balding!

LegacyUser

Hello, im male 22 and have started losing my hair. Actually started losing it about a year and a half ago. Its not noticeable yet cuase its ridiculously long, but it falls out all the time and when i wash it, it scares the crap outta me how much falls out. Is there any other guys out there who are losing hair at a young age and what did you(can you)do? I dont know if id look good with a shaved head, I think i have one of those wierd shaped heads, not noticable with hair on my head. Also, what do girls think about balding guys?, guys with no hair and guys with the horseshoe of hair?
Dammit I want my hair back!!!

MontgomeryClift

Are you sure it's not just falling out and growing back? Has your hairline changed or is your hair visibly thinner?

If you are balding, there are pills you can get - Propacea or its derivatives. Ask your doctor. In fact, this is not, as they say, a medical forum, so you should go to your doctor in any case.

Fajitas!

If it's definatly falling out, and you have long hair, best accept it and shave the lot off. Looks much better than having a thin head of long hair. I have a mate going grey and bald, he's only 18, and another that has a horseshoe left (but he shaves) at 25 so your not alone like.

I guess a wig might be an option. Or just a hat.

LegacyUser

MontgomeryClift wrote:

Are you sure it's not just falling out and growing back? Has your hairline changed or is your hair visibly thinner?

If you are balding, there are pills you can get - Propacea or its derivatives. Ask your doctor. In fact, this is not, as they say, a medical forum, so you should go to your doctor in any case.

My hairline has changed somewhat. I dont really want to go on the meds, ive seen websites that show before and after pics of people who used them and the way it seems to work is you go from Loosing hair to Loosing hair but now have enough for a combover. Im not really looking for medical advice for it, I just wanna know how other people dealt with it or people who are having this problem at the moment.
I dont want to shave my head and realise I look stupid after it, but I guess there is no way to tell untill I do it.....right?

StephenInsane

You will get old, you will lose hair. Get over it.

Fajitas!

If you had time on your hands, I'm sure you could feic about with photoshop or something to see what you look like? But TBH, I wouldn't bother. If it's happening, it's happening!

I guess, just accept it. Look at the bright side - At least if you shave your head, you'll save money on shampoo, conditioner, haircuts etc.

Laguna

Going bald is not the end of the world. Some girls even prefer guys with shaved heads/slightly balding as it's seen as a sign of virility.

Calibos

Shave it!

Its a great icebreaker when a tipsy woman that I don't know rubs her hand over my cranium as I walk past in a pub. You'd think there are enough lads with blade 1/2's etc these days that the novelty would wear off but it still happens on a regular basis. Its great for me because I am crap at reading the signs that someone fancies me (ie. Girl asks for a light, I assume she really does just want a light, Girl asks can she and her friend take the seats beside me and a mate at a table, I always assume she really just wants the seat etc etc). Anyway a girl rubbing her hands over my head purring, "ooh, its so soft like a one of those moncheche monkies (ask your older siblings kids)"
I mean that can only be interpreted one way can't it?
Only once where my subsequent advances rejected by one of these girls who had ran their fingertips over my head.

"Eh, I only wanted to feel it like!"

"Eh fcuking weirdo like!"

I mean honestly, what freak caresses a passing strangers shaved head in a pub without any motive other than wanting to feel how soft it was!!??

:rolleyes:

S..H..A..V..E I..T

Oh and you save a fortune in barbers bills.........and.... no such things as bad hair days anymor......and......its low maintenance other than the 10min blade 1 every 10 days2 weeks etc

KTRIC

I have a big fine head of hair, I always get complements from females regarding it. I couldn't care less if it fell out. It will happen to us all when we age.

The Gnome

I'd agree with calibos, I had pretty long hair and took the plunge and got it shaved (unfortunatly the barber decided to give me more of a crew cut and I had to finish it off myself) but anyway. I love it now and so do the ladies so go for it man, you have no to lose (that you're not already losing). Weird shaped heads are grand so don't worry.

