[HN Gopher] Researchers find stem cells for hair regeneration
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Researchers find stem cells for hair regeneration
        
       Author : biotekk
       Score  : 143 points
       Date   : 2021-02-24 15:31 UTC (7 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.japantimes.co.jp)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.japantimes.co.jp)
        
       | atum47 wrote:
       | I recently went through a hair transplant. I'm not completely
       | bald, but my hair was thinning each passing day. I was shaving my
       | head, but when I got the opportunity to do the surgery, I took
       | the shot. I'm on my third month and already have some results,
       | but after the 7th month is when I really should start seeing the
       | difference.
        
         | ryanianian wrote:
         | Will you have to get "touch-ups" in a few years after more of
         | the original hairline recedes?
        
       | pyrophane wrote:
       | It sounds like the approach here is to take some hair from your
       | head, use it to culture new hair follicles, and then implant
       | those.
       | 
       | Also of note, they haven't started clinical research yet, so that
       | would be the next step. If that pans out, then presumably there
       | would be trials, which means this probably would not practically
       | be available for many more years.
       | 
       | As an aside, this kind of thing seems quite common in the area of
       | hair loss, where early research or hypothetical treatments are
       | hyped up. I'm not sure if it is just a function of popular media
       | sensationalizing the situation or researchers hustling for money
       | to do research.
        
         | starkd wrote:
         | It happens time and again. Ever notice it's always "just 5 to
         | 10 years away". It's a ploy to gain research funding.
        
       | jlos wrote:
       | It's always a sad to read the comment section when discussing
       | male attractiveness; so many people with learned helplessness.
       | 
       | Being attractive is 3 traits: physical fitness, grooming, and
       | sociability. The first two are easy
       | 
       | 1. Find a sport and hit the gym. There is a sport out there you
       | will enjoy (racket sports, team sports, martial arts, running,
       | rock climbing). As a creature, you are meant to be active and
       | without a sport you are living sub-optimally.
       | 
       | 2. Find a healthy diet. Not keto or some temporary quick fix, but
       | a habit of eating that is enjoyable and good for you.
       | 
       | 3. Get a properly fitting wardrobe and a good barber. You don't
       | have to break the bank or be a fashion model to look well-groomed
       | on a regular basis. You will feel good about yourself too.
       | 
       | 4. Sociability and confidence are the most work but still a mix
       | of skill and attitude. I can't stress this enough, but if you
       | feel that you can't be attractive thats the result of your
       | environment not some inherent limitation in you as a person.
       | 
       | Everything else on top of these points are just extras. Nice
       | hair, big eyes, high cheekbones, whatever else just improve on a
       | base level of attractiveness. Go find guys who are fit, well
       | groomed, confident and bald, then ask if they seem attractive.
        
         | DC1350 wrote:
         | It's really cruel to talk about how important barbers and
         | haircuts in a thread full of guys who are insecure about their
         | hair.
        
           | pretendscholar wrote:
           | Most bald guys have hair just not that much on the top.
           | Shaping the remaining hair in a fashionable way is
           | imperative. Looking like George Carlin in his later years
           | with long unkempt hair on the sides and a bald spot on the
           | top is not sexy.
        
           | jlos wrote:
           | Barbers also trim beards. They will also help you decide a
           | good look for what hair you have, even if it's shave, buzz
           | with a fade, etc. Again, well groomed is more important than
           | the actual cut.
           | 
           | For the record I shave my head. But I also regularly get
           | compliments on my beard which is due entirely to having it
           | trimmed by a barber every 2-3 weeks.
        
         | trefoiled wrote:
         | I'm pretty sure most people would agree the structure of your
         | face is much more than an "extra," and belongs in the same
         | category as physical fitness, grooming, etc.
        
           | badfaceshape wrote:
           | Yes it is definitely. I am in 30s and have never once had a
           | woman hit on me though I am fit, sociable, and groomed well.
           | Though my face is perhaps worse than the average person who
           | may be non-handsome.
        
       | adamredwoods wrote:
       | Female pattern baldness and alopecia are (IMO) much more
       | impactful to a person than male-pattern baldness.
        
