A receding hairline means you’re balding. Suck that in for a moment – as the Russian proverb tells us, it’s better to be slapped with the truth than kissed with a lie. A receding hair line means less hair in your future. Now compose yourself and pull up a chair.
Some of the coolest and most powerful guys on the planet sport a chrome dome, or at least a scalp in various stages of male pattern balding. Think Dwayne Johnson, Jeff Bezos, Michael Jordan and the late Steve Jobs.
You’ve got a receding hairline. OK, now what? Relax mate, you’ve got options. We’re not talking about a death sentence here. The American Hair Loss Association estimates that two-thirds of guys will have some form of noticeable hair loss by 35. Most guys will have the same issue at some point. Are you one of them? Then let’s talk about what you can do.
About Hair Loss
A receding hairline is one of the first signs of male pattern baldness. Hair loss can be triggered from a variety of causes, including some medications and nutritional deficiencies. More likely though, it’s caused by your genes.
Is your father bald? Uncles or grandfathers? That’s likely the culprit – especially if you’ve got a receding hairline and hair loss on the crown (top of the head). Hair loss at 20 is particularly indicative of male pattern baldness and can pack a mean wallop to a young guy’s confidence.
It’s also a sign you need to address hair loss quickly.
When your hair is receding, your first step should be to speak with your doctor. He or she will review your medical history and rule out any medications or other factors like nutritional deficiencies or a thyroid condition.
Assuming that’s not the cause of your hair loss, and your doctor confirms it, congratulations. You’re losing hair because of genes, DNA, and the same reason your ancestors did.
Now it’s time to do something about it.
You’ve Got a Receding Hairline – Now What?
You’ve spoken with your doctor and your hair loss is genetic. Your second course of action is to deal with it quick. A receding hairline means you’ve already lost about half of your hair. This means your follicles are shrinking – but you’ve still got some left. New genetic testing now helps patients and doctors predict hair loss patterns and how much balding they’re looking at in the future.
That’s important, because the extent of your hair loss helps determine your hair loss treatment options.
Hair Loss Prevention Tips
To recap: so far you’ve spoken with your doctor to rule out non-genetic hair loss. You’ve also identified that it’s important to address your hair loss now, while you’ve got hair left. Before we get to your specific hair loss treatment options, let’s talk about how you might keep your locks a little while longer:
Eat Hair-Friendly Foods – Diet alone is not a hair loss cure, but a hair-friendly diet can at least contribute to health of your scalp and reduce non-genetic thinning. Foods that may encourage hair growth include salmon, dark green vegetables and nuts. Vitamin B-rich foods and those high in iron might help as well.
Avoid Chemicals and Over-Styling – Hair Dyes and excessive shampooing can all damage your hair and contribute to hair loss. Try a sulfate-free shampoo, which are less likely to clog hair follicles and impede hair growth. Also, avoid braiding your hair if you’ve been doing so.
Quit Tobacco – Smoking can make hair loss worse.
Reduce Sun Exposure – Sun exposure is the leading cause of visible aging. That extends to your scalp as well – UV radiation can make your hair brittle and more likely to break (to say nothing about the fact that less hair means your scalp will burn easier). Your move? Wear a hat when you’re out in the sun.
Avoid Pollutants – Chemicals are no friends of your hair either. Opt for natural ingredients where possible, and avoid products with sodium laureth sulfate for a healthier scalp and happier hair.
Your First Option: Shave Your Head
The first sight of a receding hairline may creep you out a little. Relax mate, life goes on. This is the perfect chance to reinvent your image. You can keep your hair short or, for an even more dramatic option, shave your head. It’s a bold statement, but if you can get away with it, you’ll never have to worry about hair loss again.
The key here is if you can get away with it. Some guys can’t, but there’s no harm in at least shaving once to see how it looks.
How it Works: With your hair trimmed to stubble, wet your scalp. Cover it in shaving cream. Now, with a high quality razor, shave your head. Shave your lighter hair first, and more coarse or stiffer hair (like the back of your head), last.
Think About It When…You first see your receding hairline. There is little harm in shaving your head once to see how it looks. Guys with piercing eyes tend to rock the bald look better than others. If it doesn’t work, no biggie – and if it does, congratulations! You’re a bold, bald dude ready to make a statement.
Ask Dwayne Johnson if it’s possible to be successful with a shaved head.
Your Second Option: Hair Loss Medications
The shaved head didn’t work for you? Speak with your doctor, then consider hair loss medications. Rogaine (Minoxodil) is the better known of the two most common hair loss medications, and the latter is Propecia (Finasteride).
Rogaine is a topical hair loss treatment and could be the better option for a receding hairline if you’re under 40, but again, you’ll want to clear that with your physician.
