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Are any of you guys worried about an increase in MPB treatments? by AspiringSly on 22 Sep, 2013 04:24
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I'm one of the unlucky (or lucky?
) teenagers cursed (or not?) with Male Pattern Hairloss. It isn't noticeable yet and if I wanted to spend the money on treatments, I could. However, like most of you guys on here, the idea of forking out money for the rest of my life on something as trivial as hair really doesn't appeal to me. And as a student, it would mean giving up on buying a lot of things that I really like. So I'm happy to embrace the Sly look (or maybe buzzed) in the very near future.
As a young man though, I'm worried that this look might become less common and less accepted as I get older. The number of people resorting to Propecia is increasing rapidly, there are adverts for hair loss treatments everywhere now. and new developments are being made into finding a cure for MPB. So a lot of guys within my age group might potentially be saved before MPB smothers them.
So what worries me is this: for decades and decades, hair loss was accepted as something that happened to a lot of guys, it was unpreventable so it was accepted, although not embraced. But now, that could be changing and people might start to see baldness as something preventable, and therefore unacceptable. I mean, people could start to look at a bald guy and think what some people think when they see a large guy:' he doesn't have to look like that, so why doesn't he do something about it?' Or it could be seen as a reflection of a person's wealth; they can't afford the treatment to prevent baldness. Or bald guys will just be seen as unattractive; even though now I believe many bald guys are handsome. In an ideal world of course, such things would not matter at all. But we live in a ruthless world, and they do.
I guess my concern is that, if in 10-20 years, a bald, young to middle aged man sticks out like a sore thumb, that will make my life a lot harder. So my question is, does anyone else have similar concerns about the increase in MPB treatments? -
#1 by isleepinthebuff on 22 Sep, 2013 06:04
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In a word, no.
Look at botox, and surgery, there are people that have these but I wouldn't and think it looks awful. There will be people that do ot and people that don't -
#2 by AspiringSly on 22 Sep, 2013 06:16
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In a word, no.
Look at botox, and surgery, there are people that have these but I wouldn't and think it looks awful. There will be people that do ot and people that don't
Okay, Botox is one thing but it isn't universally successful and it isn't affordable to too many people.
Consider another form of cosmetic treatment that is both widely successful and affordable; that is orthodontic treatment. Like MPB, a significant proportion of the population are born with crooked teeth. But because orthodontic treatment is so common, adults with crooked teeth stick out. What if hair loss treatment gained a similar status as orthodontic treatment?
Could it happen? Would you be worried then? -
#3 by MarshalArtist on 22 Sep, 2013 06:28
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I don't think I would be worried. If there were a "cure" of sorts, it would have limited effects and may not work for everyone.
Have you been reading Brave New World at school?
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#4 by AspiringSly on 22 Sep, 2013 06:36
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I don't think I would be worried. If there were a "cure" of sorts, it would have limited effects and may not work for everyone.
Have you been reading Brave New World at school?
Haha no but sometimes I think that's the society the West aspires to be.
But maybe when we worry about the future we should take the attitude of Gene Roddenberry, who cast Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard:
Interviewer: But surely by the 24th century, they will have found a cure for MPB
GR: no, by the 24th century, no one will care.
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#5 by Cave Dweller on 22 Sep, 2013 06:44
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What if hair loss treatment gained a similar status as orthodontic treatment?
What an interesting comparison. I never would have likened crooked teeth with baldness.
I liken baldness to vision. People with poor eyesight wear glasses and are accepted as wearing glasses even though contacts and surgery are available to correct their vision. No one looks down upon a person for wearing glasses.
Hair coloring also is available to hide gray hair, yet we accept people with gray hair without a thought and do not expect a graying person to change hair color.
I guess it all depends on how vain we as a society will become, but something tells me we never will go as far as you fear. -
#6 by schro on 22 Sep, 2013 07:21
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Not worried, and not for me.
If I do say so myself, I actually look pretty good with a buzz cut, but shave it for complete relief for a bad scalp condition (I do receive compliments on my sly look as well). -
#7 by isleepinthebuff on 22 Sep, 2013 09:56
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In a word, no.
