Sly Bald Guys Forum
Discussions About Being Bald => To be or not be...Bald => Topic started by: arrowface on March 01, 2012, 09:12:55 PM
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Hey guys, first post! My name is Eugene, 23 years old and I've been battling alopecia areata since I was born. For those that don't know what alopecia is, it's a skin condition in which you get spotting where hair falls out and then grows back. I have never ever had side burns nor anything around my ears, and back of the head. My entire life I have been covering it up with long hair and using gel to gel down my hair to make it look like I have a whole head of hair. I feel that I have gotten good at styling my hair to avoid suspicion, to the point where when I mention that I have alopecia to people they are surprised.
I also have to think creatively on an annual basis of how I can cover up my new spots(which range from quarter size to baseball sized bald spots). The thing is I am tired of it. I have to get up an hour earlier before anything just to prep for classes and work. A big part of this is that I am extremely self conscious about people noticing my bald spots, because my child hood was filled with imprinted memories of people ignoring me and treating me as if I was a sick patient. It goes a long way... its a big mental barrier. I've never gotten to go to pool party events, swimming in oceans, go out on windy days without a hat due, etc, because of this mental barrier.
Anyhow I feel that I am on the verge of letting all of it go. The only thing I am worried about now(may not seem like a big deal, I know) is my roots showing selected areas of baldness. I have very thin hair so I am not sure if this may or may not be a problem. I also wanted to mention that if I were to shave it off and didn't like it... It would be hard for me to grow it back without some spotting hair lose just about everywhere on the scalp.
My apologies if this post seems jumbled up. This is my coming out of a dark blockaded closet as I have never mentioned this to anyone, but found the weird courage to post my problem on these forums. What do you guys think?
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Go for it. You will feel a lot better when you've freed yourself of the worries associated with your alopecia.
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I agree. No more worries. Liberating.
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hello and welcome to SBGs
go ahead and do it, you'll simply love it, feel so free.
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No hair == no hair problems
Give it a go!
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You are handsome and have beautiful skin and head shape, it will look great !
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I have two friends with your condition. One older and one younger. They both shave their heads. You are fortunate that today is the day of the bald man. I think that you will do fine. Since you are a adult you will probably have not problems. If you you in middle school, I think that you would be in a different situation.
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Thank you for all of the positive feedback! If I were to shave it clean then I would still have baldspots on my scalp. I feel like my head would look like a outline of the globe(islands of hair). Is there any way I could deal with that?
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My 15 year old son has a friend that has battled alopecia his whole life. About a year ago he shaved his head... huge improvement.
If you're even thinking about it, it means it's time to at least try it.
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There won't be "islands" if you shave consistently--and as the spots move around, only you will notice. Believe me and the guys here--the only people who'll notice the shadow are other sly guys. Leave your worries and hair on the floor--shave it off and get on with life.
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You are handsome young man that has deep hair related scars but very positive inner strength. We are here to help you push towards freedom from hair and enjoy your life ! Try sly for 30 days and experience a new you !
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Welcome aboard and enjoy. 8)
As the others have mentioned you would likely be the only one who has any clue about any spots once you start shaving.
Best thing to do is give it a whirl and see how you like it. You won't have any spots on your head anymore that you fell self conscious about. :)
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I agree with others here. Shaving head is the best solution for you. Shaved heads are now well accepted.
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I think that you woold look better with a headshave.
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I agree with lordpeich above. And lordpeich, you do remind me of Derek Jeter *Yankees).
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A guy at work has alopecia like yours, and he shaves his head. If a person looks very closely, the "islands of 5 o'clock shadow" are faintly visible, but they do not look unattractive. At any rate, he looks much better than if his hair were longer. Please give the shave a try. I am confident that you will both look and feel much better.
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Go for it! I recently started shaving mine, and I love the look and feel. Everyone's self conscious about it at first, so give yourself some time to adjust. And you won't have to worry about the patches anymore.
Stubble shouldn't be an issue as long as you shave in the mornings and finish by going against the grain.
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Shave it, man!
And remember that with alopecia areata your bulbs are all still alive!
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First of all, well done on making the step to air the truth, We all know know how difficult it is to share hair loss with people. Secondly all the other guys are right, you are the only one who will notice any shadow, and one of my school friends had alopecia and shaved it off for almost all the time I knew him, he looked cool and I'm certain you will too.
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Thank you for all the kind and inspirational comments. I ordered some headslick and a few different razors to try out. I might pull this off very very soon :)