Male pattern baldness

[Jenna_James]

Hi there I have pretty bad male pattern baldness, as such I shave my head and wear wigs, ive been on a low dose hrt regemen about a yr now. Am I destined to wear a wig indefinitly, should I try n grow it out so I could maybe use my real hair now n then with a hat.....I hate hair loss please help lol!

[Launa]

This is a darn good question and I can't wait to hear answers from the members here. Wouldn't it be perfect if even some of your lost hair could grow back? I do know that hair transplants have come a long way and they are always improving on them.

[PretzelGirl]

I would say it gets down to personal preferences. You can only get so much recovery from HRT. I know women with all kinds of thinning and baldness, but of course they aren't worried about minimizing male looking cues like we sometimes do. But I also have some transitioned friends with receding hairlines or large amounts of thinness and they don't wear wigs. Not something I would ask them, but I suspect early on they wore wigs and then just became more comfortable with their natural selves and didn't worry about it any more.

But there are many options out there including transplants and partial hair pieces. I was starting to get thin a few years back and went to a wig store and they put a piece on that covered the top of my head but didn't go much further down. It looked good and the brown in it blended well right away but I would have needed a solution with some gray in it. That is just color....

[Dianne S]

I too have MPB and am a bit concerned. My therapist says it can be hidden with a good hairstyle, but since I'm not fulltime yet I can't really go for a feminine hairstyle.

So for now I use a sort of clip-on hair extension (http://www.sallybeauty.com/hair-bang-accent/DESNLT17,default,pd.html). Works reasonably well and if anyone notices anything, they just think I have a hairclip or hairband on underneath.

[RADER]

I also have the MPB thing; In fact when I go in for a hair cut, the barber uses
Simonize on half of my head and snips what few hairs I have on the rest of my
head. He even charges the same price; Go figure.
Rader

[Aimee20]

Age and when your hair loss started have a big impact on any recovery you'll get. I'm 28 and started thinning when I was 18. After 2 years on a full transitional dose of hrt and 1 year on propecia, up top my hair is coming back. My hair is shoulder length now but it's been a year since my last hair cut.

[Rianna Humble]

Rader, your barber charges for a hair cut - every one after the first is free :heehee:

[Melissa Cross]

I have a receeding hairline and a bald spot. I have been growing my hair out for about 9 months and I now have enough hair to hide my bald spot and minimize my receeding hairline. My hair is long enough now that I can style it in a feminine or unisex style. My suggestion is try growing it out, see what happens and find a knowledgable stylist who is willing to work with you.

[EvaMarie]

Hi there I have pretty bad male pattern baldness, as such I shave my head and wear wigs, ive been on a low dose hrt regemen about a yr now. Am I destined to wear a wig indefinitly, should I try n grow it out so I could maybe use my real hair now n then with a hat.....I hate hair loss please help lol!

Hi I used to just shave my head too.... About 14 months ago I started to let it grow and Ive only had one trim since then... I have my hair dresser color it to match my wigs and it is a perfect match... Its finally getting long enough that Ive been looking into my options for trying a very high quality hair piece or topper to blend in with my own hair.... I unfortunately doubt I have enough hair to cover it all with transplants :( There unfortunately is no place around here that I can go to in person to have the hairpiece done either... Ive ordered the fitting kit from this place and I want to try to get something ordered soon, still just 5 weeks into recovery from my FFS and I just haven't felt up to it but I will soon... http://www.hairdirect.com/hair/systems/default.aspx

I just had a brow lift/reconstruction and a scalp advance that included a resection of about 3/4" of long gone "hairline" and also a full face and neck lift that has left my scalp a lot tighter... I have to wait 6 months now for all that to heal and for the skin to loosen up then I can try to create a fem hairline and cover the scar on my forehead with transplants... If your hair is very short now and you don't see FFS in your immediate future you could look into FUE transplants where they move individual hair follicles... They have to shave your hair very short anyway to do those... Then you can start the LONG process of growing your hair out, it will take at least a year but more like 2 years to get long enough for a fem style :( Im probably gonna go with FUT transplants where they cut out a strip of skin and then harvest the hairs to be transplanted... Its a bit cheaper and you don't have to shave your head... There is the discomfort and and the tightness of the scalp from the incision to deal with though...

Ive been on Dutasteride and a high dose of spiro and of course E for about a year now and I use 5% minoxydil... While Ive seen some amazing regrowth its unfortunately no where near enough :( If your not on Finesteride or Dutasteride you could ask your doc to try it, its supposed to be really effective at at least halting hair loss and even helping a lot with regrowth... Dutas is a bit more effective but also more expensive than Fin but its supposed to go off patent this year and the generic will hopefully be cheaper...

[Michelle.M]

I went through several possible solutions to my own hair issues, and when someone asked me how I dealt with them the answer was a long email response. I eventually expanded it to this:

http://www.michelle-martin.com/trans-womans_answer_to_hair_problems.docx

Like Eva Marie, I'm a Hair Direct customer, and I could not be happier with the results. I recommend them highly.