Look at botox, and surgery, there are people that have these but I wouldn't and think it looks awful. There will be people that do ot and people that don't
Okay, Botox is one thing but it isn't universally successful and it isn't affordable to too many people.
Consider another form of cosmetic treatment that is both widely successful and affordable; that is orthodontic treatment. Like MPB, a significant proportion of the population are born with crooked teeth. But because orthodontic treatment is so common, adults with crooked teeth stick out. What if hair loss treatment gained a similar status as orthodontic treatment?
Could it happen? Would you be worried then?
Well I wore a brace when younger. I would want to get my teeth fixed but not so much my hair -
#8 by Blitzed on 22 Sep, 2013 10:12
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There's a huge difference between a "treatment" and a "cure". As others have mentioned, none of this is inexpensive and in one case, Propecia, has the side of effect of sterility. At base it's how we see ourselves or, worse, how we allow ourselves to be influenced by others. Fifteen years ago, when I had a full head of hair I shaved it and now wonder why I waited. In one sense those who fear impending baldness are living the self fulfilling prophecy; This will happen and they will lose their hair. It is, of course, a personal choice for each man. Not every man, although many of us here would like to think otherwise, will enjoy being bald whether by nature or razor and there are enough of them for the "hair replacement/growth" people to make a substantial income. What I do notice is that men with bald heads, however it happened, are far more accepted and the proof of that is when you see a bald man being objectified as a "stud" in advertising. That signifies acceptance but to the many of us, we'd already accepted it so their opinion is without merit to us.
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#9 by stasiu on 22 Sep, 2013 10:43
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My dear young man ! You are who you are and that comes with all the optional equipment at birth and in your case that includes Male Pattern Baldness. 10-20 years from now you will wonder how you even dealt with hair. I wished I could have a brain transplant and be brilliant and wealthy but then again I probably would lose my smiling personality which is based on my current brain. Enjoy life. When the hair goes on top you can either shave it all smooth or get a rug or tats on your head ... think creative and not negative ! Keep posting here !
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#10 by slymyke on 22 Sep, 2013 14:46
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It doesn't matter if one has a full head of healthy hair or has thinning and balding hair---- shaving is an option and therefore a hair style. This has always been true and always will be.
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#11 by Bluebriz on 22 Sep, 2013 20:59
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Not remotely worried.
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#12 by DanO on 23 Sep, 2013 02:35
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I wouldn't read too much into the "cures" at the moment. As a rule they tend to fall into one (or both) of these categories:
A- they don't work, or at least don't work very well
B - they are expensive
Some words of advice on the subject from a UK based pharmacy:
What can be done at home?
You need to decide how you feel about hair loss. Male hair loss affects a large part of the male population and people react very differently to it.
It is important to try to accept hair loss for what it is something natural.
Rather than trying to camouflage bald spots with remaining hair or a wig, it is probably a better idea to leave
your hair as it is, or shave it off completely.
(text from http://www.lloydspharmacy.com/en/info/propecia - emphasis mine).
I'd guess that most reputable pharmacies would give you similar advice.
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#13 by Methadone on 21 Nov, 2013 20:35
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I don't think it'll be a problem for our cohort. I doubt seriously that any reasonable, effective, and affordable treatment will come along in the next 5-10 years (though that is a long time in the world of science, so I may eat my words). Everyone who is currently bald, or currently on the way to becoming bald will have plenty of time to adapt to their new look before a cure, if one does develop, becomes mainstream. And it'll be the younger ones who would be more likely to go for it. So we don't have to worry, but it could conceivably become less common in the future.
For the record, I don't think that any treatment for hair loss, even the most sophisticated transplants that are being researched, really satisfies me as a 'cure'. Current so-called cures are not impressive: minoxidil works through mysterious biochemical mechanisms, finasteride is a blunt instrument that effectively wipes out an entire hormonal signaling pathway, and hair transplants are just a sophisticated cover-up. It seems that even with the most advanced transplants, the end result is still a bit of a coverup.
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#14 by Slyest on 23 Nov, 2013 13:03
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I'm not saying I don't miss hair and if it here naturally I'd be rocking a serious quiff but I don't think ,even if younger , I would undergo treatment