My Hair Loss Paranoia

So this past year I have been really paranoid about losing my hair. Last year I just got a job where I have to wear a hat all day and since then I felt like my hair was somewhat thinning. My dads is starting to lose his hair and my grandfather is completely bald. So when my boss is off and not around I take my hat off. And just in case it is not the hat, Ive stopped doing something that Ive been doing all my life. Ive stopped shampooing my hair. Maybe those harsh chemicals cause my hair to thin. Its been a couple of months now and I could feel my hair thickening, but it has gotten really oily and I have dandruff now. Stopping my shampoo regiment a smart idea? I have been looking into hair tonics and Ive been hearing good results. I want to get the clubman hair tonic. Anyone else have any other suggestions and where to get them?

I guess I'm lucky as I don't worry about my hair, it's gonna do what it's gonna do... Funny thing about it is that my younger friends are worried about their hair, one is shiny on top now and the other is completely grey now... This year my wife says I have white hairs popping up... Ok.. And??

Maybe worry burns more hair out??

AFAIK, using shampoo or wearing a hat wont affect your hair growth (unless you start using a really harsh shampoo or something). Its going to do what its going to do I guess.

If you're wearing the hat for safety reasons, I'd keep wearing it. Taking the hat off might give you some peace of mind, but I wouldnt risk serious injury for peace of mind!

In terms of the hair tonics, all I can suggest is trying a few out and seeing what you like.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Don't know if this helps (or is what you want to hear), but here's the Wikipedia take on baldness:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldness

(Assuming you haven't done massive Googling on the topic already).

All the best,
Michael.

I'm a Barber. Maybe I can help.

-Wearing a hat will not make you lose your hair quicker. This is a wives tale.
-Your hair seems thicker when you stopped washing it because its collecting dirt, dead skin and dead hair. Thus looking fuller.
-Every human loses 100-150 hairs off their head EVERY day. Even people who are not thinning..... its natural.
-The is no cheap fix for male pattern baldness if there was, there would be no bald people anymore.

My suggestion is go back to washing it. Keep what you do have, healthy. Maybe speak to you Barber bout a haircut for you which can help mask your loss. Please under no means does this mean a "comb-over". I know this may not be what you wanna hear, but hair tonic is as good as snake oil.

AFAIK whether or not you're going to lose your hair is an issue of genetics. Depending on whether you got your father's or your mother's genes and what the hereditary baldness factor was within their ancestors is going to determine how old you'll be when you begin to lose your hair. I used to be very worried about that when I was younger but @ 61 it isn't a big issue for me. A bit thinner than it was when I was in my twenties but I'll probably die with a full head of hair save the skull cap if I live to be 100. Don't sweat it, the older you get the less it matters to you. Now go wash your hair. :D

The only thing worse than being bald is going bald.

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Originally Posted by kooray83

Ive stopped shampooing my hair. Maybe those harsh chemicals cause my hair to thin. Its been a couple of months now and I could feel my hair thickening, but it has gotten really oily and I have dandruff now.

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I doubt that the chemicals in the shampoo are causing your hair loss, unless you are sensitive to one or more of the chemicals in the shampoo. Chemical sensitivity and multiple chemical sensitivity are rare but do occur. People who are chemically sensitive wash their hair with baking soda and vinegar.

Do not mix the two of them together. Place a couple of spoonfuls of baking soda in a small cup and bring it and a small bottle of apple cider vinegar into the shower with you. Wet the baking soda with a tiny bit of water -- just enough to make a stiff paste you can handle with your fingers. Wash your hair with that. You'll be amazed at how efficiently it works. Rinse the baking soda out of your hair with water and then rinse your hair and scalp with some apple cider vinegar.

While the baking soda does a remarkable job cleaning hair and scalp, it does leave the skin extremely alkaline. The surface of the skin needs to be slightly acid (oils and perspiration -- referred to as the "acid mantle") to maintain a barrier against infection so that is why you do a final rinse with vinegar. Don't worry, when your hair dries it stops smelling like vinegar.
Namaste,
Morty -_-

Look on the bright side. I went bald many years ago and now a bottle of shampoo lasts years! Literally...

Gareth

As already mentioned if there was an easy fix for hair loss nobody would be bald.

As a male I think we are lucky to be able to see in our genetic predecessors whether or not, and when, we will lose our hair(except for the ones who had a mother who slipped during a Christmas party). The only exception, I guess, is the guys who lose it really early.

Mostly though I feel bad for the very few women who lose it.

