Headstyl

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More than40 per cent of married couples would rather their spouse were overweight than bald, claims a shock survey.

 And the research, published this week, also reveals that a staggering 57 per cent of women are not attracted to men with thinning hair.

Are the results a reflection on society’s feeling towards baldness? One company, Headstyl, believes so and has taken great offence on behalf of bad men worldwide.

 The new survey for hair re-growth medication brand ROGAINE®, published on February 1, revealed that nearly half of married Americans would rather their spouse were overweight than bald.

Think about that for a moment.  An overweight person is more likely to suffer from diabetes, stroke or heart attack!  But their partner finds that a more attractive proposition than having to live with a bald person.  

And as the pressure continues to mount at an unprecedented rate for men to look younger and better than ever, new figures for male cosmetic surgery just released show an 80 per cent increase in men having breast reduction treatment in the UK during 2009.

Meanwhile when it comes to baldness men are spending small fortunes on transplants and wigs. 

These types of feelings towards going bald may come as a surprise to many, but is it fair that through no fault of their own, men who lose their hair are deemed to come second best to those with obesity in the looks department?

No wonder the company HeadStyl, run by British bald men, have become the global leaders in their field, offering an innovative solution to cover baldness using their internationally-acclaimed Artistic Hair Simulation technique. 

We would love to hear from the partners of hair loss sufferers with their personal stories… does any of this resonate for you?  Have you experienced your once hirsute partner go through pain as their hair recedes?  Maybe their hair is receding and they have never spoken to you about it.  Take them to task on it we implore you!  

Send your stories to info@HeadStyl.com, please limit yourself to 500 words.  The best story will be invited to the HeadStyl clinic closest to them for a free treatment.

According to stats just published by the BRitish Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons the rate at which men are increasingly accepting the surgeons knife to improve their image is accelerating rapidly.  No single treatment has seen a surge in popularity like the MOOB.  To the uninitiated this is liposuction for what are generically know as man boobs.

Overall there was a 21% rise in the number of men coming for treatment during 2009 with the MOOB seeing a rise of a staggering 80%!  A MOOB is not everyones cup of tea, I for one have huge issues with the idea of a going under an anaesthetic so a man, even a highly qualified one, can brutally rip out layers of fat that I might have spent decades acquiring. 

But the rise in popularity should come as no surprise.  Demographically the key market of baby boomers are reaching an age where the potential for them to require the assistance of a cosmetic surgeon is pretty ubiquitous.  In addition, the last 20 years have seen cosmetic surgery go from being considered the outlandish domain of Hollywood residents to a socially acceptable route to emotional wellbeing.  The advance of information technology has played its part in dispelling myth as well as enabling potential clients to thoroughly investigate their options in terms choice of surgeon and procedure.

The team here look forward to the day when a hair loss sufferer sees the option of a HeadStyl as one he can readily discuss with friends and family.  It feels a long way off right now, particularly given the average mans unwillingness to discuss anything that isnt sport related with even their nearest and dearest.  We passionately believe in the efficacy of our treatment and its ability to change the lives of our clients.  Once it becomes general knowledge and accepted, the way MOOB jobs have become, we believe that not only will there be many happy clients walking around out there but that even those who choose to stay bald and proud will be recognised as having taken a choice to look that way.

 

It with great regret that we hear that “allegedly“ there is a lost and confused person out there, who needs our help!

 His pseudonym is tonygordon65 and under that name he has posted the allegation that we treated him last year, that he was unhappy with the outcome and that we have since been ignoring his calls.

It may be that he is confusing us with another less reputable organisation or that he has a more malicious motive.  In any event the team at Headstyl take enormous pride in the personal approach we take to our work.  We understand that every client coming to us does so because they are actively seeking a solution to an emotional issue.  Beyond taking extreme care to provide outstanding outcomes for each client we take our role as providers of support and advice very seriously.  Our aftercare service is rightly highly regarded and something we take enormous pride in. 

