The dreaded day has come (hair loss)

Haych

Ha! My heart bleeds for you.  

Mine started falling out when I was 17 or 18.  Going to work in your teens and being teased about your patch is a demoralising situation to be in.  Even worse was waking up in the morning and seeing my hair attached to my pillow instead of my head.

I finally gave in and started shaving my head from about 22.

crunchman

exocet

Just shave it off - 57 is a bloody good innings. I'm 53 - mine is rapidly in decline, just had it cut (short but not shaved all over) - asked the barber whether it should all go - she said "don't worry, I'll let you know when it reaches that stage"...so I reckon within 2 years, it'll be gone. I saw a mate of mine a few days ago - first time in many months, he's 2 years younger than me, hasn't even gone grey!

EricTheWeary

My grandfather was completely bald by 30, my father grey by 30, my one brother huge bald patch by 30 so in terms of my genetics I've had a good run. If I grow it out it's a bit Art Garfunkel. On the clippers we bought during Lockdown a 4 has been fine, I have had 2 before but that emphasizes the thin bits too much. I need someone to neaten it up at the back but otherwise it's just sitting there rubbing your head with an appliance for a bit. 

boogieman

Genetics is weird ain’t it? My dad still had a full head of hair when he died at 80+. Sadly I get my hair genes from my mum’s side of the family and my grandad was as bald as a badger. One of my friends is 72 now and still has really thick dark hair, just starting to get Paulie Walnuts’ type silver wings at the sides over his ears. He’s always moaning that people assume he’s wearing a syrup. 

axisus

hey, thanks for the positive feedback everyone! I won't try and disguise it in life (well, maybe the hat for the videos until I do shave off!). I have two rules in life i) go with the flow and ii) never feel sorry for yourself. This is where I am and there's no going back. 

My nephew had foppish hair through school/6th form, and he got very distressed when he started losing it a lot at around 20 years old. He decided to shave it all off and it totally reinvented him, he immediately looked 10 times cooler. I don't think for a moment I will look better, but I accept it's coming.

Haych

boogieman said:

Genetics is weird ain’t it? My dad still had a full head of hair when he died at 80+. Sadly I get my hair genes from my mum’s side of the family and my grandad was as bald as a badger. One of my friends is 72 now and still has really thick dark hair, just starting to get Paulie Walnuts’ type silver wings at the sides over his ears. He’s always moaning that people assume he’s wearing a syrup. 

I thought the hair gene always came down your mum's side of the family.  I.E., if your grandfather on your mother's side is a cue ball chances are you're going to be folically challenged.

Or have I got that wrong?

Caffeine_Vampire

It is supposed to be from your Mothers side.

Caffeine_Vampire

Weirdly, my Brother is very thin at 40 and mine is still crazy thick and wavy at 45 (like my Mums). Dad never lost his, not even during chemo. Maternal grandfather never lost one hair and only a smattering of grey, Paternal grandfather was bald though.

stonevibe

DrJazzTap

I think I'm going to eventually end up going down the shaven head route. Thing is, I will look exactly like my dad then. 
I think you have to own it, combing it over is just putting it'll off. 

LoFi

I had an operation on my skull when I was a baby that has left me with what always felt like an odd-shaped head, and I've been worrying about my thinning hair for years (I'm a lot younger than 53!).

A buzzcut during lockdown confirmed that it is, in fact, an odd-shaped head - there is a significant and immediately-noticeable lump to one side of the top of my bonce. So, as my hair grows back, I'm trying Regaine - 3 months in and no signs of regrowth yet. Apparently, it can take up to 6 months to work, but actually doesn't work for 65-70% of men and (as another poster said) can be wiry, and falls out if you stop. Failing that, it's plugs for me.

I'm really not just being vain - one pass of the clippers took me from "normal looking guy" to "Hey, were you Sloth in the Goonies?".

jonnyburgo

Just grow a Nutkins or failing that scrape what's left of it back into a pony tail, and wear denim.

shaunyshaun1234

LoFi said:

I had an operation on my skull when I was a baby that has left me with what always felt like an odd-shaped head, and I've been worrying about my thinning hair for years (I'm a lot younger than 53!).

A buzzcut during lockdown confirmed that it is, in fact, an odd-shaped head - there is a significant and immediately-noticeable lump to one side of the top of my bonce. So, as my hair grows back, I'm trying Regaine - 3 months in and no signs of regrowth yet. Apparently, it can take up to 6 months to work, but actually doesn't work for 65-70% of men and (as another poster said) can be wiry, and falls out if you stop. Failing that, it's plugs for me.

I'm really not just being vain - one pass of the clippers took me from "normal looking guy" to "Hey, were you Sloth in the Goonies?".

One thing I found when clippering mine right back is that people care about it a lot less then you (me, I etc) do! I was dreading going back to in to work but nobody so much as batted an eyelid about it! 

Moominpapa

Male Grooming magazine says the home-clippered #1 all over is going to be the chic look of 2020. Or did I dream that?

WiresDreamDisasters

Moominpapa said:

Male Grooming magazine says the home-clippered #1 all over is going to be the chic look of 2020. Or did I dream that?

You were dreaming of a harem of finely coifed men, but the confusing thing was you didn't know which end you were looking at them from. Bald buttocky Silent Hill monsters.

starwarsnosebleed

Im not losing loads of hair but its slowly going
I tend to have my hair 1mm and the sides and back, but much longer on top. Getting well receded now though, and thinning on top a bit.
looks terrible when the wind blows and exposes it a bit! 

Age 39 now though, and the older i get the less im bothered, and a sharp grade 2 all over is inevitable in the next couple years.

Tried that Regaine and the onion trick to regenerate new hair growth, and after 6months grew about .05 mm of peach fuzz on my balding bits, and it didnt get any longer, then gave up as i was fighting a losing battle.

Hattigol

'Those wispy bits on the top look really cool'....

Said nobody. Ever.

Embrace the clippers.

EricTheWeary

I have had half an hour in the garden updating mine today. 
Sitting outside running hair clippers over your head is like being a serial killer at the start of a low rent thriller. 

Snap

best thing for thinning hair is absolutely not trying to disguise it - makes it even more obvious. I remember a kid used to do a double combover from either side into some sort of ludicrous revers duck's arse gone Bobby Charlton times two. It was a standing joke, but no-one was bold enough to say anything. Then one day he cropped it and everyone was like "phew, nice one"

Crop it short, maybe not even to the bone, just short.