Considering a system - need advice

[ActionPlan]

Hi,

 

My first post in this forum, though I have read it prior to making this account for many years.

 

A little bit about me first: I am 24, based in Washington DC, and started losing my hair at about 15, had to buzz my hair down to an inch starting at 17, and progressively been taking it down shorter and shorter, which I don't really mind this look, it suits me very well, except now I am pretty much completely bald on top, no hairline, no hair on the crown. So being 24 with this degree of hair loss has turned me into the guy with the baseball cap.

 

I have been doing a lot of research (a lot of it from reading this forum, but also contacting HT docs), and have ultimately concluded that I will end up spending tens of thousands of dollars, if not more, on an HT and still not get a result I am satisfied with. My mentality is that if I do an HT and it does not look completely dense and real, then I'm not any better off for it. Most doctors I've consulted with tell me that my expectations of full density are not realistic, and the few that have told me it's possible want to charge me an arm and a leg, which is not a realistic financial possibility for me.

 

So I see that systems look great nowadays. What opened me up to systems in the first place is a video on Youtube of a studio in Toronto, Canada --- New Roots Studios. I saw their videos for the first time almost 2 years ago, but I have not yet gone up there to have myself fitted, although I have contacted them with my interest and I have had it in the back of my mind for a while.

 

Now what's held me back is irrelevant at this point because I am ready to make the jump soon. But the more I read this forum, I am realizing that New Roots in Toronto is not the only place offering such high quality systems. They seem to be available everywhere yet I can't find anything in DC. Going all the way to Toronto to get fitted, and then returning 8 weeks later to get my cut-in, and then redoing this every 2-4 months is not realistic. Does anybody know of a salon/studio in the Washington DC - Northern Virginia - Maryland area that can give me a comparable product/service?

 

Or what I can do is goto Toronto, get my measurements and all that, and have them mail me a system to my home in DC every 3 months, and have a salon down here take care of the cleaning and maintenance of it. But I don't know how to find these salons.

 

And a question: I am reading about these systems and there are guys talking about working out in them. I am very active and I goto the gym 5 times a week regularly, I jog about 20-25 miles a week, and I weight lift. I'm reading on here that the sweat from my scalp can get through the adhesive and through the lace into the hair so that it doesn't ruin the bonding? But also I've been told that after every work out, I will have to remove the system and deep-clean it. This sounds like a huge inconvenience to me. If I could just step into the shower like with normal hair and be done with it, this would be very nice.

 

So what do you guys know?

 

Best regards,

ActionPlan

[Shampoo]

ActionPlan...I tried a system about 15 years ago at Hair Club For Men. It looked great. You certainly can achieve excellent density using a hair system that would normally not be possible with transplants. I would not worry about working out or sweat. If it is a high quality system it will stay in place.

 

I am not an expert in hair systems, but my experience left me with the opinion that I would want to use a one stop shop company like Hair Club that provides the system, as well as cuts your hair, and maintains the system on a regular basis. I like the one stop shop that someone like Hair Club provides because I think it helps provide an un-noticeable result...which is what you want. You don't want the uncomfortable stares of "ummm is that guy wearing a rug?".

 

Wearing a hair system is a bit dicey and I would not want to save a few dollars here or there and possibly jeopardize the factor of being "noticed". If I was to wear a hair system again I would want to go with the absolute best because being "noticed" would not be cool at all. I was very impressed with the skill level of the hairdressers that did my haircuts and maintained my system at Hair Club For Men.

 

Although my system looked really good, I just could never get used to the fact that it "wasn't me". I will say that if hair transplants did not work for me, I would certainly return to Hair Club before I went with the "shave it all off look".

[joe23]

hey action plan,

 

i read your post and i want to tell you don't do it. stay away from wearing a hair system. if i could go back 10 years i would of just shaved my head and be done with it. Here are some things i will share with you why you shouldn't do this.

 

1 the system needs maintenance every 3 weeks or so. the hair color also fades after a while

when this happens you need to have it colored.

2 intimacy with a female you need to be prepared on how you tell your girlfriend that your wearing a system because she is gonna ask why is your hair always the same style and the same length.

3 if your active like i am and sweat a lot the adhesive holding your system to your scalp heats up and then begins to come loose.

[jackisback1]

ActionPlan, my man:

 

Try out the hairpiece. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LOSE? Actually, if you haven't shaved the dome completely, I'd recommend that first, but I want you to try the piece for selfish reasons. I'm 6 months post-op for a hairline procedure and while the hair looks OK, it is continuing to thin behind the transplanted area. I'd love to hear a report on your New Roots experience. Please let me know where else you've seen high quality systems, because the videos I've seen of Joe on New Roots are the best I've seen anywhere.

 

In response to Shampoo's point: even after $13,000 and 6 months I *still* have to pour concealer in my hair and style it just right so it looks good front on (could look like shit from the top for all I know). And then I *still* always have to worry if my hair looks OK of if it looks stupid. If I had a HQ piece like the one ActionPlan references it would probably look totally stupid a lot less often than my real hair does or has for the past 5 years, so worrying about how people are looking at it is nothing new. And, it would probably look awesome a lot more often than my current hair does. I was too scared to take the plunge, though....didn't want to be a 26 year old with a hairpiece. And I am VERY concerned about how realistic it is to maintain the thing while working out. If I had to just work out with a hat or bald and not wear the piece I'd be cool with that, but the daily application...it has to be able to look real within a reasonable amount of time (not 30 min/day).

 

It comes down to this? Do you want to occasionally have to wonder if someone's examining it and occasionally having to fix in the bathroom and being a little embarrassed? Or do you want to always know how it looks and know that the way it looks is not acceptable to you? Again, if you can rock it bald then go for it, I'm just saying if you're in my boat and don't feel you pull it off well.

[laxshman]

anybody who can advise me which is the best place to get hair system in india...