body of some guy on a magazine but its pointless to want to change ourselves just because that’s what society thinks look good. I let all my other hairs grow long while the front hair won’t grow more than 3 inches, not much I can do about it but it’s who I am…
[quote=“Taiwan Luthiers”]I have a weird problem when it comes to hair loss, and its not really obvious.
The hair at the front of my hair is thin, thin enough that scalp is visible and the hair there would not grow longer than 3 inches for whatever reason. There just isn’t that classic sign of male pattern baldness and I have no idea what that is. Strangely information on hair loss is very hard to come by, google offers absolutely no help at all. Most of the information basically revolves around Minoxidil and Procepia.[/quote]
This is known as diffuse thinning; maybe mpb expressing itself in an unusual way, or could just be stress.
[quote=“Taiwan Luthiers”]
The hard part is that there are very few treatment options available and no one seems to be finding anymore options (mostly because whoever makes Rogaine makes a crapload of money on minoxidil?).
No matter how many products you see at the shelves of Carrefour, Watsons, or any other super market, it’s all based on Minoxidil, says so right on the box. And other than Procepia (which has to be prescribed by a doctor) which also costs another arm and a leg and a kidney, these products must be used continuously in order to have any effect and for the effect to last. The minute you stop using either of these drugs the hair you regrew or didn’t lose will lose itself immediately. In fact according to various sources (you can google them), scientists have no idea why they work, just that those medications were initially developed as blood pressure medications and had hair growth as a side effect. You would think given the number of men (and woman) who have this problem, there would be more research on hair loss, but so far, probably for the last 50 years, there have been absolutely zero advances in this area.[/quote]
There is another option; ketaconozole. Shown in studies to be as effective as minoxidil and none of the side effects. You can buy a cheap generic version at Carrefoure; see my post in this thread; forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … 0#p1420547
After having hair down to my shoulders in my teenage years, I started to go bald at 17 (last year of high school). Took Propecia at the beginning but it lowers the sex drive (not something you want in late teens/early 20s).
Hair loss has progressed slowly since then. My advice–cut it short. Once you need a combover–it is time to have the “shaved look.”
Think this is bad for men, be glad you are not a woman. It is interesting how little was known until recently about hair loss, one of the reasons, that like cancer what superficially looks like the same syndrome has many different causes and genetic factors involved. It is interesting that minoxidils effect was discovered as side a effect of a drug trial to treat other diseases. The stem cell or cloning route will probably be the only real solution as mentioned earlier.
Autoimmune disease and hormone changes can cause thinning of hair, that is quite different than your regular male balding.
