Chapter 1 All About Hair and Hair Loss

In This Chapter

Getting to know your hair and why you have it

Acknowledging causes and the personal impact of hair loss

Considering temporary and permanent solutions

Looking forward to future developments in the field
You may wonder how we can write an entire book on the topic
of hair loss. You may think hair loss is an incurable condition,
so what is there to say about it? But hair loss doesn’t have to be
inevitable, even if your whole family is balding or thinning. You can
take steps to slow hair loss and replace the hair you’ve lost.
In this chapter, we introduce some facts about hair loss, including
who may experience it and, best of all, what your options are when
you start to feel air on the top of your head.
Who Cares About Hair? Everyone!
Even people who don’t pay much attention to their hair care when
it starts to thin or fall out. You may feel somewhat betrayed: You’ve
been kind to your hair, bought expensive shampoos, and kept up
with regular maintenance, and this is how it rewards you — by
falling out?
We take our youth and our hair for granted as long as we have
them. Then, certain things happen as we age — we sag, gain
weight, lose muscle tone — and we may not like them, but we
know we could fix them by exercise, diet, and lifestyle changes —
not that we will, necessarily, but we feel we could if we wanted to.
In other words, we still feel like we have control.
And then there’s hair. At least every month, in the case of most
men, we face our hair in the mirror at the hair salon, where for
some reason the situation always looks more dire than it does
at home.
“Is there as much hair there today as last month?” you ask your-
self. “That hair in the sink, in my shower drain, on my brush. Am I
going bald?” As your hair starts to disappear, you feel helpless
because you’re at the mercy of your hair; you can’t control its fall-
out any more than you can control the weather. To a young man of
twenty-one a receding hairline can seem like the end of the world.
Is it really hopeless? Of course not! If you’re just starting to lose
your hair, there are many things you can do to slow its loss; if
you’re bald already, there are still options to replace your hair or
cover up your bald pate. This book will help you, no matter what
stage your hair loss is in.