Saturday Night Weaver

30th June 2010

I was interested to see an article the other day, commenting on John Travolta’s ‘possible’ hair loss and his attempt to cover it – in his case, with a hair piece.

The article made me think two things:

Firstly, I’m confident that there is no ‘possible’ about it – John has gradually been losing his hair for several years.

Secondly, whilst a hair piece may be suitable for him, it’s probably not the most desirable option for other men in the same situation.

I see many patients seeking hair transplants who, for whatever reason, aren’t eligible for surgery. This may be because of a lack of donor hair, or because the candidate may not yet know the full extent of their hair loss. These candidates can opt for other methods to conceal their hair loss.

Whilst John appears to have plumped for a hair piece (maybe due to his on screen roles), many men feel that a wig is too high maintenance. They also worry that people will clock their wig and that they’ll be open to ridicule. Men faced with this dilemma have been known to resort to some rather unorthodox methods of disguise – I’ve heard tales of men using eyeliner, boot polish and even car grease to conceal their loss (that particular gentleman soon regretted his decision when the grease began to melt in hot weather!).

The reality is there are now many professional camouflage products that are available, such as Couvre Masking Lotion, Toppik or Nanogen micro-fibres, Mane hairspray and DermMatch Topical Shading – all of which are far more competent at deceiving people and hiding hair loss.

I think it’s important for men to realise that there is a wide variety of solutions to help with all levels of hair loss. Whether it’s transplant surgery, medications or camouflage products…when it comes to covering up hair loss, grease is not the word!

Tags: hair loss, hair piece, Hair Transplant Surgery, John Travolta, weave