       | subsubzero wrote:
       | Really there currently is no cure for baldness, it basically
       | boils down to two treatments(in the US:
       | 
       | 1. Preventative treatments - These are to stop hair falling out
       | and cannot regrow dead follicles, these treatments are
       | minoxidil(topical liquid applied to head) and propecia(a pill
       | which has sexual side effects).
       | 
       | 2. Hair Surgery - A Surgeon removes hair follicles from the sides
       | and back of a patients head and then implants them into the
       | balding area(Elon Musk had this procedure). This is limited by
       | how bald the person is as you cannot take too much hair from the
       | sides/back as it looks bad.
       | 
       | So when reading towards the end it looks like the researcher
       | found a way to 'clone/culture' hair follicles, so basically this
       | will allow hair transplants of 'unlimited' amounts of hair see #2
       | that will never fall out at least is how I read it, please
       | correct me if I am wrong.
        
         | klaudius wrote:
         | There's a case [1] of an old guy who fell into coal fire and
         | regrew his hair. He basically regenerated his skin and his
         | hair. Microneedling [2] has been used successfully to regrow
         | hair.
         | 
         | Methods like minoxidil and finasteride work well as
         | preventative measures. However, it has been shown that with
         | advanced balding there are skin changes (e.g. fibrosis), so you
         | have to regenerate your skin first if you are visibly balding
         | and then use preventative methods to not lose your hair.
         | 
         | There are some encouraging results [3] with people using skin
         | regeneration methods like microneedling together with minoxidil
         | & finasteride.
         | 
         | [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1351889/
         | 
         | [2] https://perfecthairhealth.com/microneedling-frequency-how-
         | of...
         | 
         | [3] https://www.hairlosstalk.com/interact/threads/one-year-
         | fight...
        
       | iMark wrote:
       | Shaving my head was the best decision I ever made regarding my
       | hair. I never knew what to do with it before that.
       | 
       | Vastly happier now.
        
         | thewarrior wrote:
         | This worked for me too and has been pretty neat during the
         | pandemic. The key is to do proper fades on what is left and
         | balance out with a little bit of a beard.
        
       | tuckerpo wrote:
       | Your best bet is 5AR enzyme inhibition _before_ you notice
       | significant loss.
       | 
       | Anything else is swimming upstream.
        
       | snshn wrote:
       | A public company called Replicel (https://replicel.com/) has been
       | working on it for years.
       | 
       | I wonder if they will be the ones to license that research and
       | bring the product to market.
        
       | strawBarry wrote:
       | I'm in my 50's and have a full head of luxurious hair, with
       | almost no gray. I don't say this to brag, but rather the
       | opposite, it has never helped me in any way to attract women. In
       | fact, if I let it grow out it looks terrible because I just look
       | like an old man with young man's hair. Very disconcerting in the
       | mirror. I guess my message is...hair doesn't matter as much as
       | people are led to believe.
       | 
       | Teeth on the other hand...if they can grow me back a set of
       | pearly whites instead of the tea/soda-infused yellow ones I have,
       | I'll give them all my money.
        
         | SyzygistSix wrote:
         | Off subject: yellow is the normal color of teeth. Exceptionally
         | white teeth look really weird, although the artificial,
         | plastic, tv look is apparently embraced by some.
        
           | Koshkin wrote:
           | It's acquired taste (as many things are). That said, they
           | would indeed look weird in Boris Johnson's mouth.
        
         | jerrygoyal wrote:
         | > pearly whites teeth I blame ads like colgate for this,
         | natural teeth have yellowish hue.
        
         | rabuse wrote:
         | I have the opposite experience. I have pretty long hair for a
         | guy, and it's extremely wavy and full, and it attracts women
         | all the time when I'm out. They love to braid it, and style it.
        
           | kowlo wrote:
           | Women are attracted to you and start braiding and styling
           | your hair whilst you're out?
           | 
           | I must be missing something.
        
             | rabuse wrote:
             | Yes. I frequent bars a lot on the weekends, and it's almost
             | every time. It's also a great conversation starter.
        
