How to love and support a balding man... and how to help him!

I met my husband Daniel when we were in our early twenties. He was tall, handsome, and had a full hair of golden curls. Neither of us thought about hair loss for a minute. Neither of us thought that hair loss treatment would one day become our personal crusade.

After our second baby, both of us went into high gear. We were juggling two young kids, two careers, a mortgage, and just general wear and tear. You know how it is, the pipes freeze one winter, the roof leaks the next summer, the kids have the flu, or strep throat, or another kid in school hits them. It's the day to day stuff that kills you.

Between the work stress, the home stress, not having time to cook properly nutritious meals, neither of us was living healthy. I was the lucky one between us, because I'm a naturally calmer person (and religiously do yoga), and managed to keep myself in check. Daniel, however, was stressed beyond belief. One of the side effects was that his beautiful hair, his golden curls, were coming out in clumps in the shower.

Daniel's uncle also lost his hair early, but his hair was never nearly as thick as Daniel's, so we didn't think much of it at the time. But genetically, it turned out that Daniel had a tendency for Male Pattern Baldness. The stress gave that genetic tendency a boost, and by the time Daniel was 35, he had those "bays" and was really losing his hair in a noticeable way. He cut off his curls, and started obsessing with his hair loss.

He bought Rogaine. He bought any product advertised, natural or not. He would do absolutely anything to reverse the effects, to have his curls back. But he would have even been happy with just stopping the hair loss. Finding some treatment, some cure, that would at least prevent him from losing any more hair.

He slowly became more and more depressed. I tried comforting him, telling him again and again that it didn't matter, that I love him to pieces, and that he's still the most beautiful man I've ever known, and still sexy, and still fabulous. I actually loved his new look, I thought the short hair suited him, made him look better. More of a man.

It was to no avail. He was, to be honest, inconsolable.

So I decided to take action. Being a natural remedy fan, for everything from homeopathy to acupuncture, nutrition, and healing, I decided that I should research everything I can about hair loss, and find a combination of actions that will reduce the causes of balding, and if at all possible, find some natural remedy to promote new hair growth. By saving Daniel's hair, I was saving him, and by saving him, I was saving our relationship, our love, and our family.

The first cause I found, both online and with doctors, was STRESS.

So the first thing we did was radically change our lifestyle. We made a choice to work one hour less a day, and play one hour more. Daniel began to go to yoga with me three times a week. I made sure that every morning, before he went to work, he stopped and breathed for a few minutes, just charging up. I made sure that both of us had private time. I made sure that we unwound after work. It wasn't easy, but it paid off in a big way - Daniel became less worried about his hair loss. And the less worried he was, the less generally stressed he was, and the less hair was clogging the drain in the shower.

The second cause was A DIET HIGH IN SATURATED FATS AND GREASE.
It all started when I read an excellent article about hair loss and nutrition.

We immediately stopped eating junk food. Because I was working a little less, suddenly I had energy to cook. We substituted that bucket of fried chicken (bought on the way home) with salad, fish, whole grains, homemade pasta, in short - we just ate well. When we did occasionally order in or pick up some takeout, we avoided fast food like McDonald's and KFC. We'd get some Indian or Chinese, or even a pizza from the Italian Pizzeria around the corner, that bakes real pizza in a brick oven with fresh buffalo mozzarella and a thin crust. We made sure that greasy food wasn't a part of our daily diet, and was reserved for a treat, like a full brunch with pancakes and eggs and bacon. We made sure we ate a lot of fruits and vegetables.

This, too, was a success. First of all, we had more energy. We weren't as dog tired as we used to be by the end of the day. Suddenly i felt that juggling a career, two kids, hamsters, cats, dogs, a husband, and housekeeping was so horrible and hard after all. I was more focused at work, and so got more done in less time. Daniel was happier and healthier, and suddenly re-discovered his bicycle, going out for a ride at least twice a week, and sometimes three. He smiled more.

And less hair was falling out.

Wow.

All these changes just from working one hour less a day and cutting out grease?

I began thinking about finding things to reverse the hair loss process. And then our real adventure began.


To be continued....