Personally I know from my Farther what it will look like at 50 and how I can see on my oldest brother that it will be thinning out in the 30'ies.

Hair loss is something I know will come and have come to terms with. What is bothering me is the knowledge that after 30 the body will start to slow down =(

I say you shouldn't worry about losing your hair. My hair is getting very thin on top and the only thing I do is keep it very short. At the moment it is about 1cm long and it is time for a hair cut.

Another reason why I'm not worried about hair loss is that I stumbled upon some secret women's knowledge that us men are not supposed to know. Women actually love guys with a bald head. They just pretend that they don't like us shiny head guys to hide the fact that we make them think naughty thoughts.

Of course this doesn't excuse the comb over, or as my wife calls it, the bar code.

You might as well embrace it, there is nothing you can do and although you may find a full head of hair a matter of pride there are many women who find a bald guy interesting!

I had a friend who did the implant thing years ago. It was expensive, took a long time to complete (in stages) and was painful. He told me that they used plugs of hair from the back and sides of the head IIRC. Been over twenty years so maybe I don't . :) What he told me was that we all have a biological clock based on our genes for how long the hair on top remains. The hair on the back and sides stays so using those roots works in implants. That is what I remember him telling me anyway.

Talking of looking at your father. My father was one of five brothers. All but one including my father had a full head of hair till the day they died. My uncle Ron was bald. I started going bald when I was about 20.

Hmm...

Gareth

Embrace your calling to the Bald Brotherhood.

Now you have a reason to buy more shave gear. :)

yes, proudly accept the title "chrome dome" or "Cue Ball".

Thanks everyone for all your support. I guess Im going to have to embrace the fact that Im going to lose my hair. Im gonna buy some shampoo from mama bears and give my head a good scrub. Thanks you guys.

My hair is thinning and it's rapidly going completely white / grey since I got kids. And I don't give a damn :) I keep it trimmed to half an inch. Hair is something you don't get to choose.

Fitness and body shape otoh... those are things you can control and work on. The males in my family have a tendency to get potbellies and high blood pressure. So I decided to work on that. I work out several times per week (martial arts, fitness, cardio) and I am in better shape than the vast majority of people my age.

But my hair... it's going and no amount of wishing, despairing or snake oil is going to change that fact. :)

I'm on the other side. I think the chemicals probably are causing your hair to thin. No one would consider washing their hair in diesel but your shampoo isn't that far removed from petro.

I quit shampooing my hair back in December. The idea is called "No-Poo" Here's what you need to do to clean it without chemicals.

Daily, rinse with water as hot as you can stand it. Lightly and quickly rub a wet but ringed out wash clothe over it. Rinse your hair again and repeat. I do this 2 or 3 times. Brush it a few times once you get out of the shower. Pat it dry with a towel.

Weekly, use a baking soda paste. Keep a box of Arm and Hammer in the bathroom along with a bottle of Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV from here on). Before you enter the shower, pour some of the baking soda into a plastic cup that won't break if you drop it. Get in the shower and do the hot water rinse. Allow the water from the shower to run into the cup with the baking soda and make a light paste with it. Pour this onto your head from the crown toward the front. Pour it all on. Take the palm of your hands and lightly rub the paste over your hair and then gently massage it on your scalp. Rinse throughly.

Rinse out the cup your used for the baking soda and pour some ACV into the cup, about a 1/4 of the container. (I use a plastic sour cream container) and then fill it up the rest of the way with the water from the shower. Pour this over your hair from the crown to the front and just kind of lightly rub it onto your hair. Rinse thouroughly. Bath off as usual and towel dry your hair.

Your hair will be softer and more healthy than it ever has been.

Hair gets down and dirty | Health & Beauty

Shampooing your hair strips it of the oil that God intended it to have and leaves it conditioned with diesel fuel. Screw that dude.

Also, don't scrub your scalp. This will pull the hairs out. Massage your scalp as this stimulates hair follicles.

The way to avoid male pattern baldness.............
Choose your parents wisely.

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Originally Posted by AnarchoPhil

I'm on the other side. I think the chemicals probably are causing your hair to thin. No one would consider washing their hair in diesel but your shampoo isn't that far removed from petro.

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Is there any objective basis for comparing shampoo with diesel?
I mean I am not going to argue the benefits (or lack thereof) of using baking soda and vinegar, but shampoo is not bad just because it doesn't come out of a tree.

