A Hairy Situation -- Gentlemen, Are You Ever Concerned About Balding? What Do You Do to Prevent or Reverse It, If Anything?

Hey Everyone,

When talking about skin issues in another thread, a good point was made about some men never wanting to take off their hats -- and that it might be because they are self-conscious about balding. I was thinking about how women might be more self-conscious about their skin, while men might be more conscious about the state of their hair.

Maybe it's just me, but when I was in college, I don't remember hearing any discussions of young guys worrying about balding -- but this was also before the explosion of social media. The internet was around, but there was no YouTube and if people were documenting their follicular chronicles back then, I was not aware of it.

These days, I follow a few plastic surgeon's channels who frequently talk about young men in their 20's coming in for treatments to prevent, stop, or reverse hair loss. Some are even flying to other countries for extensive hair transplant procedures, with varying degrees of success.







And of course, this can affect women as well. I do think a lot of guys look great bald, and lament the fact that it's socially acceptable for a man to go bald, but not women (especially when it's from an illness or biological cause.)

I read one woman's story about losing all her hair to cancer, and she wore a wig not because she was uncomfortable with being bald, but because she was uncomfortable with all the unsolicited comments and questions she got from strangers that were, frankly, none of their business. If she went out in public bald, she got comments like, "Don't you know a woman's crowning glory is her hair? Why would you choose to look so ugly?" "Oh, you have cancer, right? I know how it is. My Grandma has cancer." Others might have good intentions, but would also ask nosey questions about what she was going through that she didn't really want to answer. And so, she just found it easier to wear a wig to avoid all the unwanted assumptions.

What are your own thoughts and observations about baldness?

* Do you think people are going bald at younger ages? Why do you think this is? What do you think has changed about diet, environment, stress levels, etc. that might be causing this?

* Are you self-conscious about hair loss, thinning, or bald patches? What treatments have you researched or tried, if any? What were the results?

* If you do lose your hair, do you plan to just let it be, or fight it all the way?

* Do you know others who have lost their hair, whether due to age, biology, or sickness? How have they chosen to deal with it?

These threads are for everyone, but especially geared toward those in the single world. We know that we are being judged by our appearances all the time. Potential dates, no matter how Christian they are, scrutinize and judge each other's looks, often choosing to reject someone in a heartbeat, and sadly, there's just no way of getting around that.

My hope for these discussions is to raise awareness and sympathy for what others are going through -- and possibly encourage all of us to look at each other with a kinder, broader scope of vision.

I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts, and God bless you!

"I don't mind when it turns gray... But I sure hate when it turns loose!"

Actually I don't really care. It's going to happen if it will happen. I am much more than the hair on my head... Fortunately for me.

Ladies with cancer or other problems wearing a wig, I can understand that. It's like you with your makeup hiding the skin problems. It's not because you are embarrassed about it, but to avoid all the conversations you really don't want to start.

You have nothing to worry about -- you're one of the many guys out there who will look good bald or with hair.

My hair is ok right now, but I'm lining up a gaggle of recruits just in case -- 2 nephews, a few friends and their kids -- all of whom have incredible hair. I'm coaxing them into growing their hair long and/or being willing to cut if off just in case Auntie Seoul finds herself needing a custom-made wig or extensions someday.

Their hair is also of a variety of colors and textures, so I'm hoping to have an entire wardrobe of home-grown wig choices.

Mind you, none of them have actually AGREED to this yet, but... I'm working on it.

I don't have any balding issues. My hair grows rapidly. When I start looking like a hippie my wife tells me to go get a haircut. Getting to be due for one soon. Not my favorite thing to do.

I am still single, so apparently there are no girls who agree with your rather optimistic assessment of my appearance.

Beh.

You forget, I'm still single, too, so what does that say about me? After all, some church folks would say we've "failed" because we're not married.

But being single is a LOT less worrisome to me than it used to be.

Too many other things (and people) to worry about in life at this stage of the game!

I still have my hair, and only a little gray. I wouldn't know about this balding thing (except my legs of course, but they've always been that way).

I've pretty much got a full head of hair. I expect it'll thin a little as I age out but I don't worry about going bald. One of my younger brothers went bald early like some do... I sure don't know how that affects a fella, but if I were to go bald or partially bald now it wouldn't bother me. If I was 20 and bald... that might be hard.

I used to work on a production line with a team of about 13 so, to pass the time, many interesting conversations came up. When the topic of one young man's hair came up, he was balding and obviously attempting to 'hold on to every last strand' and that relevance to his single status, I told him, "Why not just own it, and go Stone Cold Steve Austin?" and of course, it would always grow back if only nothing came of it. Well, no sooner than he cast that new line out, he reeled in a wife.
However, there was another situation where a friend (with a full head of hair) that lamented his lack of prospects which I subsequently advised to cease with so much of the self-deprecation (with exception only for comedic value) and assert more confidence in your value as a catch, otherwise, he was only convincing any interested prospects of why they should be disinterested. And again, I can only assume that he must've taken my counsel into consideration as, shortly afterwards, there were immediate results of a relationship materializing.
So, I do believe it is more about exuding confidence, whatever the case, that actually attracts a wife, because "What? Stone Cold said so."... ok, wait, that might qualify as arrogance, so, forget that last part

All I know is, I don't have to care nearly as much about what people think about how I look. Not because I'm single, but because I don't care if I'm single.

