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Thinning Hair. What to do.

FallingmanFallingman Registered User regular
edited November 2009 in Help / Advice Forum
So.
My Hair's thinning. Generally, I'm pretty OK with it. My dad's bald, and I'm about to turn 30 - so I've had a pretty good run. I'm engaged to be married early next year - so I guess I don't have much in the way of serious insecurities (she doesn't mind). Having said that, I dont particularly like it - but I'm determined to do it with a little self respect.

I'm at the point where the front of my hair is turning thin, not so much receding. So when the lights shining down on me, you can see through it. Generally, its more noticeable when it's shorter, as I tend to go for a kind of faux-hawk thing. I'm wondering whether it's time to cut my hair a lot shorter - maybe a buzz cut. But I'm concerned that it will look even worse.

I'm not quite ready to shave completely... I'm a pretty slim kind of build, so I'm not sure I could carry it off.

I guess I'm looking for advice from anyone that's been through this. Any recommendations H/A?

[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Fallingman on
«1

Posts

  • VanityPantsVanityPants Gokai Red! Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    It's time for the buzz cut.

    When this first started happening to me, I played around trying to do a lot of different things. I thought it was too soon for the buzz cut, I wasn't sure it would look good on me. Let me tell you, hair grows back, and the buzz cut looks good on a lot of people.

    Buzz your head, see what you think about it. If you're already considering it, it's probably time. Honestly, a buzz is a good look.

    When you get it done, you can ask for them to start at a higher guard so you can get an idea of how things are turning out, then just have them clip it with a shorter guard. It won't be a hassle for them since a clipper cut isn't time consuming or taxing in any way.

    Personally, I played around with it for a while. I tried doing a two around the sides and a three on the top for a while, then I tried just a two all over. Now I just do a one without the guard and it's nearly shaved. Play around with it until you find a length you like -- it's all short, but it still looks different.

    VanityPants on
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  • Dulcius_ex_asperisDulcius_ex_asperis Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Do you have a photo? It may not be as noticeable as you think.

    Have you asked your fiancee what she thinks? She might really love your hair.

    Dulcius_ex_asperis on
  • CokebotleCokebotle 穴掘りの 電車内Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I also recommend the buzz cut. I've been doing it for a few years and I think it looks well enough on me. For reference, I'm about 6'1" or so and no more than 150 lbs. Plus, if you leave it really short, and not fully clipped, it feels really cool to rub your hands on.

    And the girls also like how it feels :winky:

    Also, I'd recommend investing in a decent pair of hair trimmers and just do it yourself, so you save the $15 or so on going to a barber/hair stylist. You could probably get your fiancee to help on the back edges until you get used to it.

    Cokebotle on
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  • KotenkKotenk Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I've had fairly long shaggy hair for most my life (while still fashionable), and around 20 it started to thin pretty badly up top. I weighed my various options but started with a low buzz cut. Since having my hair like this, I haven't really considered any other option - I like it that much.

    Kotenk on
  • RUNN1NGMANRUNN1NGMAN Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    A buzz cut is definitely the way to go. It will look good even when your hair gets really thin. My hair started going thin about 5 years ago and at this point the top of my head's pretty close to bald. I've been getting a #1 or #1-1/2 all over and it always looks good.

    RUNN1NGMAN on
  • MagicPrimeMagicPrime FiresideWizard Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    MagicPrime on
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  • Casually HardcoreCasually Hardcore Once an Asshole. Trying to be better. Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Buzz cut that shit!

    Casually Hardcore on
  • Nick SoapdishNick Soapdish Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
  • EncEnc A Fool with Compassion Pronouns: He, Him, HisRegistered User regular
    edited November 2009
    wig2.jpg

    Classy wigs are the way to go.

    Enc on
  • delphinusdelphinus Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I was going bald at 16.

    Yes.
    Life is unfair and as terrible as people say.

    delphinus on
  • RUNN1NGMANRUNN1NGMAN Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    It's not as bad as all that. Never have to buy styling products again. Once you're comfortable with it, save a significant amount by cutting your hair yourself. And as far as women go, they either a) think bald is hot (comb-overs notwithstanding), b) don't care, or c) find it a turn-off. And the pool is definitely weighted towards a and b.

    RUNN1NGMAN on
  • SixSix Caches Tweets in the mainframe cyberhex Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Buzz it.

    Or use the head spray paint.

    Six on
    can you feel the struggle within?
  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Rogaine is supposed to occasionally help with thinning but not yet bald hair, right? I'm sure it isn't perfect, but depending on how important keeping a head of hair is to you, you might consider trying it.