We believe it is this ethical and standards driven approach which means we can honestly claim NEVER to have had a complaint regarding the quality of our work.  More importantly in the highly unlikely case if a client wishing to make us aware of any aspect of the service that they were not happy with, then at HeadStyl we would most certainly engage them and work with them towards a remedy, whatever that entailed.

In short the HeadStyl team have a very open dialogue with each and every one of our clients and will continue to do so.

Our lawyers have a name for it, libel.  So we are currently seeking to find tonygordon65 as we hope to understand his exact motivation for this scurrilous post, we will accept an apology and retraction.  Our lawyers might not. 

If you are tonygordon65, or you know who he is, please contact us.  If you want to apologise you will find us understanding.  If you want our help and support you can have it, and you will find us extremely welcoming.

Here at HeadStyl we get regular enquiries from women who are invariably in a state of panic about their sudden hair loss.  We always take time to reassure them that for most women the hair loss is temporary and refer them to their Doctor… unless they have a dermatologist who specialises in hair loss in which case we send them straight there.  Its a rare woman who actively seeks out the shaved head look, with or without a convincing hairline.  So for these women a HeadStyl is not often an option.  That said we can and do treat women for a variety of reasons, our work on scars is highly valued.

Given the overall volume of these female enquiries it seemed sensible to produce a blog entry here that they can be referred to.

So lets start at the top with the most common misconception of all.  Genetic baldness is not caused by hair loss.  The typical hair lives for around 4.5 years and grows at a fairly consistent half an inch per month.  Somewhere in its 5th year that hair will fall out and be replaced within 6 months by a new one.  So genetic baldness is actually caused by the failure of that system to produce new hairs.  For women this type of baldness manifests as a general thinning of the entire scalp which usually leaves the front hairline intact… the significant difference then between female and male pattern baldness.

Beyond genetic baldness there are a number of other recognised triggers that will promote female balding.  The typical experience is to shed lots of hair in a short space of time in a process called Telogen Effluvium… which might sound like a Harry Potter spell but is in fact one of the most emotionally distressing experiences a girl can go through.  The good news then is that the effects of Telogen Effluvium will normally pass after 6 to 8 months and the hair will return to its normal condition.

High fever or severe infection

Childbirth

Major surgery, major illness, sudden blood loss

Severe emotional stress

Crash diets, especially those that do not contain enough protein

A number of medications, including anti acne medication, retinoids, birth control pills, beta-blockers, certain antidepressants, NSAIDs (including ibuprofen) and calcium channel blockers

There are plenty of other triggers and causes of hair loss.  From excessive blow drying to radiation therapy which can all present in unusual patterns of hair loss.  But if you a woman reading this because you are suffering from hair loss then the full list will do nothing to allay your concerns.

There is only one recommended course of initial action.  See your Doctor!!  Better still find a dermatologist who specialises in hair loss… in a single visit they can perform a quick test, called a scalp biopsy (sounds scary but takes almost less time to do it than to say it), which will definitively tell you whether the hair loss is genetic, inflammatory, infectious or due to an unusual physical or emotional shock to the system.  So if not an immediate solution it can provide immediate peace of mind that the cause is identified.  From there it is a relatively simple process to recommend the appropriate solution.

When it comes to solutions the only FDA recognised medication for female hair loss is Minoxodil in its various forms… be warned that it can take several months of patient application before any results can be seen.  Finasteride (marketed as Propecia) is occasionally prescribed for women but as it is associated with birth defects it is not FDA approved for use on women.  Other treatments for women range from simple iron supplements to hormone replacement therapy for post menopausal women… Estrogen does make hair thicker and longer.

In a nutshell, thats it.  Look out for the signs, dont be distressed if you see them, get yourself along to your Doctor or dermatologist as soon as you can. 

Good luck from the HeadStyl team.

 

That the global finances are in a state of disarray is no longer news.  If you are not suffering from its ill effects then you are either supremely well insulated against them or living a remote self sustaining existence in a forest or moor somewhere.

