Hair Loss: How Does It Affect Our Self-Esteem?

Introduction and Background to Hair loss.

Being a hair loss sufferer myself, I know how hair loss has affected me in my everyday life. When I was first suffering from hair loss:

• In the initial stages, I noticed an  'egg' in the middle of my head, or crown, I didn't think much of it as I couldn't even see it. But I had different people making 'comments' about my bald spot and it got me worried.This happened in my early twenties. I was thinking, who cares about a small bald spot, but little did I realise that the 'little egg' was in fact going to develop into a 'bigger' and 'nastier' egg, which was going to affect both my looks and my wallet.

(image from ehow)

• Social Repercussions of Hair loss.

• Socially, everyone was making comments about my hair loss.I had someone I was working with, who noticed my bald spot, saying to me really loudly ' you are going bald!', but because I still had lots of hair, I thought to myself, who cares.

• Having a full head of hair felt great, but after the 'little egg' I had gave way later to 'thinning of hair on the top of my head', and this was eventually getting noticed by more people, and finally I noticed it myself.I also read comments on the internet about Donald Trump's hair.

• Hair can have an impact on your looks, and the way you are perceived socially by others.I used to hate windy days, as it would expose my hair loss even more.

Having a bad hair day?

Personal Evaluations of the effects of Hair Loss.

• Seeing my own hair thinning was like a 'nightmare on elm street'. It was a nightmare, because I looked a lot better with hair than without it.It looked bad as I had a big head, so I couldn't imagine myself having a large bald, shiny head. My mother was telling me that all 'my uncles had large, bald heads', and I was petrified ending up the same way, but I had no choice, it was genetics or the highway!.

• I felt self conscious of myself, 'hated' looking at myself in the mirror as I hated the thinning hair or 'straw' hair.I wouldn't go out without wearing a cap as I hated my new 'look', and I avoided social situations where I had to take my cap off.I especially dreaded the 'V' shape of male pattern baldness, I wanted my straight line again!. Hair loss has really affected my life in more ways than one.I wanted to look younger, not older.

Hair loss is unwelcome, but what can be done for the unwelcome consequences?

• Just ignore it.
• Live with it
• Laugh at Yourself
• Hope for a cure
• Win lotto to pay for that expensive hair transplant.

At the end of the day you have to learn to accept that this is somewhat 'normal', but for me it fet nasty, and unwelcome.I eventually had to seek help, so I got started on finasteride, which stopped hair loss, but there are other cheaper hair loss treatments out there, which I took in combination with proscar, and the hair loss is not as severe.

Like they say, prevention is better than the cure.