Korean Job Discussion Forums

[periwinkle]

Last week my husband's stylist told him he is losing his hair, and he said he thought it was due to stress. Can you lose hair due to stress? Also, the stylist changed my husband's hairstyle, telling him that changing his part is good, as it seemed his hair was thinner along his natural part. Also, he gave him a scalp treatment. I think it was some kind of exfoliating treatment. He also recommended that he buy this Italian shampoo that cost 28,000 won. He also bought a treatment you can use at home. It's supposed to be invigorating or something.

Anyway, my husband is extremely frugal, and he left the salon 100,000 won poorer. I had always thought that if you are losing your hair, you can't do anything about it. What do you think? I think the stylist is a snake oil salesman, but I don't know anything about male pattern balding....

[ajgeddes]

Stress for sure can cause you to lose hair. Stress can pretty much do anything to help you to an early grave and wearing down your body, including losing hair.

On the other hand, I have no idea if there is anything you can do about it by buying expensive Italian shampoo, unless it just has fewer chemicals and is easier on your scalp.

[hermes.trismegistus]

You can marginally retard the process using OTC remedies like that. Better results can be achieved through Rogaine, but you must use it daily, for life. You can also choose prescription drugs, but due to the long-term nature of the treatment, liver damage can result.

Scientists have been working on new treatment methods for male/female pattern baldness for a while now. Some of the newer research holds progress, but it may not be available for consumers for another 10 years or so. Until then, he may just want to come to grips with losing his hair.

Stress can certainly contribute to hairloss. An excess saturation of testosterone seems to also play a role, and of course, genetic predisposition.

Namaste.

[endofthewor1d]

shave it all off. that way it looks as though it was a personal choice.

[Dan The Chainsawman]

But not everyone wants to be a bald bad boy like you EOTW.

[hermes.trismegistus]

Not everyone wants to be blonde, brunette, chunky, stupid, genius, complacent, antagonistic, etc. Cognitive therapy helps with some issues, but it all revolves around acceptance. Acceptance of what we have power to change and acceptance of what we don't have power to change.

Namaste.

[poker player]

This is by no means scientific but as I have now lived 50+ years, I have seen a lot of my friends go bald just as their fathers did and a lot of my friends keep a full head of hair just as their fathers did. So as a point of reference tell your husband to look at his father's and grandfather's hair. There's a good chance that he's going to follow them.
Certainly stress could be a factor but I used to work in a very high stress job with 2 partners and we all still have a full head of hair. Again, I know, not a scientific study and everyone deals with stress differently.
And as far as spending all that money on hair saving solutions, the only thing I have ever seen work on my friends is hair plugs and that route is big bucks.
But let's face it, if you want to save your hair, you'll be any easy mark for the snake oil salesmen as you call them -and I agree with you-that's what they are.

[excitinghead]

I think stress, or to be more accurate lifestyle, is a big factor. I began to bald at the tender age of 23, but lost almost all of it the next year when as a newbie I was putting up with an horrendous split shift which left me with 6 hours sleep a night. In the genes too for sure, but didn't start happening to my dad until 20 years later.

I agree that you have to accept it. Like what a female friend told me about having small br_easts, there's nothing you can do about it so you just get over it. So now I have a shaved head now that I'm told suits me and I like it, especially in the summer. Sure, I'd like to change styles occasionally and can barely remember what having hair is like, and I especially hate many Koreans fascination with it, to the extent that Western friends like hanging out with me because no-ones looking at them for a change, but oh well.

[rothkowitz]

Lots of my middle school students have got an awful lot of grey hair coming through.Whats with that?

[EFLtrainer]

[VanIslander]

I've seen the family dog lose more hair when stressed out (travelling or when we got the cat or when my dad was away).

And I've heard about people who've lost more hair due to stress.

That said, for a frugal man to pay a hundred thou on that we know (a) he is worried about going bald; and (b) he was taken for a ride.

[riley]

EFL Trainer said:

Quote:

Already established that the pattern for faldness is carried on Mama's side. Check those maternal side dudes out.

You may be right but he said baldness.
Seriously, that's true, but in my case, my maternal grandfather seemed to have a good head of hair on him late in life, while my paternal grandfather and my father both lost their hair early on. I am slowly following in my father's footsteps.

Why did Peri's husband spend 100,000 on shampoo and such? Because we men are as vain as women, hell, we're more vain than women about our hair.
Sidenote: Has any of you balding guys said to the newbie, "Be careful of the water here. When I first came here, I had a full head of hair. Now look at me!" I said that to one guy and got him to

[Delirium's Brother]

I've been thining on top for about 23 years. Slowly at first, but a lot faster over the past couple of years.

stress: started lossing more hair when my emotional and worklife started going into the tank.

poor lifestyle: never ate well after leaving the nest, and I smoke. I don't have any comparative data on this one. but it makes sense.

genes: you get the balding gene from you mother, so look at your guy's maternal uncles. It has nothing to do with his dad (unless his dad is also his maternal uncle, but that's just creepy).

stress + poor lifestyle + genes = balding

I've never tried any of the prescription stuff, because the lifelong commitment and possible liver damage always freaked me out.

I've tried some of the over the counter stuff. It's all crap. If it slows the balding by even 5-10% I'd be surprised. But how would you know, humans aren't that good at spotting day-to-day changes in conditions/states less than 20% anyway. Its just a waste and costs a lot of money. Its just for psychological effect. (I hear kimchi cures baldness too ) If anyone actually invented a good therapy for baldness, it would sell viagra don't you think? My x-father-in-law used to sell salon quality hair products to salons and that was his thinking about it.

Anyway, most of the "good" ones try and clean the scalp and temporarily increase the blood-flow to the scalp. You can achieve the same effect with a good dandruff shampoo and a 15 minute scalp massage. And its a lot cheaper.

BTW the folicle stays alive and can regrow hair for up to ten years after if first loses its hair. So there's hope for all of us balding guy, for a while yet at least.

[ajgeddes]

[crystal]