My 10 Year Journey with Male Pattern Baldness

by B
(Los Angeles, CA, USA)

It’s really a sad story for me really as I have been facing with Male Pattern Baldness for more than 10 years now. Turning 30 this year, I would just love to share my experiences about how this condition has affected me all these years.

I know many people suffer from some levels of Male Pattern Baldness and balding men are quite acceptable in today’s society. However, most balding men that I know are well over their 40s and I am just over 20! Moreover, balding to me seems such a big issue to live with because up till now I cannot accept myself being without hair and it’s a tormenting issue that bothered me on a daily basis.

One of the largest psychological impacts of MPB is sociophobia. I was really shy and lack of self confidence during college when my head started to thin rapidly. Picnics, parties and day outings were No-Nos for me because I was afraid of the frequent comments and stares from my friends and the opposite sex. Therefore, I spent most of the daytime to classes and necessary appointments only. The only time I ever ventured out the house was during the nights where my hair loss would appear less obvious.

As years passed by, my hair was getting thinner and thinner by the day and normally I spent almost an hour a day trying combovers to conceal the front and top balding areas. Imagine that frustration of trying standing in front of the mirror every single day! Every time when I stared myself at the mirrored made me felt hopeless and agitated about my condition. Eventually, I became ever more conscious about my hair and every stare and comments created a sudden paranoia in me. It was then I decided I need to do something about it.

Since then, I was trying to find numerous ways to cure my hair loss problems. Being a naive person back then, I always thought that reversing Male Pattern Baldness was easy and all that you will need is to buy a tonic and use the right shampoo. Oh boy, I can never be more wrong than that. I tried an endless list of shampoos, hair growth tonics, and even dabbed alcohol on my scalp hoping that it will in any logical way help the hairs to sprout. I even tried coconut oils, drinking a concoction of herbal preparations and other health supplements with no success.

After failing to grow hair with these methods, I’ve decided to get a little more serious about treating my hair. Being an optimist, I seeked a hair specialist centre with the confidence that they will surely fix my hair this time. They are pros anyway or so I thought. I made an appointment with a trichologist who inspected my hair with a magnification apparatus and told me that my hair was too oily and my unhealthy lifestyle was the causes of my hair loss.

She offered me a 25 ‘hair stimulating’ treatments weekly that said that following the plan strictly will invigorate and revive my damaged hair follicles. Pretty much convinced by these so called ‘professionals’ and due to the desperation on my side, I signed the package worth USD 2500 for the sessions including some smell-obtrusive shampoos, tonics, and alcohol based treatments. (Familiar isn’t it?) They even threw in a free hair steaming session after every treatment. Not bad for the money invested.

Just right after 15 sessions of high profile treatments and 15 weeks later, I noticed no difference to my hairlines at all besides my hair carrying the stench like some cough syrup on my head. I had another appointment with the trichologist and she said that I needed another 25 sessions because my condition was rather serious and if I didn’t continue, all the previous treatments would be wasted.

So I said to her, "Another 2500k?"


"No!" she said and added "We are giving you a 20% discount since you are already our customer."

Was I grateful? Definitely!! But not I realize I was just a fool for even believing her in the first place. I saw what was going on but yet, due to my extreme desperation of wanting to get my hair back, I decided to give it another try since I was out of options.

After 6 months of more shampooing, steaming and hair treatments, the only thing that grew exponentially was probably my impatience. Being pretty much broke for all the money thrown deep into the ocean, I gave up my pursue for a cure and just continued to hide my hair loss which was getting more and more prominent at the top and front area. I used to part my hair by the sides from left and then changed it to the right to cover the other area when the parting was widening. By then, I was doing the classic ‘combovers’ most old men do to conceal the balding areas. By doing so, it had bought me a little time before reality strikes again.

By the age of 25, my hair was really thin and no matter how I combed it, I couldn’t manage to cover the balding areas effectively. It was a total psychological disaster for me. People often commented on how I looked 10 years my age! I was thought of shaving my hair of as it seems as a simplest solution to my hair problems but the problem is, my head has a very round shape, and I do not want to be related to a bowling ball!

Still trying to accept my fate as a young balding guy, my hairdresser who is also my close friend told me about Propecia and Minoxidil and said many of his male clients showed improved hair density. Being sceptical and resistant to any further hair loss treatments, he finally persuaded me to give these treatments a final chance. I went to my doctor for a prescription of Propecia and bought Rogaine over my local pharmacy and used it for 6 months. Together with some B vitamin supplements and iron supplements prescribed by my GP I followed the regimen strictly and then something impossible happened! My hair actually got thicker and then I started to notice thicker hair follicles at the balding areas.

It’s definitely a ray of hope for me. Since then I have been using Propecia and Minoxidil until today and I managed to grow back around 40% of the hairs that I lost. Although not a total recovery, it is something that actually works. Together with a hair loss concealer called Toppik that I discovered online, my life have totally changed and I am a very different person today. People stopped staring and friends commended on my recovery. I am definitely more confident now and I am no longer afraid to socialize day or night.

Today, I no longer use Toppik for concealing my hair loss as I have recovered a good amount of hair. Although not totally covered, I am very happy with the results. For the past year I have no noticed any more evidential hair growth but my hair is no longer thinning. I am still on Propecia and Minoxidil with B supplements and I guess I will have to continue taking them as long as I wanted to keep the remaining hairs (I guess that’s how the pharmaceuticals keep you forever at their mercy!) but it’s something worth doing as I am still young. One day, maybe when I am 50 plus or so, I will probably go off it as by then most people I know most probably be balding too! Thank you for your time reading my hair loss story!

From,

B