What you might not know is how closely hair loss and stress are tied.  Normally around 10% of your hair is actually growing with the other 90% in a resting phase.  About 1% is falling out.  A traumatic shock, and for women events like childbirth count as traumatic enough to be a trigger, or prolonged exposure to stress can shock your hair into a resting phase… where it stays for 3 months before falling out. 

So if you are seeing the dread early signs of hair loss, check your plugholes and hairbrush first, do not assume that this is the end of the road for you as a hirsute member of society.  Cast your mind back 3 months and search for an event that might  have triggered the hair loss.  Whether it is obvious to you or not your first port of call needs to be your family doctor.  Its an important piece of advice that has been shared previously on this blog but the depth of this recession and its likely, almost certain, impact on the hair of some readers makes it worth sharing again.

It is reasonable to assume that the worlds worst financial crisis for 70 years will be inducing a massive wave of new hair loss sufferers whose issues are nothing to do with genetics, harsh products, braids or anything other than banking malpractice.  Maybe there is a case for a class action suit by thousands of stressed out hair shedders aimed at the bankers… might be the only way to get our money back from the devious beggars.  If nothing else a courtroom would be an awesome place to hear a full and frank discussion about the causes and solutions for hair loss.

It is traditionally the time when men and women everywhere look themselves in the mirror and consider their excesses of the last month.

For some it will trigger a renewed interest in going to the gym.  For others a little less fat in their diet.  For a few it will feature a full on detox allied to a punishing regime designed to return them to their pre party condition as fast as possible.

But for hair loss sufferers no amount of diet and excercise will ever give them what they truly desire.  For those unfortunates among us the options are the usual suspects of wigs potions and lotions, or spending the money that would have acquired them a highly desirable car on a hair transplant… with the only guarantee being that they will never achieve their sky high ambitions for the outcome.  This is almost never the fault of the surgeon as I have spoken to many about the frustrations they suffer when a dissatisfied client comes back… “Its not as thick as I expected”  My Wife hates the scar”.  Invariably the complaint revolves around expected elements of the outcome which had been repeatedly flagged to the client – It is the inability of the client to hear those negative elements or to supress their likelihood until they become a reality.

The reality is that often transplants do not achieve a desirable level of cover.  This leaves the sufferer with some pretty grim options.  To leave the transplanted hair in situ and actually look like they are going through the terrible transitional stage of “going bald”, or to shave their head.  But shaving is effectively removed as an option because of the scar.  The sufferer might be acutely aware that he has a transplant scar on the back of his head but in the experience of hte HeadStyl team there are many out there who have no idea that this is what has left that scar… they are as likely to assume it is from some terrible trauma, motorbike crash, axe attack or somesuch.

A HeadStyl can camouflage that scar and allow the head to be shaved.  Or it can be used to infill a thin transplant to give the appearance of greater thickness.  But of course its best when it is used as an alternative to the transplant altogether.  It will save you most of the cost of that car and leave you with a subtle and convincing outcome that is socially acceptable and requires no maintenance beyond that which is sensible for any hair loss sufferer… the use of sunblock for example.

The whole HeadStyl team would like to extend their best wishes for 2010 to our friends everywhere.  To those who have so far suffered in silence we urge you to make contact with our friendly and supportive team where you will receive support and advice in measures to suit you.

Happy New Year!

Whether it is because of our modern diet, environmental factors or Darwinian evolution the fact is that hair loss is on the increase.  Given the vast array of potential triggers it is too easy to assume your hair loss is hereditary and vital that you look for the signs and bring them to the attention of your family Doctor for further examination. 

As a man you are possibly aware that you are four times more likely to suffer than your female counterpart.  But you probably wont know that hair loss in the age group 16-25 has risen 250% in the last 5 years (according to research reported by Dr Mukesh Batra from wwwdrbatras,com). 

There are of course many factors that can contribute to early hair loss… Genetics are top of the list of course – meaning family get togethers can see a young man looking at the previous generations for the warning signs.  Diet, stress and smoking are well recognised but steroids and creatine (popular with pro sportsmen as it does not appear on the list of banned substances) have all been shown to contribute.

