Men: have any of you started balding at young age?

[kenji_t]

I had a head full of hair until I was 21, when all of a sudden I went from John Myung to asian Jude Law (a bit of exaggeration here, but not far from truth).

 

This made my self-esteem go down to the bottom. I loved my hair, it made me look awesome, it was something I was proud of...

I was on the edge of depression, I wouldn't leave my house to go out with friends anymore, I left my band, almost flunked out of college.

 

I tried finasteride for a while, but it didn't do anything at all, at most it just kept the few hair left, it didn't bring them back - the damage was already done.

 

People didn't really seem to care at all that going bald bothered me to no end, worse, they seem to think I was going berzerk for nothing.

 

Now I'm 34 and I shave my head at least once a week, I got used to it and my wife likes it, thank god.

 

Has any of you guys went through troubled times because of your hair? How did you handle it?

[daisy101]

Funny you mention Jude Law, my son is 25 and he kinda resembles him hehehe.

 

But Jude Law's hair came back now, I'm not sure what he did for it...

 

About the subject, my son started balding at young age too, he had a hard time coping with it. I have to say me and my husband tried to be supportive, we tried to search for dermatologists and specialists in his area. He went to all of them, they all told him to try finasteride and minoxidil, but it had ZERO effect on him.

 

His hair just gets thinner and thinner, but he accepts it now. There's nothing he can do at all, just embrace it.

[carhill]

Has any of you guys went through troubled times because of your hair? How did you handle it?

 

Moved on to other things that I did have control over. Back in the 70's and 80's, shaving one's head wasn't as common as today, and long hair for men was a lot more common, so I just left it alone and dealt with the results. As late as the late 90's, I recall my exW mentioning that some of her GF's wondered why she'd date a bald guy. That's how it goes.

 

Happy to be rid of that silly judgmental crap now. Life is good.

[AVarma]

Yup mine started in my teens.

[kylle]

Been going through this since I was 19...I almost went crazy at first, I loved my hair. It sucks really, but you get used to it.

 

I just keep it short, propecia or rogaine never showed any result.

[RedButton]

Yup, started losing it when I was around 20. Not too noticable, but it was happening. Around the age of 23 or 24 I started to notice it more and more (in a video someone took I noticed it looked like I had a big bald patch on the back of my head) and decided I would make a change.

 

It used to upset me a lot, but then when I started cutting it short I was so much happier.

 

Started getting a buzz-cut really short, around a 3 or something and thought it looked much much better than balding or bald spots. Over the course of a year I eventually kept getting shorter until I went for the 'Lex Luthor' cut and got it all shaved with a 'super zero' buzz. I've been very happy with the look since, and I really like it now.

[alphamale]

Has any of you guys went through troubled times because of your hair? How did you handle it?

I am turning 50 today and still have a full head of jet black hair. I have two friends that were bald as a cue ball by 25. I also dated a woman that suffered from alopecia.

[creighton0123]

Mine started going when I hit 28. I still have a nice head of hair that is a great texture, but developing a bit of a widow's peak. My policy is.... if it goes, it goes. Cut it shorter. Don't grow it long if you can't pull it off.

 

And don't worry about it. If you don't, other people won't.

[Michelle ma Belle]

Mine started going when I hit 28. I still have a nice head of hair that is a great texture, but developing a bit of a widow's peak. My policy is.... if it goes, it goes. Cut it shorter. Don't grow it long if you can't pull it off.

 

And don't worry about it. If you don't, other people won't.

 

I will concur.

 

Embrace it and so will most women. And if they don't, it's their loss (no pun intended)

[TunaInTheBrine]

Has any of you guys went through troubled times because of your hair? How did you handle it?

 

When I was about 18 years old, I rapidly developed an M shape hairline (when the temples are very receded). It seemed like it happened overnight. It slowly started thinning on top and when I was in my mid-twenties I cut it real short to cover up the thinning. In my late twenties, I started experimenting with concealer powders, but this was embarrassing and never worked out the way it looks like in the commercials. Finally, at 30 years old (just a couple of years ago), I started taking finasteride and oral minoxidil prescriptions, combined with Nizoral shampoo every 3-4 days. I have noticed an increase in thickness for sure, but not much regrowth in areas that were balding since I was 18. I style it with gel and everything now, which I stopped doing for a while because of how thin it was getting. This is probably the best my hair has been since my early/mid twenties. I have way more confidence in my hair than I have in years. It's not a perfect hairline, no, but I look more like Adam Levine or Morrissey I highly recommend talking to your doctor about it if you are balding and want to take action.

Edited April 26, 2015 by TunaInTheBrine

[Popsicle]

I had a head full of hair until I was 21, when all of a sudden I went from John Myung to asian Jude Law (a bit of exaggeration here, but not far from truth).

 

This made my self-esteem go down to the bottom. I loved my hair, it made me look awesome, it was something I was proud of...

I was on the edge of depression, I wouldn't leave my house to go out with friends anymore, I left my band, almost flunked out of college.

 

I tried finasteride for a while, but it didn't do anything at all, at most it just kept the few hair left, it didn't bring them back - the damage was already done.

