Battle Against Bald | A Battle Against Hair Loss Through Hair Restoration

When my son pulls on my hair…

So my little boy is a year-and-a-half old, and he is sweet and playful – like most kids his age.  There are times, though – when I’m changing him, or I’m carrying him on my shoulders, or he’s “hiding” behind my back when I’m sitting on the couch – when he’ll grab a handful or two of hair and start pulling.  He doesn’t pull too hard, but it would still kind of freak me out.  I don’t think there was any problem with it – it’s not like he’s been yanking it out of my scalp, but he does put some pressure on the ol’ follicles once in a while.

Well, this got me wondering about my new hair – what happens if it does get pulled out?  Again, hopefully not by the handful, but what if a few strands get caught in a hat or something?  Just how fragile is my new hair?

I called Bosley to get a little more info, and here’s what I found out:  there’s really nothing to worry about - transplanted hair will grow back (the nurse, Mimi, told me it’s like when a girl that plucks her eyebrows – the hair will regenerate).  Basically, when we pull hairs from our head, we’re pulling the roots out of the follicle – not the follicle out of the scalp.  If we were doing damage to the follicle, we’d start bleeding.  So I guess this is the clue to look for to see if there is any permanent damage to the transplanted hair – if there’s no blood, there’s no problem!

-Seth

Swimming – the ultimate hair restoration cliché

I’m guessing we’ve all seen (or at least remember) the old Hair Club For Men ads – the ones that always featured a shot of a guy getting out of a swimming pool, completely unconcerned about his great-looking hair.  At some point they upgraded this shot to be a guy waterskiing or on a jet-ski  or something…it was a while ago, and it’s a little fuzzy in my mind.  But the point is that showing some guy get out of the water is one of the hoariest clichés of advertising for hair replacement products. 

Which is why I had to laugh (ironically and self-referentially) when I went swimming last weekend.  It was hot, so my family went over to the pool at our in-laws’ condo development.  After cooling off in the water, I went to use the rest room – and couldn’t help but notice how good my hair looked in the mirror.  I’m not sure I was thinking about, or prepared to become, “that guy” from the old Hair Club spots, but it was kinda funny.  And I’ll be damned if my hair didn’t look really good when I got out of that pool! 

-Seth

In the Mirror

I feel like I am seeing a big difference in the thickness of my hair when I look in the mirror.  Mainly, after I shower or when comb my hair, I can’t help but notice that I’ve actually got some!  It seems full and I like the way it looks.  I have noticed that it does depend on the light – if I’m in direct sunlight or have a flash bulb shining directly on my head it looks a little thinner.  Of course, I’ve noticed that this is true no matter who you are or how much hair you have.  But in my regular “day-to-day,”  when I see myself I see much more hair than I had before.  And I also know that it won’t go away, which is a huge added bonus.  Permanent hair – take that, genetics!!

-Seth

Another compliment for Seth

Today another person I work with – he’s a freelancer, so I don’t see him regularly – came into our office and said “I like your hair.  Are you combing it differently?  It looks good.”  It was a casual comment, but I’m pretty sure he noticed some kind of change, even though he couldn’t put his finger on what it was exactly.  I can tell you that before I had hair restoration I did not receive compliments on my hair in any way.  So it’s exciting when people notice.  I notice that, as I just mentioned, most people don’t know exactly what’s different – they just notice something.  They think I look younger, thinner, different somehow.  Hey, whatever – how can you not like getting compliments?!

- Seth

Old Picture, Old Hairline

So I was going through some photos a couple of weeks ago – you know, the eternal project of trying to get the pile of pictures in boxes and envelopes organized and into albums.  The good news is that I actually got all my photos (o.k., most of my photos) taken care of.  They are neatly tucked into albums that make some sense.  The bad news…well, there isn’t really any bad news.  It was fun to go through all those pictures, and I had them from all stages of my life (and hence all stages of my hair).

This one, in particular, caught my eye.  This is from my sister’s wedding, which was taken a couple of years before my first Bosley Hair Restoration.  To me, the receding/balding in this photo is quite obvious.  Compare it to something current, and I think you’ll agree there’s quite a difference.  While I’m never going to have the same hair I did when I was 22, I think I have made major improvements over where I was and where I was going.

Then:

 

Now:

 

 
 

5 Months After Seth's Hair Restoration Procedure

I am definitely starting to see progress and growth.  Hair is starting to fill in all around the top of my scalp, and when I comb after a shower my hair looks thicker and fuller.  It’s actually a lot of fun to watch as the new follicles take off!

My first compliment

OK, I’m considering today to be quite a milestone in the journey of my hair restoration.  I was at work this morning, and a friend/associate came to the door of the building (our building stays locked, and non-employees have to ring a doorbell to get let in).  I went to open the door, and as she came in she says to me “Wow, you look great!  Are you skinnier?  You look good, you look younger!”  I know it sounds like I’m making that up, but she actually said “You look younger.”  I, of course, am certainly not any skinnier nor any younger – so I’m pretty sure she was reacting to the increased amount of hair on my head.  This was, I think, the first truly spontaneous compliment I’ve received, even after my first restoration.  So hey, how can you not love that!?

Seth Talks About His Post-Operation Recovery

Seth talks about the hours and days immediately following his procedure and the care taken and expectations set by the Bosley staff. This video is episode 7 in our series following Seth and Michael through the process of their Bosley Hair restoration procedure.

Airplane Travel

It’s been several months since my procedure, and my wife, my son and I recently travelled from our home in Portland, OR back to see some of my family in the Midwest. Many of them had never met Elijah, so the time had come to make the trip.  “What does this have to do with your Bosley hair restoration” you ask?  Well, truthfully, not much. But the reason I am writing about it is because I found that the still-numb area on the back of my head was extra tingly. 

Actually, to be clear, the area that is still numb is actually the crown of my head – basically, the area between where they took the donor tissue and the ‘back edge’ of the transplanted area. It’s just a little bit smaller than the size of my hand. I’m not sure if it was the unique air pressure in the cabin, the special fabric on the airplane seat or just the stress of travelling with a 10 month old, but that area on my head was not just extra tingly, it was extra-super-duper-tingly. 

Here’s a picture of the fam on the airplane.

Other Hair Options – The Beard

Since I am still waiting to see the full growth of new hair on the top of my head, I’ve decided that I will grow a beard.  I’ve never actually grown a beard before, so I think it’ll be fun.  Scratchy, but fun.  I think it will really liven up the ‘picture every day for a year’ compilation when that’s ready. 

It seems funny and kind of ironic that I can grow hair so easily so close to the top of my head…

-Seth

Seth's Post-Op Care

Check out the latest in our Battle Against Bald video series. Seth talks about the care and instructions he received following his second Bosley procedure.