Comedian quote:
"I've started feeling sorry for those guys who spend so much time at the gym getting ripped. You don't do that when you're married. You've already found somebody. You can let yourself go. You only spend that much effort building up muscles when you are single and desperate to find somebody.

When I see a guy walking around without a shirt on, with a lot of muscles, I feel sorry for that poor, lonely guy."

I'm just gonna go with it. 😁

My hair has been receding and thinning for years. I’m starting to get another thinning spot on the back of my head, but I think it’s from wearing hats too often. I still have a lot of hair, but it’s a lot less than it used to be. I don’t really want to be bald, but I’ve considered shaving my head just to get it over with.

My hair receded a bit as a teen. Which I didn't like because I was growing it out. Grew it out to my waist, eventually. At 18 or 19 I shaved it all off.
I've mostly kept it shaved since, with only two short times it grew out. Once on purpose, one not.
In my 20s it receded some more. More noticeably, as well.
My hair is now in that front and top is more or less bald.
I started getting a little gray in my beard, in my 30s, and was slowly getting worse. I considered dyeing it but could never be bothered.
So even before I started going bald I was shaving my head. For 30 years, actually as of now.
Part of me wishes I could grow it longer again, but I'm happy keeping it shaved.
As a teen I said if I didn't have long hair I'd have a shaved head. That's actually how it went haha.
My goatee is still fairly dark, but does seem a bit lighter.
After my radiation treatment the ability to grow hair on half of my upper lip is minimal and what little does grow isn't very much. Even after weeks of not shaving running my finger across it feels quite smooth. So now I have to do the mustache-less goatee. Not my favorite haha.

I have never had to worry about balding in fact my pic I shared on here a number of years back showed mine was the opposite since my hair was down to my chest. However, when it comes to my hair I have to worry about my ignorance........LOL About three months after I had posted my pic on here. Well by chance my water lines backed up. I grabbed my electric powered snake, plugged it in and the last thought I had is I should put my hair back in a ponytail lest somehow it get caught in the snake as I am feeding it in or removing it.

Well I bet you can guess what happened......LOL I was pulling the snake out of the pipe bent to far forward and next thing I know as I am stepping on the pedal is my head begins to move down fast. I realized what I had done so figured I will just hit reverse on the snake and unwind my hair. Yeah not a good idea just wrapped it around even more.

Well now I am unable to move because my hair is all wrapped around my big old commercial electric powered snake. So had to call for my son to come down with a pair of scissors and cut me free.....LOL Since that happened a few years back now my hair has grown back so I have to be careful of my own ignorance unless I make myself bald.....LOL

P.S. I am sure that the question on your mind is oh my word how gross having your hair get caught in a nasty line that has just been in your sewage. Yes it was and I washed my newly buzz cut hair about three or four times.......LOL

This is yet another good reason as to why I always wear my hair up.

I know most men like it better when women wear their hair down, but while I like having long hair, it gets way too warm if I wear it down AND, as you've illustrated brilliantly here, can actually become a hazard.

I mean, any little thing -- velcro, zippers, spinning fans, closing doors on appliances, cars, etc. -- can easily trap both your hair, and therefore you.

Of course, hair in a ponytail can still get snagged, but I find I have a lot more spatial awareness of my hair when it's all collected together and off my neck.

Very entertaining story -- thanks so much for taking the time to share it -- and even more glad to hear you survived!!!

Yeah can never overlook how much a pack of $2.99 hair rubber bands can be a life or day saver......LOL

I went bald at 21-22. I have had a shiny shaved head for 30 years. All or nothing for me.......still got a hot wife too!

I have barely any discernible hair on my arms or legs, mostly just peach fuzz if anything.

A doctor once asked me "how often" I had to shave my arms "to keep them that smooth," and I just looked at him and said, "Never." He looked dumbfounded, so I guess this is an unusual feature for a woman. What's even odder is that I have dark hair and pale skin, but any hair the does dare to sprout on my arms or legs is so fine, you can only see if if the light catches it just right. Otherwise, it seems to blend right in.

I still shave my legs every now and then just in case there are any strays, but not very often at all.

Ironically, every hairdresser I've had always tells me my hair is very fine, but that there is a ton of it -- so I guess my body somehow decided to send all the hair from my arms and legs to my head!

That's not a bad problem to have. Take it from one who has the exact reverse problem. I wish I had your trouble.

MPB is a genetic trait. I have the gene but it's not active. Grandpa went thin in his 20's bald by 30's.
Thank God I don't have active genetics for being bald because I got a squashed melon. Many in my family have bald heads and squished melons.

But then there's guys like Elon Musk whose receding hairline in his 30's has jumped forward and become a full head of hair.
My High School science teacher had one of the phoniest looking toupees ever made. He looked ridiculous with it but he still wore it.
Grandpa once won a toupee in a white elephant gift exchange at church....then wore it to church often. It was a gag he pulled regularly.