My Treatment Goals
I started losing my hair when I was about 19 but it really started to become noticeable when I was in my early
20's. I have been receding at the hairline and temples and thinning in the crown area. The loss has been gradual
over a 10 year span. I have been on and off of various treatments during this time with varying degrees of results. I have done many things to fight the hairloss and have managed to keep quite a bit of hair.
For the last 4 years or so I haven't really done much about it as my hairloss seemed to stabalize. By April 2002 though, I noticed that I was thinning very rapidly in the crown, and my hairline and temples had receded ever so
slightly to the point where it was really starting to bother me again. I took stock of my situation and decided to begin a new treatment regimen. This time, I decided to set some realistic goals and then try to put together a regimen that could achieve the goals. I think the process of setting goals for your hairloss treatment plan is important because it helps manage expectations. A year down the road, I can check my goals and see if I have progessed in any measurable way towards them. Without this, it would be easy to quit because with any treatment regimen it takes time to see results.
Here are my goals:
First and foremost, I want to KEEP the hair I currently have.
Second, I want to regrow enough hair at the crown such that when my hair is dry, my scalp is not visible.
Third, I want to fill in the thinning at my hairline and temples to give these areas more density.
Fourth, I want to regrow hair below my current hairline.
I want to avoid using anything with the potential for negative systemic side-effects (this is a personal choice)
I want my regimen to leave my hair looking good during the day (don't want an oily or flaky look!)
Some points about these goals:
The first four goals are in order of expectations. By this I mean, that if I can achieve the first goal I'll be happy with my regimen. Period. If I can achieve the second goal then I'll be very pleased. The second goal is still a fairly realistic expectation for me as you can see by viewing my crown pictures. The third goal -- well -- let's just say this would be more than I expect to achieve. Any growth at the hairline and crown would be a blessing. The fourth goal I don't really expect to occur, but I'm going to take a shot at it anyway.
One contention that I have had in the past with various products is the state they leave your hair in after you apply them! For instance, I didn't care for applying topical minoxidil because it made my hair greasy looking, and also gave me dandruff. The oily look made the hair look thin, thereby defeating the purpose of using the product for me. What use is it if I regrow some hair if I constantly have a greasy-looking scalp? A wet, greasy-looking scalp shows more skin than a dry one.
With these goals in mind, I set about putting together a regimen that I feel has a chance of achieving these goals. My regimen includes products that address each of the goals that I have listed. Use the Sidebar Menu to view the Products I use, and how I use them.
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