Rogaine treatment bolsters hair growth, confidence

Just like if you shaved the mane of lion, men seem to lose something if they start to go bald.

Because of this, and the hair loss on the top of my head, I decided to use Rogaine to see whether I could reverse it.

Other men, I found, also ponder the sad state of affairs topping their heads.

Jeremy Carther, a sophomore computer science major, currently shaves his head to mask his bald spots.

"I have a terrible receding hairline," he said. "I just got a little sprout in the back of the top of my head."

He's tried using down-home remedies to tempt the hair back, like carrot oil. Nothing happened.

He's balding, he says, because his "body's growin' too fast."

"My dad's balding, but he balded like 10 years later then I did," he said. "It seems to be in the family."

Overall, he said, it doesn't lower his self-esteem too much. He doesn't care now that he's in college, but in high school - when the balding started to spread - it was a big deal.

Surprising, he's happy being bald.

"It's a distinctive look," he said. "I wouldn't stand out as much."

But those donning gorgeous, Fabio-esque hair don't want to part with their lovable locks.

Jesse Grimm, a junior education major, has some of the most gorgeous man-hair I have ever seen.

He'd be depressed without his hair, he said.

"Chicks don't dig baldness," he said.

Plus, men with hair have a workplace advantage - even though he felt that it shouldn't necessarily be that way.

But what if his Californian-surfer locks started to recede, a la Bruce Willis?

"I'm a pretty strong-willed person, so it wouldn't lower my self-esteem," he said.

Dr. Stuart Westburg, a dermatologist at the Lincoln Dermatology Clinic, said male pattern baldness is caused by a combination of inheritance and hormones.

He said some men's hormones affect the hair follicles and shrink them down. Once they become too narrow, they are eventually lost.

Men and women bald in different ways, he said.

"Some bald more in the frontal area around the forehead and the temples, and some bald on the vertex, or the top of the scalp," he said.

Westburg said only a couple of treatments have proven helpful in combating balding and carry the Food and Drug Administration's stamp of approval: Propecia and Minoxidil.

Propecia is a hormone, and minoxidil is contained in Rogaine. .

Originally, the chemicals in Rogaine were used in high blood pressure treatments. Experts noticed people started to grow excessive hair as a side effect.

He added that the treatments don't necessarily work in all cases, and they sometimes take a long time. They must be used at length, and users won't necessarily see immediate results.

In my trials with Rogaine, I was incredibly surprised to see that it seemed to work. I thought I saw no difference, but coworkers and friends were also surprised when I showed them the top of my head.

This makes me believe they were never telling me how bad it must've been.

It's easy to apply - once in the morning and once a few hours before you go to bed. You take a little dropper, fill it up with the solution, sprinkle it on the top of your head, rub it around and then wash your hands.

But even though the box claims Rogaine has no fragrance, it did have somewhat of a smell - although neither distressing nor repugnant. It also tended to make that part of my hair feel a little different, almost as if I had put a tiny amount of hair gel on the top of my head.

As a man, I have always been self-conscious about my hair. I had incredibly long hair in high school and going bald at the age of 20 was very distressing.

Luckily, I was balding on the top of my head - where Rogaine treatment is most effective. My dad bought me some Rogaine on a fluke just to see if it worked.

Those with receding hairlines won't see any effect, though. Instead, try Propecia.

Thanks to Rogaine, I was able to look good with my new haircut and boost my self-esteem. I may not have a beautiful, lion-like mane of hair, but I'm certainly working with what I've got.

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