 

People didn't really seem to care at all that going bald bothered me to no end, worse, they seem to think I was going berzerk for nothing.

 

Now I'm 34 and I shave my head at least once a week, I got used to it and my wife likes it, thank god.

 

Has any of you guys went through troubled times because of your hair? How did you handle it?

 

Dude, you still got a wife Why are you worried?

[Ninjainpajamas]

I think it's a shame it's such a problem for so many men, because it really does sap the confidence and self-image.

 

I grew up with great hair, would always get complimented for it, whether it was by the opposite sex, or men would tease me about it, and barbers would always ask me what I put in my hair to make it so nice or mention to me that I had a really great head of hair...was the guy women wanted to "run their fingers through his hair". It was full, thick, and slightly wavy...couldn't have asked for a better head of hair, it was perfect for me. Could really get that model type look combed to the side if i had to attend weddings or an event, or just let it go a bit wild and it just naturally fell in a way that made it looked like I combed it when i didn't even use a comb, I just ran some gel through my hair and left the house and people would ask me still how I combed or what I put in my hair when it was just the cheap container of gel that came in like the half gallon size.

 

Then mid to late 20's, I started seeing a change in my hair line but I didn't think much of it, it was slow..until what felt like happened overnight, it started thinning and the receding hairline was showing much more than I was comfortable with.

 

Like you and many other guys, that's the worst thing that could happen. It was just for me one of my best qualities and part of what made me handsome to me, I furthermore never wanted to be bald or even have shorter hair like most guys liked, I loathed the thought..I liked it longer than most guys and I had the kind of hair to compliment it, it worked for me and I was fine with it being like that forever. So it was a huge and disturbing blow to just imagine having to shave it off one day because it just started disappearing on me.

 

I finally had to admit defeat and cut it short, I even went and shaved it all off just to test it out. I let it grow back and left it at a medium-short length. I just worked with the receding part too and trimmed it up so it didn't look like I was trying to cover it up, I just wanted it to look clean. It's also thinning in the front top, but there's nothing I can do about that other than comb it in a certain way that looks for the most part fine to me.

 

Is it my big awesome full head of hair? not by any stretch, and that was hard to get over and it still sucks...I mean if there was a guy who wanted to keep every strand of his hair, it was me.

 

But then again, I started taking a look at guys my age...or even people in general. A lot of them look a lot older, a lot of guys have the hair situation a lot worse than I do or did at a much younger age, and physically and fashion wise, a lot of people have let it go with just age and other responsibilities.

 

Bottom line was, I think I'm doing pretty good for guys In my age group at 34. I work out, not excessively but enough. I eat healthy or much healthier than I ever did when i was young. I keep myself reasonably well dressed and don't let myself slack with really old ugly clothes that don't fit me good or don't look good anymore. I feel younger than my age, and I just try to take care of myself well.

 

As far as confidence goes, I am still a pretty good looking guy, I'm tall with the right build, I've got a lot of charisma, intelligence, I'm funny and interesting to talk to...other qualities more important than my looks, which the handsome helps to be honest...but looks was never how I always saw myself and other people anyway, but it did give me a reality check and realize that hey...I'm not going to stay looking 25 forever, or 23, or whatever age it was that I remember in my head when days were better.

 

Furthermore, I maintained my confidence despite the insecurities or changes in life, and never really noticed any shift in attention or attraction from women...if anything I attract more women now of all ages than I ever did when I was young because I was still at times pretty shy, and had a tough time in certain social situations. I never struggled in the dating world necessarily but I'd often get nervous and anxious when I was young whereas now I'm perfectly composed and say everything I want to or feel like saying n that moment..but if it wasn't for women coming to me in my early years I probably wouldn't have made the moves myself. I take no credit for my young dating life, it was women all the way.

 

We're all getting older together, it's not like we are just aging and everyone is standing still through time. That hot girl or guy at 25 or younger right now might look like a train wreck by our age, I mean youth itself is a small part of our existence and then the rest of it is being "old". By the time you even realized what is going on in life and you're really starting to figure it out and think about things, you're already "old"...no more youthful skin, full head of hair sometimes, your face changes, you get wrinkles, and all the rest of it.

 

So I think part of maturity and growing up, is just being able to see beyond those things and accept them for what they are...because even with your full head of hair, I realized I was never going to be my younger self. I had a boyish look to me when I was younger, now I'm more masculine looking and not cutsey looking anymore. These are things that are going to change in our lives, and if you can't learn to do with what you got and take confidence in yourself now despite those things being gone, then it's just going to get worse. And by the time you lose something else you'll have wished you appreciated the youth you still had...because 30's is still youngish, you're not going to look this good at 50 chances are.

 

I mean you've got one shot at life, try not to spend it looking backwards or dwelling on the things you don't got...it probably doesn't make a big of a difference to anyone else as it does to you for one, and secondly, you're never turning back the clock, no matter what you're doing...not that I wouldn't take a pill that magically gave me back my hair-line but I'm not living by the day hoping for that.