Considering buzzing my hair, no guard, at 22 years old

[roberto]

I first noticed my receding hairline at 18. It didn't bother me much at first, and i figured it was due to that horrible accutane I was taking at the time, so I didn't think much of it. Months after getting off of accutane, I was still losing hair. I blame accutane for sparking it so early, but my genes and anxiety ridden monkey mind really set the stage I feel.

Anyway I went to the dermatologist around that time (same one that gave me the accutane), he took one look at my head and said "Sorry, male pattern baldness." Gave me some brochures, offered me a script for propecia, and sent me on my merry way.

Shaving your head is about honesty, right? So i'll be honest here: I cried like a little girl while driving home. Life had been so ****ing hard for me until senior year of highschool. I felt I was finally coming together and figuring sh*t out. (I was plauged by the same anxious thoughts all kids have going to school, but I did not respond to them well which lead to more anxious thoughts, bad coping skills and drug abuse). Now sh*t was about to get even worse. Again, being honest, I'm a good looking guy but I'm very short. Despite my vertical handicap I draw attention from women of all ages. Because I had so many issues going on inside, my outward appearance was important to me and it was the favorable looks from the opposite sex that kept me going many times.

Fast foward a few years later, here I am at 22 with even less hair. I've since discovered Buddhism and religoin, and it's helping me immensely with issues that have plagued me my whole life. Still though, my hair looks awful at times. I like to think I've accepted my hair-loss, but not entirely. I really, really want to buzz it all off (not shaven, but maybe a 1 or a 0 with the clippers) and be done with it, but I am VERY afraid that it will reveal a horshoe shape on my head and instantly age me 5-10 years. I'm not ready to look 30 yet.

Here are some pics of the top of my head:

http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac80/jimboob412/IMG_00581.jpg

 http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/ac80/jimboob412/IMG_00601.jpg

The first is how I try to keep it, but where I go to school is very windy, and when it's longer it can end up looking like pic number 2. The second pic I pushed my hair around to reveal the extent of my loss.

My question is, will buzzing my head leave just the thin line of thick hair in the middle as a dark shadow in the middle of my head? Or will it all even out? I don't care if my hairline is a bit receded, I just dread the horshoe look. I had a co-worker who too the plunge, I'm not sure how low he went, but the horshoe was really obvious and it looked pretty bad IMO. He's since grown it back out and wears a hat.

PS. I know my hairloss isn't as bad as many, but I'm tired of dealing with it and wanting to literally fight the wind. I'm just worried this is too drastic a step thats going to make it look worse than it has to at this point. I guess thats my question, will buzzing it make it look worse than it has to?

[Tim1776]

Hey Roberto,

I just posted my intro here, and saw your story.  A lot of it was VERY familiar to me, so I thought I'd weigh in...

Yeah, it's brutal to go from a great head of hair in your late teens to badly balding in your early 20s - NEVER thought it would happen to me.  When the dermatologists said the same things to me, I thought, "WTF??  I can't even order a beer!"  When I was your age, I HATED the thought of looking like I was 30.  No way was I going to put up with that!

I'm a little more than a decade older than you now, and I've got to say, it went by like that.  Feels like yesterday I was in your shoes.  Meanwhile, a bunch of guys around me are dealing with various stages of hair loss.  The ones who were good looking guys before are good looking guys now.  The ones who weren't are still ugly.  Point is, you'll be the same guy, regardless of the cut.  Yeah, you might look a little older - especially for a few years - but that changes fast.

I totally get dreading the horseshoe look - UNTHINKABLE for me at your age (and I still don't like the concept now).  But, as I've seen with friends who over time have come to terms with it, it's not nearly as bad as you envision if you cut it down short.  If I had to do it over again, I'd give it a shot, and see if I could put up with it.  Yeah, might be tough for a time, but believe me, life doesn't end at 25.

Good luck...

[roberto]

I appreciate the input man, but the question remains: hold on to what i got or buzz it off, no guard. Keep in mind i am NOT considering clean shaven as of now, not to keen on the mr. Clean look for myself.

[Plano]

I think you should try a shorter haircut. Like a normal style haircut. Hair cut shorter appears thicker. If you're not ready to make the plunge yet, try that out.

Longer hair DOES look thinner.

[chgobuzzbald]

A normal haircut for many guys your age is a buzz anyway so why not start with a number 2 buzzcut ?  25% of the guys I see every day in Chicago are either buzzed down or shaved smooth, even without any hair loss so its a popular haircut for anyone now. Go for it , you will look great !

[Sir Harry]

Welcome, Roberto! Give the shorter buzzcut a try, what do you have to lose? Good luck!

[Tim1776]

I'm not in any position to be able to tell you what you SHOULD do, but I can at least tell you what I did, and what I might do if I had to do it over again...

What I did at your age:
- Quit going to my old favorite stylist back home, and kept going to a barber in my college town who quietly and dutifully kept giving me the same cut, which rapidly turned into a horrible combover.  Started getting the jokes from guys in my fraternity when I'd rarely go hat-less, outwardly laughing it off, but inwardly cursing the fact that my awesome hair of 3-4 years ago was now a wreck, and stewing over all the attention paid to the famous teen heartthrobs of the day with great hair, guys like Prince William and Andy Roddick (seen them lately?)....

What I'd like to think I'd do now:
- Go to a good stylist and openly say to them, "I realized I'm losing my hair.  I'm a young guy, so this sucks.  I can't go with my old style anymore, and wanted to see if we might try some shorter styles that might work better.  I'm not ready to shave it all off yet."  Then, see what happens.  Buzzing down might be necessary now...or not.

I totally get not wanting to shave it all off - it's more common now with younger guys, but it's not THAT common among 20 year olds.  The good news is that a bunch of guys your age will start losing their hair pretty significantly in the next few years, so by the time you hit your mid-late 20s, it won't feel nearly as uncommon, and you'll probably be a lot more comfortable with the idea of buzzing all the way down or shaving.