    Darkewolfe on
    What is this I don't even.
  • edited November 2009
    I'll fifth or eighth the buzz cut option.

    - Less time spent getting ready
    - Can cut it yourself with a $30 clipper kit (that pays for itself the third time you use it)
    - Can wear any kind of hat without worrying about it messing things up
    - If you're running late in the morning, you can skip showering for a day without it being immediately visually obvious

    Richard M. Nixon on
    chevy.jpgsteve.jpgmartin.jpg
  • NotYouNotYou Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    guess what, if a buzz cut looks terrible on you, then it will groooowwww back. No need to worry too much about something not working out perfectly. Just give it a shot.

    NotYou on
  • FallingmanFallingman Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Cool.
    I see the consensus is pretty clear. I guess part of it is letting go of the phase where you (and others) pretend that it's not really happening. It's going to be weird looking in the mirror.

    I think my "moment of realisation" came last summer when I was in the shower, and the top of my head stung when I put it under... I was like "what the hell?" then I realised that I'd caught the sun through my hair. There was a moment of silence for fallen comrades.

    I have a 2 week holiday coming up over Xmas. Sounds like the perfect time to give it a whirl.

    Fallingman on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • SheepSheep Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    edited November 2009
    Darkewolfe wrote: »
    Rogaine is supposed to occasionally help with thinning but not yet bald hair, right? I'm sure it isn't perfect, but depending on how important keeping a head of hair is to you, you might consider trying it.

    If you have cats then be very careful. There is a chemical in Rogaine that will kill them.

    Sheep on
  • edited November 2009
    Fallingman wrote: »
    Cool.
    I see the consensus is pretty clear. I guess part of it is letting go of the phase where you (and others) pretend that it's not really happening. It's going to be weird looking in the mirror.

    I think my "moment of realisation" came last summer when I was in the shower, and the top of my head stung when I put it under... I was like "what the hell?" then I realised that I'd caught the sun through my hair. There was a moment of silence for fallen comrades.

    I have a 2 week holiday coming up over Xmas. Sounds like the perfect time to give it a whirl.

    I noticed mine when I caught sight of the back of my head in a hotel double mirror. Hi, there, 2" pink circle. SO long, 3" hair.

    Richard M. Nixon on
    chevy.jpgsteve.jpgmartin.jpg
  • FourthPointFourthPoint __BANNED USERS regular
    edited November 2009
    Any advice for someone with alopecia?

    FourthPoint on
  • RUNN1NGMANRUNN1NGMAN Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Sheep wrote: »
    Darkewolfe wrote: »
    Rogaine is supposed to occasionally help with thinning but not yet bald hair, right? I'm sure it isn't perfect, but depending on how important keeping a head of hair is to you, you might consider trying it.

    If you have cats then be very careful. There is a chemical in Rogaine that will kill them.

    Rogaine is so not worth the trouble. And even if it does work in about seven years it stops working and pretty much all the hair is was sustaining falls out immediately.

    RUNN1NGMAN on
  • LurkLurk Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    delphinus wrote: »
    I was going bald at 16.

    Yes.
    Life is unfair and as terrible as people say.

    By any chance, do ya live in Hamilton? >_>

    Lurk on
    415429-1.png?1281464977
  • SwashbucklerXXSwashbucklerXX Swashbucklin' Canuck Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    My husband is quite slim and looks great with a buzz cut. I think it's more about your head shape than your build, really. He was balding pretty significantly by 30, and I convinced him to give it a try because the haircuts he was getting were making him look older than his age. Now I buzz it with home clippers every other week, he looks better and younger, and we save money on haircuts. It's a win-win!

    SwashbucklerXX on
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  • DisrupterDisrupter Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    ...

    is it wrong that the informercial was the coolest thing ive seen today?

    I kind of want to try some GLH...

    Disrupter on
    616610-1.png
  • EinEin CaliforniaRegistered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I am 23, balding in the back pretty bad, and just want to say that I've been using Rogaine for almost 6 months now with basically no visible effect.

    I'd buzz it, but I have a giant fucking head and I am pretty sure I'd look exactly like an alien if I did that.

    Alien_head.jpg

    I've gone with the 'wear hats when possible' approach. :P

    Ein on
  • Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited November 2009
    Darkewolfe wrote: »
    Rogaine is supposed to occasionally help with thinning but not yet bald hair, right? I'm sure it isn't perfect, but depending on how important keeping a head of hair is to you, you might consider trying it.