Looking out for early signs of hair loss is vital to your health.  Forget for a moment that catching it early can enhance your options for treatment and bring into play approved medicinal solutions which can halt the advance – though it is vital that you take expert medical advice rather than simply buy on the web since there are recognised side effects.  Sudden hair loss can be the first indication of a number of serious health conditions.  For example, hair will start to thin 5 weeks before detection of insulin dependent diabetes.  Other ailments like anaemia, thyroid disorders and stress are often diagnosed through hair loss.

The Headstyl team are always available to answer questions related to hair loss at any stage of its presentation.  But if you do suddenly find yourself taking more than the usual amount from your brush or comb, or you are finding unusually large amounts of hair in the bath or shower, then your first course of action must be to make that appointment with the Doctor to make sure your condition is not medical.

Once your Doctor has confirmed that your problem is genetic you can consider your long term future.  You may be happy to be bald and bold but if not then you will find the experienced team here at HeadStyl are supportive and well informed as to your choices.

With so muh information available, much of it conflicting, how do you find out the truth about the causes, effects and solutions for hair loss?

The ubiquitous internet offers the enquiring hair loss sufferer the opportunity to find out everything they need to know about their condition.   But to  sort through the misinformation takes a bit of time and patience.

If you are suddenly finding clumps of hair on your pillow in the morning, or leaving more on your comb and brush than you were before, then your first thought is going to be “why!”.  Probably the best place to start is the NHS site at http://www.nhs.uk/Search/Pages/Results.aspx?___JSSniffer=true&scope=&q=hair+loss 

Once you understand what is happening you can begin the process of coming to terms with it.  But an enormous industry exists because a significant proportion of people prefer to mask their hair loss.  The choice is huge but the fact is that nothing will return you to your former glory.  No amount of money, no regime however arduously pursued, no huge leap in science.  Maybe in twenty years from now our sons and daughters might have a smart option based on genes.  But as we move into 2010 the early promise of DNA study has yet to deliver a single gene therapy.  For anything. 

So be realistic about your expectations.  The fact is that the further your hair has receded the less “bang for your buck” you will achieve when spending money on surgery.  Approved products do exist which can halt the advance of male pattern baldness, at a cost and with a daily routine for life.  Surgery can be a viable option for some men with enough hair to harvest but identifying a surgeon can be a challenege… judging by how easy it seems to find images of guys complaining about bad jobs.  Hair Pieces remain a popular option for many, despite their restrictions, but a good one will cost and will require regular maintenance.  Beyond this are the herbs and lotions, pills and potions.  It ranges from the genuinely pleasant to the bizarre “snake oil” salesman type ointments. 

HeadStyl now offer an alternative to the balding man.  Definitely not for the man who likes the look a wig gives him.  It could help a transplant patient post op for the first year that the hair takes to start growing properly.  But it works best for the client who simply wants the hassle free look of a full head of hair.  Justin Manners from HeadStyl said “We are astonished by the level of enquiries we are receiving from all over the world.  It seems that we are appealing to guys who had looked at the existing solutions, decided they weren’t for them, and given up.  Now they are seeing another solution for the first time and it is clearly striking a chord”. 

Whatever you do take your time.  Dont let your stress make you act in haste.  Do your reading before you part with money.  Good luck on your journey.

If you missed the Jonathan Ross show on Friday night then you will have missed the former tennis World no. 1 sharing some deeply personal history.  It probably peaked with the admission that while at the top of his game he developed an addiction to crystal meth.  I have to confess to not knowing a lot about crystal meth, it has certainly been demonised by the media where it presented as crack cocaine on crack cocaine.  It was hard, listening to his interview, not to see the line drawn from a difficult childhood with a domineering father who made him hit “thousands of tennis balls every day” to the tennis pro who fell out of love with his game his Wife and his life, resorting to hard drugs for an escape.

Fortunately the resilient Mr Agassi won his battle against drugs and having dropped from being world ranked No 1 to No 140 he fought all the way back to the top again.  Which no doubt was a tougher thing to do the second time around.

