I starting looking online, and all I saw were ads, and I thought I’d ask SD to get unbiased opinions.
I’m 25 and have a receding hairline. Maybe it shouldn’t, but it really bothers me and I want to have my old hairline back.
Have any of you done hair replacement? How much does it cost? Can you finance it? Are you happy with it? Are any of you NOT happy with it? What is involved? Does it look natural? What’s the Straight Dope?
Elton John has more money than Zeus and can command the services of the finest trichologists and hair-replacement surgery gurus in the world. And the best he can do is an awful-looking fools-nobody wig. This should tell us something about the claims made by the hair-replacement industry.
The hair-replacement industry only sells one thing, and that’s hope. They know that you, and many men like you, are hoping that some product or treatment can stop the hair loss. So they tell you what you want to hear. And they’ll keep doing this for as long as you want to keep throwing money at them. It’s all snake oil and hokum. If there was some magical cure currently available, I think we would know about it. Instead, we just see a lot of guys with thinning hair chucking money at stuff that doesn’t work.
The hair-replacement industry is in any case based on a flawed premise. There’s no such thing as a ‘cure’ for hair loss or baldness because hair loss isn’t a sign of anything wrong. It’s not an illness, disorder or disease. It’s a perfectly natural part of the ageing process, and you can’t “cure” something that isn’t wrong.
Countless women will tell you that whether they take an interest in you or not has precious little to do with your hair, or lack of it. Some will actually prefer you with thinning hair. And if it doesn’t concern them, it shouldn’t concern you. Save your money, accept what’s happening, and be proud of yourself the way you are.
And whatever you do, don’t choose a hairstyle that shows you’re in denial. Bald can be very, very sexy; combovers are never, ever sexy.
Yeah . . .
. . . sigh . . .
Donald Trump has a shitty comb-over wig thing going on as well . . .
. . .sigh . . .
So, you get the hair plugs for your receding hair-line, maybe everything looks good for a while, but genetics keeps on working and you start to loose hair past the plugs, starts to look funny so you go for another set of plugs,repeat every few years. In about 25 years your fortune takes a turn for the worse and you can’t afford the maintenance, meanwhile you keep on balding and you will end up with a bad looking thatch of hair on top of your head and bald all around the bottom part of your head.
More IMO than GQ, but I have heard stories of the ‘plugs’ being a long-term problem and falling out, leaving the skin on your head looking like a dartboard.
Go for the close-cropped hard man look, or push the boat out and shave it shiny (I know two people who do this and it really suits them. Occasional scowling will also help you to look sexy.
FWIW, rhinostylee, I was in the same boat as you were, only it started happening to me at 20. Rogaine had just come out, but I’d likely have gotten the first prescription ever written for it at the Student Health Center, and I had visions of them bronzing it and hanging it on the wall. In any case I treat brand-new drugs like I treat brand-new operating systems: let someone else try them out first.
So I waited, and disliked looking in the mirror every morning.
I looked into hair transplants, but there are a lot more horror stories out there than you’d think.
Eventually, Rogaine came down in price, and became available OTC. So I did that for a few years. It kind of worked, but from what I hear it would have been more effective had I started earlier. And in any case, I knew I didn’t want to have to rely on that crap all my life, so I started trying to accept who I was. (It was a little tough when I ran into a former high school classmate, who said “No offense, man, but you look OLD.” I was 24 at the time.)
Now, I’m 35 years old, married, and pretty darn bald. I still don’t like it, but I get my hair cut REALLY close, and can accept that.
Besides, I’m nailing a beautiful woman on a regular basis, and that’s really what it’s all about, right?
So my advice: If it bugs you, look into Rogaine and Propecia. But understand that that isn’t a permanent solution, that there really isn’t one beyond just coming to terms with it.
Thanks, Airblairxxx! You are right . . . that truly is what it’s all about. In fact, that’s the only real reason I’m concerned!
I looked into Rogaine and Propecia, and neither of those work on receding hairlines from what I understand. They only work on the top of your head, which is not my immediate concern. Plus, Rogaine seems like a pain in the ass, and I heard that Propecia makes you unable “to score.”
Thanks for the info!
Speaking as a woman who is close to your age, the only hair I care about is mine. And even there, mostly I only care that it is clean and brushed. As long as a guy keeps his hair clean, I don’t care if he’s losing it. Honest.
I doubt I’m alone.
Thanks whiterabbit!
I guess it’s not as big of a deal as I make it out to be.
Rhinostylee, this happened to me too, I started losing it about 5 years ago. Now I shave (#1 weekly, DIY, cheaper than a barber too). I occasionally looked into remedies, but eventually I understood the following
And some honesty…I think if I had the choice, I’d have my hair back (but I’d have to have it shaved), and some women do have a preference for guys with a full head of hair, but most aren’t bothered.
Just get a good cut and go do something more fun with your time and money.
I’m a girl and most of us don’t care. Those that do are not the ones you want to hang with.
