The best a man can get

I’m so used to having my inbox bombarded with the latest miracle cures for hair loss (all with a 30-day money back guarantee) that it was a nice change to come across a website dedicated to helping one remove all your hair. Headshaver.org is a website dedicated to the esoteric art of – well you get the picture. It explains not only how to shave your head, but also gives in depth reviews of shaving products from lubricants to blades. I had never even heard of half the products out there from Aveeno shave gel - go for the soy-based gel as opposed to the oatmeal-based gel to avoid gunking out your blade, to Avid Skinglider - choose the sensitive skin version for markedly less irritation, to Billy Jealousy's Hydroplane shave gel with micro silicone beads - expensive but worth it. Gillette? No longer the best a man can get.

The Three Phases

There are three phases of a hair’s life cycle, namely: anagen, catagen and telogen. The Anagen, or active, phase refers to the stage in which the hair grows continually - this normally lasts up to five years. The catagen, or transitional, phase refers to the phase in which old hair becomes dormant (stops growing) and a new hair begins its growth. This stage lasts between two and three weeks. The telogen, or resting, phase refers to the phase in which the new hair forces the old hair out from the follicle. This takes between ten to twelve weeks. To summarise: anagen, catagen, telogen. First, second, third. Looks like I’ve stalled in second...

B*ld-faced lie

There is a little war raging between etymologists on the internet regarding whether the expression that refers to lying should read bald-faced lie or bold-faced lie. Proponents of bald-faced lie argue along the lines that this refers to a lie that makes no effort to conceal itself - hence it is bald or not covered up. Advocates of bold-faced lie suggest that the expression refers to the lack of shame with which the lie is told- hence it is bold or brazen. This often-acrimonious debate rages on as we speak without any clear sign of a victor in sight. Heated though this debate may be, I personally don’t intend to lose any hair over it.

Scale of Dread

The Norwood-Hamilton Hair Loss Scale is dreadful. It is dreadful because it takes progressive hair loss, breaks it down into categories, and then summarises it into an easy-to-read wall-mountable chart. It is also dreadful because:

- It makes no reference at all to the denial experienced in stage 2, as in: “Oh my God, this isn’t happening to me.”

- It completely ignores the anger experienced in Stage 3, as in: “What the %^%@ are you looking at?”

- It neglects to mention the desperate bargaining experienced in Stage 4 as in: “Dear God, you know I’ve never asked you for anything before…”

- It totally skips the depression that sets in by Stage 5, as in: “Stuff like this always happens to me.”

- And it cannot begin to summarise the bitter acceptance of Stages 6 & 7, as in: “I suppose it’s not the end of the world.”

Solution to overcome the Scale of Dread: print it out and colour it in using brightly coloured crayons - do not bother trying to colour within the lines. Now paste it on your wall and smile as your remind yourself that while in some cases hair loss may be inevitable, in all cases the way you deal with it is not.

Bald on the 11th of July

The website baldrus.com is lobbying for the 11th of July to become the first Annual International Bald Holiday and are encouraging all bald people everywhere to exert all possible influence to help get this Holiday recognised. They have a manifesto that includes burning hairpieces, flushing hair-growth potions down the toilet, and donating testosterone to people with hair. If you ask me, it all sounds a little bit crazy. But then I remembered that in the sixties and seventies there was this little rights movement (you may remember it) that burned bras, took birth control potions and donated free love to all in need. 11th of July? I’m pencilling it in as we speak.

43things.com

The other day, I stumbled across a great website called 43things.com that encourages people to write down their goals (up to 43 of them to be precise). It also gives users an opportunity to hook up with other people that share the same goals, and in this manner 43things.com functions pretty much like a communal blog. What's nice is that if you like what someone has had to say about their particular goal or if you just want to encourage them along, you get to give them a cheer - 43things.com's equivalent of a pat on the back.

One person's stated goal is to find other people with Alopecia Universalis and there have indeed been some awesome responses to his call for Alopecians to unite - particularly from women. The most recent blog is from a 15 year-old girl struggling particularly because of her age to deal with hair loss. Her brave blog reminded me just how acutely image-conscious kids of a school-going age can be, and how difficult it is to fit in at the best of times. Though I recognise that we may not have a cure for her Alopecia, there is however a cure for her feelings of loneliness. So go ahead, log in, and give the girl a cheer.

New guide to DHT Inhibitors published at Hair Loss Heaven

A new guide to DHT Inhibitors has been published at Hair Loss Heaven and can be found here. Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) inhibitors - the best known of which is probably Propecia - are used to reduce the damaging effect which DHT has on hair follicles, often leading to baldness.

Happy New Year!

A very happy New Year to all our members and visitors!

2007 figures to be a big year for Hair Loss Heaven - we hope you'll join us.

Best wishes,

Mac