RE001

Thanks for the input but I don't want to play Russian roulette with my health. I am against using pills in any kind of circumstance unless it is a life-threatening situation. I'd rather have a healthy sexual life, no man boobs, etc. rather than hair to be honest with you.

I actually styled my hair today. You say how? I shaved the sides of my head to a complete 0 with a razor but I left my top trimmed to a 0.5 with a trimmer barbers use to do sideburns and such. I actually dig the look a lot and will be rocking it. (Military style, like a fohawk without the back) It suits my head and my hair loss despite having crown loss.

I have come to this site to see what my options are and I'm very happy that I did. A lot of knowledgeable members and threads. It has made my decision making way easier.

I will most likely do a HT later down the line but will never take any pills no matter what anyone says.

In my opinion, if that is all you've lost in 6 years time then you are doing pretty good. Hairloss generally starts off pretty heavy then tapers off over time. I've seen people go NW 7 in 2 years time, and I've seen people go NW3 and completely stop on their own. But since medication is available these days it won't hurt at all to start taking it.

 

What is your family history like when it comes to MPB?

I have MPB on both sides and it's hard to remember who has what.

I'm mainly comparing my hair loss with my father's because it's almost IDENTICAL but who knows. My father still has hair on his forelock and sides. His hair loss is pretty much a receding hairline and crown loss, like me.

MPB sucks d*ck. Why? Because you never really know from which combination you got it from. Will you lose more? Is it going to stop? and so on...

I think my hair loss has dramatically slowed down or even stopped. I haven't experienced any hair fall out in the sink or in the shower. I have a short haircut now but when I let my hair grow out a few weeks ago, I noticed those results just mentioned.

RE001,

 

No offense taken bro -- I just speak the truth.

 

BTW you won the battle maybe for now, but not the war. MPB will NOT quit and with the level of crown loss you have now the odds are ptretty high you'll end up at least a NW5+/6 by age 40.

 

If you want to see what you'll look like as a NW5/6/7 it's pretty simple: just shave the top down to bald skin and leave the monk fringe intact. If you can "live with" that look then you are truly home free! Make sure to go out and see how other people/women react to it as well.

 

My father use to tell me that the mind of a man changes every 5-10 years. Now that I'm 41 I can truly see the wisdom in his statement. That's why if I were you I'd do the shave thing mentioned above and see how you feel about that look. This way you don't have to wait until you're 35/40 to see how you will react about it.

I actually did that when I cut my hair today for **** and giggles. Of course I didn't like it but I have more important things to take care of right now. It's all a big waiting game.

RE001,

 

Good for you man! Enjoy the few years that you have left with that stubble on top before it's all gone and you are a NW6/7. Without finasteride it's pretty much a guaruntee you'll be there shortly considering where you are now; but as you are no longer concerned about your hairloss you need not worry about any of this stuff anymore. You are FREE !

I'll let nature do its thing.

Sorry if you took my pill talk offensive but that's just how I feel about it. I do have family history of hair loss but NONE went to NW6/7. I know I'll lose some more and I'm fine with that fact. I choose to not let my hair rule my life at the moment. I have a head for the #1 look and I'm fine with it.

10 years ago we didn't have Facebook, we didn't have MySpace, it was Y2K, we didn't even have the iPhone! God knows what Hair Transplantation technology was like back then and look where it is now. 10 years from now, I might be getting a HT, one unlike nowadays. One can only hope.

It has been a psychological war these past few years but guess what, I WON that war and thanks to the knowledge I received in the short period of time being on these forums, it made decision making easier.

Well, well, well, I have changed my mind.

I won't be taking Finasteride or any kind of meds for my hair loss. I just couldn't get myself to accept the fact I would be taking medication; something I am totally against unless your life is on the line and you have to. I am not sick, therefore I don't need to be a slave to pills. I know the side-effects apply to a low percentage but in this situation I'd rather be safe than sorry. Who knows what side-effects I will have from these pills when I'm 50 or 60. I have seen too many people die from medication, unrelated to hair loss medication of course, but you get my point. I don't want to risk it for my well-being. I have cut my hair again to a #1 and I actually feel better than when I let it grow for a few weeks. It has been a voyage of yes or no, this and that but I came to a conclusion: I will continue cutting my hair short until my later years and see what happens. I will probably end up doing a HT (FUE) without meds later on in life to restore some hairs and still be able to shave it down. To me, that's a win-win situation. Having a big scar on the back of my head sounds bad enough for me to not consider the usual HT procedure.

