Bill - Managing Publisher's Hair Loss Story

Hello everyone,

Most of you know me from the forums already, but I thought I'd take the time to create my own hair web log

I started losing my hair around the age of 21 and 22. I was in denial at first - like most people are. I saw what looked like some thinning in my crown - this was the first area to go.

I started my first treatment of Rogaine 5% when I was about 23 years old after talking with my father who had success with it. It seemed to work a bit for awhile, but I became lazy.

I foolishly thought if I stopped taking it I would keep the existing hair I regrew. Well, let me tell you that this is not true...not only do I know this now from experience, but the disclaimer even states this.

So I tried Rogaine 5% again a year or so later after my condition worsened - and it only made my scalp itch. So I tried the 2% generic version of minoxodil (the active ingredient in Rogaine) which didn't irritate my scalp, but it didn't appear to be working either.

So I tried a number of supposed "cures". Notice the quotes around the word cure. Let me tell all you readers now that there is NO cure for hair loss - don't let anyone deceive you. I've tried ridiculous products like Folliguard (anyone remember this?), Nism, Reviogen, and a few others. None of them did anything but make my head sticky as I continued to lose more hair.

I lost a lot of hair between the time I was married (age 25) to age 27. Looking back on pictures made me very depressed and miserable. Even though my wife still said she found me attractive, I just felt unattractive and my confidence was impacted.

Let me tell you that hair loss affects people differently. I would say that most if not all people don't like it, but some let it impact them more than others. I know some people who don't seem to be that bothered by it, and I know others who are extremely affected. My sympathy and empathy is strong for those who are extremely affected by it - especially to the point where their social life suffers from their own withdraw.

Whereas I believe that there is MUCH more to life than hair, I admit that my confidence was moderately affected. I wore a hat just about everywhere. The funny thing is, that I could pull this off very well - because all through high school I wore a hat because it was the cool thing to do (no - wearing a hat does not cause hair loss - this is a hair loss myth - along with many others. You'll find many posting by me and my peers on the forums about this and other subjects).

This is where my surgical research and treatments began.

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