Bit of extra advice though, buy a hat. You'll notice the heat difference.

xzanti

Shave the whole lot off... A lot of girls find a shaved head quite sexy

Khannie

Calibos wrote:

Shave it!

Its a great icebreaker when a tipsy woman that I don't know rubs her hand over my cranium as I walk past in a pub. You'd think there are enough lads with blade 1/2's etc these days that the novelty would wear off but it still happens on a regular basis.

I can confirm this. Amazes me. I'm 29 and married and it STILL doesn't put (sometimes very) young ones off having an oul' feel. Shave it man. If you go very short the first time, your scalp will be noticeably white (not having seen daylight in a number of years). This changes very quickly though.

My advice would be to wait until spring though. It can be a bit nippy in winter if you're not used to it (though it's very mild this winter).

I'd recommend a 4 blade for a first timer. You will naturally progress to lower numbers....it just happens.

Good luck!

LegacyUser

Thanks guys, Im gonna shave it after christmass. Going bald dosnt bother me as much as it may have come across in my first post, I just really wanted to avoid the horseshoe hairstlye

BuffyBot

I say shave it. I've been loosing hair since I was 21 or so, so I just did the decent thing and keep it shaved. It looks a lot better that when when you've got receding hair - and a lot cheaper than stupid "treatments".

LegacyUser

BuffyBot wrote:

I say shave it. I've been loosing hair since I was 21 or so, so I just did the decent thing and keep it shaved. It looks a lot better that when when you've got receding hair - and a lot cheaper than stupid "treatments".

Yeah, ive seen pictures of people with hair transplants and a scalp graft or something and they barley look human after. Especially after the graft one. I seen some poor guy who looked like his neck grew a few inches because his whole hairline was moved up because they strectch your scalp or something to cover up bald patches!! scary stuff

pcwares

its the womens version of shaven haven from what i gather.

baldness is rampant in one side of the clan even some of the aunties are baldy coots but thank god i have avoided this dreaded affliction and im 25+.



god help you its like losing a friend - and shaving well delilah got into that sh*te.. get in there with regain or treatments with sheep or horse hair.

pcwares

Canis Lupus

Go with a blade 3 or 4 all over to start off with and never look back. Why worry about something you can't change and if you have long hair you will only look stupid going bald like that guy in Don't Mind the Buzzcocks.

December Son

ive been shaving my head for a while now, fisrt noticed it was receeding around 19-20, im 26 now. Its a kicker at first, but seriously, alot of birds do quite like the shaved head. I recently started seeing an absolute cracker of an american girl...she doesnt have a problem with it at all. Just make sure you shave it when it gets tot he stage where its so thin you can see scalp through it. Nothing sadder than someone with long hair & going bald simultaneously.

Atrocity

shave it off, bald isn't such a big deal anymore

Cravez

Laguna wrote:

Going bald is not the end of the world. Some girls even prefer guys with shaved heads/slightly balding as it's seen as a sign of virility.

exactly, do you have a grown beard either? Researchers claim that bald headed people with beards is a sign of sexual maturity. And no your beard hair wont fall out either different hormones produce different chemicals for your hair and a beard, where the hair chemical declines over a period of time and the chemical that grows your beard hair remains the same ( or accelerates ). I wouldnt worry bout balding mate, as the others have said its not bad in this day in age, its a sign of verility.

mad m

Well its been happening to me since I guess I was 25 or so,Im now shaving it all over with one of those electric razors and keep it very tight.

You just sometimes have to let go and accept it,or if you dont want to accept it click on link below and then click on further links to look at a streaming video of a show on Network 2 called Nationwide, it had a programme on it which shows you a middle aged male going the whole hog to reclaim his hairline.

Goodluck

http://www.rte.ie/news/2005/0110/nationwide.html

P.s. I think you will need realplayer to view video.

LegacyUser

Michael Cravez wrote:

exactly, do you have a grown beard either? Researchers claim that bald headed people with beards is a sign of sexual maturity. And no your beard hair wont fall out either different hormones produce different chemicals for your hair and a beard, where the hair chemical declines over a period of time and the chemical that grows your beard hair remains the same ( or accelerates ). I wouldnt worry bout balding mate, as the others have said its not bad in this day in age, its a sign of verility.