What made my decision to do so: I also have gynecomastia. Many of you are familiar with it but it's essentially male-breast enlargement. It wasn't caused by any meds, just had it since puberty. I know all of this sounds pretty bad, hair loss and gyno but actually I don't look too shabby and I'm pleased with the way that I currently look. I choose to take care of my gyno problem over hair loss for now and put my full focus towards bodybuilding. One side-effect of Propecia is gynecomastia and now you see where I'm coming from with my decisions.

I feel like I'm making smart decisions for my well-being with what nature has stacked against me. Pills are a no-no to me. I have recently even made a thread about Finasteride and how to acquire it, made statements that I will get on it but after a week of debating with myself with these HUGE dilemmas I have decided to not be a slave to pills.

I sincerely thank everyone who has helped me with every question.

What do I tell my doctor to be able to get Finasteride?

What's the difference between brand name vs generic?

The official name is Propecia right? and on the bottle it says Finasteride underneath? After doing a little research I'm getting all these other crazy names.

Hey RE001. You are in great shape. Yes, you have a slightly aggressive pattern of MPB, but you are on this forum early enough in your life that with some motivation you can save yourself a lot of regret 5-10 years down the line. At 22, do not assume that you have reached your final pattern. Assume it's going to get much worse, and if your assumption is wrong, all the better. I do not think that the importance of compliance with medications can be stressed enough. When you're young and early in your pattern of hair loss, you don't know if the meds are doing anything. You can look in the mirror daily for years and not notice a difference with medications, and it may be discouraging, but the truth is, not noticing a difference may be a huge victory. It's a gamble either way, but staying on the meds, is the safer bet in my opinion. It's a pain in the ass, rubbing nasty rogaine on your head 2x/day or taking a pill daily, but my biggest regret is that I wasn't compliant. Like you I tried rogaine for a few weeks here or there, but since I got impatient and didn't notice a difference, I never stuck with it. Finally 4 months ago I started finasteride and minoxidil, and have been faithfully taking it everyday, and for the first time in my life I am not waking up with hairs on my pillow or in my shower. Plus I have luckily had a lot of growth on my crown already with the meds. I am 29 and a NW5 going on NW6, and I am 100% confident if I was compliant with meds starting at your age, I would have had a lot less hair loss. And I wasn't as advanced as you are now. What did you not like about rogaine? Also don't worry about finasteride as the sexual side effects only affect 2% of patients (i think), and are reversible with cessation of the medication. So get on the meds now, stay compliant, and I promise you there is a good chance you could postpone the need for a HT, require less grafts (and retain your precious donor area), and save some money. If you are lucky enough to maintain this level of loss, I think you could even avoid a HT, as your hair suits the shape of your head very nicely right now. Good luck!

I purchased Rogaine (foam) and used it a couple of times and felt like I was harming my hair even further rather than helping it. It just didn't feel right. I quit using it and will never buy it again.

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I will most likely get on Finasteride as soon as I can. I have done quite a lot of research on it lately and it seems promising. I really hope it can help in reducing the amount of grafts needed for a HT or even dismiss it altogether. We shall see. I just have to find a doctor to prescribe me some. That is the next step.

I disagree with above posters. I think that hairloss at a young age causes a ridiculous amount of undue stress and problems in life, at a time when youre trying to establish yourself, find your social group, and begin to look

for a mate and a decent job.

 

I started thinning out same age as you, and the insecurity starts eating at your confidence. Later on,

the social jokes start coming from insecure ass holes. Why get to that point when you can

easily and quickly correct this right now?

 

Further, if you know your family history, you can pretty well predict your level of baldness.

 

Sure I'd do the meds, but Id also take solid action before the thinning gets worse.

 

Send your pics to Hasson, and if the meds dont help, get a headstart on a frontal hairline that will be age appropriate for middle age.

 

Dont get any work done in the back. A bald spot back there doesnt matter, and you

might need the grafts eventually in the front.

I agree with your statement but I won't rush into anything that I will regret later. We'll see what the meds will do and the rest will be determined by that.