               | kowlo wrote:
               | I can see how it would be a great conversation starter!
               | If someone started a chat with "women can't help but
               | braid my hair" then I'd be hooked.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | hedgehawk wrote:
       | I'm sorry but I completely disagree with the folks that are
       | saying to just shave it off and that the "only person worrying
       | about your hair is you". That is completely untrue, especially in
       | our society today. I just turned 23 and have been dealing with
       | this issue since I was 20 years old. It's an absolute nightmare.
       | Even on hair-loss medications, there is no maintaining.
       | 
       | Being a relatively above-average individual in terms of my looks,
       | losing my hair has definitely made me lose alot more attention
       | from women. Not to mention my confidence has gone straight down
       | the strain and I find it hard to focus on other aspects of my
       | life like my work and hobbies.
       | 
       | Many of you will reply with seeing a therapist or getting help
       | but you need to understand that most people in their early 20s
       | have a full head of hair. I am honestly not trying to be
       | pessimistic but chances are you are an outlier if you were dealt
       | a garbage genetic hand like me. I also understand that it's not
       | like I have this debilitating disease but this should be
       | considered a more serious issue that should be getting more
       | funding.
        
         | fossuser wrote:
         | The short and true answer is that it sucks, but it gets better
         | as you get older.
         | 
         | I ended up going shaved head at 25, late twenties were better
         | than early twenties (also I think that's just generally true
         | for men and dating).
         | 
         | The other bit I found is that the decision to shave it and
         | accept it lead to an increase in overall confidence which also
         | helped.
        
         | voisin wrote:
         | I have Alopecia Areata. It meant I had bald spots (pure bald -
         | not just thin) of varying (and ever changing!) size from around
         | 4 years old. I know how you are feeling first hand from the
         | hell I survived at the hands of other children when I was young
         | and the awkwardness of teenage dating with bald spots. It took
         | me a long time to work up the courage to shave it all off - I
         | did so at 19. I have no idea why it took so long. But I can
         | tell you that it was _the_ defining moment in my life. It's
         | been nearly two decades since I shaved my head and I've had
         | numerous successful businesses, made a shit ton of money and
         | retired in my 30s with a wife who is a 12 /10 that draws more
         | looks from other men than I care for. Hair doesn't have to
         | define you. It can and will if you let it. Or you can tell it
         | to go fuck itself and shave you head and never think about it
         | again. People are drawn to confidence. Eliminate things that
         | are destroying your confidence. Confidence comes from self
         | love. At the end of the day, if it isn't hair it is something
         | else - every single person is struggling with something they
         | don't love about their bodies. Hair is relatively easy to
         | overcome. Good luck!
        
           | hedgehawk wrote:
           | I appreciate the story and the kind advice, definitely helps
           | to know I'm not alone. Regardless, my hair has been part of
           | my identity and is something I take pride in. When I envision
           | myself in the future with something I no longer have, it can
           | be traumatic because I always assumed my hair wouldn't fall
           | out until maybe my late 20s.
           | 
           | Maybe its my excuse but I haven't reached the stage where I
           | need to completely shave it off (diffuse thinning) but I pray
           | and hope that better treatments are available when the time
           | comes. Or maybe i'll get a hair system lol..
        
         | sxv wrote:
         | > Not to mention my confidence has gone straight down the
         | strain and I find it hard to focus on other aspects of my life
         | like my work and hobbies.
         | 
         | I'd bet the attention from women issue is likely stemming from
         | the confidence loss more than the hair loss. A bit of a chicken
         | and egg problem but if you can somehow hijack your confidence
         | level I think you'll see that's where the true power lies.
         | Personal recommendation: give up on salvaging it. Own it.
        
         | johnfn wrote:
         | Just want to chime in that when I was 23 I got no attention
         | from women (mostly on dating apps). Now I'm 30 and the
         | attention I get has skyrocketed. I'm losing hair too - I've got
         | the Bernie Sanders look going haha - so I think that there's a
         | strong age component in there.
         | 
         | Just wanted to throw that out there because I was seriously
         | dejected a few years ago over this, but things have gotten
         | better and better as I've gotten older.
        