Yeah I have a beard. It does really seem to suit people haveing a beard but being bald. I soon will be one of these people. Still a bit worried bout what shape my head is though......I see some people who are bald and have what look like dents in their head?

Supercell

Balding eh ? , best excuse ever to shave it all off and be done with hair fashions ands other girly concerns !!

My aul 'lad went baldy young as did I started doing around the age of the OP, ..don't take the farmer brush over daft look..enjoy yer new gound freedom from the comb, cut it..be happy in ther baldness..revel in it..i love the clean clear aspect..

If anyone has a problem with yer baldness they are a sissy or insecure imho..enjoy it!!

LegacyUser

I went through exactly what you are now going through and I know how you feel.

As a regular poster I'm going anonymous for this because I feel it's very much a personal thing (and I'm successfully hiding my baldness...)

aaaanyway. Basically I started losing hair at 21. Started with Regaine right away (and you can get loads of this stuff really cheap on ebay, as minoxidil) and yes, it does work. But basically it slowed down my balding and allowed me to keep most of the hair I had.

But it doesn't completely stop balding! By 24 more cracks were starting to appear, and my regaine starts losing the battle to my genetics (my Dad is bald). So I decided to go with using some concealers to thicken up my temple points, hairline and vertex (top) of scalp, and they worked really well. They give you an instant thicker head of hair, and they made me look much better, with a thicker more youthful look. I've used mostly Dermmatch:http://www.dermatch.com/?source=naaf
and Nanogen: http://www.nanogen.co.uk/

But the concealers only last so long. Now at 25, more cracks are starting to appear as my hairline is retreating further, with less hair on top and my temples are thinning more. I find myself needing to use more and more concealer...

...so at last, on the 8th of January, I'm going to be ditching all the potions, lotions, paints and concealers, and am going to start using an advanced "hair system", the same system as Ben Affleck uses (it's so good, I'll bet most of yous didn't even know he was bald?). Basically, it looks like a full, thick healthy head of hair growing right from the scalp. Negative points? Well, you will need to reattach and attach once or twice per week, and that can around 1 hour. I've got a lot of help from an online site where people exchange DIY ideas for hair systems. DIY is the only way to go with hair replacement - those salons will rip you off big time mate! I know a guy who goes to one, and he has to pay for consultations 2 times per month, and pays thousands for systems. Go DIY, you'll be glad you did.

In addition to this, I'm also going to getting some follicular unit transplants to help thicken up my temple points (above and behind the ear) because these areas are kind of "giveaways" if you have a low hairline, and thick hair, and then no temples.. it just looks weird. If you want a hair transplant, be careful. Lot of dodgy dealers out there. I'm going to travel to the US to get the best I can.

I've learnt most of this stuff from:
www.hairlosshelp.com
and
www.toplace.com (who will be supplying my hair system)

For those of you who say "baldness doesn't matter" - you aren't wrong. But for some of us, well.. we'd prefer to have a nice thick head of hair, simple as For me personally, it frames my face much better when I have good hair. After I wash my hair, and I am using no concealers, my face looks a lot uglier. Being bald actually changes the aesthetics of the face in a lot of subtle ways. In fact, it draws attention to negative points on the face (like the bridge of my nose for instance). Lots of hair make me look a lot better, and a lot younger. For some this might not be true, but each to their own. I don't look so hot when bald, and I know some bald guys who would be pulling a lot more chicks if they had hair.

LegacyUser

My aul 'lad went baldy young as did I started doing around the age of the OP, ..don't take the farmer brush over daft look..enjoy yer new gound freedom from the comb, cut it..be happy in ther baldness..revel in it..i love the clean clear aspect..

If anyone has a problem with yer baldness they are a sissy or insecure imho..enjoy it!!