How it Works: Rogaine is a cream applied to the scalp. Admittedly, we still don’t know how it helps hair growth, although there is some speculation it may simply regenerate dying hair follicles.
Propecia, conversely, is a pill that interrupts the conversion of testosterone to DHT – a potent sex hormone that’s the primary reason most guys lose hair in the first place. That’s the good news; the lousy part is that it’s linked to a series of sexual side effects, including risk of permanent sexual dysfunction.
You’ll also have to keep using both medications to maintain your results.
Think About It When…You’re really not comfortable with your hair loss, you’ve tried a test shave and you (and others you asked) didn’t like the results. Hair loss medications may help, but remember the side effects – especially with Propecia. Or consider a natural-based hair loss treatment system like Profollica.
Your Third Option: Hair Transplants
Hair transplants are a form of hair restoration. They don’t grow new hair, rather, they transplant follicles from areas not susceptible to hair loss, to the balding, or ‘donor’ site.
Hair transplants are not the cheapest option, but in most cases, the results are permanent. And the technology is improving – gone are the days of silly-looking hair plugs. Today’s hair transplants pack more hairs in each graft, done in less time. The result? Permanent hair for most guys who get hair transplants – and whom are willing to pay the estimated $4,000-$15,000 for each procedure.
Note that moderate to extensive hair loss may require 3 or more procedures to get the results they want.
How It Works: Hair Transplants shuffle hair from non-balding areas to those affected by hair loss, like the crown and hair line. In this process, a surgical team anesthetizes the scalp, then removes hundreds or thousands of skin grafts from the donor area (typically just above the neck) and transplants them in tiny insertions made on the hairline, crown, or where specified by the patient.
Each graft has several hairs. These fall out, typically two to three weeks after the procedure. They’re replaced by new, permanent hair growth within 9 to 12 months.
Hair transplants continue to improve. They’re not suited for female hair loss at present due to the more diffused alopecia that women tend to experience, but that may change in the future. The results are getting better too, with ‘micrografting’ that now allows for 10-15 hairs transplanted in each graft, compared to 2-3 just 10 years ago.
Think About It When…You’re a man with genetic hair loss and you really want your hair back. It’s important to manage expectations; hair transplants won’t give you the thickness of yesterday, and the costs can add up. For that reason, you should shave your head at least once to see if that’s a look you want to roll with. The head shave didn’t work out, and you want permanent hair again? Then, if you have the cash, you might consider hair transplants as an option moving forward.
7 Bad Ass Dudes Who Make Hair Loss Awesome
Your receding hairline plan consists of hair loss prevention and a test shave. You might also consider hair loss medications, and transplants if balding really bothers you. It’s important to act quick, in either case, and to remember this: you’re not going to have thick hair again.
But honestly, that might be fine. You don’t need hair to have money or get women. These 7 guys prove that. Heck, use hair loss as a chance to reinvent yourself. You may find a new shot at life, like these dudes who don’t give a flying fig they have nary a follicle between them.
Dwayne Johnson – A strange thing happened with Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. He went bald, then left wrestling for Hollywood. Now he’s the most bankable star on the planet – without hair – and rumors are swirling he’ll take a run at the White House. Do you smell what The Rock is cookin’?
Vin Diesel – The epitome of bad-ass, Vin Diesel could crush your soul with his voice alone. Granted, he may not get on well with co-star Dwayne Johnson, but who cares when you have 100 million Facebook likes?
Dana White – Dana While is by far the most powerful man in MMA with a net worth pushing a cool $500 million. He’s also a bad-ass dude at that, and can reportedly bench over 300 pounds. That is one CEO you DON’T wanna f**k with.
Jeff Bezos – Ecommerce oracle Jeff Bezos disrupted how we buy stuff with a company called Amazon. With $89 Billion in the bank you might think he’d take it easy after a while, but look at this – he’s a monster at 53.
Jason Statham – The English bad boy makes a living beating up dudes on the big screen. Can you imagine what he’d look like with hair? Who cares, we like him with none!
Jeb Corliss – OK, so he’s not technically bald, but he’s not far from it. Daredevil Jeb Corliss is the most intense extreme athlete on the planet as of September 2017. He won’t beat the crap out of you but, hot dang, that dude can handle a wingsuit like nobody’s business!
John McClane – He’s not the youngest, richest and definitely not the smartest man on this list – or any list – but John McClane of the Die Hard film series is, simply put, the baddest dude in history. Got a receding hairline? You can only dream of being this stubborn (and creative!) and come out like this villain-busting anti-hero that makes terrorists run and insurance companies go bankrupt. When all else fails, put a little ‘Yippee Kai Yay!’ in your life. Then grab your balls and let your hair loss make a statement.
