touchy subject?

[HoodooMan]

hey fellas. i have what i think may be a touchy subject for some of us. nevertheless, i think it would be beneficial to share our stories with one other.

*so, what drastic (or not so drastic for some!), measures did you go to to first try and conceal your balding head?*

when i first noticed my " M" pattern and overall thinning developing at around 18, i started to grow my hair longer. i grew it longer for a couple years, combed it forward to try and conceal the receeding, and tossed it around with ALOT of hairspray. i mean, my hair was like a brick. whenever i'd ride my motorcycle (especially if i had a girl with me) i'd bring along a hat to quickly put on once i got my helmet off. i wore hats everywhere. and when hats weren't appropriate, i used all that hairspray, spending a good while in the mirror to *try* and cover it up. once the receeding got really bad, i started trying different hairstyles to no avail. i'd run into old friends and some would say "wow what's going on on top?!" my uncles (who always like to give everyone a hard time, in good fun) would also make comments. and though i know they were just goofing around with me, it did bother me. one day after my uncles made some comments, and on a day that i thought i did a pretty good job "fixing" my hair, i realized i wasn't fooling anyone. so i went to walmart, bought a cheap set of trimmers, and buzzed it down slowly to a zero guard, then got out the mach 3. i felt very liberated! just knowing that my hair could not control me anymore made me feel great. and although i usually buzz to a no guard, and only ocassionally shave fully, i still feel as liberated each time i get out the clippers or razor.

[FrankyG]

Well my hair line was receding more on the crown than anywhere else so I would let my hair grow long on top and brush it forward. I would basically get my sides buzzed as close to the scalp as possible. One day I went to teh barber and they cut to much off and it became noticable, and just was never able to get ti to grow back to that "proper" length. After that I would get a High and tight that pretty much went up to my receding point. Recently I started letting my hair grow out to see how it would look, and I got a view of the thinning hair on the side Thinning to the point that there were gaps in it. So I went to the store and bought myself a headblade, and than to the Barbers where I had them buzz me as far down as possible. Went home and Shaved the rest off.

[HoodooMan]

FrankyG, "Well my hair line was receding more on the crown than anywhere else so I would let my hair grow long on top and brush it forward"


we have very similar stories! when i look back at doing that myself, and all the things like that i did it makes me feel so vain! i'm sure you feel the same way!

[TheSlyBear]

I may be atypical (actually, I know I'm atypical) but I never freaked out about my hair. When it started thinning I just said "meh" and started buzzing it off. I liked the look and I kept it for about two decades before deciding to go all they way sly.

[Rob]

one of the reasons I never considered I have MPB despite receding at the temples was that, like bootedbear it really was a non-issue for me.  I never tried covering it up: just let it recede, then later had a shorter cut, but it was shorter because I liked it shorter first and foremost, not because I was trying to hide anything.

[Mikekoz13]

Balding was a non-issue for me also...... it's about confidence in who and what you are Lads!!!!!

[20, bald, and loving it]

I have lived the last two years of my life in a hat. Then about 4 months ago I was in my cousins wedding and could not figure out how to work a baseball cap in with the tux I was wearing. So I tried combing my hair forward and noticed that the back was thinning too. So I took a ton of time trying to make sure every hair was in the right place. The whole night I felt really bad about my hair. I decided to search the internet for MPB and stumbled across this website. Lurked for a while a while. Joined and shaved my head about a month ago. And today as the sun was shining on my chrome dome I realized that the mach 3 was the best thing for me. 

[DCdome]

I did combovers (not superbad ones, but bad enough).  Also tried to sort of puff the hair up with a blowdryer and hairspray.  Eventually I went the way of the buzzcut, which I liked well enough until I saw the back of my head and the large bald spot clearly visible only a few days after a #1 or even closer buzz.  So I bit the bullet and shaved the noggin.  That solved everything.   Now I love all the perks of the shaven dome:  the smooth feel of a bowling ball, the cool breeze on the skin, rain or snow coming down on the noggin, and, of course, the occasional head rub that a lady just can't resist giving me, as well as membership in the brotherhood of the sly.

