My hair loss!



I began losing my hair at the front in my early twenties and eventually accepted that it was inevitable and that there was nothing that could be done about it apart from clever (and expensive) haircuts which did a pretty good job of hiding the fact that I was losing my hair and that the bit at the front was getting narrower and narrower! Despite a good haircut to hide it I still felt self-conscious every time I leaned forward, which as a professional DJ I do a lot! There’s also the fact that I couldn’t dip my head under water in the pool without losing the styling product that was holding the long hair from the back subtly in place. On windy days I was extra self conscious about it, had the wind swept the covering hair from the back to the side exposing how little hair there was at the front?



Crunch time for me was when I noticed it was now falling out at the back also, which for me meant that I really was fighting a losing battle and it was time to admit defeat and shave it off. I did this spontaneously at about 3am after a gig and finished the job off with a razor and tried to resign myself to the fact that this is how I would look for the rest of my life. I’m quite a strong person so I was prepared for the comments and looks of shock as I ventured out into the 4 different venues I work in 6 nights per week. The most annoying bit was probably that people said they hadn’t noticed my hair was receding until I shaved it off!! This is only true for some though as once when I was playing some Ned shouted “DJ no fringe” at me which I have to admit was quite hurtful. Confidence is the number one thing in this field of work (though not over-confidence); to be good you have to feel confident. People are looking at you all the time, every night, sometimes hundreds!



The shaved-look wasn’t the right look for my “day job” working as a tooth whitening consultant for my other company, it just didn’t look right. I also do a bit of hospital chaplaincy (yes I know what a random mix-bag of careers!) I’d discussed hair transplants with my hairdresser before but I thought they cost something in the region of £30000 so I dismissed the idea.



I decided to re-look at it and did a search online, I looked at several websites for companies offering hair surgery, and came to realise that FUT was not the only option and that here was such a thing as FUE which to me sounded much more up my street. I recall having said multiple times to various hairdressers who knew exactly what my hairline really looked like...”If only I could move some from the back and sides to the top.” To learn that this was actually possible, more than possible, routine practice in many places felt almost like I’d imagine winning the lottery! I couldn’t think of anything, materially speaking, that I wanted more than my hair back and the choice to style my hair how I want it and not just to try to cover-up my “secret.”



I contacted the 3 main places that do it in Glasgow, one of them being the Glasgow Clinic who had an appointment available first. I spoke to Fraser over the phone and was keen to meet him after doing so. I actually had to reschedule my first appointment which was no problem to him at all; he was flexible to work around my extensive commitments. I scheduled another appointment with another clinic for a few weeks after and the third couldn’t see me for about a month. I was encouraged to learn that Fraser himself had been in the same position as me in terms of losing hair and had himself had a transplant. Despite his choice being FUT he didn’t in any way try to pressure me towards this (I have a sales background and so I’m quick to pick-up on when someone is trying to steer me down a certain avenue). His agenda was to give me full information about the options possible and took some pictures so that a surgeon could assess my needs personally and determine the number of grafts required, although Fraser said he thought this would be 2500, and he was spot-on. He did mention Finasteride & Minoxidil which I had already considered at a much earlier stage and discounted as options due to the potential side effects. After answering all my questions and also a chat about a shared interest in cars, he asked me to go and think about it and didn’t try to get any commitment from me to having the treatment done there. I did think about it, and he came back to me with a price and confirmed the number of grafts.



In the interest of being thorough, I got quotes from some other clinics for 2500 grafts FUT/FUE but after some reflection I decided to cancel the other consultations I’d arranged in favour of going with the Glasgow Clinic. In all aspects of business I’ve been involved in, I’ve always done my utmost to give personal service and establish a genuine rapport with my customers, I felt that this was what Fraser at Glasgow Clinic did for me.



The only stumbling block was funding! I love cars and had my eye set on changing my Porsche 911 turbo for a Ferrari 360, my dream car, in the very near future. I can’t think of anything I’d have put before getting a Ferrari, when I considered it I decided that I would much rather have my hair back and wait for the Ferrari however long that will now take! You may have seen the recent article in the Scottish Sun newspaper: http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/4516288/Ferrari-funds-surgery-as-car-is-axed-for-hair-op.html



I decided to make my procedure public as I hoped it might encourage others to consider their options and especially those who are very bothered by their hair loss. I was also keen for other people to know about the existence of the Glasgow Clinic, if I’d know about it sooner, and about FUE, I would probably have had this done a lot sooner.



My surgery is this month, which I’m looking forward to! I’m expecting to have a sore head for a few days and to wear a hat, but I’ll be going back to work the second day after my FUE treatment of 2500 grafts by Dr Emorane Lupanzula.



I’ll share before and after pictures and updates on here. I’d also like to thank those who have done this themselves as I had a good look around on here, particularly at a video of Lupanzula carrying out an FUE treatment and also at other peoples before and after pictures. I’d also like to thank Fraser for making it possible for this world class surgeon to make the trip to Scotland to treat me, his first FUE patient treated on Scottish soil.



Best Wishes



Scott