The first time someone said you were losing your hair

[bennyt89]

Not sure fun is the right word, but maybe it would be interesting to hear different users recollections of that fateful day and how much of a blow it was for them. Also maybe what Norwood level you were at the time..

 

For me I was 19, a fellow colleague (who was about a NW4 at the time), was copping a bit of heat from the other guys about his own MPB, I guess in an effort to deflect he pointed at me and said, "don't worry you'll be here in a few years, just look at that hairline". And everyone was like "oh yeah!". I remember it feeling like a punch in the stomach, looking back it was stupid as I was at most a NW2 and I'd happily go back to how my hair was back then. But from then on I was always in some degree of worry about my hair.

Edited January 22, 2018 by bennyt89

[BadBeat]

Yep...I remember it perfectly too. I was about 18-19 and my brother pointed out that I was receding in the "corners." I rocked a sweet slicked back hairstyle and was really happy about it. Ever since he made that comment, I became obsessed with my hair and watching the hairline erode over the years.

 

Luckily for me, my hairloss was pretty slow going so I didn't need an HT until about 36.

[Pete-from-Farjo]

When I was twenty a mate I worked with leant over to me and matter of factly said: "You'll be bald by the time you're twenty-five".

Luckily I had had my reply ready for whoever was the first to say something along those lines, and I responded with: "Yeah perhaps, or maybe I'll get a transplant or they'll find a cure, whereas you will most definitely still be ugly!"

[chris39]

When I was twenty a mate I worked with leant over to me and matter of factly said: "You'll be bald by the time you're twenty-five".

Luckily I had had my reply ready for whoever was the first to say something along those lines, and I responded with: "Yeah perhaps, or maybe I'll get a transplant or they'll find a cure, whereas you will most definitely still be ugly!"

 

Bravo good sir !

[Theodpliske8711]

I was 19, had just showered so my hair was kind of wet. My mom looked at me and said, "too bad, looks like you're going bald like your father." She said it so casually, and just went about her business. I was floored. Pretty much cried that whole night. My mother couldn't understand why I was so bothered. She married my dad when he was already pretty bald, so for her it's never been an issue. I told her to be a bit more sensitive from then on, the "B" word is a trigger word for me.

[Legend007]

For me . It just just 6 months ago when I went to my Kaiser dermatologist to get a prescription of propecia. I was 38 .. first thing he said to me was I was going to be bald like bruce Willis .. I was like is it really that bad? I was a Norwood two with full coverage n thinning hair .. minor recession in the temples .. they made me super depressed, but dude didn’t know shit .. didn’t know anything about finasteride or dht tests .. I asked him to do some tests .. he was so sure of himself .. he said I can already tell. Then he used the microscope n looked at my hair .. n was like ohh I see miniaturization here at the hairline n blah blah .. I can even do a biopsy test if u want .. dude was so sure of himself that I was going to be bald .. I don’t think he realize that there’s different advancement of losing hair ..if I was going to be bald I would of had a family history of baldness .. n would of started balding in my early 20’s.. I think I might get to a Norwood 3 A around 50 .. if I Take propecia .. bald tho is not likely .. I don’t trust his opinion because when I asked for a DHT test he said there wasn’t any .. so I googled it for him .. that mofo didn’t even know the benefits of propecia or the side effects .. he had to google it to know more about it .. what that fuk is that right ? U a dermatologist at Kaiser .. u should know more than what I can read online..

Well I’m hoping for the best but that dude literally made me depress all of 2017 .. fukin Insensitive people ..

[Al - Moderator]

I was 15. My mother was the person who regularly cut my hair at the time. She was giving me a haircut and began yelling at me about how I better stop pulling my hair out or else she wouldn’t ever cut my hair anymore. My hairless started in the crown, so I didn’t even know what she was talking about and just kept trying to convince her that I wasn’t pulling out my hair. She yelled at me the entire time she was cutting my hair. This went on for at least two more hair cuts over the next few months with her yelling at me worse each time and her blaming me for it. After the third haircut like that, she refused to ever cut my hair again until I stopped making it fall out. I’ve been cutting my own hair ever since except for a year when I was wearing a hair system.

 

She continued to blame me for my hair loss for many years and probably still does today. It didn’t help that when I finally went to a Dermatologist with her when I was around 18, the Dr did a simple hair pull test, combed his hands through my hair a bit and said whatever I might have had that caused my hair to fall out is gone because it’s not falling out now and I should have a lot of thick hair for many years to come. That just made my mother even more convinced that it was all my fault.

 

I can remember at 19 when I was already a NW 4 or 5 with diffuse thinning all over the top and doing a combover to try to cover it she told me I look like a 40 something year old bald man.

 

I was also getting teased by friends about my bald spot when I was 16 and got turned down for a Prom date at 17 because I didn’t have any hair. I routinely got questions in highschool and the few years after about what disease I had or if I had cancer or if it was contagious.

[Bill - Seemiller]

This is not the first time, but it was the most embarrassing time. I had already scheduled my first hair transplant and my associate "let's call him Tom even though that's not true" who worked directly for me pointed out at a holiday work party in front of everyone that I was bald. He said it very loudly and everyone heard (about 30 some people). Now I wasn't bald but I had a huge bald and would have been fully bald very soon if I didn't get my hair transplants. I never said anything about it to him but it was embarrassing.

 

Ironically, years later I had almost a full head of hair (like I do now) and he was significantly losing his hair - almost as bald as I was when he pointed it out. I never said anything mean but I did point out that I had some information if he was interested in restoring it. He seemed a little interested but never took me up on it.

 

Bill

[Legend007]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts everyone .. it’s helpful n makes ya feel like u ain’t the only one suffering from hair loss.. losing hair is a big deal .. no matter how small or big ur hairlloss is.. I think when u not knowledgeable about hair loss n u just noticing it is the hardest part , because u don’t know how much it’s going to progress . I learned a lot from this website .. n has eased my mind .. at least I now know what to expect n what actions I can take , whether it be meds or surgery .. ..

I’m wishing everyone the best of luck n support .. especially u BeHappy.. ur story touched me the most :. It’ must of been extra difficult since ur mom wasn’t so understanding of ur situation n. Blaming u instead of supporting u . .. I wish u could of yelled back at her .. hey Mom , it’s not my fault I’m losing hair .. it’s MPB !!!

[pkipling]

I was getting my hair cut when I was 27 or so and for the first time, this new barber I was seeing decided to take clippers to my receding areas and buzz them completely down... I had never paid them much mind before and was happily oblivious to it all up to that point. Then I went home with no hairs left on my hairline and immediately fell face first into the stress and anxiety most of us probably feel when we realize we're facing MPB. I had too supportive roommates at the time who helped keep me in check, so I grew my hair back out, perfected the art of strategically styling my hair in a way that hid the recession, and began my research into hair restoration that lead me to Dr. Mohebi 3 years later.