           | fossuser wrote:
           | Yeah I think this is a general truth (and it's the inverse
           | for women, where it starts easy and gets a little harder).
           | 
           | Early twenties dating for men is hard, particularly in a
           | skewed place like the bay area.
           | 
           | If I had to guess it'd be about status (young men are pretty
           | low status) and age preferences. If women generally prefer
           | someone a couple years older, the ones that might be
           | interested in you are in college when you're 22 so are not
           | really in the same dating market.
        
             | hedgehawk wrote:
             | Yeah, I mean I just graduated and I went to school in the
             | bay area. Dating was much more difficult for me during my
             | senior year but maybe I just need to go for older women now
             | lol.
        
               | fossuser wrote:
               | I guess I wouldn't stress too much about it.
               | 
               | It gets better.
        
           | hedgehawk wrote:
           | I appreciate your story but you're pretty much telling me
           | that my dating life is going to suck for a couple of more
           | years but it'll eventually get better, lol.
           | 
           | But I do understand where you are coming from. I'm hoping
           | better treatments come out soon..
        
             | johnfn wrote:
             | Is there anything wrong with that? Back when I was younger
             | I just thought I was going to be ignored forever - I would
             | have killed to know that that wasn't the case.
        
               | bitbuilder wrote:
               | >I would have killed to know that that wasn't the case.
               | 
               | Same. It's actually pretty important information to know
               | at that age, as it'll help prevent you from settling into
               | a LTR with someone that you're not compatible with,
               | because "I'll never do any better."
               | 
               | I was most recently single at 43, and my dating prospects
               | were pretty great compared to what I experienced at 22.
               | If 22 year old had been able to foresee that, I would've
               | saved myself quite a bit of grief.
        
         | jlos wrote:
         | >> Not to mention my confidence has gone straight down the
         | strain and I find it hard to focus on other aspects of my life
         | like my work and hobbies.
         | 
         | I'm going to suggest your loss of confidence is not an affect
         | but likely the cause. Your emotional strife and lack of
         | confidence will project in your body language.
         | 
         | >> chances are you are an outlier if you were dealt a garbage
         | genetic hand like me
         | 
         | Do you think your genetics on a single point (hair) determine
         | your overall attractiveness? Are there bald men who can gain
         | attention from women?
         | 
         | Have you tried listening to someone like David Goggins (Don't
         | Hurt Me) for a different perspective?
        
           | hedgehawk wrote:
           | I don't think my loss of confidence is the cause.. I was more
           | than confident (if anything overly confident) before I was
           | losing my hair. I'm not sure if you are also dealing with
           | hair loss but it's hard for me to converse with people who
           | simply aren't going through what I am experiencing. And I'm
           | able to shield my emotional strife and lack of confidence for
           | the time being with hair fibers so it hasn't affected my body
           | language (I know it's not healthy to bottle my bitterness
           | inside).
           | 
           | The general consensus of people who try to "fix" my issue is
           | that I need to go to the gym and become Dwayne Johnson lol.
           | It's not that simple. I'm already a gymrat and I would say I
           | have a great wardrobe and style (thanks to my brother).
           | 
           | But more to the point, I don't think my hair determines my
           | overall attractiveness. BUT, I do think it plays a big part.
           | There are not many bald 23 year olds that attract women who
           | are also 20-25 years old. That's the hard truth I'm trying to
           | deal with.
        
       | dartharva wrote:
       | People overestimate the impact of meagre things like the shape of
       | your face and the richness of your hair, when actually what
       | matters more is your fitness, your gait and posture, and the
       | strength you show in carrying yourself; even if we're only
       | talking about appearances.
        
         | Koshkin wrote:
         | In practice, age comes first 90% of the time.
        
         | saiya-jin wrote:
         | All combines into a final impression. Great body and all the
         | rest can be easily ruined by ie weird shape of your head,
         | something hair can hide very effectively. Final impression is
         | not the sum of positive parts as much as negative ones (and for
         | attractivity the lack of those).
         | 
         | Its like saying look it easy for me, I've done it so anybody
         | can. But not all have the same conditions, genes etc.
        
         | superbcarrot wrote:
         | They're different attributes though. It's hard to argue that:
         | 
         | - all other things being equal, people with full hair are more
         | attractive than people with thinning hair / bald people
         | 
         | - if you aren't balding, you should still take care of your
         | fitness and posture
         | 
         | When you tell someone who is balding to get fitter, what you're
         | leaving out is that "fit + hair" still looks better than "fit +
         | no hair". So the fitness/posture thing is almost a distraction
         | in the argument.
        