Comments like that don't help. Some of us go through hell because of baldness. Especially if we are most sensitive to the effect it has on our facial aesthetics (read - vain?).

Seriously, some of us just don't wanna be bald. So we go and do something positive about it. Big deal!

I slap on my hairpiece, go out, look great, feel great, and forget about it. I don't know why there is so much stigma attached to that. I'd feel a lot less confident and unhappy about my appearance going out with stringy, ****ty looking hair and a receding hairline and receding temples...

Oh, and by the way, shaving all your hair off osn't everyone cuppa tea either. And it doesn't suit me at all.

Be positive about your hairloss - take action!

But stay away from all those weird drugs like propecia.. they could make you grow man-boobs!

nubbintom

Id say shave it, im not bald yet, but im sure it will hit before 30, either way im not to concerned, i often shave my head during the summer months, feals great, looks great, i have a goatee too, so its not just a white egg walking around, but to be honest you can spend your time worrying about it, take a look at guys who pass you in the street, the majority have either a bald head or reciding hairline, dont end up being one of those guys who sports a comb over, also when i do shave my head, it gives time for your hair to rest, i find it grows back much stronger.

Good look, and Happy Christmas!!

LegacyUser

YoungBaldie wrote:

But stay away from all those weird drugs like propecia.. they could make you grow man-boobs!

That's absoulte rubbish.

I've been on Propecia for over a year now with no such effects and it's worked very successfully in filling in the thin parts of my temples.

You don't need to travel to the states for top quality hair replacement treatment, the link that shows the video of the hairdresser getting it done should indicate this.

As for the hair replacement "system", fair enough if that's what you want to do, but essentially it's a wig.

Are you going to hide this wig from your partner, if you live with one?
It sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen to be honest.

You should go with the full hair transplant and have it over and done with.

LegacyUser

Go to the forums at www.hairlosshelp.com and you'll find tons of men who have reported negative side effects (physical and sexual) of drugs like propecia. I have read loads of posts about this - it is not a myth. I think they are a minority, but even so... anything that even threatens to **** with your health is a big no-no for me (I'm a health freak anyway, so don't head me!). The modern medical industry is all about money, not about preserving good health. Would you want to risk your health over having thicker hair?

In any case, Propecia is a life long contract. As soon as you stop using it, you lose all the hair you'd gained, as well as all the loss you'd prevented. So basically, in a few months your hair will look the way it would have if you'd never used Propecia in the first place!

As for the hair replacement "system", fair enough if that's what you want to do, but essentially it's a wig. Are you going to hide this wig from your partner, if you live with one?

You are right, at the end of the day it is a wig. So what? Look at the hair Ben Affleck is wearing in Pearl Harbour - looks pretty good to me, doesn't matter if it's a wig, or toupee, or otherwise. You can have the same if you do a little ground work and research on the web, and for a very very low price too (€170 + materials for your first piece, of you order from toplace).

As for the partner - well, an all lace SFS piece is totally undetectable. I know of stories where guys had girls running their hands through this hair, and not even noticing it was a piece. But you will need to sneak off to the bathroom for over an hour every week to detach + reattach. You'll also need to hide all the bits and piece from your partner, and your spare hair systems. But that can all be done easily. In any case, if your partner loves you, she won't care if you wear hair, and if you do it well (sadly there are a lot of bad cases out there that give this whole thing a bad name).

But I want you to look at this:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/241571/thread/1135188036/last-1135283657/Dobbs+5+Month+Old+Toplace+Photos

I think those photos speak for themselves

I don't want a full transplant because I don't have 20,000 to spare!

LegacyUser

Thanks for all replys. To be honest, Im leaning more towards shaving it at the moment. I just wanna stop thinkin about it and if I shave it, thats it I wont try to grow it back. Is that medication good for re-growth? I didnt realise it was possible to re-grow hair..? How much growth can it give you?

TinCool

I've got the beginnings of an island going on at the front of my head. I'm 28. I shave my head every few weeks blade 2 or 3 and I must say it suits me. My girlfriend likes it so I don't care.

