One of our favorite clients Aadit offers us a look on how he made the decision to step into 2018 with a new spring in his step.
Looking in the mirror everyday and hopelessly watching yourself go through hair loss is a painful experience, especially as a 22 year old. You gradually watch your head full of hair grow thinner and weightless. You become fixated in counting every strand of hair loss, combing your hair in every direction trying to hide the balding areas, refusing to post pics of yourself on social media, and even start to wear hats or beanies to avoid exposing yourself. Ultimately, losing hair in your early 20s, or at any age, significantly undermines your self-esteem and confidence.
My hair began thinning when I was 21 years old — I noticed more hair falling out when showering or when combing my fingers through my hair. My hair loss accelerated about a year later, when the thinning areas became more visible. The scariest part was seeing the physical transformation within a span of 3–4 months — it happened so fast and I didn’t know how to stop it.
I first consulted a doctor to determine if my hair loss was caused by a medical issue or simply genetics. Fortunately, the doctors and test results confirmed there was no medical concern; however, possible stress (I honestly couldn’t pinpoint what I could’ve been stressed about) and genetics were primary drivers for my hair loss. In short, they said it’s happening and going to continue happening.
When I recognized myself becoming emotionally preoccupied with my hair loss, I finally decided I needed to take action and started researching various ways to reverse hair loss and stimulate new hair growth. I started with the most accessible solutions — natural remedies. I spoke with family members and researched online on different shampoos, oils and supplements I could take and apply to my scalp. From fancy coconut oil scalp treatments to different scalp blood flow exercises (i know…I had no idea this was a thing either), 2–3 months went by and I saw no results.
I then decided to explore more “guaranteed” options and came across surgical transplants. I learned there were two main types of transplants: Follicular Unit Extraction (FOE) and Strip Harvesting. I’ll let Google provide the details on each, but essentially, both options require a surgical operation on your head and are costly as multiple surgeries are needed to get the full volume you want. First, after watching several videos of the different surgeries being performed, I grew uncomfortable with taking the risk of having someone operate on my head, even with the best surgeons. Second, multiple surgeries would be required to achieve the volume I wanted (each surgery is about $10k — $15k depending on the hair loss) and there was no guarantee it was permanent! The new hair transplanted could eventually follow the same hair loss pattern as your old hair. Overall, I excluded surgical implants as an option — it was expensive, risky, and not guaranteed.
By this time, I thought I exhausted all options aside from buying a fake wig — was definitely not thrilled about this option since wigs are super obvious and tacky. But, I did some more research and came across a new technology called Cesare Ragazzi hair systems. Cesare Ragazzi is a non-surgical and natural hair thickening system that creates a “second scalp” with real human hair, personalized to each person’s needs and characteristics. The Cesare Ragazzi hair system is essentially a high-tech wig which blends super naturally with your current hair and scalp shape. I’ll be honest, when I first read about this, I was a bit skeptical and thought it was too good to be true. I was on-board with the idea, but needed to see it for myself to be convinced.
I visited Prodigy Hair Studio with a list of questions I had about the Cesare Ragazzi hair system. Juan was super helpful and honest in explaining me the process and cost for the hair system, and even shared alternative solutions (most of which I already explored). He showed me samples of different hair systems and was even wearing one himself — which after I saw, I was sold this was the right solution for me. This hair system technology fit my needs perfectly — it was non-invasive, non-prosthetic and results would be seen instantly! In comparison to surgical solutions, the cost of 3 surgeries was equivalent to 10 years of keeping the hair system (by that time, I’m hoping I’ll be happily married and won’t need to worry about my looks as much :)). Overall, all aspects of this solution made sense for me, and most of all, I was very happy and comfortable with the Prodigy Hair Studio team who would be taking care of me throughout the process.
It’s been about a year and a half since my hair started thinning, and sometimes it is still hard to look in the mirror and see my hair go away. But now, I don’t feel as hopeless as I did before. We can either accept our hair loss or act on it — I chose to do the latter and went through the required homework to find the solution I am comfortable and confident about. If you or a family/friend are going through the same experience as me, I highly encourage you to go through all the options available and find the one that fits best for you. For me, it happens to be the Cesare Ragazzi hair system and I can’t wait for Juan to put it on so I can get my mojo back!!