Are Women Candidates for Hair Transplant?

If you think of the word “balding”, you may immediately imagine middle-aged men with receding hair lines. Although there are more men turning towards hair restoration procedures, women are also candidates for hair transplant. Women also have the threat of losing their hair more rapidly than the normal way because of the different chemicals they wash and style their hair with.

Answering the Question

So yes, women are actually candidates for hair transplant. In fact, studies show that 6 out of 10 women suffer from balding or hair loss/ thinning of hair. As there are newer methods of hair transplant which appear more natural and long-lasting, women have a lot of options to looking good (with hair!) again.

Hair Loss/ Thinning Vs. Balding

Balding is the process where hairs fall off and no new hairs will grow in their place. Hair loss/ thinning is simply the loss of hair in certain areas of the head and the possibility of other hair “replacements” is possible, however, may be achieved after quite a long time. This nuance is something that you should remember so that you will know how to properly deal with your situation.

Also, hair loss is different for women. While men lose their hair by becoming bald and the baldness starting from their foreheads or at the crown, women’s hair just thins out and the hairs in the front and the sides usually remain intact. It’s like a Barbie doll-look.

When women start seeing stray hairs in their pillows, they easily become shaken. This is because of women’s fear of becoming bald. You know how the hair is paid much attention when it comes to judging a woman’s beauty. In fact, the words “crowning glory” are directly associated with the hair. So, when something unusual is happening to a woman’s hair (e.g. become burnt by hair iron, has the wrong cut, “died” because of a hair treatment gone wrong), it is utterly heartbreaking for the woman. Yes, even hair loss/thinning.

The Social Battle

Whenever the quality of the hair is being threatened, a woman easily loses her confidence. There will be even more dangerous psychological results in this losing of self-confidence. In fact, there have been cases of suicide which were directly linked to a woman’s hair loss. A lot of people think about a woman’s hair loss as a symbol of femininity voidance.

If you’re one of these women who suffer from hair loss, if it’s not that grave yet, don’t overanalyze things. You need to quantify first what’s “hair loss” and what’s not. This is because it is normal to shed off 50-100 strands of hair every day. They just, naturally, fall off. They fall off when you brush your hair, when you walk around, when you do and undo your hairstyle and even whenever you tuck hair behind your ear. However, if you think the number that you see in your hairbrush + the bathroom + your pillow is abnormal, perhaps you’re suffering really from hair loss/ thinning.

What you need to remember is that sometimes, it’s only you who is being paranoid about the thinness of your hair. If it’s not really that obvious, do not lose confidence in yourself. There have been a lot of stories about patients overrating the mere thinning of their hair and directly concluding hair loss. Because of this, they skipped attending a lot of social gatherings and missed out on a lot of things. Do not fall into this trap. The best thing that you can do is to simply see a specialist.

Finding the Right Cure

There are a lot of things in the market which promise thicker hair, a healthier scalp and some creams which encourage hair growth. However, these things are not really curable especially if the case is really grave. Take for example women who have clumps of hair falling when they brush their hair. It’s as if they’ve undergone Chemotherapy! The superpower shampoos and wonder creams won’t be able to cure these things, and you should remember that. Only a hair transplant surgery or any other medical hair restoration procedure will solve that problem.

For women, there are a lot of options to choose from. First, there is a cosmetic procedure known as “extensions installation” where the there is a semblance of “grafting” but it doesn’t really include having donor tissues. It just “extends” the hairs and thus make it look fuller and longer. Second, there is an anti-baldness pill called Propecia. It has recently been proven safe for women. Third, there is always the option of a hair restoration procedure or a hair transplant, which costs relatively higher but, with good research, will give you a better result.

Why We Love Coffee Shops

Davao City is famous for it's livability. One reason for such fame is Davao's "relaxed" atmosphere. Meaning, Davaoeños prefer a more "relaxed" lifestyle. Notice that there are less night clubs and bars in Davao than in Cebu or Manila. Also, there is the budding of spa stations, salons and massage parlors; nameless or franchised.

What I will be discussing in this blog post is the trend which plagues Davao city: the rise of coffee shops. If you stand somewhere in Claveria, San Pedro or Bajada, for every coffee shop, there is another coffee shop within a 5 meter radius. What's with the coffee shop craze?

It's Luxurious

People just love the G-L-Amourous life...yes, even if it's something that they don't really have. Coffee, tea, pasta and meals served in coffee shops are expensive. And at times, they're not even gastronomically worth it! However, people hang out at coffee shops (and even dine there!) because they're expensive. It makes them feel rich and luxurious. Hanging out at a coffee shop is a "lease" for Class A life.

It's Relaxing

Coffee shop interior design and architecture are designed to relax a person. From the shapes (Zen, Asian Tropical, whatever you call it) to the colors to the materials being used to put together a coffee shop atmosphere provides ease to our senses, which evokes relaxation from within.

