Does anyone besides myself think that hair transplant surgery should be covered by health insurance?

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I am a 24 year old male suffering from rapid male-pattern hair loss.

My hair started falling out somewhere between ages 18-20, and despite always having a lot of heart, will-power, and self-confidence, it has been a very frightening and depressing road.

It has come to the point where I can't leave my house without wearing a hat. In fact, even at home I wear a hat if any of my family or friends are around.

Basically, I find it very disappointing that 'genetic' hair loss is one of the least prioritised and most underfunded medical 'mysteries' out there. I find it even more disappointing that most of the supposed 'treatments' on the market are complete scams, and that the few that are legitimate such as full-out hair transplantation are so damned expensive!

And of course... worst of all, it is most disappointing that hair transplant surgery itself isn't covered by insurance because of its 'cosmetic' benefits.

Sure, any surgery that changes the way you look can be considered a "cosmetic" surgery. Like a paint job on a car! And of course, no car insurance provider is going to dish out money for you to get your car repainted, simply because you decided you wanted to try out a new color... but when the little old lady who bought way too many groceries and suffers from arthritis rockets her shopping cart into your car, isn't your insurance provider right there to help you get it fixed?

That's a little bit of an imaginative analogy but, I mean, it's not exactly like I wanted my hair to fall out!

And sure, if someone like me could argue that hair transplant surgery shouldn't be considered a "cosmetic" surgery, and/or should be at the very least, partially covered by my health insurance... than that's to say the same about ANY self-improving surgery right?

Well... not really... because when it comes to hair transplants, you're dealing with an entirely different level of self-improvement.

For instance, breast implants. Just like penile implants/enhancements, pectoral implants, or botox, you're talking about "improving" or ADDING something that never existed in the first place. You're literally adding objects(made up of various plastics, and chemicals) to your body simply because you didn't like the way your body developed.

Let's face it, this is America... land of the free, home of the greedy. Everyone 'wants' the next best thing... and everyone wants to look better, thinner, cooler, stronger... etc. than everyone else. Right? And if we feel that maybe nature was wrong, and we should have been made well-endowed we can all simply throw thousands of dollars into plastic surgery! (Yay!)

But ...on the contrary... hair-loss sufferers all "used to" have a full head of hair. Every single person, with the exception of those with rare diseases are born with a healthy, growing, full head of hair. And if we grow up, and we don't like the way it looks... thank god for hair salons and hairspray!

But trust me, it's a very dramatic and disgustedly realization that you're losing one of your best features. Especially for someone like me, who never wants more than he has... and always loved his natural face, body, and soul...

But now I'm a 24 year old male suffering from rapid male pattern hair loss. Now I want, not what I don't have, but what I used to have... what I feel that I should... have... a full head of hair.

To me, hair loss isn't "natural" ... if it were, we'd ALL lose our hair in our early 20's. "Genetics", they say... but you know what else is a genetic predisposition? Diabetes... Thyroid Conditions... Heart Disease... Cancers...

I do not want to be completely bald and helpless by age 30. Either they need to find a CURE for male pattern baldness, OR they need to make hair transplant surgeries ACTUALLY affordable(or covered by insurance, obviously).

*Sigh*

Do you agree? Input, input, input...

Additional Details

Side note: I'm tired of hearing all about how bald men are sexy!

We're all entitled to our opinions... but I'm not one of those people who just goes "Well, at least shaving my head would be in style!" *buzz*

I used to have beautiful, thick golden brown hair... not only did it go with my personality, but it covered up my naturally bumpy skull!

"Some" men can pull off a shaved head... and typically the ones that do... actually have a full head of hair. If they wanted to, they could not shave it, and it would all grow in evenly, over their entire scalp...

If I shaved my head, and waited a few days, it would come back in all patchy and gross looking...

When it comes down to it, this isn't a matter of trying to make sure I'm in-style... this is me wanting to hold onto one of my few great natural born physical features.

And I'm not comparing Hair Loss with terminal diseases. Health insurance typically covers treatment for those, as it should...

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

A year ago my husband suffered from hair loss too and he started trying everything you can imagine to stop his hair loss. the things that really worked for him was:

1) Vitamin A - an anti-oxidant which promotes healthy production of sebum in the scalp;

2) Vitamin E stimulates circulation. Good blood circulation in the scalp is important in keeping hair follicles productive. The 'B' vitamins contribute to melanin, which gives hair its healthy color and also stimulates blood circulation;

3) massage is also beneficial. Massage stimulates circulation. As already noted, good circulation in the scalp keeps hair follicles active. Experts suggest a few minutes of daily head massage by hand. Circulation through massage may be improved by using a few drops of lavender or bay essential oil in an almond or sesame oil base with massage;

4) Try rubbing your scalp with garlic juice, Onion Juice or Ginger Juice(you can either of one out of three, Do not mix any of two or three);

5) also he used herbal treatment - TrichoZed
It is a good product that helps prevent hair loss and it is an FDA approved product. I think it is very important!

