Not bald... yet

[Chap]

Hey everyone, I'm Chap, male, 18 years old and English is not my main tongue so I try my best.

Two years ago I was walking through school when someone yelled "W-whoa you have a big bald spot". I was ashamed. Can't remember what I did next that day but I was very ashamed and tried to hide it with my hair. Shouldn't be too hard with my long black hair but it's very degrading when everyone around you is in their prime and you're constantly walking with a bald spot which you're trying to hide. Yeah. You could say I was the ugly kid for the last two years.

I managed to struggle through the rest of high school (graduated last month) by wearing a hat whenever I was outside (which looks ridiculous with long hair on a bike in the wind) and by making sure my bald spot was covered up every minute I was at school. I even colored the patch black every morning, which helped hiding it a little. Yeah, I'm a shadow of my former self. But hey, I think I kept it pretty well hidden. I look ridiculous though with my long hair.

Right now I'm making plans to shave my head completely bald before I go to uni next month. Still kinda afraid to do it. I don't want the bald spot to become visible when I shave it (everywhere shadow but not where there's no hair growing). But I also know I can't go on like this. So I'm trying to gain courage to take the step to do it. I don't know if I'm ready for it...

Well, that's kind of my situation. Hello all, nice to meet you!

[Hingatao]

Welcome to the club. And congratulations on accepting the inevitable. Being between high school and uni is a good time to embrace it. When you get to uni you'll be meeting a lot of new people who won't know what you look like like with hair or that you have mpb. It'll be kind of like getting a fresh new start. Good luck and enjoy the new look!

[Frontier Guy]

Welcome.

I can understand your apprehension about shaving as it is a big change ... but likely a change which will be much better. Imagine the burden which will be lifted once you no longer have to worry about the bald spot and the amount of effort every day which you spend trying to hide it. I'm sure you have better things to do than worry about hair.

I agree with what Hingatao wrote above. Having the "new" you when you begin Uni will be a great beginning. New environment, new people, and definitely a new you - not just in terms of hair but in your total life experience.

Thus, since you've decided to shave it ... unless there is a compelling reason to wait ... do it now! This will give time for your scalp to develop some color and give you time to integrate the new image into your being.

Although it's none of anyone's business why, you can just say that it was time for a new look. You don't owe anyone an explanation.

Continued success ... I hope you will post back here. If you haven't already, look through the other topics about the "30 day rule" which essentially means you commit to maintaining the new look for 30 days to give yourself a fair amount of time to adapt.

[Cave Dweller]

Welcome, Chap!

Like Hingatao and Frontier Guy said, going off to university is the perfect time to shed the old you and be the you you want to be. It certainly was for me.

The hardest part of going smooth is taking that first swipe of the clippers. Once you have started to take that hair off, the anxiety goes away. I would strongly advise you to do it sooner than later, however, so your scalp can have some time to tan up before you start school.