Going bald...by choice.

[The Von]

If any of you guys on here are thinking about shaving your head, but are on the fence as to whether or not you want to. I would reccomend going to www.baldrus.com I thought it was a pretty neat website, full of proud bald guys and the women who love them. Have a great day.

[The Von]

If any of you guys on here are thinking about shaving your head, but are on the fence as to whether or not you want to. I would reccomend going to www.baldrus.com I thought it was a pretty neat website, full of proud bald guys and the women who love them. Have a great day.

[vocor1]

That's a good point. Some guys look really good bald. Others, not so good. Most important thing is self confidence. That and realize what works best for you personally.

Vin Diesel is bald and chicks cream over him constantly. He looks great bald. As do most black men we see on TV.

For others, though, the look clearly does not work.

The main thing is to try shaving and see how it works for you and if it is a good route to follow.

 

vocor1

Knowledge is Power

If the worst question is the one never asked, then the worst answer is the one never shared.

[NW]

I absolutely agree with Vocor,

 

Darker skin tone, 50% (or more) of men look fine bald, or look even great, add a goatie etc.. for those guys, your lucky and I support baldness for your skin tones.

 

For the other men (like me !!), it looks like you are undergoing chemo treatments, this is not meant as a negative but its true....you look like a damn Bookworm geek !!! Yes, This is a crack at some humor !!

 

I wanted my hair back, got it back and with Propecia or new drugs, I plan on keeping my hair !!

 

NW

[vocor1]

My point exactly NW.

I personally tried shaving my head and I got a lot of ridicule and no one saying "hey, you look better" or even "pretty good".

I think Joto referred to it something like "pasty white-boy syndrome".

I got it too. Too bad.

Ironically, I did seem to draw a bit more interest from women in the bar scene shaved. I think some women think it looks bad-ass and plus it is darker in those places so you look like a darker-complected person.

Ahh, who knows? I'd say in most cases, bald looks better than crap hairline.

I think I went the right route for me personally. I guess only time will prove me right or wrong.

 

vocor1

Knowledge is Power

If the worst question is the one never asked, then the worst answer is the one never shared.

[The Von]

Yeah thats funny that you mentioned the thing about girls in the bars...If you read some of the posts on that site, by the men AND women, it seems that a ton of women have a sort of fetish for shaved heads...I know they are not the majority, but its nice to know they are out there.

[uncjim]

I Do Get the Sentiment... Honestly I Do.

 

Call me old fashioned (or provincial, if you'd like), but I really do love a Head of Hair.

 

If you've got it, ENJOY IT.

 

If you don't and can get it back, PLEASE DO.

 

Baldness is not beautiful...HAIR IS.

[Guest]

will only look good on males with the right facial features. You need a strong jaw, prominent cheek bones, straight forehead, and anything but a pointy nose. Good muscular body is also a plus. If you have none of these shaved head won't make you look like Van Diesel. I guess you can always try cosmetic surgery (in many cases it's actually cheaper than going with ht).

 

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic''. Arthur C. Clarke

[vocor1]

This is an interesting thread.

Okay, I have a longer nose and pale skin and light hair. Shaved is harder to pull off successfully, I've proven.

I am muscular. And younger women (some of them) are attracted to muscular and shaved. But it really isn't a successful "professional" appearance unless you have more of the features Microprose spoke of. That's life.

I remember I shaved my head, and as I've said before, a few people said "why" and others said "I guess that is your summer look". But others were like "I'd shave it too if I had hair like you" and "I'm glad I don't have to shave my head like you do".

That sort of crap pretty much told me that an HT might not be a bad risk.

I'm happier with more hair on top than shaving it to a #1 or #2.

I'm confident I can still go to #4 without concern at some point. That is plenty short.

And personally, I like more hair on top and shorter sides and back.

You gotta go with what works for you.

 

vocor1

Knowledge is Power

If the worst question is the one never asked, then the worst answer is the one never shared.

[EastCoast]

I read baldrus too. Some guys do look good bald. Thay are good looking to begin with. As far as confidence, I don't go for fat confident women.

[arfy]

I disagree that you "must" have certain features to look good with a shaved head (like big muscles). Look at Moby. I can't imagine the guy with hair. I see lots of "non-rugged" white guys with hair loss and shaved heads. They look just fine. By the way, they seem to do just fine with getting dates, etc.

 

I think that it is just a matter of adapting to a new look. It's better to have "pasty white boy syndrome" and a shaved head, than an unnatural-looking hair transplant. Many hair transplants do not look natural, in fact I will say that "most" transplants do not look natural. I think it is more important to look natural, than to have some extra hairs to comb on top.

 

The Bald-r-us thing is all about self-acceptance which is always always always a good thing.

