Why Treat Hair Loss ?

Why Treat Hair Loss?

At a point in our lives while growing up, we each form a mental
image of ourselves.
We develop a picture of our face and body, an image of
how we think others see us. When we look in a mirror, we identify
with what we see and inwardly say, “That’s me.” Even without a mirror,
we have an idea of the image of ourselves that we project to the
world.

But as a man or woman begins to lose hair, the image in the mirror
no longer matches the internal self-image developed over many
years. This can be disturbing, since we pretty much feel the same as
before. Hair loss does not affect our physical health, but it does make
us look older. When we see our reflection in the mirror, a different
image confronts us. We protest, “That isn’t me.”
Our hair is one of the most defining aspects of our appearance. A
healthy head of hair makes us look attractive, youthful, and desirable.
Our appearance directly affects our own self-image, and most of us
want to maintain a self-image that is youthful and healthy looking.
Our appearance also affects how we interact with other people,
both in how others respond to how we look, and how our appearance
affects our own self-confidence. Having a full head of hair can
improve the quality of our life, our success in business relationships,
and our success in romance.


But despite the fact that losing hair, and even going bald, is part
of the normal process of aging, we often don’t accept it. At age forty,
most people feel pretty much the same as they did at age thirty, or
even age twenty. Confronted with hair loss, people may begin to feel
foreign to themselves and somewhat disoriented. This discomfort
results in a desire to return to the former, more youthful appearance.
Today there are many cosmetic, medical, and surgical options for
people who really want to do something about hair loss.
Take one of my patients; I’ll call him “Larry.” I first met Larry in
1980, when he was thirty-five-years-old. He already had considerable
frontal hair loss, but the hair on his crown and back of his head was
quite dense. He was a physical fitness buff, and could not come to
terms with his receding hairline. He worked out, felt pretty good, and
looked great, except for his hair loss.
After considering all the options, Larry decided to have hair
transplant surgery. At that time, surgical procedures for hair loss
resulted in an “under construction” look for a period of time following
surgery. Larry was a foreman of a crew of men who installed acoustical
ceilings. It was possible for him to wear a hard hat or a baseball
cap to cover his new grafts until they healed. Initially, keeping his hair
transplants secret was a big concern to him. Then, after about three
weeks, he began to tell his friends and co-workers about his surgery
for hair loss.
There was a positive response from everyone, except for one
co-worker. Larry explained to me that his co-worker, who we’ll call
“John,” began harassing him about his hair transplants during his first
month following surgery. The second month, John wanted to know
if the surgery was painful, and then he wanted to know how much
it cost. Soon after, I met with John, and he scheduled his own hair
transplantation procedure.
People want to look the way they feel. A man or woman at age
forty doesn’t really expect to look twenty again, but increasingly more
and more people want to keep a youthful appearance. Hair helps
frame the face, and it directs attention very powerfully. Everyone
has seen men with a few wispy strands of hair combed over the top
of their heads in an attempt to frame their face with hair. Of course their “comb-over” just directs more attention to their hair loss, which
is not the desired effect.
Although our society tends to be youth-oriented, most people
with hair loss are not preoccupied with achieving a perpetually youthful
appearance. In fact, many people accept their hair loss as just a fact
of life. Humans have an enormous ability to adjust to imperfect situations
and go on with their lives. But if you’re reading this book, you
probably have an interest in doing something about your hair loss.
Wanting to do something about hair loss is not just a matter of
vanity. The desire to look better and have a more pleasing appearance
is also a normal human attitude. Undeniably, hair loss adds years to
a person’s appearance. Hair loss represents to men what wrinkles do
to women. And hair loss for women is even worse than wrinkles! And while men with hair loss often state that they don’t care about losing
their hair, if there were some form of magic that could instantly and
permanently give them a full head of hair just by wishing it, the vast
majority would do just that.
In 1995, Sean Connery stated in an interview, “I don’t understand
men who want hair transplants.” That same month, he was photographed
going to a social event wearing a hairpiece. Five years later,
he seemed to have accepted his baldness in his personal life. He does,
however, continue to wear a hairpiece for movie roles that call for a
man with a full head of hair.
The media, especially television and movies, continue to place
enormous emphasis on models, actors, and actresses with hair. Women
portrayed in the media, and in advertisements for almost any product,
generally have full heads of hair. Entire industries are dedicated to
women’s hair care products and hair care styling services, all with the
goal of helping women make the most of the hair they have.
The significance of hair to women in our society is so great, that
women suffering chemotherapy for cancer treatment are often more
emotionally devastated by their chemotherapy-induced hair loss than
from their cancer.
Men’s magazines rarely display a man with thinning hair, and
almost never one who is bald. When the media displays an image of
a desirable macho man, he is shown with a full head of hair. Unless,
that is, the man is a “bad guy.” Despite the increasing appearance of
Hollywood talent and national sports celebrities with natural baldness
or shaved heads, it still seems that when a bald man is portrayed in the
media, more often than not, he is a villain.
When women were asked in a variety of surveys whether they
thought men looked better bald or with hair, a majority replied that
baldness did not influence their attraction to the opposite sex. Yet
when shown digitally altered photos of the same men with and without
hair, those same women said repeatedly that the men with hair
looked more attractive to them.