What made you go bald?

[Tyler]

When I started thinning I never thought of shaving my head.  Then one year I went hunting in Montana for a couple of weeks and decided to use some clippers to shave my head.  I did this because the year before my head got so crusty from wearing the beanie and not showering. 

My girlfriend at the time (now wife) loved it!  She also loved that I had grown a goatee while up in the mountains.  Since then I've always shaved my head.  First with clippers, then decided to go completely bald.

[andy]

my hair started thinning really early, probably when i was like 19... which sucked!  and of course it took a while for me to decide what to do.  i immediately ruled out drugs like rogaine / propecia... i have a "thing" about popping pills (i didn't have any painkillers after my wisdom teeth were pulled, for example).  did some research into the hair transplant thing, but even then you gotta use hair-retaining drugs and plus if it goes badly, it can be pretty awful looking. 

after getting used to the idea i just trimmed my hair shorter and shorter, since the notion of a combover or some other trick to "look" less bald always seemed so ridiculous to me... and then when i was on vacation in hawaii, on a whim i bought some clippers and buzzed my head down.  kept buzzing it ever since, and then probably in april or so i just said "the hell with it" and busted out the Mach 3.

haven't looked back since!

[happyharry]

I'm 25, and a couple of years ago I started loosing hair. Since my grandfather was bald I knew I'd share the same fate (like so many other Greeks), I just wished it wouldn't set in so early. So, over the next two years I watched my hair thinning and thinning, and I tried to comb it in a different way so it wouldn't show. I was starting to get desperate...

About eight months ago I got so pissed with this whole thinning thing and with the worrying and the "covering up", so I said "that's it!".
I took a pair of scissors, took a chair and sat down in front of the mirror in the sink. I grabbed my hair and made the first cut. Aaaaah!
Now there was no going back. I cut it all down as far as I could with the scissors, then I did the rest with a razor.

And when I was done, and as I was looking at the bleeding mass that was my head, I thought "cool...".
And I loved the result! I was very happy with my new looks and I've never looked back since...

I put all my hair in a box and gave it to my favourite aunt as a gift for her birthday. Up to this day she hasn't told anyone what my
birthday gift was. You think she liked it?

PS: here's a picture of me before the bald...bold move.

[fcb2001]

I was 28,  two best friends who are Bald by Choice who had been trying to talk me in two shaving my head since 1997, finally in 2004 I decided to go Bald by Choice, Iam a white guy who had been sporting cornrows, once i finally shaved my head, evereyone that knew me said i looked better with the chrome dome than w3ith the cornrows, i was against shaving my head because i was born in Canada and my two bald friends were born in the USA and are African Americans, i wish i shaved my head in 1997

[bald_sam]

I had really long hair (to my mid back), since I was a teen. At 25, I noticed hair on the pillow and clogging the shower drain. Ever comb out would result in huge tufts of hair in the comb. For five years I did the ponytail combover, and wore a hat. My hair got thinner and thinner, until there was nothing left on top.

My partner at the time (who daily shaved a full head of hair) decided that I looked like sh*t. I resisted cutting it, but knew I had to. He braided it, cut off the braid, and processed to buzz off the rest. Next came the lather and the razor, and I have been slick bald every since.

Sam

[Tyler]

Thanks for sharing your stories guys!  These are great.

[gearhedguy]

My hair started thinning in college due to genetics (thanks Dad!  ). It was probably one of the most traumatic experiences in my life. . . realizing, and accepting, that I was indeed losing my hair. I tried everything in the book to "hide" the situation. . . close-cropped haircuts; peroxide to make it blonde (actually turned it a weird reddish color - lol); strategically spacing the hair I had left on the top of my head and using hairspray to keep it in place; not going outside on windy days; avoiding anything like a swimming pool, rollercoaster ride, convertible ride; and hitting the gym to gain big muscles to make up for what I was "lacking". . . my hair. I once heard that washing your hair in beer was a good thing. . . bring on the ale (regular or lite?)!! Heard mayonnaise was good. . . bring on the greasy, eggy, nasty stuff!! Vitamins, too?. . . down the hatch, gulp! Rogaine?. . . made my scalp break out in a nasty rash!! Needless to say, countless years of hiding, worry, dollars wasted. . . nothing worked. Combine years of frustration, bored on a Friday night, a few shots of tequila, a clipper and razor. . . I became a new bald man! I first looked in the mirror and thought "eek!" and "cooooool!" The positive responses that I got the next day at work were overwhelming. And a few days later, I was sporting a goatee. I honestly feel I looked the most handsome I have ever looked in my entire life. Hair be gone!

[Baldego]

I started going bald at 19 like many others, I always hated hair anyways lol. I love being bald and would never have hair again!!!!! I tell people who ask "Why do you shave your head"?  God took half and I took care of the rest lol....... 

[PigPen]

I shaved my hair in support of my son when he was going through chemo. I naturally have a full head of hair. Not too long ago the wife dyed her hair and I commented that I liked the color. She responded with "I'll keep it this way if you grow hair back" Without so much as a hesitation..."Nah, that's alright I like it clean"

Blader For Life!

[Tyler]

HueroPelon, thanks for sharing your story with us.  I hope your son was able to beat the disease.

Tyler

I shaved my hair in support of my son when he was going through chemo.

[Pyronius]

I started going bald about my junior year in high school... In my senor pictures even when I was only 17 I had a well receded hair line. 

About the time I was 20 it was well receded past the normal balding 20 year olds hair line, which caused people to always think that I was a helluva lot older than I was (this was bad for women my age thinking I was a creepy old guy hitting on them  at bars) So I decided what the hell got out my mach 3 and went to town. (since upgraded to the fusion)

I'll NEVER look back...  been great for about everything.. 

Someday I may even go the rout of electrolisys(yah I prob spelled it wrong) and get the whole shibang done and toss the razors.

[PigPen]

HueroPelon, thanks for sharing your story with us.  I hope your son was able to beat the disease.

Tyler

Thanks Tyler, so far so good. He has another check-up next week and they'll look at the tumor to make sure it is dead and there is no new growth. He's a fighter that's for sure.

[Yeti]

   HueroPelon,

Best wishes for your son and for your family's coping too. All my best, always...
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         
    As for what made me go bald, it was a combination of Male Pattern Baldness, which started in High School, and subsequently excellerated from the anxiety in my career choices! hehe

[PigPen]

Thanks Yeti. We really appreciate it. He has a check-up this Wednesday. They'll put him under just a little bit. So they can look in his eye and make sure the tumor is still dead. They'll also check a small lesion near the tumor to make sure it has not developed into a tumor as well.

Thanks to you too Tyler...and all my other bald bretheren.

[fcb2001]

iam never going back as well, and i even shaved a full head of hair, Iam Completely Bald by choice for life

I'll NEVER look back...  been great for about everything..