 

We have to learn to accept ourselves at some point, even after getting a hair transplant (which never results in enough hair to really satisfy the way we wish it would. That's one thing you have to accept post-transplant). If you can come to self-acceptance earlier in the game, before (or instead) of a hair transplant, more power to you.

[vocor1]

arfy: that is a good point. I'd take shaved over a crappy transplant any day. I think I got a pretty darn good one with a minor set back.

 

EastCoast:

I'm not really into fat women either. So I'm shallow.

My point is that if you are bald and confident or bald and a wuss, well, which man do you think the ladies will pick?

Ask yourself, which guy would you rather hang out with?

And yeah, there are some women who will say "he's bald, so no way am I going for him". What I'm saying is, that if you are strong and confident, then appearances mean much less to most women.

Yeah, looks have definitely some effect -- no question. But not as much as confidence.

The fact of the matter is almost universally, a man is initially attracted by how a woman looks, and then by how she acts, and a woman is more attracted to how a man acts, then how a man looks.

Do your own informal study and see if I'm right or wrong.

I can only speak for myself, but I believe more hair DID help me change how I act. I don't expect you to feel sorry for me, so I don't act that way either.

That just portays a more confident and successful image in my mind. One that is synergistic with a guy who stays in shape feels successful.

That is my experience with all that.

 

vocor1

Knowledge is Power

If the worst question is the one never asked, then the worst answer is the one never shared.

[NW]

Nobody is ever fully satisfied after HT ?

 

Speak for yourself Arfy,

 

I am satified fully with my 2 HT's ? I have no desire to correct anything further and will cross my fingers that Propecia continues to work.

 

Agree everyone should accept themselves with or without hair, And any guy can look good bald, but that same guy with hair often times looks better....why lie ?

 

I am not a proponant of everyone get a HT, but for the good candidates with a capable Doc...It does work very well.

 

Only "My" opinion..... Arfy you have helped me and others immensly, just disagree with "everyone" being dis-satisfied with HT.

 

NW

[arfy]

To NW

Not to nit pick or argue, but in a perfect world a hair transplant might not require Propecia and a "fingers crossed" hope that Propecia will always continue to work.

 

Also, I wonder if you thought about it, you might admit you would be even happier with more density? Maybe not, your pics do look fine.

 

My point wasn't that nobody could be satisfied with a HT, but that HT do have limitations. The limitations will mean different things for different people and their unique situations.

 

Small points. I just wanted to say that if a guy can shave his head and be happy, or just accept his hairloss as it is, by all means go for it.

 

I would never claim that nobody could be satisfied with a good HT. Heck, I think there are even some people out there who are satisfied by not-so-good HTs. To each their own, if they are happy.

[Guest]

On the point about who look's better bald or even buzzed real short,black men have advantages in both cases because of skin color(dark really is good for the bald look) My sis does hair and she say's with a dark skin tone you never realy look"bald" when shaved, not like someone with pale or light skin. Whith light skin you get the (OK there's his face and there's his forhead and ther's his scalp)But with dark skin the face,forhead and scalp blend smoothly.

 

And even buzzed really short someone like me(white) when my hair is buzzed it stand's more strait up,like needles it has to be a little longer to stay down,

but a black guy's hair has a tight curl to it, so when cut realy short or buzzed it still curls over giving a more finshed apperance.

 

So more black guy's can go Short or bald. And they'll tell ya when it get's longer it's a pain in the A$*.

white guy's have it better when the hair get's a little longer, but not all, some light skined people look good real short or bald ...we are all different Black, white..Ect. you can't put us all in the same box.

 

But me I'v tryed it all buzzed and shaved, and one thing is for shure...I need hair to look right.

 

And that is the point here make sure you try everything before you get the HT (buzz it and shave it) so you know what "look" is right for you...

[Guest]

Any bald guy that looks good (Van Diesel for example), will look even better with hair.

 

Unfortunatelly the reverse applies. If you don't look good with hair, you probably won't look better when you shave it. In my opinion, when going bald, one shold cut their hair really short, especially on the sides and in the back, to at least restore some balance to the looks. Trying to cover up bald or thinning spots almost never looks good.

 

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic''. Arthur C. Clarke

[tkotko]

I must say this thread has shifted my opinion on HTs unfortunately. I finally have decided to take the plunge and scheduled a HT to be performed in a couple weeks, with one of the clinics I read about numerous times in this discussion group. After reading this I'm second guessing what I felt was a well-researched, well-thought out decision. Arfy's quote was "I will say that "most" transplants do not look natural", which for the most part seem contrary to what I've seen and been lead to believe in this forum. Do you veterans agree with this statement?

[Guest]

Maybe it's like a hairpiece, where one notices bad ones, but perhaps the good ones escape detection. So, if I were walking down the street with Futzyhead, I know you'd spot the "work" on my miserable noggin a mile away, but wonder if you'd detect Futzy's work?