TC

LegacyUser

TinCool wrote:

I've got the beginnings of an island going on at the front of my head. I'm 28. I shave my head every few weeks blade 2 or 3 and I must say it suits me. My girlfriend likes it so I don't care.

TC

Do you have to shave everyday so that the horse-shoe of stubble isnt visible?

BeatTun

ive been goin bald since i was 19 (im 24 now) and ive been giving it the mach 3 twice a week ever since.

now ive got a job where i can wear a cap all day so ive just let the horseshow grow (and full beard), my girlfriend loves it for some strange reason, but ill probably go back to shaving it again.

its not a problem, you'll get used to it and it'll just be "you", no one cares mate.

jellycopter

Don't worry about it mate! There's no need to shave it all off if you're only losing a bit. Check out Jack Nicholson! The mans been a bit of a baldy for 40 years and he's still a legend with the ladies.

I started to get a bit worried when I noticed a change in my hairline when I was about 21 or so. I'm 28 now and I've still got 95% of my hair. Basically pretty much all guys will lose some as they get older, but if the worst comes to the worst, then deal with it then. No point in shaving your head unless it's REALLY thin, or coming out in clumps or something. For all you know you could still have 80% of your hair by the time you're 70!

Also console yourself with the fact that baldness stopped being unfashionable years ago. Plenty of lads with zero hair loss still shave their heads down to the scalp anyway.

BEAT

well first of all, Ill say that personally bald or with hair doesnt matter. Its the man you are into, not his hair and sure there are some superficial shallow girls out there that think bald isnt nice but everyone has a preference and while your hair is a part of you and it does hurt to lose it if you are worried about what the opposite sex may think...dont, most girls arnt out there looking for a guy based on his hair style

second, if you are afraid of shaving it all off why not first try a close short cut...sometimes long hair can pull down and separate in areas that look more bald than others and a short hair cut changes the way the hair sits and can even make it look fuller...something like a crew cut but with a little more hair left over.

Then if you are stil not happy gwan and shave it all off atleast this way you can see what its like if you did let it start to grow in after shving it off if you do

Ruu_Old

go and shave it, best decision i ever made. i was in the same boat as you and one day i just got my wife to cut it very tight with a clippers. it looks better and feels better and ive got a good few compliments about it. yeah its a bit traumatic losing the hair at first and everyone making fun of you but looks ridiculous trying to cover it up. think i posted this before but my dad had been covering his baldness for years until 2 years ago my brother shave the whisp off him while he was a bit jarred, fun times anyway best of luck.

Jonny Arson

OP, from a blokes perspective I think most lads look better with shaved heads, balding or not balding.

I was 17 when the receding hairline at the side of my head popped up. It happened literally overnight. 3 years on, it hasn't got worse but it hasn't got better either which is strange since my dad is 55 and he has a perfect head of hair! I wouldn't go as far to say that it doesn't bother me (of course I wish I had a perfect hairline) but it doesn't hamper my confidence in my physical appearance or looks. I haven't ever used any medication or anything like that because I feel there is no point trying to prevent the inevitable.

If you want to shave your head do it, if you don't simply don't! I've gone through hairstyles ranging from shaved to long hair so it doesn't bother me what my hair looks like. Do what you are comfortable with and try to build your confidence up regarding this because you are certainly not the only one!

The boy is going bald and started shaving it a while back. Looks great on him.

December Son

Zane from MTV2 wrote:

OP, from a blokes perspective I think most lads look better with shaved heads, balding or not balding.

I was 17 when the receding hairline at the side of my head popped up. It happened literally overnight. 3 years on, it hasn't got worse but it hasn't got better either which is strange since my dad is 55 and he has a perfect head of hair!

Common misconception this, balddness comes from the mothers side of the family. My dad is almost 60 and is only thinning now, im 26 and like a cueball. With stubble.

LegacyUser

Shaved my head today. Just got a 2 back and sides and a 3 on top. My head is so cold LOL!! New year, New hair and all that. I dont know if it suits me or not, nobody has said either way