           | throwaway316943 wrote:
           | I don't think the first conjecture is as iron clad as you
           | make it out to be.
        
       | jgrahamc wrote:
       | The most oft-cited example of successful hair restoration (at
       | least in technology circles) is Elon Musk. And yet there doesn't
       | seem to be concrete information about what he did. I assume a
       | well performed hair transplant.
        
         | cgh wrote:
         | Yeah, he had a hair transplant. Numerous (most?) male actors
         | have them as well. It's a routine operation and it works pretty
         | well. I know a few guys who had transplants and you can't tell
         | they aren't natural as the surgeons are good at creating age-
         | appropriate hairlines. The hair comes from the back of the
         | head, out of range of the androgen-sensitive follicles in the
         | classic male pattern baldness zone.
        
           | voisin wrote:
           | I understood that hair transplants don't look natural because
           | the implants are not at the random angles of natural hair
           | follicles and so the hair tends to look "stiff" and
           | unnatural. This does seem to be the case with Elon.
        
             | cgh wrote:
             | It's down to the skill of the surgeons. You get what you
             | pay for, I suppose. Many people fly to Turkey because hair
             | transplants there are cheap for some reason but from what
             | I've heard, results can be poor for the reason you state.
        
           | rhcom2 wrote:
           | My understanding is that you're still on finasteride for the
           | rest of your life with a hair transplant.
        
             | cgh wrote:
             | It depends. For the obvious case where you are 100% bald,
             | eg a classic receding hairline, then there is no need. But
             | if you get a transplant into a thinning area where there is
             | still active loss happening with the remaining follicles,
             | then finasteride is an option. Or you can wait for more
             | hair to fall out and get more hair transplanted in, which
             | sounds dumb but is apparently relatively common.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | naebother wrote:
         | Maybe getting booted outta Paypal kick starts the old follicle
         | machine.
        
       | jjoonathan wrote:
       | Last time I looked, this technology was not functional yet it
       | seemed like they were trying to commercialize it in the non-
       | functional state by pretending it was a trial. The hangup
       | involved the step between "we inject the cultured stem cells" and
       | "those cells actually grow hair." Have they overcome this
       | barrier? Or is this still a "trial" that a reasonably informed
       | person would expect to have an infinitesimal chance of success
       | wrapped in press releases that suggest a rosier picture?
        
       | bichiliad wrote:
       | I'm overlooking the "teeth" part of this story to share a bit of
       | an anecdote here. I'm a guy, and I lost my hair when I was about
       | 21. I spent a while trying every medication (many of which have
       | sexual health side effects), but I don't think I was ever
       | actually happy until I just accepted that I was bald and that was
       | just part of how I looked. Don't get me wrong -- I would love
       | having hair again, but it doesn't bother me that I don't.
       | 
       | If it helps anyone else out there: no one else thinks about your
       | hair besides you. Getting rid of my anxiety around how my hair
       | looked (checking it in the mirror all the time, using products to
       | make it look less thin, etc) was absolutely worth giving up any
       | illusion that my hair was going to stick around. Plus, it has
       | made putting on sweaters so much easier, and I never have to
       | worry about helmet hair.
       | 
       | If you're reading this post with a touch of anxiety about your
       | hair, just know that it's gonna be fine and you probably look
       | cool as hell (albeit a bit different) with a buzz cut.
        
         | bitwize wrote:
         | When I started losing my hair I tried minoxidil, until I
         | realized two things:
         | 
         | 1) it's not very effective;
         | 
         | 2) it is highly, _highly_ toxic to cats.
         | 
         | I didn't have a cat at the time, but I decided that the ability
         | to have a cat in my life was more important than any hair loss
         | amelioration provided by minoxidil, and if I went bald then I
         | went bald.
        
         | rootusrootus wrote:
         | > no one else thinks about your hair besides you
         | 
         | To expand on that, my favorite quote (from Eleanor Roosevelt,
         | who seems to have been quite quotable...):
         | 
         | "You wouldn't worry so much about what others think of you if
         | you realized how seldom they do."
         | 
         | I totally agree. People are almost 100% caught up in
         | themselves, and barely have time to think about their own
         | family, much less friends, acquaintances, and last of all
         | strangers.
        