    I think it arrests balding, but doesn't reverse it. I've heard a lot of good things about Nioxin shampoo. I'm currently trying it, but have only been using it for a couple weeks, so it's too early to tell if it's working. Though my wife said she thinks it may.

    Bionic Monkey on
    sig_megas_armed.jpg
  • Anarchy Rules!Anarchy Rules! Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I only have a receding hairline, rather than a thinning hairline, but if I had a buzzcut I really would look like something out of Area 51. I think it depends more on the shape of the head than anything, but in anycase shorter is better than long. Nothing looks more stupid than someone with a receding or thinning hairline trying to maintain long or big hair (ie. an afro with a bald spot in the back).

    Anarchy Rules! on
  • LewieP's MummyLewieP's Mummy Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Just cut it really short, it will look way better, and you'll look less balding, just a guy with short hair.

    LewieP's Mummy on
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  • delphinusdelphinus Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Lurk wrote: »
    delphinus wrote: »
    I was going bald at 16.

    Yes.
    Life is unfair and as terrible as people say.

    By any chance, do ya live in Hamilton? >_>


    Nope. Vancouver.

    I personally just shaved my head, and just accept that shit happens. It's almost biblical in it's truth.

    But also know that hair regaining products will burn a hole in your damn wallet let alone your bank account. If you do go this path, know that you'll have to learn to budget for it like budgeting for car insurance. I've tried propecia, rogaine, horse hair restoration prodcuts (that one actually worked for a bit), pills and other stuff for about a year. This was all before hair plug/implant technology had progressed.
    The only place that was offering at the time was Bosely medical, which did hair graft surgery. Last I heard they were getting sued out the ass for malpractice fraud and all sorts of twisted stuff.

    Nowadays hair plugs and replacements are an actual growing practice instead of secretly experimenting on unknowing patients. But BEWARE! there still runs the risk like any reconstructive surgery. The surgeon has to be good at what he does or else your head will look like patch quilt. There are some pretty scary pictures online with the mistakes that have been made on people's scalps. There are also pretty good successes as well.

    Also on the options list is laser regrowth surgery which is still in its trial stages, but taken candidates are usually balding to bald. You could check it out, I've heard promising results without invasive surgery.


    In the end, the pressure to keep my hair, my impending future in social interactions, and all the advertised false hope was a bit too much till one night i just said "Fuck it." So I shaved my head in a time where it still wasn't as fashionable as it is today.
    That same night, I was up channel surfing till saw a married with chilrdren rerun with a specific episode. Al's line delivery in his speech made me think, "let's do this."
    needless private life story insert.
    When I was still in uni, a friend came up to me and told me how 'awesome it is that I was an upbeat person.' I said 'thanks I guess.' It was kinda out of the blue and i was just walking down the hall. 'It's different to meet someone so happy and not be bothered by their...you know" *gestures at the top of his head*

    Initially I thought that 'damn, people DO notice im bald despite shaving my head.' Then I realized that scott was looking to me as someone who had gone through the shit he was about to go through, and it gave him hope. Scott had an awesome head of hair as I knew him, but I could notice subtly changes in the way he styled his hair.

    To my friend scott, to you, and to everyone else that asks me what its like, I leave them with this advice despite how cheesy it is.

    Shit happens. Life isn't fair, but remember to be thankful for what you had, and just plain be proud of who you are. Make no mistake though, if you shave your head, people will still understand that you're balding, you're just lucky that it's fashionable acceptable to do so. The hair restoration path is still a good path, but I still recommend only doing it because you want to. It's a MUCH bigger relief on my life knowing that my actions, feelings, and decisions are still my own to make and not terribly influenced by what others think of me and mine.

    delphinus on
  • NotYouNotYou Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    yea, del speaks the truth. I just remember, shit, I still have all my limbs. That's pretty awesome.

    NotYou on
  • chromdomchromdom Who? Where?Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I started losing my hair at...16? I dunno. I'm 36 now, it was a long time ago. I remember having to pose for school pictures making sure that my bald spot wouldn't show.
    I was gonna say just
    BIC IT
    but it doesn't work for everyone, and if you're not that far gone, that's ok. Not everyone can be drop dead gleaming sexy like me. :winky:
    OP mentioned he's getting married next year. I cannot stress this enough: get your fiance's opinion on your hairstyle. At least till the wedding. Then hell, dye it purple and carve in leopard spots.

    chromdom on
  • ScalfinScalfin __BANNED USERS regular
    edited November 2009
    Invest in a yarmulke.

