Parts to this lesson:
- About this programme
- Why your consistency will be vital to your success
- Lee: A case study
- How to improve consistency
Lee - A Case Study
Case Study: Real life account by Lee Cunningham
"I remember it as if it were yesterday. I was in my mid 30’s. My hair was long and naturally curly. I had just recently met a beautiful girl. It may sound ‘soft’ but she really was the girl of my dreams and I fell deeply in love with her. Although we went on to marry this was back when I’d just met her… when I was most conscious of my own appearance.
I lived alone at the time. One day I was shampooing my hair over the bath and suddenly became aware of the enormous amount of hair being lost as I rinsed.
It was awful. I honestly thought a couple of weeks of this and I’ll be bald. I didn’t know what to do. I became immediately worried; neurotic even.
I stopped shampooing for a few days naively thinking it would help. But with a beautiful new girlfriend you don’t really want smelly hair. (We went out a lot and it was the days when smoking was still allowed in bars and clubs.)
I tried all kinds of hair loss products over a relatively short period of time and some even at the same time thinking a combination might work better or faster, or both. I tried all kinds of lotions and potions. I tried creams, foams and nutrition.
Nothing seemed to work and so my worry continued. I became hypersensitive; I felt my worry was actually making things worse. I got myself into a right pickle.
The truth is I didn’t have a clue what was happening or why. I didn’t have a plan. I didn’t have a clue what the products I was using were for or how they worked. I didn’t know what to expect in terms of results. I just wanted the hairs to stop floating ‘plugward’ at the rate I was seeing. I was clutching at straws.
"I remember it as if it were yesterday. I was in my mid 30’s. My hair was long and naturally curly. I had just recently met a beautiful girl. It may sound ‘soft’ but she really was the girl of my dreams and I fell deeply in love with her. Although we went on to marry this was back when I’d just met her… when I was most conscious of my own appearance.
I lived alone at the time. One day I was shampooing my hair over the bath and suddenly became aware of the enormous amount of hair being lost as I rinsed.
It was awful. I honestly thought a couple of weeks of this and I’ll be bald. I didn’t know what to do. I became immediately worried; neurotic even.
I stopped shampooing for a few days naively thinking it would help. But with a beautiful new girlfriend you don’t really want smelly hair. (We went out a lot and it was the days when smoking was still allowed in bars and clubs.)
I tried all kinds of hair loss products over a relatively short period of time and some even at the same time thinking a combination might work better or faster, or both. I tried all kinds of lotions and potions. I tried creams, foams and nutrition.
Nothing seemed to work and so my worry continued. I became hypersensitive; I felt my worry was actually making things worse. I got myself into a right pickle.
The truth is I didn’t have a clue what was happening or why. I didn’t have a plan. I didn’t have a clue what the products I was using were for or how they worked. I didn’t know what to expect in terms of results. I just wanted the hairs to stop floating ‘plugward’ at the rate I was seeing. I was clutching at straws.
I went to see my GP about the problem after about three weeks though to be honest he wasn’t very empathic or helpful. He may as well have patted me on the back and said “Welcome to middle age Son.” He suggested I would notice less hair loss if my hair was kept in a shorter style.
Stupidly I listened to this and got my hair cut. The photos aren’t close ups so don’t reveal the extent of the issue I had. Looking back the ‘before’ photo looks like a pretty good head of hair I guess but it’s all relative; it really was coming out in clumps. It might look like there’s a lot of hair but it was very thin on top.
After around six weeks of nothing working I revisited my GP again. He reluctantly scribbled a note for the nurse to take blood samples; the tests took a further week to come through. They returned normal. My doctor pretty much shrugged his shoulders.
Around week eight I booked to see a specialist hair and scalp expert in a small clinic in Manchester. There my worries were understood and I didn’t feel as if I was being so neurotic.
The trichologist took a full medical history, asked quite a lot of questions and took hair samples which he analysed. He also asked for details of my earlier blood test results which I provided after the visit.
Then at last encouraging news. I was told that my hair loss was treatable. That with a patient and consistent approach using a product that he would supply he felt getting my hair loss back to a normal level would be achievable,,, though not instant.
He also told me that my hair loss was not down to any underlying issue with my immune system and, though I did not quite understand exactly what might have been, it clearly was a relief to hear this.
Surprisingly no ‘in clinic’ treatment would be necessary; just another interim appointment in three and six months to check my scalp and an invitation to call in case I experienced any problems. This was all very welcome news.
How Long Will It Take?
Of course this was my next question, what else? However the answer I received didn’t fill me with the same elation as the first bit of news.
The trichologist explained to me that if, on examining a hair loss sufferer’s scalp after six months of treatment, it is found to be in the same condition as it was on their first visit – with no further reduction in hair ‘density’ then the treatment is considered a success.
It can take 2-3 years for hair to thicken back up to levels experienced in the past. Obviously there is a scale, with polar opposites. Some people will experience very fast results and others much slower. But no one is going to get a result with a single bottle of any hair loss product currently available. It just isn’t going to happen. Ad-hoc short-term use of different remedies can also thwart success.
Consistency Caution
Though I’ll never forget how good it felt to be told my condition was treatable, neither will I forget the emphasis that the trichologist then placed on having a consistent approach to using the product. Of course he was right.