           | CalChris wrote:
           | This reminds me of _Casablanca_ :                 Ugarte:
           | You despise me, don't you?       Rick:    If I gave you any
           | thought I probably would.
        
             | Eric_WVGG wrote:
             | _Mad Men_
             | 
             | Ginsberg: I feel bad for you.
             | 
             | Draper: I don't think about you at all.
        
           | azinman2 wrote:
           | Well of course they don't actively worry about your hair, but
           | most certainly it's one of the factors on whether people find
           | you attractive or not. And that can still have real
           | consequences even if people aren't "worried about you."
        
             | ben509 wrote:
             | And the issue of whether people generally care misses the
             | point. A man wants _her_ to find him attractive.
        
         | smeeth wrote:
         | +1, it can't be said enough.
         | 
         | Worrying about losing your hair is a significantly worse
         | condition than actually losing your hair. I wouldn't wish it on
         | anyone.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | hn_throwaway_99 wrote:
         | > If it helps anyone else out there: no one else thinks about
         | your hair besides you.
         | 
         | I mean, kinda. Sure, nobody is probably stressing about how
         | many centimeters your scalp is receding, but you can bet lots
         | of people will be more attracted to someone who looks young
         | with a full head of hair compared to someone who has typical
         | male pattern baldness. Just google "male hair restoration
         | before and after" for some examples, and tell me you don't
         | think there's a stark difference to most examples.
         | 
         | I do agree, though, fortunately it's become socially acceptable
         | to shave your head and that can be seen as a sign of
         | attractiveness (though I still think this cartoon is pretty
         | accurate: https://i.imgur.com/IMmmP8A.gif)
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | ASalazarMX wrote:
           | Fortunately, becoming hot is easier that reverting baldness
           | :)
        
           | pdpi wrote:
           | > but you can bet lots of people will be more attracted to
           | someone who looks young with a full head of hair compared to
           | someone who has typical male pattern baldness.
           | 
           | People are attracted to confidence. A person who has issues
           | about self-image (baldness being one particular aspect of
           | that) will always be less attractive from that angle alone.
           | 
           | If you're bald and feel self-conscious about it making you
           | unattractive, the better road to attractiveness is to stop
           | being self-conscious (easier said than done), rather than
           | stopping being bald (even harder to do). This is basically
           | what the OP is alluding to: the solution to the "baldness
           | problem" isn't treatment, but rather acceptance.
        
           | Cthulhu_ wrote:
           | I dunno man, Patrick Stewart has always been mostly bald and
           | is he any less attractive for it? It has the extra added
           | benefit that you can't tell someone's age, so in his case
           | he's been in his 40's throughout his career.
        
             | f6v wrote:
             | You have to be attractive in the first place to be
             | attractive when bald.
        
               | matwood wrote:
               | You have to be attractive in the first place. Bald, hair
               | doesn't really matter. What's probably more significant
               | is if people lose confidence or are self conscious about
               | their baldness.
        
             | EdwardCoffin wrote:
             | Patrick Stewart touched on the topic of going bald in an
             | excerpt from an interview on the BBC (Parkinson) [1]. It's
             | pretty funny.
             | 
             | [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXOK-ZVJMaU
        
             | Koshkin wrote:
             | "Go _baldly_ where no one has gone before. "
        
             | mmcgaha wrote:
             | If I could look like Patrick Stewart or Sean Connery going
             | bald would be great. Of course those guys look better than
             | me even with hair so what can I expect.
        
             | saiya-jin wrote:
             | not everybody looks as him (or few other known bald
             | celebrities), and not everybody has shape of the head or
             | skin to look as good.
             | 
             | But I agree once baldness progresses to be plain visible,
             | the best course is to either trim to very short or shave it
             | all. Can look cool with good beard, but again not everybody
             | has the genes for that.
        
