Man who went bald in 20s in tears as revolutionary treatment 'takes decades off'

Ashley Tawney fought back tears after seeing his brilliant transformation, which saw him fitted with a realistic hair system to cover the bald patches on his head

A man who started balding in his 20s has been left crying tears of joy thanks to a cutting-edge new treatment.

Ashley Tawney, 29, said his confidence was in tatters when he started to lose his hair in his 20s.

After being on the receiving end of cruel comments about his appearance, the machine operator from Bristol started avoiding nights out and socialising altogether.

Ashley said: "It got to that time where I was getting upset at myself because when I was out people would come out with these comments and there was nothing I could do.

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"Sometimes I would try and grow my hair to hide it, but that made it worse. I was debating whether to shave it completely.

"I always got comments about going bald, I don't think that's a very nice thing to do. I'm 29 now, it's always been there, but about two years ago it got a lot more common.

"Before that I'd get a comment every now and then, just occasionally, then it became every time I went on a night out or something like that.

"It had a major impact on my confidence, so I tried to hide it - that didn't help at all."

Ashley did his best to style his remaining hair in a way that hid the thinning, and posed for pictures which presented his best side to the camera.

But his hard work would come undone when he was caught unaware in the background of a shot with his bald spots on show.

He continued: "Looking back at the pictures, or videos, if you see me in the background you can see the thinning - if I was posing for the picture I would have been a bit more careful, it's when I was caught in the background that it was a problem.

"The pictures would end up online and I'd worry, and that's why I wanted to get something done."

Then Ashley's life changed forever when he was approached by Novo Cabelo Hair.

They offered to gift Ashley a realistic hairpiece and although he was dubious at first, Ashely decided to give it a go and was astounded by the results.

His emotional reaction to the transformation was captured in a 360 video of his head both before and after the fitting, with the results shared on social media.

In the clip, Ashley starts with his eyes covered so he can't see the stylist, named Rob, working on his hair.

Any unwanted tufts were shaved off before Ashley's scalp was covered with a protector and adhesive.

Rob then fitted the hair system onto Ashley's head and styled it to flow seamlessly into the man's natural hair.

Getting his first glimpse of his new look, Ashley fought back tears as he exclaimed, "Oh my god!"

Ashley continued: "Now I don't have any worries at all, I can go out, have photos done, and I'm not ashamed of any of it. I'd say that people are more attracted to me now than when I had a receding hairline before.

"I've just come out of a five-year relationship, it's nice to get attention now where as before I wouldn't really.

"I'm using online dating, I'm getting a lot more hits than before. Because it doesn't bother me I tell people I have a hair system - people wouldn't notice but I'm not ashamed of it.

"It doesn't bother people, I get a good reaction - people like the honesty when I tell them."

In Novo Cabelo Hair's video, which was posted to TikTok last year, a voiceover said: "Ashley is here for a blind reaction hair system makeover. He is tired of feeling self-conscious about his hair.

"With his eyes covered up, Rob gets to work with shaving the unwanted hair, prepping the scalp with a protector and a glue adhesive, and then cutting the system into Ashley's new style."

The stylist then adds: "All we needed was Ashley's reaction – let's see what he thinks", before showing the man's reaction to seeing his hair for the first time.

Commenters on the post were left equally as emotional over the sweet video, which has been viewed more than 443,000 times since it was uploaded.

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"Tears in my eyes. People don't realise this can really shatter some men's confidence. It doesn't define you, but it's difficult to accept," one viewer said, while another added: "Omg he looks 20 years younger!"

"I think it's great that men can feel better... like women have been with wigs for years," a third wrote, while a fourth commented: "What a genuine guy, I'm happy for him he looks amazing."

Another TikTok user wrote: "I'm a woman who unfortunately is going through my two-stage of hair loss in four years, it's so upsetting, Ashley you look amazing."

After the video was uploaded, Ashley took to the comments himself to say he's "so pleased" with his new hair.

He wrote: "I'm so pleased with my new system! I love it! I honestly can't thank you enough rob, makes me teary watching this!"

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