 

Or are we, of the bald persuasion, more vigilant about our fellow hair-impaired, in general?

 

I will say this. If you're second-guessing yourself, stop everything until you can figure out what will make you feel better, one way or the other. If you're feeling reluctant, don't go just to keep an appointment.

[Mel Gibson]

Let's get one hting straight... Vin DCeisel is NOT good looking.

[Mel Gibson]

ANd I am obviously a piss-poor typist

[Guest]

you guys are right about that. because we look at our hairlines, hair, and lack of hair, etc,.....we are able to spot bad toupees and bad HT's pretty quick. Moreso than other people.

 

About 6 months ago, i was at a lumber yard in my own hometown and i spotted a bad HT! This freaked me out because my hometown is pretty small, about 100,000 folks, so i just have never ran into someone who had an HT done. So i took a few glances, being careful not to get caught staring. The guy was probably 55-60 years old. the reason i could tell is cuz i believe he had the old "flap" treatment done.

 

My point is this fellas, i could spot it easily. but i don't think that others did. it looked ok i suppose. if he would have done at least a half-ass job of combing his hair, i would probably have not caught it.

 

oh well.

[vocor1]

tkotko:

I'd say stick with your initial decision.

If arfy said, "Most HTs don't look natural" or whatever, he is speaking the truth.

REMEMBER: I'm positive Bosley and MHR do a lot more business than top docs. I'm also sure that there are a lot of smaller chop shop docs out there and they are selling their crappy work as something to be proud of. And it works because most guys are good at being decisive but sucky at putting in research time to make an informed decision.

Man, I ran across a site of a local doc in Denver who was bragging about "luxurious regrowth" and I'd say 1 in 10 of his picts I'd categorize as an acceptible outcome. The others were a HORROR show. And he was saying it was great.

You GOTTA go to a top doc. They'll make it right as best as possible for your case. And they'll stand behind their work, too.

If you want an HT, go for it with a top doc. Proceed without fear but with the realization that an HT does not really solve all your hair problems. But there are a lot of cases where the result is much, much better.

Hope this helps clear your mind about your decision.

 

vocor1

Knowledge is Power

If the worst question is the one never asked, then the worst answer is the one never shared.

[uncjim]

I have always been "hair conscious", as in being able to tell a toupe, etc. I remember as a kid, my dad and I would ocasionally connect on who was wearing one. No matter how good, it's always the temple recession that gave it away, as the line was too low in comparison.

 

Recently, at my daughter's college "Parent's Weekend", I spotted two guys with just awful HTs. My heart went out to them. Absolutley, they would have been better off without the work.

 

What I'm leading to is my meeting Jo and Futzy, the night before my surgery. In answer to Rugby's post, Futzyhead's work is undetetectable. I saw him in various lights and angles. Without question, he was an excellent candidate. He has excellent hair quality, he had a "virgin scalp" and he chose a great surgeon, in Dr.Hasson.

 

While not all are fortunate to have all of the above, Futzy is not rare. Wonderful (and life changing) results can come from an HT.

[arfy]

tkotko

As Vocor said, the vast majority of transplants are being done by clinics like Bosley, MHR and NuHart. Bosley and MHR each have approximately 25 to 30 clinics nationwide.

 

Even in the list of "recommended" doctors, when I look at their best-patient photos, I find many of them to look like hair transplants. There's a saying, "you can't fool Mother Nature".

 

As I said though, I would never claim that a good HT is impossible, as UncJim said look at FUTZYhead. The problem is that for every FUTZYhead there are 10 guys with not-so-good results. Picking a top doctor is crucial. Your own unique characteristics will also play a role.

 

I would suggest that you ask to meet with some patients that your doctor worked on, and judge their results for yourself. Photos can be deceptive, even when they are not meant to be. You really need to see guys in person, as many as possible. Hopefully there will be some with similar characteristics as yours.

 

The level of skill, experience and artistic ability varies widely among different doctors... even among the doctors who are on the "recommended" list there are differences in quality.

 

I am not trying to scare you out of your hair transplant but I am certainly telling everyone to BE CAREFUL. This is a decision you can't afford to make a mistake with.

 

The whole point of any cosmetic surgery is to be invisible to other people. In other words, if someone can tell that you have had cosmetic surgery, it is basically worthless. In my opinion, most hair transplants will fail this simple test.

 

However, that's just my opinion, what matters is if you are happy. When I see infomercials for the big franchises on TV, I think many of their patients look bad... they look like obvious transplants. But they appear to be happy, with a result that I would personally find unacceptable.

[Guest]

i agree with arfy, alot of those patients from MHR and Bosley have HT's that look awful. Except of course the Nelson twins, .