Against the backdrop of that monumental battle its fair to say the story he told about his experience of hair loss might have got a little lost.  Unless you have suffered early hair loss yourself, in which case the team at HeadStyl suspect it will have made an impression every bit as deep.  Try to imagine yourself as a world no. 1 at any sport, now imagine that the sport in question is one of the most intensively televised sports around.  And that we are talking about a sport for individuals with no team mates captains or managers to hide behind.  Layer on top the fact that Andre Agassi at the time was actually famous in part for his hair with lucrative sponsorship in place.  Maybe with all those factors in mind his decision to wear a hairpiece while playing in matches does not seem quite so crazy.  But can you imagine the stress of worrying about it coming off with millions watching on TV… during the middle of the mens final at the US Open for instance.

Clearly Andre Agassi has taken a decision to face up to all his demons.  For him to tell his powerful story of drug addiction in the same breath as his battle with early hair loss reflects on the suffering he endured.  Like so many hair loss sufferers he had noone to turn to for support, in the end it was his brother who had already gone the route of a hairpiece who offered him the advice which saw him choose that solution.  Doubtless with good consultation and support he would have found a less stressful, alternative.

At the very least the HeadStyl team hope that some young sufferers out there will take heart from the story and face up to their own demons sooner rather than later.  There are solutions and it is just a question of exploring your options thoroughly, choosing your preferred method and then performing the correct level of due diligence to make sure you identify the right clinic or practice.

I am sure you would join us in offering our goodwill to Mr Agassi, despite his fame and fortune he is clearly a man who has suffered greatly but who, through his own determination and bravery, seems to have found a way forward.

… There are a few of course.  Though they often wear the same shirt number and play at the front as players they are chalk and cheese.  Brazilian Romario has carved a successful career pitting his wits against the games top defenders, spending most of his time within arms length of the farthest back defender and feeding on smart balls through or snaffling chances in crowded penalty areas where his speed of thought and deed have seen him rightly accoladed as one of the worlds top strikers.  Rooney on the other hand, while he has prodigious talent, relies on awesome strength and workrate to pull defences apart.  A willing runner for the rest of his team he will pull wide on either wing to create space for team mates inside, or is just as happy with the ball at his feet charging towards the biggest player on the opposition team… with every expectation of knocking them over should they be foolhardy enough to attempt to block his run.   But essentially they do the same job using differing methods.

They are also early hair loss sufferers.  As touched on previously in this blog the impact of hair loss for any footballing celeb can be magnified because of their obligation to run out in front of tens of thousands fans week in week out, invariably those fans are seated so as to look down on the action with the unfortunate side affect of any bald patches becoming glaring.  And what young hair loss sufferer would choose to take their strategically manicured locks out on a wet day?

I am sure you will join the HeadStyl team in offering our support to these unfortunate players, and like us would expect the footballing authorities to be similarly supportive when the opportunity presented itself.  Unfortunately both players decided Propecia was the solution for them.  Certainly its known side effects, those you can read about on the packaging, would have been considered secondary given the chance to stop further hair loss.  The difference between the two players then is that Romario started his Propecia programme in 2008 and our Wayne is believed to have waited till this year.  Had Romario shown a little more patience he might have avoided the 4 month ban handed down by FIFA for using a banned substance… Finasteride.  The active ingredient in Propecia was reputed to mask the affects of steroids used by sports cheats the world over to enhance performance.  Fortunately common sense prevailed and on January 1st this year the ban in Finasteride was lifted for sportsmen and women.  Too late for Romario.  And only just in the nick of time for Rooney judging by the advanced state of his widows peaks.

Its a tiny insight into the world of the modern day athlete that alongside all those things that you know they must worry about… their place in the team, or the England squad, staying injury free, how long is left on their contract, should they take the next marketing opportunity… but everyday activities which we take for granted become fraught with additional considerations.  Your heart goes out to them doesnt it?  Of course on their salaries they can afford the right advice to make sure they always do the right thing, or the therapy for when they get it wrong.