Look, I know that hair isn't actually that important and I know that having hair into old age isn't a universal standard of beauty but fuck I don't wanna lose my hair this young. People my age are not supposed to be going bald damn it. My father and paternal uncles are bald but they didn't bald til their 30's and all my maternal uncles are late 60's or 70's and have full heads of hair so I had even odds. My brother is 30 and has a full head of hair but I'm in my early 20's and im going bald, this is some bullshit. Should I just shave my head and get it over with? My best friend started balding at 18 (all of the men in his family are bald) and immediately went with the clean shave and beard look. I tried shaving my head to nearly smooth when I first noticed but it just made it worse, so either I have to fully commit to the smooth head or have an old man hairline in my early 20's. I didn't want this reminder of my mortality to hit me so early. I can't wear hats all the time and christ knows I'm not flying to Istanbul to get hairplugs (my barber offered to set my up with his guy, he said he'd get me a deal). I have a buddy who takes meds that allegedly prevent balding but also might make you infertile. I don't want kids so infertility doesn't bother me but there's no way in hell I would/could pay for that.

Edit: Idk why I was hesitant to add this earlier but I should mention that I also have a big ass scar on my head that startles barbers so there's that to factor in

  • chickentendrils [any, comrade/them]
    ·
    2 years ago

    My 0.02: It's easy to say "shave it off", and just acknowledge that there's a lot of industry built around image/beauty standards which is probably huge factor in why you are uncomfortable going bald. But the standards are there, the compounds that can definitely allow you to keep your hair for a long time are pretty well tolerated and don't depend on extractive exploitation to be available. They are definitely treats that might not exist in a sustainable world, but I work in drug development and clinical trial consulting and really doubt there would be any strain on resources to produce any of the shit.

    And then my definitely not medical advice: You can get blood tests for markers that indicate your risk factors for the treatments for hair loss and that can reverse hair loss. There's not a lot of doctors that are equipped to read them though, most "hair loss" docs are just going to do a blood test for iron/zinc/vitamin D deficiency and then prescribe finasteride or dutasteride. I consider the side effects of these oral drugs to be common enough, and severe/long-lasting/permanent enough that this kind of testing is inexcusable to me. Most endocrinologists are not going to know how to read the results you could use to determine whether you're likely to develop, for instance, gynecomastia (painful breast tissue swelling that's way worse to deal with than just being bald) or sexual issues. Because these oral drugs are anti-androgens, they're going to mess with your hormone profile. The only people who are going to order blood tests and interpret the results as they relate to hair loss med risk are pretty boutique, usually offices that specialize in "longevity" and "life extension" shit.

    There are treatments that have incredibly low risk, mostly topicals, and there are treatments that do definitely have some risks for some people. They are kind of laborious and personally I am a lazy man so just being bald is preferable for me. Getting baseline bloodwork for hormones that can be affected and follow-up bloodwork is essential to any effort to reverse or stymie hair loss though, even topicals which aren't expected to go systemic.

    • Localized DHT blockers, essentially doing what oral finasteride can do, but local to the scalp and hair follicles rather than being orally ingested and affecting everything in your body. I believe there's topical formulations of those pharmaceuticals in some countries. There's also compounds like RU58841 which have limited studies demonstrating tolerance and effectiveness. Some azole family anti-fungals like ketoconazole also have a similar effect. Again, any of this stuff can go systemic and affect liver function.
    • Topical minoxidil, like Rogaine, but there's plenty of formulations nowadays. These just increase hair growth rates and do bring back some follicles that have shrunk. It's well regarded as efficacious and tolerable, but you have to continue using it because the hair growth it enables is virtually always dependent on the exogenous agent, once you discontinue use all the follicles producing hair/thicker hair because of the topical revert to miniaturizing. Honestly does work much better with microneedling of the scalp, obviously not using any topicals with systemic risks in the subsequent day or two. Again this is trading your time for hair. Is it worth it? I'd say no, but it's just your own time and the equipment to microneedle your scalp once a week isn't unsustainable or unaffordable. It's just a bloody and potentially painful process.
    • Nagarjuna [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Another note on Minoxidil, it makes your hair greasy and it doesn't work at the corners. Between that and the price, it's not worth it for me.

    • headlikeabowlingball [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      I didn't realize there was such a variety in endocrinologists, but I also don't understand anything about science or medicine. My girlfriend does have to regularly visit an endocrinologist so maybe I could get a little referral