[EvaMarie]

Thanks that was very informative :D I plan to start the whole process of figuring out my fitting kit and trying my first topper soon... It SUCKS being a bald woman but there are a lot of cis women out there that have the same problems.... It amazed me that none of the women or even their little ones batted an eye the first time I had my hair colored at the busy salon... Its apparently just something some women have to deal with... One thing I have an advantage with is that at 46 my hair loss is about as bad as it will ever get... Since its MPB instead of female pattern hair transplants are an option to at least try to create a new hairline which is the hardest thing to recreate with a wig or a topper... So my plan is to start with a topper and use bangs to try to hide the hairline at first and then in time hopefully be able to modify the system to blend in with my newly transplanted hairline...
Thats the plan anyway and very subject to change as I actually get started on it.... Worst case is I just keep wearing my wigs until I find a solution I can live with.... In any case it's looking like a LONG process to go from fully shaved to using my own hair but I gotta try everything in my power to do it...

Ive been wearing a $200.00 Raquel Welch lace front synthetic wig that right out the box just plain worked for me.... They would only seem to last about 2 months though with daily wear no matter how careful I was with them :( I could usually get them on sale for about $150.00 though... Recently they have been on back order so I had to try something else.... I ended up with a Jon Reneau full lace synthetic I can part anywhere that looks even better than my old hair and its close enough that it just looks like a different cut style and color... Its a bit pricier at $275.00 but Im hoping it will last longer, if it dont I cant see spending much more than that on synthetic hair....

My cis GF's I trust tell me its seriously not and issue and that my hair looks great... Ive never had a problem, nobodys ever said anything except complimented me on my hair so there's that... Still it sucks to deal with and it can be hard not to get jealous of women with nice hair and to beat yourself feeling like a "fraud"... You all have my sympathy.....

[RADER]

Rader, your barber charges for a hair cut - every one after the first is free :heehee:

Yea!! He charges for each and every hair he cuts. t gets expensive to have it done.
So now I am thinking of just buying a small Lawn Mower and use it.
Rader

[Eringirl]

Thanks Michelle for the post with the link to the document. I agree, very helpful! I too am in the same boat. :Pullhair:

I have an appointment tomorrow at a wig salon here in town that has systems and toppers as well. I am curious to see what they have and what they recommend for my situation. But I will certainly check out Hair Direct as well.

[Rogina B]

Ive been wearing a $200.00 Raquel Welch lace front synthetic wig that right out the box just plain worked for me.... They would only seem to last about 2 months though with daily wear no matter how careful I was with them

About 1200 wearing hours is the longest a synthetic wig will look good for.Not sure of your style,but pinning or clipping your hair up so it stays away from the heat of your neck will greatly extend the life of a daily worn wig..

[Emily R]

I am a new member and have been lurking here for quite a while. I recently started on my low dose HRT but I am not out yet nor will I be out for a while, so I still have quite a few more months to go. I have been on Dustaderide for about 6 months now for BPH but have not seen any changes in my hair so far, maybe once i have been on estrogen for a year or more things will change.

One of my many concerns is passing and not getting clocked as being bold makes it even more difficult, i still have some hairs on my head but I am missing most on the crown and it creates a very big problem, from reading this thread is seem that transplants are out of the questions due to cost, effectiveness and donor hairs and not necessarily in that order, so I have been looking for another solution that will let me pass and I can afford, as I cannot afford to spend $5000 a year in hair for the rest of my life on hair.

Did you EvaMarie or Erin tried the Hair Direct company and if yes what were your results? I read what Michelle wrote and it sounds very positive, but I would like to get some other opinions before trying it. Or does anyone else have any other suggestions for a bold that wants to be beautiful 61 year old woman?

Thank you for your comments.

Emily

[Eringirl]

Hi Emily. Welcome to the forum!

No, I haven't tried Hair Direct as of yet. Working with a local salon for a solution that I am using currently. I am in the process of evaluating it to see how it is going to work. So far, results have been pretty good, but still getting used to it.

Erin

[Emily R]

Hi Erin,

Thank you for your quick response and also welcoming me to the forum!

I havent transition nor am I out of the house yet, but when I dress I wear a wig that I am not convinced that look right on me. I may end going to a local wig salon, hopefully I can find one that deals with transgenders are reasonable and help me out.

Thank you and we will definitely talk in the future.

Emily

[ClaraKay]

MPB here, too. I'm full-time and have to wear a wig, and probably always will. Still, I want to restore my natural hair via transplants as best I can for those occasions where a wig is not practical. I also hate having to look at my bald head in the mirror when I first get up in the morning. I've already had one FUT (strip method) hair grafting 6 months ago, and that hair is coming out well now. Those grafts were placed on the crown of my head, behind where a coronal incision would be made for my FFS forehead reconstruction. My hair transplant consultant estimated that I will be ready for a 2nd set of hair grafts, again FUT, in September. That set of grafts will establish a female hairline. So why would I want to wear a wig once that is accomplished? The fact is, my degree of baldness and the amount of donor hair available limits the density of the hair grafts. I will never have a really good head of hair to match the beauty of a nice wig.

I have since had FFS. The picture shows the coronal incision scar 37 days post-op. My 1st transplant was for 2250 grafts behind this scar. It will take slightly more than that to cover the area ahead of the scar, creating the feminine hairline, and hiding the scar.

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