I somewhat agree with this post, but do yourself a favor and give the Propecia, low level laser a full year.

Propecia is in the plans but don't know where to get it from in MO? The only suggested hair doctors are in IL near Chicago, kind of far away from me.

use nizoral 2% shampoo 3x a week

take, multi vits ,oil,zinc, amino acid,msm (holland and barret hair special vits) every day!!!

1mg propecia( finesteride) every day

rogaine liquid 2x a day morn and night

start saving now for a HT

send pics to DR hasson of H&W (so you know how much u need)

use a toppik powder concealer for crown

 

do the above for 2 years this should halt future hairloss and may be grow some back or make it thicker at least!!! by which time you have saved up abit of cash to address the hairline with a HT ignore the crown for now use toppik it will save you money.... and the grafts can be used at the front!!!!!!!

 

the above list will work wonders with what hair you have left trust me try it and stick to it for a year take pics first so you can see otherwise you will think its normal???? but dnt stop it or all your hard earned hair will shedd out.... it really works but only after like 6 months

 

im 25 and have had a HT with dr hasson and am doing the list above i chose to get it sorted now as i dnt want it to ruin the rest of my 20s!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will look into Fin. soon and that will be my primary way of battling hair loss. Rogaine, I won't use again.

re001,

 

I admire your honesty and ability to be right up front with the issue.

 

Wish you the best!

Thank you.

Keeping things bottled up only eats you up even further. Letting it all out is the only way to go.

You're not alone in this war with ourselves. I am 22 years old and I have MPB as well. I also used to be called the "ladies man" back in high school and have experienced A LOT of changes during these past few years. It's a tough thing to accept but once you do, you will be on the right path to fix it. Do not rush into anything, you will regret it. There are a lot of people out there experiencing the kind of emotions you are at the moment and it is good to let them out and talk about them. Just look at Prince Williams, he must be feeling the same way. It eats your confidence up but don't let it get to you. Think positive.

RE001,

 

Well, IMO you are definitely approaching this the right way. Look around on the various forums and 99.9% of the time the miserable, disgruntled patients who say HT was a failure for them ("prison sentence", "locked in", "treadmill", "worst mistake of my life", etc.) were guys in their 20s who jumped in too soon without any foresight; they wanted to conceal any hint of balding, and hence the strategy they pursued was flawed from the very beginning and they wasted alot of their donor hair. Many were never good candidates to begin with, and probably should have avoided HTs completely. Some were even warned by older HT vets, but they were immature and thought that by age 30-40 they wouldn't care about their appearence anymore (lol).

 

At 41 I am almost old enough to be your dad (YIKES!!!). But hey, I am very young at heart. I remember age 22 vividly like it was yesterday, and I had to deal with this MPB crap in a time when there were no viable treatments or solutions.

 

You young bucks are alot luckier today than you realize. That's why when I see these 20 something year olds ditching Fin because they get a little watery semen, I laugh because they still can look in the mirror (with concealers) at a NW2 head of hair. MANY will be looking back in a few years and cursing the day they ever stumbled accross sites like "propeciahelp.com" -- but it will be too late by then!

Very true indeed.

Even with the age difference, we are all in the same boat. I hopefully will be able to fight off any further hair loss with current meds. I hope to keep what I have now and add the rest with donor hair. Some people have absolutely no idea how good they have it with a head full of hair but I guess you never know or care about it until you experience it yourself.

RE001,

 

That looks like fairly aggressive MPB to me brother. I'd say you are a NW 2.5 right now in the front, but with significant crown loss.When I was 22 my hair was a solid NW1.5/2 without any hint of crown loss, just a bit of temple recession. By age 25 I was a NW3. By age 30 I was a NW3v, and I started on finasteride. Without the finasteride who the hell knows where I'd be today !

 

Your crown loss is worse (wider) than mine and I'm 41. Plus you have recession of the "rim" hair on the sides, and even a little into the bridge area. On me these areas are pretty solid, and I still needed 4500 grafts. Your forelock is better than mine was pre-HT, however you've got 19 more years of loss to go to catch up with me. Without meds that will almost certainly be enough time for MPB to finish you off.

 

I commend you for shaving down your head and showing your pics! When one does this there is no way to hide from the truth of their MPB level. Many on these forums won't do what you did, and they like to pretend they are not as advanced as they are -- which will only hurt them in the long run. Why should anybody be afraid to be honest on a hairloss forum ?

