The Theradome LH80 Laser Helmet - 88 Weeks later...As Experienced by Luke

88 weeks later...

It has been really nice to hear from so many of you, asking about how I have been getting on with the Theradome Helmet, I have got talking to a few of you and it's been really interesting and helpful to discuss hair loss with men who are also going through what I am going through, so hopefully what I am about to talk to you about will help those of you who may be following in similar footsteps to myself.

Back in April 2015 I told you about how self conscious I felt about my thinning hair, and in that same post I told you about a product called the Theradome LH80 Laser Helmet. To recap Theradome specialises in the promotion of hair growth and the reduction of hair loss. The Theradome Laser Helmet is the only wearable laser treatment that people like myself can use in the comfort of their own home. The treatment takes place over the course of 20 minutes, in which time frame the helmet directs cool lasers at the scalp. The lasers then target the hair follicles and begin to stimulate hair growth and development. 

I was really excited at the prospect of trying out this helmet, with a £649 price tag it is expensive, but I personally cannot put a price on how it would feel to feel to be able to reverse the hair loss and stop the thinning in it's tracks.

  I have been religiously using the helmet on average every other day, there have been weeks where I will use it on a daily basis, and I will always pop it on my head while the Mrs and I watch a film or start working our way through the Game of Thrones boxset, it's not been unheard of for me to go through 3 cycles with the Theradome until it was time to hit the sack.

As most of you will know reading from Laura's previous post, this is an issue that use to bother me a lot, friend and family didn't seem to realise how much this was eating me up inside, so I would brush off the jokes and direct outburts of 'oh your loosing your hair!'. I would laugh it off and brush it off my shoulders, but the reality was that there words hurt, but what they were saying was hardly news to me. I knew that my hair was falling out, I could see the hairs in the sink as I styled my hair for the day ahead. I didn't need to be reminded time and time again.

So how have I been getting on?

On Laura's original post she wrote that there would be an update to come in August 2015, this was the original plan however when August came around, I couldn't really see any difference, and we postponed the update. 

I wanted to leave it a year and give it a real chance to work, I wanted to be able to forget about the insecurities I had with my hair loss and just focus on other interests for a bit. Using the helmet meant that I actually started focusing more on how my hair was looking, because I was always looking for new hair growth and wondering if there was any real changes taking place. For this reason I decided to leave this update until 2016 so that I could provide a fair and honest appraisal of how I have been getting on with the helmet. 

April 2016

I set about my daily routine of getting ready with the typical morning shower, I brush my teeth and get ready for work. Then I begin to style my hair, of course that is something that can either put me in the greatest mood for the day ahead, or set me up to be in the worst mood... It all depends on how my hair falls into place, and of course that really is the luck of the draw. On this particular morning it became apparent very quickly that today was not going to be a good day, I was in a fowl mood, I don't recall precisely why, maybe some one had made a comment or I had just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, but whatever it was, my hair tipped me over the edge that day.

I got on with work and booked an appointment with the barber I use, he is quite frankly one of the best, a typical old fashioned barber who does the cut throats and slick backs, so its all ways a pleasure to go and see him each month just to get the back, sides and a little of the top tidied up (emphasis on little of the top) this is a man who has known me for a long time and is aware of my situation and has all ways encouraged me by saying what I want to hear. I know the truth and he is just being a real gentleman.

As I walked through the door to that appointment it was the typical 'Hey how you doing fella all good?'. As soon as I sat down in that chair something in me clicked, and in the next instant I was telling him to just shave it all off.

 Of course he thought I was joking, but after the daily battles with trying to get it to look half decent, I felt like I was facing facts, and this felt like the only solution. We discussed why I was taking such a drastic move, and by the end of that discussion my barber agreed to shave the whole lot off.

It was a weird feeling seeing all of my hair lay on the barbers floor, for a second I thought I liked it, but the more I looked at my reflection, the more I realised just how much I hated it. I knew I had made a huge mistake and suddenly longed for the hair that had caused me such stress to be back in position once again.

So  there is a quick write up on my hectic and insecure year... I guess you can see why there hasn't been an update until now....

Even with the skin head I  kept up with the use of the helmet, perhaps even more so. During this time I would use the helmet at least once a day, as the lasers would be able to penetrate deeper as there was no hair there to block the lasers.

1 Year and 8 Months into the Theradome Treatments...

Its been 88 weeks now since I started to use the helmet, and I feel like now would be a good time to look back on those initial first photos and see if there has been any change to my hair line at all...I do feel that I see positive change in the mirror each morning and that the process is working. I am sure that I have noticed a few new hairs growing on the peak of my hair line, and I don't feel like I see as much falling out into the sink right now.

You have all seen those very first snaps that I shared last year, and some of you have been in touch asking for this update. So I have taken some new photos today, and this evening I have sat them directly next to each other and stared at them long and hard.

Left: Before I started using the Theradome Laser Helmet

Right: 1 Year and 8 Months of Theradome Laser Treatment

These are my pictures of before I started treatment with the Theradome Laser Helmet, and after.

To be honest I am pretty shocked, I really thought that there would be positive and noticeable change and improvement. After looking at these images for as long as I have done today, I have to say that I am pretty disappointed as my expectations have been so high all of this time.

I am going to open this up to the wider public, can any of you see a difference?

All I can see from these images is that my hair has continued to thin over the last 88 weeks despite all of the laser treatments I have been undertaking. I have to be honest here and say that I don't feel like the Theradome Laser Helmet has done anything for me.

I am not giving up hope as the manufactures do say it could take up to 104 weeks (2 years ) before hair growth may be noticed, and I am going to continue using the helmet to see if anything does change in the coming weeks and months ahead. In recent months I have started taking Finasteride which is a drug that is used to treat pattern hair loss, the treatment is supposed to slow further hair loss and has been known to provide 30% improvement after 6 months of treatment, the effectiveness only continues for as long as you are taking the drug.

I aim to update again in April 2017 when I have been using the helmet for 2 years, and have given the  Finasteride chance to work and see what results I can achieve with a combination of the Theradome Helmet and the  Finasteride.

Disclaimer: We have received the Theradome Helmet in exchange for our honest views and experiences.