Going Bald?
 

Hey everyone,

I'll tell you my weird story. I have had medium length hair for about six months now. The last time I really had short hair was about that six months ago and never noticed my hair thinning.

Now about three months ago I switched from using gel, to using glue. I didn't realise the glue had alcohol in it. I've also dyed my hair once in that time period.

A couple of days ago one of my co-workers had mentioned that my hair was looking thin, but I dismissed it, because I've gotten the same comments in the past, because I've had spikey hair for the past five years and usually you can see some of the scalp, but once you put your hair down without anything in it, people then realise that it's nothing.

So, tonight I shaved my head with the number 3 guard on my clippers and took everything off.

:(

My co-worker was correct. I have had major hair loss in the past six months. I'm talking about shocking. From the cowlick in the back of my head, to the front of my hair has major loss. It looks like I'm headed towards having a Captain Picard.

My question is this... it doesn't seem natural. My mothers hair is a little thin, but that's do to medication that she takes. Baldness doesn't run on either side of my family.

Can the recent switch in hair care products be the cause of such rapid loss??? I'm seriously wondering what the hell is going on. I wouldn't even have noticed this, unless I shaved my hair off.

I'm no expert when it comes to hair care products. All I know is, that I've always been told that they're generally rough on one's hair, and despite of how gross it may be, the healthiest thing for your hair is not washing it on a daily basis. Personally I never gave a fuck, I couldn't stand the grease so I washed it daily, but I always went for mild shampoo, and didn't use gel or dye it.

I'm 27 and bald, though, so all bets are off.

It's not the fact that it's happening, it's the fact that it has hit within a period of six months.

Right now I'm in general fear mood, because I've also had bouts of feeling really sick at times and I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it either.

Dude. Glue? That may not be the cause, but you may want to consider getting looked at by a doctor if you're also feeling badly sick sometimes. Keep us posted...

I think he means "Hair Glue," not anything like Elmer's or epoxy.

I've washed my hair every day since I was a teenager - I'm pushing 50 now and still have a full head of hair. Clean hair.

I've always heard it's genetic - on your mother's side. But with all the crap they've been putting in our food and all the everyday products we use - who knows?

It all depends. What is your age? If it is related to hair products then it's probably not hair LOSS but hair breakage - consequently making hair appear thinner. A change in hormones can do this. During pregnancy I lost lots of hair but after the baby was born and my hormones switched then I had a lot of new hair growth. Hair loss in men is related to the levels of progesterone in their bodies - thus the genetic link.

Personally I LOVE a bald or shaved head. I think it's just so sexy. Glad to hear you went with the razor instead of freaking and trying to cover it up.

you can always get some of this:
http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/...roduct-200.jpg

:)
modern hair care products causing rapid hair loss.... Sounds like you should contact a doctor, and then if necessary, a lawyer.

Just an update for everyone. I haven't shaved my head yet and most of my friends have been very supportive.

I found out that I do have a bald grandfather, but that's it and he's on my fathers side. I don't know if it's male pattern baldness or not.

I have an appointment with my doctor on April 5th and will be asking for a Vitamin Deficiency test and other blood work.

If he does tell me that it's natural and that I'm due... well, I'll just enjoy the rest of my days with it and then will eventually just buzz my head bald.

Oh and for those asking. I just turned 35 on March 14th. Nice Birthday present for me....

:) full head of hair here long, down to just about the small of my back.

i don't put crap into it except gel when I need to dress up or look presentable. Other than that, I don't do much else.

I do have LOTS of hair that comes out when I brush it every day. It's annoying and I think that I'm going bald, but I know it's truly not the case because it's not thining or receded.

maybe the glue had nothing to do with it but happened to coincide with its use.

Well, I shaved my head and that's when I noticed it. If I didn't decide to start with a fresh crop, then this would have gone unnoticed.

I also forgot to mention that I dyed my hair about a month & a half ago. I'm really lost at this point and will just have to wait for what my doctor says.

