My experience at a hairloss clinic!

I have been contemplating the big chop for a while, and my thin edges/hairline was one of the factors holding me back, as I always thought it would make those "bald" patches even more obvious.

Last week my impatience got the better of me and decided I would go and visit a specialist to see if I could grow my edges back faster. So, I called a place I had been told about before - I was given an appointment for October!!! October! Really? I just couldn't believe that they could be so busy! Anyway, I asked the lady if she could put me on the waiting list, should anyone decide to cancel, and because I work in the area, I was willing to nip out of work should the need arise. The consultation was 2 hours long - yes! I said 2 hours!

A couple of days later, I was called because someone had cancelled and so I went through...

On consultation with the doctor,I was asked a series of questions, the one that stood out the most was whether anyone else in the family had a similar balding pattern. I was quick to point out that I think I had lost the hair to braiding. His question back to me was why is that other people can have different braid styles, one after the other, and yet still do not lose their hairline? I wasn't expecting that question, and I had never thought of that before. His theory was that some people are more prone balding due to genetics than others. He said that the body naturally "balds out" as we grow older, some earlier and faster than others - some more noticeable others not. He also said that if one looked very closely at a bald head, you would find that there are very fine vellous hairs, meaning the hair follicle was still very much alive, but had shrunk and weakened to the point that it would not be able to produce thick hair like it used to before.

From my understanding - he said that the basis of his treatment was in the ability to block the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) which is responsible for baldness in both men and women. And to stimulate the follicle back to it's original state, so it can produce strong, healthy, thick hair. I was shown before and after pictures of his patients - all different ages and ethnicities - as well as how their hair looks 5/10/15 years on, as most of them kept in touch and continued to send him pictures of their hair 'til now.

I must confess, I was very skeptical when the "presentation" of before and afters started - what went through my mind was here we go with the sales gimmick...

There was a thorough explanation of the different products and treatment options available, including some there were not relevant to me - point being to get a full picture of what is available and how it works and what my best options would be. He took "before" pictures of my hairline so that we would be able to document the progress.

What was recommended for my personal treatment course was as follows:

1 x daily ~ very mild shampoo and conditioner (which I decided to buy from there)
2 x daily ~ miconazole
1 x daily ~ ketoconazole
1 x daily ~ leave in spray
1 x daily ~ Solution B

Yup!!! I thought exactly what you're thinking right now. That's a whole lot of stuff and "ain't nobody got time for that!"

But, now that I'm a week into it, it's not so bad. If anything it keeps me on top of my hair care routine. I won't go into the routine right now as this post is extra long already, but be sure to look out for more posts that will follow this one...

Here is a before pic of my edge-less edges!! ... I will update progress in a month's time...