 

Anyway, IMO finasteride is your only hope right now. Otherwise you'll likely be looking into the mirror at a stranger in 3-5 years who looks like an old man at age 25/27, wishing he could turn back the clock and get on Fin. Or if you can live with the shaved look you have right now then just be happy with that and get on with your life.

 

IMO without the DHT blocking meds you'll never really be a good candidate for any kind of HT until cloning is available. I know, it sucks, but it's the harsh truth. You don't want to become another miserable anti-HT repair patient! Look around and you will find many who did not heed the warnings.

Sorry for the late reply, I was on vacation for 3 weeks and during that time I decided to grow out my hair. What sucks about hair loss is you never know HOW MUCH you will actually lose as years go by. 6 years ago I had hair, 6 years later this is how I look. I can't predict if this is my final pattern or will I lose more. I am 90% sure I will get on the meds because I DO want hair and don't want to have to shave my head in my future years.

During my college years, I studied hard and was under pressure all the time. I believe that caused me to lose my hair at a faster rate. I remember seeing huge amounts of hair on my towel and sink after showers. I let my hair grow out now to see if I will experience this furthermore and to see if the process has stopped or slowed down. I feel pretty good after letting my hair grow out, the crown loss is bothering me the most though. It doesn't look that bad aside from the crown loss.

it always saddens me to see a fellow hair loss fighter in his 20s, and not able to get a HT now due to the reasons the guys already explained. Its tough dude, but thats the cards that u have been dealt with.

 

try the meds first, dun lose hope! maybe they will be really effective and u might not even need a HT! Be positive!

Thanks for the words of encouragement. I always think positively hence why I feel perfectly comfortable posting pics of my problem on a public forum. Who else could be more helpful to me than people who are experiencing the same problem as me? You know. I feel like this problem will be solved and one day I will have the hair I had and have always wanted.

hello re001,i would concur with all of the above,you are definately to young for a ht and it seems though i may be wrong that you hav'nt been researching the subject that long so don't rush into something you may regret for the rest of your days,how long were you on minoxidil for?as it doe's take time for the results to become apparent,my advice would be get on the meds [finasteride-minoxidil] and hop[efully you won't have any side effects but remember to come off the finasteride if your thinking of starting a family,try all you can to keep what you've got while you research and explore all options,good luck to you and have a nice day......

I was on Rogaine for just a few weeks. I don't like it and won't try it ever again. I think I will go towards Finasteride. The side-effects are the only thing I am afraid off. I don't take any medications whatsoever and even when I get sick I don't take meds. I let the sickness wear off. I'm afraid it's going to affect another part of me that was always in good health until I started taking Finasteride.

Below are some pics of my hair now; wet out of the shower. 3 weeks of growth.

Good for you brother, and I wish you the best! IMO until a person with MPB has shaved the head and learned to "live with" that look for awhile, they are not yet ready to jump into the HT arena.

 

Once you have adjusted yourself psychologically to being cueball kojack bald, then your HT goals will suddenly be alot more conservative, and you'll be happier just to have more hair instead of perfect hair. All the real HT success stories I see are guys who have paid their dues in the MPB pit for awhile, so simply getting more hair is like getting out of jail.

Thank you for the support, I enjoy reading your posts and hearing about your experiences.

You're exactly right. I did it because I wanted to psychologically adjust myself at this point in time in my life. I said to myself that the past is the past and I have to accept how I look nowadays with a balding head. It's been tough to accept it but little by little it's getting better. It really takes a toll on your psyche especially after years of being called hot, cute, this and that from girls to not even getting looks from them anymore. To tell you the truth, I was depressed about it for a while but I have overcome it after coming to peace with the way I look these days. We can all relate to these kinds of thoughts about ourselves and I'm glad we have a forum to talk about them. I believe I'm taking the right steps to a successful HT.

Thanks again.

Then its high risk especially considering your age. Hairloss is progessive so it will continue. It might be worth considering meds (only my opinion) in order to hault loss and make sure its under control before embarking on ANY form of HT.

 

If meds are just not on your list then i would seriously recommend you DO NOT get a HT for a number of years and allow your pattern to establish itself as you could continue to lose more hair well into your 40's - 50's if not older.