It worked and still works for him!

I do not know if any pharmacies carry TrichoZed but I do know that you should purchase it directly from the manufacturer and read more about the product.

It enhances hair growth by blocking DHT (Dihydrotestostrone) - a major cause of hair loss!

Foreskin Restoration

All About The Penis Home Page

If you lost your foreskin through circumcision and wondered what it would be like to have one, you should know that you don't have to wonder any longer! If you don't know what you have been missing, here is your chance to discover the benefits of having a protective foreskin. That is because you can regain your foreskin through non-surgical foreskin restoration. While I now enjoy the benefits of a restored foreskin, it was quite a shock to me the day I found out what damage my normal "successful" circumcision had done.

When I was just hours old, I was forcibly strapped into a straight-jacket called a "circumstraint", and my foreskin was destroyed for "medical" reasons, crushed in a gomco clamp or other circumcision device, without anesthesia. This has been routine procedure for newborn boys in the USA over the past 100 years or so, only beginning to abate in recent years. The newborn circumcision rate in the USA has dropped from about 90% in the early 1970's to just over 50% today. But, like most boys born in the mid 1900's, I was victim to the procedure, with medical "benefits" that never did exist.

Except in very rare cases of penile abnormality, every human male is born with a foreskin. By puberty, the foreskin becomes mobile over the glans. so that it covers and protects the head of the penis when flaccid, and slides back to expose the glans when the penis becomes erect. Circumcision removes this protective sheath, with its most sensitive inner surface, leaving the glans exposed at all times. If your glans is normally covered by this skin sheath, you have a foreskin. If the glans of your penis is always bare, then you have no foreskin.

I didn't realize that there was any connection with problems I had with my penis and my neonatal circumcision until I entered my 50's, and my problems got worse. I was always slow to reach climax, but it got to where my already low sensitivity diminished to the point that I was having problems reaching climax at all. Also I had had lifelong problems of painful rubbing of my naked glans on my underwear (especially doing sports), and extremely tight skin during an erection. Turns out that my circumcision was very tight, removing all the foreskin, and probably 90% of the most sensitive and erogenous nerves in my body. What a blow when I learned this...it was taken from me as a vulnerable 2-day old, without my permission! Then began my search to try to undo some of the damage that had been done, and to alleviate my problems. That was when my urologist informed me about foreskin restoration. I do have to say that foreskin restoration can't bring back all those nerves that were destroyed, but it definitely helped restore some of the functionality of my penis, and protect the sensitive areas remaining.

Now my sensitivity is significantly improved, I have plenty of skin when I have an erection, and I never have painful rubbing of my glans on my underwear, even in heavy exercise. My most sensitive parts are always protected like a little cocoon by my foreskin.

"Non-surgical restoration" is accomplished by stretching the remaining sheath skin over the front of the penis, so that over time new skin actually grows to form an elongated tube of skin, capable of covering the glans when flaccid, just like a natural foreskin. Foreskin restoration has become popular in the past 15 years, especially in the USA, where most men have been circumcised.

The penile skin is, in effect, a tube of tissue covering the internal cylindrical shape of the penile shaft. The skin tube is attached at both ends, from the base of the penis (adjoining the body), to the end of the penis just under the glans, or head. Between the attached ends, the penile skin is not connected to the underlying structure. It is therefore mobile and floats over the enclosed shaft much like the eyelid floats over the eye. The skin tube in its natural shape is normally longer than the internal shaft it covers, and extends forward of the glans as the foreskin.

Foreskin restoration methods seek to tension the skin along the length of the penis in order to lengthen the foreskin. The most common methods of "tugging" involve taping a weight or elastic strap to the shaft skin of the penis to pull downward and stretch the foreskin, but can be as simple as pulling the shaft skin over the glans and taping it in place. I used all of these methods during my foreskin restoration.

If you had never heard of foreskin restoration, it might seem bizarre to hear that men are doing this. However, the concept of foreskin restoration is actually thousands of years old. The idea actually originated some two millennia ago, when Jewish athletes who had been circumcised pulled their remaining foreskin over the glans and tied it there to be able to compete in the original Olympics. The original Olympics were a nude, male only event, and an exposed glans was considered indecent for competitors, with its implications of sexual arousal. Today, reasons for foreskin restoration include low sensitivity of the penis, discomfort from the rubbing of the naked glans on underwear, discomfort from very tight shaft skin when erect, or perhaps simply a feeling of being incomplete without all the original body parts. Today, there are thousands of men who are actively restoring or have completed their restoration.

There are numerous networking and support groups for restorers, as well as other printed and web-based resources . Unfortunately, if you ask your doctor about it, he may never have even heard of it. He may well tell you that it cannot be done, or that it will make no difference to sexual function, or that it cannot improve sensitivity. And in the USA the chances are high that a doctor was himself circumcised just after birth, so he may never have considered, much less felt, the advantages of a foreskin.

