Over 50% of men over 50 will suffer baldness of some kind. Male pattern baldness is the medical term that describes the classic type of baldness that men experience typically involving hair loss at the top and front of the scalp.
The question for many guys is what to do if anything about impending baldness and when. In general terms of course, the sooner you do something the better.
My Hair Replacement System
I already spoke about my decision to try a hair replacement system in my early 20s when I first noticed I was losing my hair, a decision I regretted and corrected when I got rid of it about 2 years later.
I actually first noticed my thinning hair in first year university. Given that I had very thick hair growing up and wasn’t as familiar with the reasons for hair loss as I am now, I put it down to stress of school and figured that it might correct itself. This was both naive and incorrect as it turned out.
My hair continued to fall out in the classic male pattern baldness style. I first noticed my hair thinning on the top of my head even though the sides and back of my head still had thick hair. By the time I bought the hair replacement system, it was around the time that my thinning hair was just getting noticeable, to me at least. No one said anything to me about it, but I was certainly aware.
What I discovered quickly was that a hair replacement system was a bandaid and an expensive and time-consuming one at that. Even when I had hair, I was never one to use a blowdryer, gel, mousse or anything. I washed my hair, combed it back and let it air dry and that was it. Once I got the hair system, I found myself having to spend time taking care of it that I never did before.
And I also quickly found that once the hair started falling out from the hair system and had to be replaced (an added expense) I could start to see how someone could notice that I was wearing a hair replacement system which clearly defeats the purpose of having one in the first place!
Shaving My Head For The First Time
By the time I shaved my head for the first time, I had been thinking about it for awhile but wasn’t sure what it would look like. This was around 1994 and at the time while athletes with shaved heads was increasing in popularity, it wasn’t nearly as common as it is today.
Growing up, I remember seeing actors like Telly Savalas (Kojak), Yul Brynner and one of the dudes who played Gordon on Sesame Street with shaved heads. That was about it. I remember in 1979 when an actress named Persis Khambatta shaved her head for a role in the first Star Trek movie and what a big deal it was. Women never had shaved heads! Most of us had never seen it before. It was almost as rare in men, too.
Fast forward to today and of course shaving your head is common in men and while not as nearly as common in women, it’s not difficult to think of examples of women who cut their hair very short in buzzcut style or shorter.
Quarantine Head Shaving
And in 2020 with the covid pandemic and people stuck in their house or apartment in quarantine, men and women are choosing to shave their heads for a variety of reasons:
They want to see how it looks.
They are stuck inside and no one will see them if it turns out badly.
They can’t go out and get a real haircut so what the hell, they’ll shave it off.
Plus it’s a radical look for people who have had hair their entire lives.
Even though I first shaved my head when I was several years into balding, I still felt I was doing something big when I did shave it off that first time. Once you’ve done it a few times and people see you with the new look, it’ll be old hat. You get used to it pretty quickly if you’re worried about that.
And of course if you don’t like the look, it will grow back. The hair that you have left, anyways…
So, When To Shave Your Head If Going Bald?
Back to the original question…At the end of the day it will be up to you. But for me, it was a matter of trying the hair replacement system and realizing it wasn’t worth it and didn’t suit me.
The next step for me was to use clippers to shave my hair progressively shorter to see what it looked like. So I bought a set of hair clippers and used the longest attachment to start with and shaved my head. I liked the look so I immediately used the next shortest attachment and shaved it shorter.
Once I got down to the last and shortest attachment, I realized I was going to shave my head with a razor and I did that the next morning for the first time.
Your situation might be different but that’s what I did. It worked for me.
And to answer the question specifically, the best time to shave your head if going bald is yesterday. The next best time is today. The sooner you do it, the sooner you can forget about all the things you hate about losing your hair.
Conclusion
For me, when I realized I was actually going bald, I knew I wanted to do something about it. With hindsight, I wished I’d have skipped ahead to the shave it all off part rather than the costly detour I took as described above.
In my case I think I did the right thing my getting the clippers out and making my remaining hair shorter and shorter until I got to the point where I realized I’d be happy with the shaved head look. And once I shaved my head once, I knew I had an answer that worked for me.
Since 1995 when I first shaved my head, I can’t recall going more than 3 days without shaving it. The time between is usually 2 days.
Hopefully the description of my story helps you get closer to discovering what makes the most sense for you.
Carl
P.S. The first time I shaved my head, I made a few mistakes that you can avoid.