    Scalfin on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    The rest of you, I fucking hate you for the fact that I now have a blue dot on this god awful thread.
  • SigmaConditionSigmaCondition Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I'm with Del on this one too.
    Shit, I can't remember a time when I wasn't losing my hair. As early as 15-16 I noticed that it wasn't going to be there for long, and I ended up waiting too long to do anything about it. Basically as it got thinner and thinner (and further back) I ended up getting shorter and shorter hair cuts. This worked in my mind for a bit, but eventually I was just going into the barber and getting a no guard cut all over.
    Finally one day I decided to just shave it all off.

    Since then I looked into options for "hair replacement" and I learned a lot about what exactly is going on up there and why my hair decided to take a permanent vacation. Long story short, propecia is much better than rogaine, and some of the other treatments do work on paper. Atleast they are not lying when they say that they technically slow down hair loss or regrow some degree of hair. Mainly those cold lasers that you can get done at a hair clinic or sold in some stores, but you are looking at minimal gains at best.

    For a while I was rocking the fake hair, and even though there was never an 'incident' with it I was still always self conscious about it. Yeah you can swim/run/shower with it, but it's still not the same. After I got another girlfriend she saw some old photos of my when I was shaving my head and she wanted me to go back. Either she knew about the hair piece or she legitimately thought I looked better without it, either way...

    So now I've been shaving my head for a while again, and the gf loves it. I can really appreciate the shittyness of the guys situation, but sometimes we just get shitty cards. Play them as you will.

    Buzz cut it
    Eventually shave it

    SigmaCondition on
  • FallingmanFallingman Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    I don't think I'll fight this.
    I mean, it's not ideal - I quite like my hair - but its going to happen, and I can either spend a lot of time, effort, money and emotion trying to hold onto it as long as possible... Or I can accept it and concentrate on other things.

    I'm just at that point where I'm adjusting my own perceptions of how I look. I still feel like I did when I was 20... And I used to be that guy that always looked pretty young. It's going to be a little weird getting used to the new guy in the mirror.

    Fallingman on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • UsagiUsagi Nah Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Chiming in from the female perspective, the buzzcut/shaved head look is exponentially sexier than the "Oh man I hope they don't notice I styled my hair carefully to cover the balding portion/receding hairline"

    And nothing is more attractive than a man with confidence in the way he looks

    Usagi on
  • FallingmanFallingman Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Awesome.
    Thanks for that. Having convinced myself that vanity wasn't an issue for me - I now keep thinking that I have a wedding coming up, and that there'll be loads of photos.

    Fallingman on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • LachoneusLachoneus Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Usagi wrote: »
    Chiming in from the female perspective, the buzzcut/shaved head look is exponentially sexier than the "Oh man I hope they don't notice I styled my hair carefully to cover the balding portion/receding hairline"

    And nothing is more attractive than a man with confidence in the way he looks

    lol i've always thought that about men going bald and trying to hide it. just SHAVE it. or cut it in a way that you dont look like a goon.

    im talking to YOU dad! heh heh

    Lachoneus on
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  • Bionic MonkeyBionic Monkey Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited November 2009
    Yeah, I'm teetering on the edge of shaving mine. I don't have an actual bald spot yet, but it's obviously thinning, to the point where it's noticeably worse than the year before. I expect I'll be shaving in the next year or two if things continue at this pace.

    Bionic Monkey on
    sig_megas_armed.jpg
  • UsagiUsagi Nah Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    One more thing before I forget

    Shaved/buzzed heads are an invitation to have your cranium fondled by ladies, there's just something about smooth skin or a little bit of fuzz that makes us want to touch it

    Usagi on
  • vonPoonBurGervonPoonBurGer Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    Usagi wrote: »
    Shaved/buzzed heads are an invitation to have your cranium fondled by ladies, there's just something about smooth skin or a little bit of fuzz that makes us want to touch it
    This is entirely true. I shave my head every few months, and pretty much every time I do random women will want to touch it. The first time it happened I figured it was just a weird one-off thing. But it's happened almost every time I've shaved my head since then, and I've been doing this three or four times a year for almost a decade now.

    I shaved my head maybe 10 days ago, and yesterday one of the more attractive ladies here at the office wandered up and started rubbing the back of my head/neck, just because she wanted to know what it felt like. If I were single, I'd be buzzing it weekly and making a point of hanging out wherever attractive ladies are found.

    vonPoonBurGer on
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  • cooljammer00cooljammer00 Hey Small Christmas-Man!Registered User regular
    edited November 2009
    What about suntan lotion to protect the head? And what of sweat?

    cooljammer00 on
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