An emoionally daunting decision...

[Letmesleep]

So, for some reason I am struggling with an emotionally daunting decision.

Do I shave it off now, or later?

I don't think we can make a judgement call without a picture. It might be better to shave it, it might be better to just leave it be. In any case, my father is 58 or something and ended up losing all his hair up front. He did some kind of hair treatment and now you can't even tell he was ever missing it. I don't remember what he did, but I just wanted to tell you that there are treatments out there that might help a lot. Don't totally give up until you've researched and tried some procedures I too have heard of certain vitamins/minerals being good for hair growth, but I don't think vitamin D is going to magically grow it all back. Couldn't hurt to try though.

[Squigglyo]

Balding signifies a loss of control and confidence

Bald is a hairstyle, a choice.

Be in charge of what you have and decide to be bald. Not sit back and watch yourself losing hair.

[Conno]

I have alopecia, so i for most of my life i didn't have any hair, or eyebrows pubic hair or body hair of any type. That really sucked. when it came back when i was 21, it came back thin as shit, and when i get stressed or don't take care of myself properly it falls out again.
After a while you just stop caring, we're bald, like a large portion of men, Rogaine helped me a little but it's a temporary fix, the thing to do is not worry about it anymore, being bald isn't a bad thing, and you need to start looking at it as a positive, no more hair gel, no more haircuts, and most women i know, and i know no one will believe me but i've pretty much exclusively dated models and 11's out of 10, probably cos i used to be pretty damn wealthy, they love a bald man, they really love a bald man.
Also, put the effort into other areas, make your body look good and your head won't be the focus anymore.

[tombstoner139]

The first time i shaved my head my mother said "you look like a skin head"
i reply " racism is in the heart, not in the length of my hair"
sadly people do judge you by how you look.

Find a good hat... sun burn is brutal on top.

[Deleted]

It indeed is genetic, but to my knowledge it actually comes from your mothers side. So you could check your genetic baldness makeup from your mothers male siblings.

In the case of my brother, it's not from the side of my mother I believe, her father wasn't bald at all, I don't know about my great grandfather though, never heard of him.

I'm more inclined to believe it's from my father's side since both him and his father are and were, respectively, bald.

[Synros]

Just cut it really short, or shave it all off. Keeping the hair and having it look ratted, it worst then just shaving it all off. Some people can pull off the badass look bald, ynk OP you could be one of those people.

[Skippy88]

My advice would be don't sweat the small stuff. Experiment and do which one you like the best. Hair does grow back.

[cdtcpl]

I kind of had to deal with this recently. I have Alopecia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alopecia_areata) basically a random bald spot on the back of my head. It has appeared a couple times before but went away after about a month. This latest one lasted over a year so instead of getting it checked out and treated I just started shaving my head.

I gotta be honest, I felt better almost overnight. I am not the kind of guy who cares about his haircut or anything like that, but when I met new people I would try to keep them from seeing it by making sure they were never behind me. I was more embarrassed/annoyed by having to explain it over and over again. Once I shaved my head I didn't worry about the question anymore. Take it from a guy who went through something similar, just shave your head, it is a freeing experience.

Plus you look more badass.

[Rukentuts]

In the case of my brother, it's not from the side of my mother I believe, her father wasn't bald at all, I don't know about my great grandfather though, never heard of him.

I'm more inclined to believe it's from my father's side since both him and his father are and were, respectively, bald.

From what I heard, it's the mother's father.

My father and uncle are bald, but my maternal grandfather wasn't (one of his only redeeming qualities) so thankfully I appear to have dodged the bullet.

[Deleted]

In the case of my brother, it's not from the side of my mother I believe, her father wasn't bald at all, I don't know about my great grandfather though, never heard of him.

Apparently the "main" gene determining hairloss does come from mothers side, but there might be other less dominant genefactors involved as well.
Source; http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0520172151.htm

[Deleted]

When I was 19 I started noticing that my hair was receding. So I made the decision to shave off my long hair(a metal-head) before it started to show. This made the whole "shock" of both seeing that you loose your hair and then shave it off easier. I took the slight shock of shaving it first and not been having a completely shaved head which have made it visibly difficult to see that I've got a bald spot on the back of my head as well as receding hairline. I can feel it when my hair is up a mm or so, but just taking out the trusty razor and my head feels the same all over.

If your head got a good shape then I dont know what you're waiting for. Join your bros! Be bald and proud! You could always play with facial hair instead of head hair in the future. I dont have that option since my facial hair is really weak.

[smiff]

So, vitamin D stalls the rate and amount of hairloss...?

Fuck, I have been experiencing signs and symptoms of vitamin D deficiency in the last couple of weeks, no wonder my hair is looking a little thin at my temples. That's what I get for staying inside for the overwhelming majority of summer.

To post on the actual subject, you have my sympathies OP. Trim it down if you're feeling that it's affecting your confidence. Nothing wrong with being bald or keeping your hair trimmed, especially if you've got a nicely shaped head.

[Uncle Julian]

In my opinion, shave it off and then grow a little goatee or light beard and you'll still look like a badass that the ladies will want to be around

[Howard Moon]

Having a shaved head is incredibly comfortable, and most of the time it looks good. So just do it, don't worry so much about it.

[Jayburner]

Just get a #1 cut and call it a day. I myself am cursed with a full head of hair that grows so fast that I despise getting haircuts all the time. Sure i love my haircut the first week but then it starts to grow real fast and then i have helmet head again.

[caractacus]

Mine started receding when I was about 23 so I gave it all a #2 and it looked fine, then by the time I got to 28 it started to thin quite badly and needed a #1 all over then a couple of years later I just used the clippers with no attachment (I'm 35 now). It's never really bothered me all that much, It's great having no hair you don't have anything to manage it in the mornings and throughout the day and if you buy your own clippers and do it yourself it's a lot cheaper and more convenient than going to the hair dressers.

[Talokami]

It indeed is genetic, but to my knowledge it actually comes from your mothers side. So you could check your genetic baldness makeup from your mothers male siblings.

Crap. My mom only had female siblings and I remember my grandfather with a toupee for most of my lifetime. You're sure it's from the maternal side?

[nightshark]

There's a dude at my work who went from a full head of hair to having very stringy hair that you could see through, and could tell he was balding. All happened within the space of a year. He looked ridiculous trying to conceal his balding, which was impossible. Shave it off and go Vin Diesel style.

[smelltheglove]

whatever you do, dont go with a combover. it looks exponentially worse than any other possible solution

[Deleted]

Don't go completely bald. Considering your age you'll get a lot of people assuming you are or have been ill, definitely go with a buzz cut.