Lately, technology forces us to do things which we were not capable of doing before. Technology pushes us to achieve things which we may have not thought of before. In effect, because of technology, people are actually doing MORE than they used to. So, a little form of relaxation is something that we are willing to pay for even if it costs us a lot. Coffee shops provide relaxation. And I'm often guilty of being under this spell.

It's the Coffee

Okay, okay. Sometimes, it's just the coffee. Brewing coffee at home everyday is tedious. If you're the kind of person who is (a little) impatient, then of course, you'd just prefer dropping by a coffee shop near your office/school. Moreover, maybe the beans which coffee shops use are better, or that their machine is better. So, yeah, sometimes, it's the coffee.

It's the In-Thang

Everybody does it..Sure. The rise of coffee shops have literally raised the bar on drinking-coffee activities. Before, first dates were dinner-and-movie. Now, first dates are "coffee"! Today, more and more business transactions are even closed in coffee shops! (Talk about real estate, buy-and-sell products and even business interviews!) The coffee shop as a rendezvous have been normalized because of it's massive exposure and frequency of this exposure towards us. Through this normalization people "expect" to do certain things at coffee shops because everybody does it anyway.

It's the Experience

To sum it all up, the reason why we love coffee shops is because of the experience that comes with it. We recognize that having coffee, "hanging out" and dining at coffee shops is expensive but we still choose to do so because of the feelings that the experience gives us. Whenever we decide whether to go or not to go to a coffee shop, these feelings push us into a position that we are WILLING TO PAY for the experience and the coffee, food and other drinks will just become tangential.

It's kinda like going to Timezone, spending P100 and getting a pencil case from the tickets you've earned. What's different is that Timezone doesn't hide under the cloak of being a school supply store or a toy store. It IS a recreational center. So you pay for the experience. Coffee shops pretend to sell coffee, pasta and homemade drinks.

We're doomed!

Men are insensitive. (giggles)

Funny anecdotes about men's usual lack for detail-minding and sensitivity (sometimes).

Shirt Change

Last week, I went out with a guy for a movie. We both wanted to enter the movie house just before the trailers start so we walked around the mall for awhile to target the movie schedules good. I wore a bright orange blouse. (So bright I looked like an early warning device.) After the movie, I told him I wanted to go to the CR. I changed into a blue-and-gray striped blouse and when I got back, HE DID NOT SAY ANYTHING! He did not even react. His face was like, normal. I rolled my eyes many times that day.

A Clueless YM Conversation

Bitchvarsity: My head is aching and my PC unit is screwing up. I might not be able to finish my work. Gawd!
Guy: Okay. Just buzz me when you're done.

Haha. Eh "Guy" can totally do my work for me. He's a writer too. And that time, I only needed 120 words more. However, it took very long for him to offer. Haha. It was a crazy experiment. But my headache was a killer too.

Did You Cut Your Hair?

I cut my hair once a month and the guy I'm going out with for almost a year doesn't realize 80% of the time. Also, when he thinks there's something "different with the way I look", he assumes it's the earrings. Naivete at its finest.

"Why do you like shopping so much?"

Irrelevant question. Zip.

Instant Pick-me-Uppers

1. Chocolate Mousse
When I was in Iloilo, participating at the most stressful tournament I ever had (I was sick and weak), Bruneson always wanted to eat Chocolate mousse everytime a day ends. I always brushed his request off my shoulder because it sounded pathetic. I mean, how can a sugarful dessert scoop me out of that dirt? I kept feeling worse each day. I got 2 rounds of full body massage and still I'm not feeling better. When we were at the Iloilo airport for our flight back to Davao, Ria bought a slice of Chocolate Mousse. I took one bite off, and man, it's like a wave crashed towards me, tipping me over, breaking me apart and bringing me back in one piece...as if I was whole from the start. It made me forget that my breakfast was inadequate. It made me feel good about coming back home. It made me realize that I have other chances of improving myself in other tournaments. From now on, I will be associating Chocolate mousse with positive stimuli. I hope you do to.

2. Uptown Girl
There's something so happy, inviting and relieving with this song. If you listen to it (the Westlife version), it shows traces of theatrics, the way the voices blend and how the words being used can easily paint images. Moreover, what I like about this song is that it talks about love/infatuation at its simplest sense, using the simplest words and expressions.

3. Wearing Super Light Blush On
Everytime I feel sick, I feel like I look like a mess even if I dip my head in conditioner. What I do to feel better is that I wear light blush on, a shade which blends perfectly with my skin. It's the classic no-make-up makeup, and it works everytime. People come up to me and say there's something that looks "pleasant" in my face but they can't really pinpoint which. When they finally give up, I just tell them I tweezed my brows. Neat, huh?

4. Hannah Montana
I just love this kid. A lot of people think Hannah Montana is a "shallow" show; it's satirical, tween-focused and West-hugging. With these in mind, it makes watching Hannah Montana (and loving her!) one of the easiest things in the world. Nonetheless, it's funny! The characters and circumstances are exaggerated, yes, and that's just the perfect break you need in a haste-driven world. Give it a try. I got two seasons down already.