What's it really like going bald - the truth

[idkwia]

My father was bald and from the age of 16 I was petrified of it happening to me. Then one day, I saw it, the first sign of the dreaded Male Pattern Baldness. I was mortified. I became depressed and lost my spark and thought the world had ended. I thought that my life would be crap from now on, friends would laugh at me, in fact I would probably lose all of my friends and I would never be able to get a girl ever again. That was it finito, I might as well be dead.

And do you know what happened?.....................I was WRONG, big time WRONG. I did lose most of my hair that is true, but strangely the world did not end, friends made the odd comment initially but I just ignored them then they forgot about it and I had as many friends as before but the really really weird thing was that I could still pull girls. At first I was not as confident but that didn't seem to matter I was still pulling the same as before. There were 3 girls who told me that to them baldness was manly and I said "there is no need to be kind, I know what you are really thinking" and they said "no, we really mean it!" and I ended up with all of them so they were telling the truth!

Now there may be the odd shallow girl who doesn't like it, but stuff them cos there are more that it reallly doesn't bother or actually prefer it because it is more sexy.

I had what hair I had left cut very very short and so there was no more worrying about it, no more messing about with combs and brushes. I also bought one of those DIY razors and trust me when I say they are so easy to use and it comes out just as good as the barber's, so I saved money on haircuts too.

I am now 40 and look back on the time when I started losing my hair and think "I don't know what the hell I was worried about".

My only regret? That I didn't have my hair cut very very short at the start of my loss and that would be the best advice I could give to guys going through the same thing.

So if any of you guys are reading this and are at your wits end with worry then I know what you are going through. I know it is no good me saying "don't worry" because you will and that is only natural, but please take some reassurance from my story because I can promise you, the world does not end, life is just as good and there are many more postives than negatives.

PS dont waste your money on trying to save your hair, if they really worked you wouldn't see any bald men. Going through any treatment regimen just makes you focus on your hair more every day and wastes time. My best advice is to get your hair cut really short ASAP and I promise you that after the initial shock of that first cut you will not look back. Go for it.

[wessneijder]

Thanks for the input man I sometimes consider suicide but when I read stories like this it brings me back to reality and I realize there is indeed life after hair.

[s.a.f]

Not all bald guys are equal. Every case is individual.

[idkwia]

Thanks for the input man I sometimes consider suicide but when I read stories like this it brings me back to reality and I realize there is indeed life after hair.

I know exactly how you feel because that is how I felt until I realised it was no big deal. People lose limbs and their sight, imagine how they must feel, yet they seem to get over it. As I said in my original post, getting it cut very short was the best thing I ever did. It took me quite a while to get the courage to do it and when I was younger short hair was NOT fashionable whereas nowadays even guys with a lot of hair often have it cut very short. Anyway, once I'd had it cut short and got over the initial shock it was great. Quite a few friends said it looked better very short and it was obvious they really meant it. The great thing about it was that it always looked the same no matter what I did and no matter how windy it was and I didn't have to ponce about with it. Then over time as I lost more hair nobody said anything because if your hair is really short you look the same bald as you do with hair - sorted!
So keep your chin up and trust me, you will be fine.

[wessneijder]

Thanks for input. I am a diffuse loser so I agree the buzz cut is good. I have been buzzing my hair since I first noticed loss at 19 with a 1 guard. It's very short, but the problem is now when people look at the back of my head they can see the sides are very thick while crown and top have minimal coverage.

I've been dating a girl for a week now. I've been putting toppik in my hair. One night we were watching E! channel and Matt Damon shaved his head for a movie role and was being interviewed. She said "Ewww why did he do that to his hair?"

Now I'm terrified for her to see my head without toppik. Please fin save me.

[dudemon]

I also bought one of those DIY razors and trust me when I say they are so easy to use and it comes out just as good as the barber's, so I saved money on haircuts too.

Is it made by Phillips Norelco and pivots up to 90 degrees? I picked that one up about a month ago, and I have buzzed my hair myself a couple times now. I does work great and it is SUPER easy to use!

No more going to the stupid haircut place and paying some young hot superficial girl (who would never date a bald guy in a million years) $15 to run the razor across my head about 5 times which takes all of about 30 seconds, while watching her roll her eyes as she thinks to herself: "I'd rather be dead than buzzing the peachfuzz on this bald loser's head!"

PS dont waste your money on trying to save your hair, if they really worked you wouldn't see any bald men. Going through any treatment regimen just makes you focus on your hair more every day and wastes time. My best advice is to get your hair cut really short ASAP and I promise you that after the initial shock of that first cut you will not look back. Go for it.

Great advice. I only wish I would have done what you did, but instead I had 3 HTs and gotta say ... it looks like crap. I was a NW5 when I had my first one, and I have regretted it ever since. I had to have 2 more HTs to try to camoflage the first one which was done by a butcher. I have wasted over $45,000 on hair transplants and I still look ... bald!

RE: girls
If you have other things wrong with your appearance, being severely bald only makes things worse. In cases like this, unfortunately guys are going to get rejected more with no hair. No amount of 'compensation' in other ways is going matter. Trust me.

But still, shaving/buzzing instead of trying to restore your hair when there is already hardly anything left is the smart way to go. I agree with it 100%.

Great post by the way!

[TravisB]

Now I'm terrified for her to see my head without toppik. Please fin save me.

I'm sorry but this sentence has made me laugh

I'm wondering though what she would dislike more - bald head or inactive pee pee due to fin.

[idkwia]

Dudemon - great input. My razor is a Remington, I have had it 20 years and so there will be better ones on the market now. Having said that mine works fine, really easy. People think that buzzing your hair is difficult but it isn't it is easy.

Understand what you say about people either being ugly or not but don't agree that hair makes that much difference in the long run. There are millions of bald guys and 99% of them are married...............I rest my case.

I agree with what you said about transplants. A mate of mine had one and it looked pretty good for about a year but then he started losing more of his original hair and now he has these two islands of hair on the top of is head and that does look crazy.

[uncomfortable man]

Not all bald guys are equal. Every case is individual.

Very much agreed... OP should re-title this thread, "What it's really like going bald for me- my truth."

[s.a.f]

Understand what you say about people either being ugly or not but don't agree that hair makes that much difference in the long run. There are millions of bald guys and 99% of them are married...............I rest my case.

Yes but married to far less attractive women than if they had hair. Hair can make a huge difference it all depends if your Vin Diesel or Larry David.

Bald is beautiful.

Looks like we've got a Slybaldguy in our midst!