Probably the best resource for getting started is the book “The Joy of Uncircumcising”. Although this book is out of print, it is available in libraries, through restoration web sites and on eBay, and a downloadable "PDF" version is available through the National Organization of Restoring Men (NORM). Many of the ideas in the book are available on the internet, when making a search for "foreskin restoration", but a good place to start is with the NORM web site: norm.org.

The time required for a final result varies for many reasons. It depends on the tightness of the circumcision, the stretch-ability of the skin, the age and physical condition of the individual, and the stretching methods used. Foreskin restoration generates a foreskin which will provide a protective sheath over the glans and remnants of the original inner foreskin, and it allows these areas to return to thinner, more sensitive mucosal tissue. As noted earlier, it cannot restore all the nerves, the blood vessels, the sensitive frenulum and the sensitive inner ridged band of the original intact foreskin. Nevertheless, with rare exceptions, men who have completed their foreskin restoration are pleased with the result. In fact, I have never spoken with a man who has completed restoration and says he wishes he hadn't done it.

For most men the process of growing a foreskin takes about 2-3 years, and some accomplish it in as little as 12 months. For me, it took longer than most men - about 6 years - since I had a very tight circumcision to start with, and skin that doesn't stretch very quickly. So you might ask - was it really worth it?

Yes! I'd do it all over again if I had to. It does take time and patience, but eventually you get results. Although it took me a long time, my gains were greater than I expected when I started the process: improved sensitivity, protection from rubbing of the naked glans especially during athletic activity, and less skin tension which results in more comfort on the penis and scrotum during erections and sexual activity. I just wish I'd started as a teenager... except that foreskin restoration was unheard of at that time!

You also will need the support and understanding of your partner, since sex can definitely lose its spontaneity during restoring. On the other hand, if restoring is too much of an inconvenience, you can always discontinue it until it is more convenient. That simply extends the time to get results.

My experience, as other restored men attest, is that sex is most certainly better after restoration than before. You will find that during intercourse, you can thrust much more gently to get the same stimulation, and a foreskin also makes it more comfortable for your partner. In fact, sometimes even just undulating your hips will provide enough vaginal stimulation on the penis. Many restored guys find they can masturbate through the foreskin, by stroking up and down on the outside of the foreskin, being stimulated simply by the pressure and interaction of the inner foreskin and glans, with no lubricant required!

15-Minute Laser Hair Removal? LightSheer Duet Laser

Phoenix Arizona Real Estate Local News and Business Directory

LightSheer DUET Makes it Happen

Laser hair removal is now as routine as shaving. With its popularity growing, the technology continues to advance. The newest advancement, the LightSheer DUET laser, is revolutionizing the way laser hair removal is done. This brand new technology is a breakthrough in that its treatments are as much as three times faster than conventional lasers—and, unlike other lasers, it is essentially pain free. This opens up the procedure to so many who, for fear of pain, were either afraid to try it or tried it once and swore it off. Men with hairy backs who would rather wax (OUCH!) can rejoice and women who swear by a daily shaving routine can now ditch the razors for good.

The best part about this new laser is that since it saves so much time on the treatment—taking only 15 minutes—it is easier to fit into your schedule and the treatment cost is less because it saves your medical provider time.

LightSheer DUET Gets the Job Done…Quickly
This new laser hair removal technology incorporates the gold standard LightSheer laser, long revered for its efficacy, with a new method of delivering the laser light. The part that dermatologists find exciting is the new DUET treatment tip—the portion of the laser that meets the surface of the skin. This tip is five times larger than a traditional tip, which means it treats a much larger area with just one zap. A larger tip also means that the discomfort is actually much decreased. Because the tip is larger, it allows the laser to operate at a much lower energy level to accomplish the same hair removal results as traditional lasers. All you will feel is some mild warmth and the gentle suction that the tip uses to draw the skin in closer to the laser source

This fast and virtually painless laser hair removal treatment is easy, affordable and pleasant. As a bonus, unlike many laser hair removal treatments, nearly any skin type—from the fairest to the darkest, including tan skin—can be safely and effectively treated with LightSheer DUET.

Things to Remember Before Getting Laser Hair Removal
Before you get any laser hair removal treatments, keep in mind that several treatments are needed to obtain permanent hair reduction. Also, all laser hair removal is most effective when the hair to be treated is darker than the surrounding skin. This is because the lasers work by breaking down and destroying the dark pigment in the hair. Due to the laser’s sensitivity to dark pigment, it will also target melanin in the skin if the treatment is not administered properly. That means that those with darker skin become more susceptible to laser mishaps. This is why it is very important to make sure your treatment is done by a certified healthcare provider and directly supervised by a qualified physician.