I've already made the decision to just go with it. I'll shave my head bald and hopefully have a good life with it. I'm rather young looking and my biggest fear is that people will think that I have cancer or something.

Ohhhh..

Actually the glue that I refer to is by ICE and it's Spiking Glue. You can also find another brand called Got2B in most supermarket/drugstores.

Either works very well, if you have hair... :(

I'd have to say its genetic. I have a friend that is my age (23). And he is balding, so he just shaved it all off. For all those people that do have hair, i wouldnt make fun of the guys that are balding. It will probably happen to you.

Well, I'm just going to wait and see. I think I'm okay with it... first couple of days I was upset about it, and then suddenly I'm understanding that life still goes on, but it depends on what you do with that life.

Being bald will not change who I am. I'll enjoy my hair well I have it, but then once it's gone... I'll shave the rest off.

My hair went at about 34 or so... one moment, full mane... two years later... bald man.

Oh well... Worst part, I don't really like hats. I never have, but winter is cold up there and sunburns absolutely suck.

And you can forget about working under the sink. You'll come out bloody. :)

Last... It's been years now and I just buzz whatever is left. Nothing is more irritating than listening to a commercial on television stating something along the lines of, "Tired of that embarrassing hair loss..."

Ya know... Embarrassing... oh yeah... I'm embarrassed alright. If they have a 1-800 number, I resist the urge to call 'em up and tell them to go fuck themselves. Embarrassed my ass.

I have a feeling fnaqzna that our stories are going to be alike in the end.

I'm 35 and have lost more hair in the past six months, then in my first 35 years.

I have a feeling by the end of this year... all of it will be gone.

I started going bald in high school. I used to have pretty long hair, but I am now 22, and shave my head regularly. Its the best decision I've ever made, and I haven't looked back since.

- No maintenance, besides the actual shaving
- No "bad hair days"
- No clogging up the drain with lost hair every time you take a shower.
- Baldness is a sign of wisdom and intelligence. :D
- Many women (at least those with good taste) think bald = sexy :suave:

I support your decision, and hope you stick with it. As long as you don't shave your eyebrows off, you won't look like a cancer patient, and growing facial hair will offset the baldness in a very good way.

If you don't want to shave it all off, you could just get a shorter haircut. Longer hair makes the areas where you don't have hair more pronounced. I don't think you should grow facial hair, because bald men almost always have facial hair, and I think it makes them look like they're just trying to compensate. You can also explain to the ladies that it's just a sign that you have more testosterone than most other guys. That's what I used to do. :)

Yeah, but it's tricky. You inherit the tendency toward baldness (or not) from your mother's side. But you inherit the _pattern_ of the baldness (receding hairline, baldspot in back, both) from your father's side. Makes it confusing.

Always possible that environmental factors and weird haircare products exascerbate things; in isolated cases, I'm sure that that's true. But I'm 48, and more than a few of my high school classmates were going bald five years after graduation, 25 years ago. And in those days we didn't put much of anything on our hair; maybe you blow-dried it, but that was about it. No gel, nothing, at least not in my blue-collar burg.

I have my doctors appointment on Monday. I'll probably update this post then and let everyone know what happens.

Are there any specific tests I should ask for?

I think I'm doomed.

My maternal grandfather was bald.
My father and his four brothers were all bald (but not his father)
My brother (4 years older) is going bald.

My hair has been thinning since about 19. That said I still have a "full" head of hair. It is nowhere near as thin as my brother's was at my age (or my father for that matter). No bald spots yet but my I have noticed some receeding in the past few years.

I am hoping I've dodged a bullet but I am fairly resigned to my fate as a bald guy...

I have been told, by users, that propecia is a good for keeping the hair you have.

I WANT MY FUCKIN' HAIR BACK.

My hair is flying out at a rapid rate. I'm 25. And my theory is, the shorter it is, the less bald I look.