[capthappy8p]

hey 20, bald and loving it... i lived the last 2 years of my life under a baseball cap as well!

mine started at 18 with a receeding hairline... back then i just assumed i had a high for head and left it at that, but when i turned 20 i noticed that i was thinning right down the center of my scalpe only slightly at first then as time went on the worse it got. over winter break it got to the point i was willing to go under the knife and get a transplant which ended up costing my 1k of my own money cause i signed to do it and bailed out of it 2 days before and money was non refundable..

But honestly id rather have spent that and deal with it then spend 6k on the proceedure and live with a butured scalp...

in feb i started buzzin it short at first it was with a 2 as in my pic here.... then i graduated to just the clippers then just last week i went completly sly and ill say i have mixed feelings... i like it when i see myself and i love touching it it feels like nothing i have expirenced before... but i got a less then warm welcome from family and a few friends... tho most of my contacts have not seen it yet...

Ill have some pics up by friday lemme shave it again so i know i got a good close shave

[FrankyG]

You know I always swore I would never be that guy to do things to cover up my baldness and just deal with it. But surprise when it came to it I couldn't just deal with it. But I definitley had no issue taking a blad to my head and remove what I do have on there 

[clipped]

The receeding and the bald spot in back, which appeared in my 30s never really bothered me and I never did anything special to "deal with it", other than short, neat haircuts. However, when the hair in front of the bald spot thinned out so much that I could see through it and it looked like a combover, 15 years later, I went the buzz route, getting shorter over the years.  It took me about 2 years to get the courage to do the buzz after I started thinking about it.  I, for one, would have appreciated more direct advice from my barber, friends or wife sooner than it occurred.  However, when I received that advice, it gave me the final push that I needed to switch to a buzz. And that's been great. 
So, if you see a friend who needs a push to adopt the clipped or shaved style (no "bald joking" allowed), I say give your friend that advice in a sincere, friendly way. Admitedly, being 'sincere' about ones looks among male friends is not considered "macho" by many men, so we don't do that.  Instead, we resort to the sarcastic, joke format to covey our opinion, and it ends up hurting our friend. 

[Timmay]

never had issues with balding.  I had a receeding hair line , but that wasnt what prompted me to shave.  I was cutting it short with the buzz/clippers and just said hell with it one day in the shower and shaved it off. 

So now you know........the rest of the story.  Good Day!

[20, bald, and loving it]

hey 20, bald and loving it... i lived the last 2 years of my life under a baseball cap as well!

mine started at 18 with a receeding hairline... back then i just assumed i had a high for head and left it at that, but when i turned 20 i noticed that i was thinning right down the center of my scalpe only slightly at first then as time went on the worse it got. over winter break it got to the point i was willing to go under the knife and get a transplant which ended up costing my 1k of my own money cause i signed to do it and bailed out of it 2 days before and money was non refundable..

But honestly id rather have spent that and deal with it then spend 6k on the proceedure and live with a butured scalp...

in feb i started buzzin it short at first it was with a 2 as in my pic here.... then i graduated to just the clippers then just last week i went completly sly and ill say i have mixed feelings... i like it when i see myself and i love touching it it feels like nothing i have expirenced before... but i got a less then warm welcome from family and a few friends... tho most of my contacts have not seen it yet...

Ill have some pics up by friday lemme shave it again so i know i got a good close shave

I hear ya. Some of my friends really liked and some didn't say anything. My family likes it but I haven't seen them all yet. I like it tho and thats all that really matters because what I have learned from this site is that hair or no hair its all about how you carry yourself and how you feel about yourself.

[BlackJamesRackham]

im in the same boat as many of you. although i've always worn caps since i was like 10, but i would always wear one when possible so i didnt have to "style" my hair so much. finally i was like screw this, got on this site, got some tips, and did the deed last st. patty's day. coming up on one year for me and i couldnt be happier. even if i had a completely perfect hairline, i would still be shaving my head. no hat hair and no need to use hair products.

[HoodooMan]

its odd, everyone here says that going sly was a non issue for their family, friends, and co workers. but i've gotten NOTHING but flack from everyone i know. i've only met one person that said they liked the look on me. everyone else has been very negative, even more so than when i was just balding. but i like not having to deal with my MPB hair, so now this is me! whether they like it or not.