'It can leave your self-image fractured': how hair loss hits men – and what they can do about it

The Observer and Guardian Online
March 2021
My hair loss journey
Freelance journalist and filmmaker Michael Segalov opens up about his hair loss journey in The Observer Magazine. At 27 years of age, he discusses his baldness fears while speaking to experts and scientists about what he can do to take the problem head-on.
He describes how male pattern baldness runs in his family, with his father having a “a shiny, hairless head with some growth protruding around the edges for the 27 or so years” that he has been alive. He also mentions how his grandfather had a classic “combover,” while his two brothers fared a bit better with receding hairlines, but still visible hair loss.
Being surrounded by family members suffering from male pattern baldness, he has had a “morbid fascination” with the possibility of going bald, and talks about how he has spent hours “agonising” over how he could potentially minimise the effects of the inevitable hair loss situation that he faces thanks to his family’s genetics.
He also comments on the societal pressures placed on men to have a plentiful head of hair. He comments:
“When it comes to male hair loss, there’s been little in the way of a body positivity movement. There has never been a bald James Bond nor a hairless contestant on Love Island. Growing up, bald men were never the superheroes and always the villains.”

The Private Clinic Hair Loss Consultation
The effect of all this is that many men can end up having a bit of “fractured self-image.” However, there are treatments available to help with the hair loss issue, and with this in mind, Michael takes an appointment with The Private Clinic’s leading hair transplant and aesthetic surgeon Michael Mouzakis to discuss his options. During the consultation, Mr Mouzakis discusses the options available to male pattern baldness sufferers to reduce hair loss. These include taking prescription “finasteride pills” or over-the-counter “Minoxidil lotion…to help invigorate those indecisive follicles.” However, these pills have side effects and the lotion requires long-term daily application in order to be effective. This is where a physical hair transplant can help.
Mr Michael Mouzakis explains:
“Hair loss is a medical condition you can fight. We take follicles from a healthy area less prone to hair loss, generally the back of the head, and put it into the recipient area at the front.” In the last few years, this technology has come a long way.”
Mr Mouzakis also emphasises how the treatment requires “a lot less labour” if you “get in early,” or treat the area of male pattern baldness before the hair really starts to recede. This makes the hair transplant cheaper, and you “can also have the procedure under local anaesthetic and be discharged the same day.”
To find out more about hair transplant treatments at The Private Clinic, call us on 0333 920 2471. Alternatively, book a consultation using our contact form.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE GUARDIAN / OBSERVER ONLINE