           | tomca32 wrote:
           | > but you can bet lots of people will be more attracted to
           | someone who looks young with a full head of hair compared to
           | someone who has typical male pattern baldness
           | 
           | I think there are just as many people who are attracted to a
           | guy with a shaved head.
           | 
           | I don't have personal experiences with it, but from observing
           | a couple of friends who shave their head, it doesn't seem to
           | me that they are less successful sexually/romantically.
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | samstave wrote:
           | What procedure did Elon Musk have? His hair looks great, but
           | the hair he had at paypal was like cotton candy.
        
             | jjoonathan wrote:
             | Follicle transplants, the hair loss treatment that works.
        
             | thatcat wrote:
             | When he hooked up with Grimes it just kinda grew back..
        
           | dj_mc_merlin wrote:
           | Has it ever been not socially acceptable to shave your head
           | as a male? I have a feeling the "shave it all off" has been a
           | strategy ever since we've had razors sharp enough.
           | 
           | edit: a comment below mentions that it is unacceptable
           | nowadays in some East Asian cultures.
        
             | Someone wrote:
             | The Islamic State forbade shaving one's beard, but I don't
             | think they had similar rules for shaving one's head. If
             | they had, they must have made exceptions for pilgrims, as
             | shaving one's head after one is part of the rituals around 
             | (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ihram#Behaviour_and_cleanlin
             | es...)
        
             | ljf wrote:
             | Only anecdotal, but my father always tells that the
             | original skin heads when he was a young man were so
             | transgressive as the hair cut was usually one of weakness.
             | It was the cut of prisoners, insane asylum inmates,
             | prisoners of war etc.
             | 
             | At the time it was in no way considered manly or even
             | threatening. It was truly a statement that we likely can't
             | imagine now.
        
               | SyzygistSix wrote:
               | But it rapidly became the haircut of the working class,
               | especially factory workers. It's really nice to have very
               | short hair in dirty, greasy environments.
        
             | hn_throwaway_99 wrote:
             | It's _definitely_ more socially acceptable now than it was
             | in earlier times. Do you remember the bald guy episode from
             | Seinfeld? While it was not shocking that the guy had a bald
             | head, it was certainly unusual enough for Jerry to remark
             | "Is he from the future?"
        
             | rgoulter wrote:
             | I decided I liked a buzz-cut when I was in university. My
             | mother's reaction when she saw it over a videocall was that
             | I looked like a criminal.
        
               | ddoolin wrote:
               | My mom liked so-called "clean cut" guys (military
               | background), so she made my brother and I buzz our hair
               | growing up. Now my hair is now over a foot long and her
               | reaction is that I also look like a criminal.
        
               | the_only_law wrote:
               | Heh, my father is a military man and growing up we always
               | had our hair cut short. Several years ago I started
               | growing my hair out and was ready for barrage of "hippie"
               | jokes or whatever else would come with that.
               | 
               | Surprisingly it never happened. In fact my parents were
               | really surprised. My youngest brother (nearly 20 year age
               | difference) has a very curly head full of hair and it
               | turns out mine also gets very curly/could with some
               | length. Never new that was in our genetics.
        
             | aksss wrote:
             | >has it ever been not socially acceptable to shave your
             | head...?
             | 
             | Yes, if you took the Nazarite oath (think Samson in the
             | Bible).
        
             | BitwiseFool wrote:
             | "You can't fire me, I quit!"
        
             | pessimizer wrote:
             | Wasn't common for white guys until relatively recently. It
             | was a common hacky baldness joke in the 80s and 90s to say
             | "if I was a black guy, I'd shave it all off!" Probably
             | increased at around the same time as the hipster beard
             | thing.
        
             | dan1234 wrote:
             | As a tall, skinny white guy who also likes leather jackets,
             | I fear if I shave my head I'll be lumped in with the neo
             | nazi sympathisers.
        
               | sep_field wrote:
               | Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice got you covered. Just
               | get some SHARPs patches on your jackets and have fun
               | punching nazis :) Helps also if you get steel-toed boots.
               | Was quite the thing back in the 80s punk scene.
        
               | jacob2484 wrote:
               | So you think every skinny white guy who also likes
               | leather jackets is a neo nazi sympathiser? Don't
               | assume/worry what others think about your look
        
               | novok wrote:
               | Your look is a message, it's something you chose and thus
               | he should be aware of it.
        