 

Do not run the risk now of thinking your loss will stop as your dad, grandad, uncle have little loss (for example ) as its a genetic lottery where you will actually end up, and only time will tell, especially without the meds to help slow down/stop loss.

Regards

Spex

RE001,

 

Spex has given you great advice! Balding is unpredictable. You're really playing a losing game when you bet against hair loss. I'm a natural born pessimist but, for some reason, I was uncharacteristically optimistic about hair loss.

 

By my late twenties I placed a losing bet that my loss had stabilized and I'd end up like my grandfather who died with a nice head of white hair but a very mature hair line.

 

By my late thirties, my frontal third was gone. I wish I could go back in time and start Propecia and Rogaine when they first became available. There are no guarantees but I'm confident that I'd have a lot more native hair at this point.

 

Everyone has to choose for themselves what they are comfortable with but I urge you to research and make the most informed decision you can. There is no going back!

Fair deal.

It looks as if you really have no choice, either control it or risk of losing more unpredictably. If I end up choosing to do HT (which I most likely will) I think post-surgery will be an awakening situation. If I spent all of this money to transplant hair, why not control the rest? It's a tough decision.

Can someone have enough donor hair to be transplanted on the entire top? I know it's kind of a ridiculous question but has this been done before?

Thank you all for the help.

I wish I still had that much up top! I would get on Finasteride and wait it out a while. You're not too young for a transplant, but your pattern isn't really established. You could be like Charlie Sheen and just have a receding hairline but a thick forelock.

I appreciate your input!

I'm going to wait it out a bit and see what happens. My father still has hair on top (forelock). He's thin around the crown (like me) and on the sides (like me). He's in his mid 40's. I'm probably going to wait 2-3 more years until I will seriously consider doing a HT. I just want to keep what I have now but I'm skeptical of the meds.

ES, point well said. Hair loss effects are so subjective that we cannot completely copy and paste someone's else feelings onto someone else.

 

And i defn concur with u that how many dare to come out face to face with friends and such with no concealer and the bald parts completely bald? I ve dared to do many things but i respect u for that courage cos i can never ever said that

 

With that said, ultimately we still hope we need not that take that step, and thats y we go for the last resort. HT

It was one of the toughest things I had to do my entire life because everyone remembers me with hair. No joke, I went from wearing hats 24/7 (yes, even work) to cutting my hair short and going out in public like that. I skipped the Rogaine, concealers, etc. stuff; went straight from hats to short hair, all out, there you go! I haven't wore a hat EVER SINCE. I let EVERYONE (family, friends, went to weddings and even had my graduation party with a shaved head) see me like that. The hat became too much for me to handle and everyone always commented as to why I was wearing it 24/7. I was surprised that no one really cared much when they saw me with no hat/short hair and that boosted my confidence up a little. I feel better now but I'm still not 100% if you know what I mean. Imagine being 22 and having to deal with this crap. I will have HT done sooner or later.

What if I decide to not take any kind of medication etc. before a HT? Not Rogaine, not Propecia, not Toppik, etc. In other words:

1. What if I let my hairline do its thing naturally and then decided to get a HT when I'm 26 or later (I'm 22)? What would be the pros and cons of that?

2. Does hair loss ever stop or slow down? Since I started losing at a young age, does it slow down for us guys during our late 20s and early 30s?

D,

 

Guys like Steve Jobs, Ben Bernanke, and Lloyd Blankfein are just like celebrities -- one out of 10 million. Hence, it is pointless to compare the average joe balding guy to them and say "see, they did it so you can too". Yeah, anybody can become the president or a multi-billionaire from a humble background -- but how many do ?

 

I said there were "similarities" between being bald today and being black in the 1950s; certainly it was infinitely worse to be black back then, but I contend that our society has never lost it's need to discriminate.

 

You can win the battle of mind, but you will still be judged by 99.9% of people based on appearence. Truly winning the battle of mind is not really caring what others think about your appearence at all, because the physical body is impermanent and doesn't even belong to us anyway. I know this because I practice Buddhism, and the self-realized masters won't even look into a mirror anymore because they have 0 interest in being distracted from Zen.