“You’d never go for a single run and expect to get fit. You’d never go to the gym once or twice and expect to lose weight or put on muscle. Nor could you expect good results with an inconsistent approach.” He said. “Using these products is exactly the same. There is a compound effect and it is only brought about by using a consistent daily approach. To miss a day could jeopardise any progress that you have and risk sending you backward towards the day you first noticed you were losing your hair badly.”
Then he looked at me sternly and said “Now. Since you have paid good money for my services I assume that is certainly not what you want, is it?” I felt like I was being told off up-front but I agreed with him, “Definitely not.”
“Good” he went on, “Then dispose of any products that you have remaining. Expect no immediate result... this is not an overnight fix. Nothing is. Overnight and even short term fixes are the stuff of fairy-tales or rip-off merchants. Hair grows VERY slowly. The scalp adjusts VERY slowly. It takes TIME… Use the product I’ve prescribed to you EVERY DAY, and I will see you in three months.”
I heeded his advice and religiously used the product. I honestly never missed a day. Once whilst working away I left the hotel dinner table to return to my room to apply the product!
I visited him twice more as planned then I used the product for 18 months before a brief video call on which we agreed a product cessation plan. I’d seen a great slow down in hair fall by three months and good thickening by 11-12 months.
I’ll never know just how much one missed application might have set me back – I really couldn’t say. I’m delighted though to say with continued use, my hair thickened; the rate of loss slowed to my normal and, when I married that ‘girl of my dreams’ I had a full head of hair in my wedding photos!
Stupidly I listened to this and got my hair cut. The photos aren’t close ups so don’t reveal the extent of the issue I had. Looking back the ‘before’ photo looks like a pretty good head of hair I guess but it’s all relative; it really was coming out in clumps. It might look like there’s a lot of hair but it was very thin on top.
After around six weeks of nothing working I revisited my GP again. He reluctantly scribbled a note for the nurse to take blood samples; the tests took a further week to come through. They returned normal. My doctor pretty much shrugged his shoulders.
Around week eight I booked to see a specialist hair and scalp expert in a small clinic in Manchester. There my worries were understood and I didn’t feel as if I was being so neurotic.
The trichologist took a full medical history, asked quite a lot of questions and took hair samples which he analysed. He also asked for details of my earlier blood test results which I provided after the visit.
Then at last encouraging news. I was told that my hair loss was treatable. That with a patient and consistent approach using a product that he would supply he felt getting my hair loss back to a normal level would be achievable,,, though not instant.
He also told me that my hair loss was not down to any underlying issue with my immune system and, though I did not quite understand exactly what might have been, it clearly was a relief to hear this.
Surprisingly no ‘in clinic’ treatment would be necessary; just another interim appointment in three and six months to check my scalp and an invitation to call in case I experienced any problems. This was all very welcome news.
How Long Will It Take?
Of course this was my next question, what else? However the answer I received didn’t fill me with the same elation as the first bit of news.
The trichologist explained to me that if, on examining a hair loss sufferer’s scalp after six months of treatment, it is found to be in the same condition as it was on their first visit – with no further reduction in hair ‘density’ then the treatment is considered a success.
It can take 2-3 years for hair to thicken back up to levels experienced in the past. Obviously there is a scale, with polar opposites. Some people will experience very fast results and others much slower. But no one is going to get a result with a single bottle of any hair loss product currently available. It just isn’t going to happen. Ad-hoc short-term use of different remedies can also thwart success.
Consistency Caution
Though I’ll never forget how good it felt to be told my condition was treatable, neither will I forget the emphasis that the trichologist then placed on having a consistent approach to using the product. Of course he was right.
“You’d never go for a single run and expect to get fit. You’d never go to the gym once or twice and expect to lose weight or put on muscle. Nor could you expect good results with an inconsistent approach.” He said. “Using these products is exactly the same. There is a compound effect and it is only brought about by using a consistent daily approach. To miss a day could jeopardise any progress that you have and risk sending you backward towards the day you first noticed you were losing your hair badly.”
Then he looked at me sternly and said “Now. Since you have paid good money for my services I assume that is certainly not what you want, is it?” I felt like I was being told off up-front but I agreed with him, “Definitely not.”
“Good” he went on, “Then dispose of any products that you have remaining. Expect no immediate result... this is not an overnight fix. Nothing is. Overnight and even short term fixes are the stuff of fairy-tales or rip-off merchants. Hair grows VERY slowly. The scalp adjusts VERY slowly. It takes TIME… Use the product I’ve prescribed to you EVERY DAY, and I will see you in three months.”
I heeded his advice and religiously used the product. I honestly never missed a day. Once whilst working away I left the hotel dinner table to return to my room to apply the product!
I visited him twice more as planned then I used the product for 18 months before a brief video call on which we agreed a product cessation plan. I’d seen a great slow down in hair fall by three months and good thickening by 11-12 months.
I’ll never know just how much one missed application might have set me back – I really couldn’t say. I’m delighted though to say with continued use, my hair thickened; the rate of loss slowed to my normal and, when I married that ‘girl of my dreams’ I had a full head of hair in my wedding photos!
Parts to this lesson:
- About this programme
- Why your consistency will be vital to your success
- Lee: A case study
- How to improve consistency