Why men should not fear balding...

[jusbnme]

Great job on the article Tyler!!!  Telling it like it is...  Way to go man!!!
 

[Itsonlyinmyhead]

Tyler- Good article by the way, it is true that shaved heads are becoming very mainstream now

But I am in kind of a negative mood today, sorry!!

Many men fear balding because they think they think it will deter them from finding someone to spend the rest of their life with, or if they have found that person, that person may become less attracted to him. Men also fear that balding might hurt them in their careers, or that their friends and others will make jokes and laugh at them. Some men fear that they don't have the right shaped head to look good bald. Once again, men should not fear these things.

1/Love-  The finding someone kind of deters me, thus why Im currently pumping my body full of chemicals to lower DHT

2/Career- Doesnt bother me because I know Im very good with computers and will not struggle to get what I want.

3/Friends/jokes- I couldnt give a sh*t as theyve known Ive been losing my hair since a young age due to me being so open about it


The underlying fear that I have is down to the fact that Im 23 and single and worried about future romances.

Anyone got any good advice about going sly at a young age and how it affected them?

[Razor X]

Tyler- Good article by the way, it is true that shaved heads are becoming very mainstream now

But I am in kind of a negative mood today, sorry!!

Many men fear balding because they think they think it will deter them from finding someone to spend the rest of their life with, or if they have found that person, that person may become less attracted to him. Men also fear that balding might hurt them in their careers, or that their friends and others will make jokes and laugh at them. Some men fear that they don't have the right shaped head to look good bald. Once again, men should not fear these things.

1/Love-  The finding someone kind of deters me, thus why Im currently pumping my body full of chemicals to lower DHT

2/Career- Doesnt bother me because I know Im very good with computers and will not struggle to get what I want.

3/Friends/jokes- I couldnt give a sh*t as theyve known Ive been losing my hair since a young age due to me being so open about it


The underlying fear that I have is down to the fact that Im 23 and single and worried about future romances.

Anyone got any good advice about going sly at a young age and how it affected them?

This probably isn't what you want to hear, but the only way to allay your fears is to take a deep breath and just do it.  You are agonizing over "should I or shouldn't I?" Stop torturing yourself.   This is something you really HAVE to try.  If you don't, you will always wonder if you should have.  If you do, you will either love it and the problem is solved, or you may be one of the very small minority who decides that sly isn't for them, and let it grow back.  But at least then you will know.

Take it from someone who waited far too long to take the plunge -- the anticipation of it is worse than the actual deed itself.  Once it's done, there is a tremendous feeling of relief.  Of all the people who have come this forum who were thinking about going sly, I can only think of one who decided it wasn't for him.  The rest all loved their new look.  Put yourself out of your misery and give it a go.  Set a date in the not-to-distant future and then just do it.  You owe it to yourself to try.

[YOSP]

First, Tyler, Great Article...

Itsonlyinmyhead, I previously wrote to you about my female worries, and that I went to HCM. $35,000/7 yrs later, I wish I would have never went that route. I realize now that I didn't when I was 23, now 30, that if you meet a female that cares that much then she isn't worth it. This sounds cliche', but it depends on what you are looking for. I am getting married in Sept. to a beautiful, intelligent, funny woman and she loves my bald head and so do I. It is definitely going to be tough at first, but confidence is the key. Something that also helps me is working out/exercising, it adds to the look. It is not necessary but it helps build my confidence even more. I never thought I would get to the poitn where I don't care what others think, but I am close to it, and I was one of the most insecure person you could meet.

Do it brother, become SLY...you will grow into it and be happy you didn't waste your $$$ on BS that doesn't work and only worries you more...TRUST ME, I have lived it for 7yrs.

Good Luck.       

[Itsonlyinmyhead]

I am getting married in Sept. to a beautiful, intelligent, funny woman and she loves my bald head and so do I

Thats really good, Im happy for you  . I cant imagine what you must of gone through to go to HCM in the first place

My problem is just meeting the right woman, I just never seem to   
I know I probably will eventually but not at the moment, I do work out and exercise alot now that my hours have got shorter from 60+ to 40ish.
Im just abit worried that the bald noggin might reduce my chances.

I wont ever get a system or a hair transplant as that is kind of lying to yourself and others around you in my opinion. I am taking propecia though at the moment and have been for about 2 or 3 weeks, Ill give it a go and see what happens.

Maybe Ill have to move areas to meet the right woman, but there is hope 

[YOSP]

As far as meeting woman goes, everytime I went out, that was my goal. It got to the point that I didn't even care about being out with my friends, I was worried about finding a woman. I regret it now, because when you get older you don't have that much time anymore to see friends as much due to various things, marriage, kids, work...

My advice, don't look for it, it will come. Confidence brother is the key, keep hitting the gym and it will also help (though it is not necessary to be confident, it helps me!). 

As far as the propecia, it didn't work for me, although it may for you...

  things will get better, you sound like a good dude, patience is the key my friend, and oh yeah, CONFIDENCE! 