These two ingredients as well as mineral oil are petroleum products:

PROPYLENE GLYCOL || Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews

BUTYLENE GLYCOL || Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews

Below is a quote from a story about the benefits of petroleum:

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The student is awakened by a petroleum product (her alarm clock), is wearing petroleum (her pajamas), and uses petroleum to turn on the light (the light switch). She has a convenient shower thanks to petroleum (the water pipes and shower curtain), washes her hair with petroleum (shampoo), and then applies petroleum to make her skin soft (lotion). illumin : article : A World of Petroleum

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Ingredients can be looked up at Household Products Database - Health and Safety Information on Household Products and it also lists the synonym names.

Edit: That Household Products Database is a .gov website if you feel that is objective... Personally, I don't.

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Originally Posted by thebigspendur

yes, proudly accept the title "chrome dome" or "Cue Ball".

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I prefer the British "Slap Head"!

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Originally Posted by AnarchoPhil

These two ingredients as well as mineral oil are petroleum products:

PROPYLENE GLYCOL || Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews

BUTYLENE GLYCOL || Skin Deep: Cosmetic Safety Reviews

Below is a quote from a story about the benefits of petroleum:

Ingredients can be looked up at Household Products Database - Health and Safety Information on Household Products and it also lists the synonym names.

Edit: That Household Products Database is a .gov website if you feel that is objective... Personally, I don't.

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Don't forget the food is grown with petroleum...

Ok back to the regular thread...

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Originally Posted by DwarvenChef

I guess I'm lucky as I don't worry about my hair, it's gonna do what it's gonna do... Funny thing about it is that my younger friends are worried about their hair, one is shiny on top now and the other is completely grey now... This year my wife says I have white hairs popping up... Ok.. And??

Maybe worry burns more hair out??

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I'm lucky too. Genetics conspired against me and most of my hair on top is gone and I just have fringe. The good news is I quit caring about being bald long ago. Besides giving me an extra shave every week, I'm saving a bundle on haircuts as I haven't been to a barber in at least 15 years. It use to worry me a little when I was younger but I figured out it was one of those things that was going to happen no matter how much I stressed about it so I just quit worrying about it.

I'd say if you wanna try the no poo thing go for it. Just don't get your hopes up that this is going to defeat your genetics if that is the reason you are thinning.

This was a big scare for me as well, especially being a younger guy with over two feet of long, dark, curly, hair that used to be thick also. I began to notice that my hair wasn't as thick as it used to be and it worried me terribly. I let it bother me for well over a year or more. Then finally about 3 months ago I got to thinking about it and thought about how my dad looked when he was going bald and was doing whatever he could to get around it. He had dark curly hair too and by the time he finally decided to stop screwing with it, he looked like crusty the clown. Finally he decided to shave it all off and afterwards he looked and felt much better about it. He wears it proudly too. Well about 2 months ago I finally decided enough was enough and chopped all my hair off and buzzed it so I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore anyway even if I do go bald. I'm happier now, hell I don't sweat nearly as much, my scalp is much healthier, and showers are no longer a pain and neither is being on the road with my band; I no longer have to worry about trying to take care of my hair or even bringing a brush for that matter. Plus I get a lot of compliments on it. Something to think about...

I don't know if you ever heard the story about how Bas Rutten (former undefeated MMA champion) got bald?

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What made you shave your head and when did you first do it?
Oh, this is a good one. I did it when I was 21. Believe it or not, I used to be a model, the Zoolander type. I was always taking care of my hair because it was very important. One day it didn’t work—my hair wasn’t cooperating and I had to be somewhere. I got really stressed about it and I wet it again and I started putting gel in it—something I never did—and [that] didn’t work, either. I tried three or four times, and I saw my ex-wife’s purple hair dryer [sitting] there, so I grabbed it. I never used a blow dryer, but I aimed it at my head and turned it on. I looked in the mirror and saw myself standing there with a purple hair dryer and thought, “This is so wrong.” And that was it. I put it down, walked out, and my [ex-wife] asked me, “What’s going on? What are you doing?” I said, “I’m going to shave my head.” She started laughing. She thought I was kidding, but I went straight to the barber and said, “Cut it off. Everything.” When he cut it off, I looked in the mirror and said, “OK, that’s it. It will never grow back.” That’s how I [became] bald.

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It can be hard on someone, I guess, loosing the hair.
It was a part of my personality once.
But, you know what? As soon as I noticed my hairline reciding, I decided to just try out shaving it all off. In the last 15 years I've never allowed it to grow back out again. My wife loves it, so do I. I still have most of the growth up there, but nah, it will never be seen again:)
No more pillow-head or Camping-do for me!

I saw this recently in the FoH screenshots forum and was reminded of this post.