My dad is like 1/2 bald, I hope I won't go bald! But even if I do I'm for sure getting one of those hair transplant operations

My situation is just weird. I basically have a very short crew cut right now and the area that thinning is noticeable, but it seems to only me.

My friends think I'm nuts. I'm not saying that I'm bald, but my hair is thin on top. If I can figure out how to add a photo, I'll do it. I would rather people that don't know me give me an honest answer if it looks normal or not.

Here you go....

Tell me what you think.
http://img44.photobucket.com/albums/...g/DSCN0929.jpg

I'm 19 and my hair started thinning last year, or at least thats when I noticed it. Since last summer I've basically just buzz cut my hair with a size 2 clipper and it looks pretty good, hard to see the thinning unless you're up close, or under a light (which I hate :p ). Recently I've started to grow it out and it's still looking not too bad, it's not long enough to really accentuate the thinning parts, and I'm not gonna let it get that long hehe. I have a feeling that I'm going to be in the sameboat as you are Coll Storm, I've noticed general thinning on the top of my head, but no one single area where it's taking place, just seems to the whole top of the head slightly thinning. Irritating, but there's nothing I can do about it at the moment, so I just buzz it and don't let it bother me. Anyways, I've got a lot better things to have on my mind.

What kind of shampoo are you using? You may want to look into Nioxin Shampoos and Conditioner. Expensive as hell, and I've been using it since November, it won't regrow anything, but it does a good job at clearing out all the gunk that gets stuck in the pores, and I believe I've noticed a slight decrease in hair coming out in the shower, but that may have been only because I used to have long hair and it was more noticable hehe. Well it's worth a try. Sorry for the rather long post :)

Gotta say, in my mid-30's........really short hair with or without the thinning......is so much easier. No prep time. No hassles. No expensive product. And not a bad look. If the hair is going.....let it go with dignity.

That being said, if you are nervous about the impact of product on your hair or health, stop using it. No hairstyle is worth real or suspected harm to your health. Go natural.

I'm sorry my friend but the long and the short of it is that if you "think" yo're losing your hair... brother it's already gone. Don't do the really bad implants or bad styles to "hide" the definciency. Embrace it, shave it, and be self assured. It works trust me. If you're fine with it and not embarrassed or shy becasue of it... no one else will be either. Be careful though, this rule works conversely as well. We don't want to be another George Costanza do we? Good Luck my friend!

Hate to say it Coll but it looks like you are thinning at the crown. Of course it could just be the flash showing more of your scalp in the photo but it looks pretty thin to me. The good news is thinning at the crown of the head gives you some decent options. Propecia and Minoxonyl have been proven to work in that area as opposed to the front of the scalp where it seems to have little if any effect. The sooner you start the better it works so you might ask your doctor about it if you want to go that route. As for me, I'm thirty six and have hair halfway down my back but have a slowly receding hairline. Its not too bad now but I plan to fight it all the way. Screw fading away gracefully, I want hair!

I'm 34 and in the same situation - I was never bothered about my hair until I started losing it. My younger brother who went bald at 23 is now able to take the piss out of me like I did to him. I want my hair back !

Yea, it's just the crown and not really the front at all. I actually just took my first dosage of Propecia and will try it for six months, before I make the big decision.

My doctor believes it's a major case of stress and it's funny, because the past three days have been the most stressfull of this entire year.

So, I'll just go with six months of the "supposed" wonder pill and then I'll see what I'm going to do later on.

my doctor told me i was going bald when i was 17 and theres no history of male pattern baldness on my moms side and its not that common on my dads side. It's bullshit, I'm 18 and using rogain and propecia everyday. I wouldn't have minded if i was in my late twenttys and it started but geez im not even old enough to drink. Propecia and rogaine work pretty well depending on the person but its your best bet

Like I said... I'm on Propecia, and my head at this point has really short hair. I buzzed it with the #1 guard and to be honest.... I love it. It takes me two second to shampoo my hair now. It seems to be more comfortable to. I really like my hair this short.

