hairpice

[arpma]

i'm going to get a hairpice. For that i have to

shave my existing hairs. I have to change it every

4 weeks. Now my question i'm very scared that

my existing hairs on top get destroyed from wearing the hairpice for many years. sorry about

my englisch i'm from switzerland.

[arpma]

i'm going to get a hairpice. For that i have to

shave my existing hairs. I have to change it every

4 weeks. Now my question i'm very scared that

my existing hairs on top get destroyed from wearing the hairpice for many years. sorry about

my englisch i'm from switzerland.

[Dr. Michael Beehner]

Dear ARPMA, If you are going to be committed to wearing a hairpiece for a great many years, then I think the "glue on" method is the best for not harming the surrounding hairs where the hairpiece attaches. You will go in to your salon/dealer every 4-7 weeks and have a "horse-shoe" area of the hair-bearing scalp shaved down to the skin and then the hairpiece is glued onto that area. The only place this does not occur is across the front, where you will have two-way tape, which can be easily lifted up for cleaning, etc. Almost all of the other methods - clips, weaves, etc. - involve a tying on to existing hairs, which has the potential to create a chronic or intermittent "traction" or pulling on the hair, which in time can lead to small circular patches of permanently lost hair. There are some old barbaric methods of attaching hairpieces, such as "tunnels" of flesh which are surgically created and then the hairpiece "snaps on" to the tunnel, and also the infamous thick fishing line that was sewn in and out in a circle around the whole scalp and then the hairpiece was "permanently" attached to this. These patients often had pus oozing out of the holes where this thick nylon thread went through. Thank God most of these are history.

When someone makes a transition from a hairpiece to a transplant, most of us insist that they switch to a "clips" mechanism of attachment, so that they can take it off every day when they get home from work and wear the hairpiece the least possible while the transplants are growing in. They often have to do this for 8 months to 2 years, depending on when they have the courage and sufficient amount of new hair to "go bare." Even in these cases, it is important for the locations of the clips to be moved around, so that they are not always pulling on the same clump of hairs during that entire time. If used in this manner, the clips work just fine. I hope that sheds a little light on your question.

Mike Beehner, M.D.

Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

[Guest]

Hi,

 

I have been wearing a hairpiece for 6 years and it was the worst thing I ever did! At first it was the whole from front to back but then I went and had to hair transplant surgeries in the front so the piece got smaller and I moved it to the back.

I just went 3 weeks ago to finish the anterior area and in 6 months the crown.

Though I know my coverage will not be thick it will still be better than wearing the terrible hairpiece!

If you can't afford the grafts, shave your head and keep your dignity.

It is very hard to conceal even the very best hairpiece and it seriously hinders your activities like swimming...ect..

I can't wait for the next year until the grafts grow in and even though my hair will be thin its me!!

Recionsider your decision before getting the piece.

[MarkV]

I've been wearing a piece on the crown of my head for about 8 years. I use the glue method, going in to the clinic every 3 weeks.

 

I agree with the dr's post with respect to not really damaging the hair that surrounds the piece. However, the scalp which lies directly underneath the piece has become slick bald. I am pretty sure that I would have SOME hair in this area had I not been wearing a piece for so long. In other words, I suspect that I would have a thin veil of miniaturized hair over the area -- for whatever that is worth. Furthermore, every year or so, I get fitted for a new piece. They lay clear plastic wrap over my head and trace the hair line. I suspect that they size the piece so that it overlaps maybe 1/2 cm of where there is some hair; which, as mentioned, probably causes or accelerates the loss of this hair.

 

FYI, I am considering a HT to replace my depleted hairline and continuing to wear a piece behind (a combination approach). In the alternative, I have not ruled out getting a HT over my whole Class 6 head. I would love to get rid of the piece, but I have a hard time believing that I can achieve satisfatory density to cover the whole head. In reality, it seems that there is no way that I will have enough donor hair to be able to cover my crown. Therefore, in a best case scenario, I will be left in the same situation that I was in 8 years ago, when I elected to get a piece to cover the bald spot on my crown. 8 years ago, I had a good head of hair everywhere else. BUMMER!

 

For whatever its worth, I would not wear a piece if the front seam were not concealed by a natural or transplanted hairline. It's just way too detectable in my opinion. And in U.S. society, hairpieces are the subject of severe ridicule. I would rather go around bald -- and I look terrible bald. Just my opinion.

 

I hope this helps. Good luck.

 

[This message was edited by MarkV on December 10, 2002 at 11:07 AM.]

[NW]

Arpma,

 

I saw your earlier photo and responded via this posting site, briefly w/you. I would get a 2nd Dr's opinion on your previous HT work. Respectfully speaking, you probably rec'd a small amount of mini-grafts and did not get the reults you wanted. 400-600 mini-grafts just does not have the effects of say 1,500-2,000 Fu's.

 

I know money can be an issue, but if you can, I would see someone like a Dr. Bernstien who has a very high percentage of HT correction patients, Your hair looks very easily fixable by a quality HT Doc.

 

Good Luck

NW

[Guest]

What I suggest you do when you get fitted again is have them make the piece size just to the edge of your recession that way no more hair can be damaged, my piece is slightly smaller than my recession so it doesn't sit on the hair.

I agree with your comments that we lose more hair!

switch to clips and takle it off at night.

I started this after my last HT 1 month ago and will never go back to the messy glue.

Get clips and than a tape which doesn't dissolve into mush and place a few strips on the piece for better hold.

How much donor hair doyou have for a transplant?

[MarkV]

I don't know the specific no. of donor FUs. I have never had an HT. I am pretty thick in back. My "stylist" at the hair clinic has expressed surprise a couple times at how fast it grows and how thick it is. An MHR consultant checked the "excellent" box as to my donor density, for whatever that is worth. Bernstein concluded that I have 2.1 FUs per sq. mm. I think I read where 2.3 is average.

 

Thanks for your suggestions relating to attaching the piece. However, I don't want to fuss with taking it on and off every day. I go to the clinic every 3 weeks for a haircut and a switch of pieces. The thing is glued on so tight that I couldn't take it off even if I wanted to. The clinic pours some type of solvant to loosen the glue so that it can be removed. Therefore, I can bathe, swim and get caught in a hurricane without any worry of it coming off. It does loosen a bit after about 2 weeks so that I can slip my fingertips under the edges of the piece and sometimes it might shift a bit toward the back (e.g., 1/4 inch) which requires me to slowly and firmly ease it forward a bit so that it abutts the hair I have in front. As it loosens, the cosmetic effect worsens. When it is first put on, it is as tight as a drum and is virtually undetectable (I think). I can't imagine that this could be achieved with snaps, tape or any other method. I believe the looser the fit, the more detectable my deception becomes.

 

I don't understand your comment about the glue being messy. The stylist just applies it with a paintbrush to both my scalp and the piece. She attaches the front and then pulls it taught toward the back and lays it down. I wonder whether you would have been less adverse about wearing yours if you had attached it with the same stuff and the same manner. Sounds like its a moot point now. Don't get me wrong, I would love to rid myself of it. But it would take at least 2 procedures and very possibly more. Thus, the final result would be 3 or 4 years away. Furthermore, without wearing a piece, I would be left with a bald or balding crown, which is where I was when I first got the piece 8 years ago.

 

Thanks and best regards.

 

[This message was edited by MarkV on December 14, 2002 at 11:21 AM.]

[arpma]

Thanks a lot for all advises. I still think

if i should do it or not i have seen three people

wearing this pice and it looked very good. I'm

still worried about my existing hairs on top that

they could destroyed from wearing the pice