Going bald--what to do?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I like my hair. No, scratch that–I love my hair. It’s been a constant companion for my entire life. When I’m cold, it warms me, much like beer. When I run, it bounces up and down gently, patting me on the head, reminding me that someone’s there to cheer me on. It gives the wimminfolk something to grab onto. Sometimes it finds its way onto a bar of soap, and that’s a bit icky. Sometimes it gets caught on the back of my tounge, and I have to do an awkward near-vomit-inducing tonguescraping dance that certainly causes my eyes to tear. But hair makes me feel sexy, also much like beer.

Such is my love for hair. And beer.

I’m entertaining a lot of options. I’ve already started compensating–I go to the gym every day, because bald just doesn’t look right to me unless you’re set like Mr. Clean. I wouldn’t mind looking like Patrick Stewart–I could dig looking like Xavier. Did you know my friend’s little sister has every episode of “Star Trek: TNG” on tape in her closet, arranged in order of how hot Patrick Stewart was in each episode? It’s true.

Goodbye, dear friend. My balding spot is not the graceful aging of a nice late 30s early 40s gentleman who develops the tasteful “horseshoe” or “halo” you see on respected scholars and clergymen. No, my 'do comes at a very inopportune time. I’m twenty-one. Jebus. I’m Montgomery Burns.

But I won’t give in. I will bring sexy back. Here is where I need opinions that have no vested opinion in lying to me. How bald is bald enough to shave that bad boy off?

Here I am, doing the “Hooray for Hair” dance.
Here is my well-quaffed 'do, flapping gently in the breeze, no clearer sign of manly manliness than a peacock’s tail in a sunlit glade.
Heer I am, “busting a move”, as it were, when my condition presents itself to the camera. Ouch, my pride!

Am I to the point of “stop pretending, just shave it and get it over with”? How buff need I be to not look like the Pillsburry Doughboy? When I do shave it, what sort of fun things should I do with it that I never have?

2

Do not try hair restoration products. Avoid combovers at all costs. Do not be in denial. Be a man and face it. Embrace it. Live the dream.

In a few years you’ll be as sexy as I am.

3

Link does not work! (Excessive bandwidth restriction.)

4

Cut it short short, but do not shave your head.

5

As I get balder, my surviving hair gets shorter. It may make me more ugly and unappealing, but by Og I’m not going to hide it.

6

I will provide you with the secret to keeping your hair forever if you provide me with the phone number for the blonde in picture #3.

7

Embrace your baldness! I did starting in my 20’s…and have never regretted being bald. I think that other folks prefer my “honesty” as opposed to toupees, combovers, etc. They seem to be able to live with it just fine; why shouldn’t I?

8

When I was in the military and would just come back from the barber with a really short crop, there were always several of my female soldier contemporaries who - despite the expectation to maintain a professional military bearing - would feel the irresistible urge to rub their hands all over my head.

You think the wind feels good blowing across your hippy hair but take my word for it, it feels even better blowing across your scalp with freshly cut 1/4" hair.

9

Balding here, too. I started at about 21 myself. I’m 28 now and still have a healthy portion of it left.

I spent my younger 20’s worrying about it, and even tried Rogaine (which worked incredibly well for me). Now, I don’t worry too much about it. I’m kind of looking forward to it being gone. One less thing to maintain.

10

Sure, but for my current hair style, I have to go to the barber every few weeks. When growing 1/16th of an inch effectively doubles the length, you’ll soon learn the intimate details of your barber’s life.

On the other hand, I’ve thrown out my combs and brush. And I’ll have that one bottle of shampoo for the rest of my life. They’ll probably bury me with it.

11

Are you sure you’re going bald? Judging from the photos, you appear to have normal post-pubescent recession of the temporal hairline with no loss of hair at the vertex. If I had as much hair as you do, I’d be happier than the proverbial pig in poop. That said, if you’re really concerned, just do something about it. One milligram of finasteride/day arrests the progression of alopecia androgenetica in 83% of all men. Start there, and top it off with a 5% minoxidil application twice a day and in all probability you’ll be just fine. Rogaine isn’t the greasy goop it used to be; it comes in a foam product now which dissolves instantly when it hits your skin and dries in a minute or two. If you don’t want to bother with the hassle or expense of taking finasteride every day, see if you can talk your doctor into giving you a prescription for 5 mg. tablets (Proscar) and take two per week, equally spaced. There’s no published data on the efficacy of this, but anecdotal evidence from clinicians indicates that it works just as well and possibly even better. If you’re really motivated and are willing to maintain this extremely simple regimen, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be doing the ‘Hooray for Hair’ dance at your grandchild’s wedding.

12

Hands off. Mine.

Washoe: Yeah, I’m definitely going bald. All my hair is thinning like crazy and the dome up top is getting hit the hardest. It’s not as evident in that picture, but I know it’s there. I always thought hair treatments were essentially just snake oil. Am I off in this assessment?

13

If minimizing hair loss is that important to someone, the drugs finasteride and minoxidil are both pretty good at halting the loss of hair, for most of the folks that use them. Of course, one has to keep using them for the rest of their lives…

14

Shave it off. Grow a goatee. Gain 50 pounds. Presto, you look like a million other guys who overreacted because they lost a little hair.

15

My dermatologist chiming in some time ago.

That said, I keep my hair shaved very tight, it used to be the #1 guard on the poodle trimmer but now I use the #2 (1/4-inch) since my GF likes it longer :D. It’s very easy to care for and, more importantly, IMO, it doesn’t look like a man in denial.

Embrace it fully or fight it, just don’t do the comb-over or, ugh, the swirly.

16

Hey - I resemble this remark (a lot - wow!)

17

It’s funny… I’ve been prepared since I was 12 to grow up and go bald. The male side of my mother’s family start going bald early… every one of them… except me.

I’ll be 50 this month, I’m not even thinning up top. Women tell me that my hair is beautiful (don’t ask me…it’s probably just the color they like… pewter grey). My 47 year old brother and my 37 year old brother are both balding, the 37 year old looks like Mr. Clean, the 47 year old has a bald spot as big as my palm on the top of his head.

The best thing is that I went grey early, they both teased me about it. Now I tell them, as least I have something to dye it if I wanted to.

18

The swirly?

19

OK, but you don’t have long to reconsider. Once too much of that hair is gone, there is no going back. It’s not you are dealing with the devil… just Waverly.

20

You dont look like you’re going bald in those pics. But one thought: when you’re in the car, does your head rub against the ceiling? This is bad.