Started going bald at 17. I am now 29 and just shave my head. It is funny how preoccupied our culture is with hair. Every so often someone asks me if being bald bothers me. I just laugh at them. Being bald isn't the end of the world. It's just something that happens.

You should always consider your mother's father when considering baldness.

In my case it is genetics. It took me a long time but I am just starting to accept it.

My grandfather ( on my mothers side ) has a full head of white hair. Maybe I should ask him for some of it? He has plenty to spare, because it's still growing for him.

come back when you're 30....:) heh..

To be honest with you... the photo was taken up close, but I know what my crown looked like six months ago, and I've lost a decent amount.

Roger that! And a supreme pizza delivered by a naked Jenna Jameson. Thanks.

I thought maybe it was time for an update on my situation. It's been ten months since I posted this. I took propecia for awhile, but then lost my full-time job and thus decided that paying sixty dollars for a month supply of the magic pill wasn't worth it.

Shortly after I shaved all of my hair off. Found out I have a big ass scar just above my right ear from a surgery that took place when I was a kid. Most of my friends still think I'm crazy for shaving all of my hair off, but to be honest with you... I don't mind it.

Then two weeks ago, I decided that having been bald all summer, that it was time to grow it out, just to see if it had anything to do with the hair care products I was using. So far... I can't tell. I'm going to let it grow out for two more weeks and then take a couple of pictures and decide.

I'll probably just shave it off again, because I liked it that way anyhow. I also have a soul patch under my lip, that again, my friends hate. I'm thinking that I may need new friends...

My wife stopped dying her hair because she truly felt that she was experiencing hair loss as a result of the dye she was using.

My wife's dad has very thin hair around the side and top. My older son has about 3 times as much hair as his younger brother. Little one gets haircut about once every two months while the older one needs one less than a month. I'm pushing 40 but still got a full head and 95% dark hair.

sorry for an off topic question, but i don't recall ever seeing a man with a shaved head (going bald, then shaved it) without some sort of facial hair. at my office there are 8 men with this setup. always wondered. all 8 guys btw have goatee's.

dude, I'm bald as a motherfucker at the tender age of 22. Repeated dying and gel aren't good for the locks. Shave the whole thing off, and be prepared for the "you must be a neo-nazi" shit. Or the "you're a thug" crap.

*waves* no facial hair here. Hair is just sooo primitive.

I currently have a soul patch and that's it. I don't plan on doing the whole goatee, because I think it's a bit over done.

Update:

It's been a little over one year since I first started this thread and have been bald for most of this time; but recently, within the past week... I've decided to let my hair grow out again.

There has been hardly any change to the situation. I still have the same amount of hair and it's growing fast. Took about a week to get half n' inch on top of my head. I'm just going to let it grow for a couple of weekks, because I got sick of shaving it off.

I'll update again in a few weeks and will keep everyone informed of what's happening in regards to this situation.

I just wanted to do a quick update on my old thread.

It's been about five years since I posted that information. Not only have I embraced my baldness, but actually like it better than having hair. I shave every other day. The hair still grows, but is clearly thin, but I no longer care.

If you're going bald, don't worry about it. Just shave your hair off and be done with it!

thanks for the update.

I'd like to get a night high and tight cut, but the wife won't let me. She's convinced I need to have the long locks. The cousins and uncles, they are all awash with jealousy since male pattern baldness is part of their lives since their youth. It's a running joke in the family about being bald at a young age.

I'm glad to say the same things... accept yourself as you are and enjoy it!

glad you still stop by, hope to see you in other threads.

going bald I can handle. What I can't handle is the hair growing elsewhere.

The other day it was nice outside and I was "skins" while playing soccer. While running, I would feel this weird thing slightly below my shoulders. Getting home, I got a handheld mirror and took a look at it... crap, it was back hair. Nothing weirder than feeling the breeze gently blowing on your back hair for the first time. Welcome to being 30, I guess.