Looking for advice, thought this was a good place!

• Looking for advice, thought this was a good place! by redy on 01 Mar, 2014 11:18
• To start, I've been using the "big 3" of hairloss treatment for 7 months total now. I'm 22. I'd say I am around a NW2 level of hairloss on the hairline, one side thin and one side further recessed. I'm definitely not a slybaldguy, but I'm heading in that direction faster than I wanted to.
  
  In the last month or so, after a few months of my hair getting better, I've been shedding hair like a dog. I don't know if this is just the treatment working and in 3 months or so I'll have a lions mane, but it sucks! I'm pretty sure it's cosmetically significant at this point, with my hair becoming even more and more annoying in trying to conceal my thin hairline.
  
  I grew my hair out pretty long relative to my usual length of about 1-2 inches on top, which seems to be helping my conceal my hairline. I have a pretty decent sized forehead, though. Otherwise I would have said to hell with this and buzzed it off. I like the buzzcut feel, but my hairline is the bad part of my hair and my forehead will certainly draw attention to it. I really would like to buzz it off but I'm very scared of what my hairline might look like.. I'd say I'm pretty tall and work out, so I might not look too odd with a short haircut.
  
  I'm completely obsessed with how my hair looks and covering up any traces of my hairloss. If anything I'm doing that harry styles type of thing where I have a receding hairline but I'm overcompensating with big hair and products.  I'm like a hawk now with looking at hairlines.. It's totally consuming my entire existence and causing me to exhibit some pretty tell-tale signs of depression. Obviously I know that nothing really will magically make my hair appear again, and cutting it off probably will make me trade convenience for appearance, and I can't grow a beard or anything to offset that because I'm just folicularly challenged.
  
  I guess part of this is that I need a venue to express what I am feeling like right now, but I really would appreciate some advice.. It's gotten to the point where I really, really need to deal with this before it drives me insane. I almost never had self-confidence issues before this last year or so since I noticed the loss, and I really don't want to be like this anymore... Not that I was some beaming ray of sunshine and a beacon of hope for the world before, but you get the point. I was pretty happy with how I looked and who I was.. But I'm also not sure if I have the confidence to just say "f*** what anyone thinks"...
  
  I really could use some advice on what other people did and how it went for them.
  
  Thanks
• #1 by geeman on 01 Mar, 2014 11:30
• Photos will help with the advice....some people will tell you to go with a buzz....some to shave....no one on here will tell you to continue with trying to conceal the truth....you're going bald....a lot of us in here have been through it...some shave by choice....I used to try and conceal it....but it takes over your life....worrying about being found out....not doing normal things just in case....just thinking about it makes me shiver lol....bottom line...if its in your gene's...its just a matter of time....its how you get there that counts....you could carry on in denial...spending a fortune on products that fool no one really....but yourself.... you could just cut it short and like a lot of guys just let nature takes its course....or you could take the problem by the collar and buzz it right down or shave it..once done...I guarantee you will feel relief....no more worry....people get used to it real fast...good luck with your choice....and welcome to the brotherhood....how much you enjoy it is down to you
• #2 by Mike E. P. on 01 Mar, 2014 15:05
• redy,
  
  I've been where you are; many of us here have been there - the obsessing about the hair loss, looking at every other guy's hairline, wondering if other people notice, etc. and I know it sucks and can be debilitating, really.
  
  You know how this is affecting you and you know you have to deal with it because it's driving you crazy and that's good. It's a little bit difficult to give advice without a photo, but knowing how this is driving you insane makes it easier to say you have to to something for yourself. I wouldn't worry about your forehead. A lot of us worry about the shape of our heads and other things and after we shave, we find the worry was for nothing. You'll probably feel the same about your forehead.
  
  As much as I would like to say, "f...ck what everyone else thinks" I aspire to that but it is easier said than done for me.
  
  After struggling and stressing for a long time, I got a buzz cut. It deemphasized my balding and I immediately felt better. My confidence began to return and the stress went away. Over the years, I buzzed my hair shorter and shorter as my hair continued to recede and bald and now I am completely sly, but the progression was natural and easy.
  
  I haven't felt that overwhelming depression about my hair since doing the buzz cut. I would suggest you think about that and maybe your story will turn out like mine. Today I can't believe there was a time that I was so consumed by my hair!
  
  Just don't take as long as I did to take action.
• #3 by redy on 02 Mar, 2014 03:35
• Thank you for your inputs!
  
  Honestly, it's really not bad looking. I definitely am hard on myself, but... Just time consuming and if my hair is messed up it's evident that my hairline is not perfect... As in, anyone I bring up my hairloss to says that I'm either crazy, or that they had no idea until I brought it up. But I layer my hair over my hairline. My hair is very texture-friendly and coarse, so the hair that I push forward is pretty good at covering the hairline. However, lately due to the shedding that has not stopped for almost 2 months straight now, the hairs that were doing better since starting treatment are basically gone and I'm more or less back to what it was like before using them. But if I push my hair up it is very very evident that my hairline is pretty recessed and thinning.
  
  How does a buzz cut deemphasize recession? I feel like that would make it obvious? I'm confused about that aspect.
  
  Also, the girl I'm seeing seems to bring up whether or not people she is talking about are bald, which is kind of bothering me a little bit in my current situation. Not that I feel like it would be the end of the world for me if the facade of my hair was holding her attention in itself only, because that's pretty shallow - but I do like her and am afraid of what the reaction would be to either a buzz or the hairline being obvious, or both at the same time.
  
  It's just a bad place to be in in general!
  
  I need the advice of you veterans..
• #4 by mangosink12572 on 02 Mar, 2014 11:30
• Like "GEEMAN" said - - -Get a photo so we can see what you have and we can advise you.
• #5 by Lith on 02 Mar, 2014 13:34
• Photo's definately always help. Btw the best way to get rid of that hairline is just take the plunge and go sly!! In all seriousness though you should try the 30 day challange. I'm 23 and have been balding for a while. I was in denial at first and had long hair. Then I started to slowly accept it by going shorter and shorter (by this time I had bought clippers and would do it myself). Until finally I had the courage and support to go fully bald. It's weird at first, but at the same time amazing. For me it was like a weight off my shoulders.