 

I think alot of guys on these forums really haven't "walked in the balding shoes" long enough to be capable of any real deep insight. If you are a diffuse thinner and with Toppik can pull off the illusion of a NW2 head of hair whilst in public, then IMO you haven't walked in those shoes. The only way you will truly know how it feels (as well as how others will treat you) is to ditch the Toppik, cut/shave the hair real short, and step out into the spotlight with nothing to hide. I did this over 15 years ago, and lived with the balding look totally exposed for that length of time. Hence, I am extremely well adjusted psychologically to it. In my 20s and all through my 30s I did not feel the desperate need to rush into some mill somewhere and "do something about it", like most of the jaded HT patients you see complaining on these boards.

 

Emotional issues if my HT fails ? Well, after spending near $20K to have my head cut open, a large strip of flesh removed, and my head poked like a pin cushion I guess anybody would be down if things did not pan out. However, if the worst case scenario was that I just returned to my pre-HT state with a pencil thin scar around my head, then I would just chalk it up to a hard lesson learned. I've lived with it for over 15 years anyway, no Toppik or attempts to conceal it. Plus my doc/clinic stands behind the work and is the only one I know who has a refund policy for those very rare cases where the grafts do not grow.

That's exactly what I am doing right now, hence why I commented as such in my previous posts.

Dude,

 

I used to think the way you did when I was in my early 20s, and even up until 30. As a matter of fact, as a performer I overcame pretty much any insecurity related to hairloss; I got buff, got some tattoos, shaved my head and really dove into my music career full force. On stage I am the center of attention and the proverbial alpha male, and not too many other dudes (no matter how good looking) could compete with me. And for MANY years I held the attitude that men who worry about hairloss are just insecure dweebs who have very little to offer from the inside.

 

Now, let me say that this indeed served me well for a long time -- and still does. It IS true that people will respond to you based on the confidence that you project from the inside, but to a certian extent. Now I realize that I lived in denial for many, many years of what hairloss denies a person in life (YES, even a confident person with great charisma!!). It is called "discrimination", something that black people who lived in the 50s understand very well.

 

At a certain point I could no longer deny that women I was attracted to were attracted to me on stage, but off stage they wanted guys with hair. They were VERY attracted to me as a performer, and they wanted to hang out with me often in a casual manner. But when it came to attempts at fooling around they wanted to be my "friend". When I would inquire about what was wrong with me, they would tell me that I was too OLD for them to be intimate with. Then when I would show them my ID that proved I was not as old as they thought, they would just look at me astonished but it still made no difference.

 

Now, before you go accusing these women as being the shallow, superficial types, let me come to their defense! I have never been attracted to shallow women, and this is what was MOST painful about these experiences! Time after time I would attract some very beautiful and very deep girl who really turned me on because she was so sweet, smart, sexy, and spiritual; and time after time when it came to attempts at getting intimate the AGE issue would rear its' ugly head once more! Women are very social animals, and they are VERY worried about what others think of them as they stroll through the crowd. This DOES NOT mean that they are shallow, which took me some time to learn. It used to make me bitter until I matured and realized that, to them, balding is a DEEPLY ingrained sign of unattractiveness. Over the years many have admitted they were turned on by me, but they worried about what friends/family would think because I looked so much OLDER! And there was only one reason I looked older -- hairloss, and nothing else!!!

 

Since age 20 I have always looked 10-15 years older (in the eyes of most women) than I really was. Now at 41 it has balanced out, but that still did not make me forget about my hair. I actually have the skin and body of a 30 year old I am told; so if this HT is a success then I will be reversing a scenario that has been the opposite for over 20 years. I will actually be looking YOUNGER than I really am for the first time in my life.

 

When you are 22 you think you are strong enough to handle anything. This is why the military likes men aged 18-30, they are incredibly naive. Once you go through enough rejection that you are able to relate exclusively to "discrimination" associated with your hairloss, then you WILL want to do something about it.

 

Imagine being a black person in the 1950s with a very high IQ, beautiful body, handsome face, etc., but you are denied equal opportunity ONLY because you are black! You see others who have half your intelligence getting all the good things from life, yet you are denied those things because of something you have no control over. How long would it take for you to rebel against that oppression and seek a solution ?

 

IMO today balding/baldness is in some ways similar to being black in the 1950s or being a woman in the 1890s. It's "discrimination" based upon a social stigma that is completely meaningless, but is reinforced on a daily basis by the media and the mass cultural perception.