[Itsonlyinmyhead]

Cheers dude.
Even though Im not sly(yet) I post on this board because of people like you 

Im not looking for women everytime I go out (this may be the problem). I know confidence is the key, I am pretty upbeat most of the time, Im just moaning because I dont seem to meet that many women I could see myself with. I do seem to get chatted up quite alot, so I cant be that hideous   

I need to get my neck bigger, you got any exercise tips or do I just need to get fat? 

p.s. Ive put my facebook pic as my virtual bald picture, everyone seems in shock, a few have said it suits me, a few have said I look ill, then quite a few have said I look like Lex Luthor out of Smallville-is that bad?

[blondeguy]

The underlying fear that I have is down to the fact that Im 23 and single and worried about future romances.

Anyone got any good advice about going sly at a young age and how it affected them?

It was the best thing I've ever done with my hair.  The funny thing about attracting women is that going sly says to people "here I am, take it or leave it," and not caring if people are attracted to you tends to attract people (like how guys will get hit on once they're married).  You don't have to answer to anybody but yourself, and that attitude shows in your bold look.  Just be well-groomed and confident in yourself, and women will want to get to know you.

[hellocowboy]

Ive put my facebook pic as my virtual bald picture, everyone seems in shock, a few have said it suits me, a few have said I look ill, then quite a few have said I look like Lex Luthor out of Smallville-is that bad?

I made a fake bald picture of myself, and I got a few neo-nazi jokes (all in good fun of course).  I wouldn't take the bad comments too seriously.  Don't live your life by what others think.  It looks better in real life anyways.

I wouldn't worry about what your Facebook friends say.

[Itsonlyinmyhead]

I wouldn't worry about what your Facebook friends say.

These are my proper friends, as in I went to school with them, went to uni with them and have worked with them and then random friends who Ive met outside work and school

[hellocowboy]

I still wouldn't worry about what they think.

[r6]

Itsonlyinmyhead = my identical situation. Same age, even good with computers , thats how I make a living. I've been reading these boards for the past few months. Great bunch of people here! I especially like the fact that there is such a broad range in terms of personalities.

So let's review, even thou its redundant because everyone has the same story, it will serve as an introduction:

I've started balding @ 18. I was devastated but got over it within a month or 2. Since I've never really had any confidence problems, and the fact that I was getting laid full time, it was not that hard. I also never really tried to hide it and even if someone would bring it up it was easy to shrug it off. You always tell yourself, well big deal, Im balding lots of people are, I'll worry about it in my 40s (WRONG!). Of course the ultimate solution, and the only solution in my opinion, is shaving your head. I don't even want to hear about hair pieces, transplants and any of that bullshit. I think in the long run shaving is the *only* solution. In the future, I'm sure they'll find a way to eradicate the problem, but present day that is the only solution. I've taken 4-5 cycles of Propecia in the past 5 years and I suppose it helps. Unfortunately I'm in the 25% category of men that lose their hair in their 20's (early).

23 now, and its getting bad. I would like to point out that before Nov-2006 I had the same mentality as I did at 18. Same look, 2-3 on the side, 4-6 up top, spiked up. November for some reason I started noticing a little too much thinning, so much that it put me back in freaking out mode. Meaning, you over-analyze everything.  So I decided to shave it off, just so I can get a fresh start (the usual bullshit). I've done that twice from 18-23 and always grew it back up. Anyways, now, its back to where it was length wise, but its still super thin (duh!). So at this point you realize that this is the so-called "rock-bottom" and since you can manipulate your hair the only thing you have is shaving it.

Bored yet? Same story.

So now Im stuck @ square one trying to figure out what to do. We're all worried about the ladies because I did have a good run so far and since I'm 23 I don't see why that should stop. My friends / clients are also an issue of course.  The way I plan on getting myself to do it is by getting in great physical shape (I worked out since high school but I'm probably going to ramp it up a little) & get some tan. I really have no reservations about the look itself. I never think twice when I meet someone with a shaved head because its not the look that I'm concerned about. It's if I will be able to pull it off ... If it would ever suit me.

I've always been very confident and cocky so I would not know how to be any different. I've noticed that I withdrew from a bunch of social events and when I'm out I cannot be myself. It definitely sucks and I am looking forward to getting rid of this hassle and anxiety.

NOTE: What surprised my about Itsonlyinmyhead is that he's from UK and I know for a fact (European myself) that over there shaved heads aren't that big of a deal. Especially among the young crowd.

Anyways ... great being here guys.

[Itsonlyinmyhead]

Yeah pretty much the same R6 apart from youve shaved yours down before, I never have-stupidly, should of done it when I was at uni or working away to try it out.
 I know it is the solution but Im still trying to get myself there, I might try and talk one of my balding friends into it so Im not alone!!

[r6]

You and me both my friend. Stuck at ... not *IF* we're gonna do it, but when? And what to do in order to transition somewhat into it. I mean its easy to just *DO* it, but ideally you would *STAY* with it. I've never thought about the friend route, although it sounds like a good deal.

[Tyler]

Hey r6, welcome!

To both you and Itsonlyinmyhead, doing it and deciding to keep it are too different decisions, but obviously connected.  A lot of us recommend to try it out for 30 days to give it a really good shot and then at no risk to you you can return it (was beginning to think I was writing an infomercial  ) then decide what to do from there.

I like the friend idea!  You could also try doing it for a charity such as St. Baldricks or Wigs for Kids.