Thanks for your input.

To tell you the truth, maybe I am in denial at this stage because I have just recently started to become comfortable with the fact that I'm balding. There's no way in hell I can hide it even if my hair grows back hence why I shaved it bald. I hate it. At the same time, I'm not going to let anyone see me sweat if you get what I'm saying. I'm just waiting for the day that I can finally say I'm going to get a HT done. Until then, I will fight off the self-insecurity no matter what comes my way. In other words, I do respectfully agree with you. I do want hair no matter how confident I am without it, we can all relate to that.

OK guys,

 

Yeah, the rotten teeth comment was a little over the top -- I agree.

 

But there are many fat women (300-400 lbs.) out there who exude confidence from within.

 

Are you 2 guys ready to ask any of them for a date ?

 

I'm sure there are also fat women forums where fat women tell each other that self confidence will help them overcome being fat. And I'm sure some of those fat women think they deserve a boyfriend/husband who looks like Brad Pitt with a full head of hair.

 

Seek and ye shall find.

 

I still contend that balding (in the eyes of most women) is equivalent to being a fat woman in the eyes of men. And I've got many years of experience at the age of 41.

The fat women thing is totally different because of one thing: The weight can be burned off by exercise and in most, if not, all cases it is NOT genetic. They just need to go to the gym and workout. Simple as that. You can't exercise for your hair to grow back. Women aren't going to say "Look, he made himself bald." However, you can say that all day about fat women. They did it to themselves.

I do agree that some women think that way, yes, but I classify them as very narrow-minded individuals which I have no interest in whatsoever because of that mindset.

I feel the same way when I see a fat chick with rotten teeth. "wow, must suck to be her" and then go about my business.

 

Do you or I want to ask that chick for a date ? Same applies to baldies in the eyes of sexy women. To them you are like the fat chick with rotten teeth.

 

Yes, they don't care about your appearence; and they don't care about you either, so much so that you probably couldn't pay them $100 just to kiss their ass! They'll reserve that privilege for a guy with hair!

Some women will totally disregard your looks and judge you by the confidence you have with yourself. It's all about how you present yourself out there, bald(ing) or not. If you feel comfortable with it then other people will see that it doesn't bother you and there is a less chance of them teasing you about it. I sometimes even poke a joke about my balding head and everyone laughs about it. I mean who's going to make fun of someone who makes fun of themselves? It's that confidence that appeals to women sometimes. The other narrow minded ones (women) are probably airheads anyway.

Hitting the gym should be the first priority for balding men. To perfect your body as much as possible so it balances out everything else. You do not want to be the fat bald guy, now that's a sure turn off for women unless you're a multi-millionaire. When the time comes for you to get the HT surgery, then you will have it all. lol

Just my .02,

Cheers

I'm 22. To be honest with you, other people could care less about how you look. If I had a head full of hair and saw a balding guy my first thought would be "Sucks for him" and keep on minding my business. It's the harsh reality of it.

It's how you conduct yourself that speaks to other people. Confidence is key to all of it. I'm the most self-conscious person you will find but I don't let it bother me because I know one day I will do a HT and will solve my problems with hair loss. Until then, pardon my language, fuck it. My friends have more respect towards me now than they did when I always used to wear a hat.

Thanks for the reply.

What age do you think I should start looking into getting HT done?

I'm also afraid to use any type of medication because of its side-effects. I used Rogaine before but got impatient with it and stopped using it. I believe that HT is the most effective way but am uncertain as to when to do it.

My MPB is 100% genetic. My father has MPB and so does his brother. My brother has a receding hairline but is not as bad as mine (he's 4 yrs older). Has it been proven that you will most likely have the same pattern as your family members or is everyone's MPB different?

Age: 22 1/2

I have been losing hair since junior/senior year in high school (2005/2006). It wasn't really noticeable at the time but I did foresee hair loss happening in the future. The hair loss didn't get bad and noticeable until my junior/senior year in college (2009/2010); that's when it got to this point (pics). I don't know on which level I am at on the Norwood scale nor do I know how many grafts would be needed if I decided to go on and have a HT. What age should I wait to do the HT? Approximately how much would it cost too? Can anyone take a wild guess at these questions because I know it takes an actual consultation to determine all of this but I need to know in advance where I stand at with this issue.

Thanks