             | foolinaround wrote:
             | in indian culture, one shaves the head when one is
             | mourning, lost their dear ones (parents).
             | 
             | also, there is the practice of tonsuring one's head to
             | offer the hair to the gods (as a sign of humility)
             | 
             | and, historically, losers have their heads tonsured to show
             | their weakness, also a punishment for petty theft, like
             | stealing cattle, etc
        
               | valarauko wrote:
               | In the Indian culture, it was also expected for the
               | Priestly caste to shave their heads (with the exception
               | of the shikha. Side note: when Brahmins would mourn for
               | the death of their parent, they wouldn't shave the
               | shikha, it would instead be left open & unknotted) -
               | there's a certain traditional cultural cache in India
               | with shaved heads.
        
           | bluGill wrote:
           | There are plenty of females attracted to older males. The
           | reverse is not nearly as true. There is a good genetic basis
           | for this: young females that breed with an old male bring in
           | whatever genetics cause long life. However old females are
           | unable to breed at all so males that attempt to breed with
           | older females fail and thus don't pass their genes on.
           | 
           | The above is really messy as it applies to the real world,
           | but the basics are true enough.
        
           | pen2l wrote:
           | There's a running joke on the wsb subreddit about this, about
           | the return that Elon saw in getting his hair fixed (I can't
           | find the specific phrasing and construct of the joke at the
           | moment), but anyway his transformation is fairly notable and
           | there's no doubt it contributed in some part to his success:
           | https://thenewdaily.com.au/wp-
           | content/uploads/2017/07/elon-m...
           | 
           | I wish it were not true, but I think it sadly is, that as
           | much people would like to think appearances don't matter,
           | they do. Of course that doesn't mean you should beat yourself
           | over it if you were dealt a bad hand in the hair department,
           | because you can do something to improve your appearances in
           | general! Start with a 5x5 or similar routine, because the
           | gains in your confidence and appearances aside, the gains in
           | strength and health are reason enough.
        
             | x86_64Ubuntu wrote:
             | Oh dear. He does look better with hair. I'm sure it's nice
             | to say "No one cares about your hairloss other than you".
             | But I don't think any metric in society would back that up.
        
               | CuriouslyC wrote:
               | Being bald was good for the careers of The Rock and Bruce
               | Willis, but that only holds if you're not a fit tough guy
               | with the right head shape.
        
               | novok wrote:
               | That's the problem with bald, the pretty much the only
               | 'stereotypically attractive' archetype you have is fit
               | muscular action man.
               | 
               | The only non-fit celeb I can really think of that might
               | be known as attractive is Patrick Stewart in TNG, and I'm
               | not sure if he was considered attractive vs. more
               | respected role model and leader.
        
               | matwood wrote:
               | I wouldn't put Willis in the category as particularly
               | muscular. He's usually cast at the every man. What he
               | does is exude man in his on screen confidence.
        
             | pdpi wrote:
             | The biggest part of the transformation is his attitude
             | towards it. If you don't make a big deal out of it, nobody
             | else will.
             | 
             | Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Jony Ive are all media darlings in
             | the tech industry, so clearly being bald isn't an
             | impediment.
             | 
             | If you look at the acting world, Bruce Willis, Jason
             | Statham, Patrick Stewart, Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson all
             | make it incredibly clear that baldness doesn't stop you
             | from being considered a sex symbol.
        
               | bigmattystyles wrote:
               | WRT to Patrick Stewart / Picard - Roddenberry had this
               | retort when asked about it by reporter about casting
               | Stewart in Star Trek: TNG. "Surely by the 24th century,
               | they would have found a cure for male pattern baldness."
               | And Gene Roddenberry responded "No, by the 24th century,
               | no one will care." Could by apocryphal, I'm too lazy to
               | check. I've worried a fair bit about losing my hair and
               | it use to take up a lot of head space. Since then though,
               | I've acquired a chronic, mildly painful condition. I'm
               | not as optimistic as Roddenberry however, I do now see
               | being bald but in otherwise good health as still being
               | _very_ fortunate, more than many, perhaps most. It doesn
               | 't mean that we can't find ways to remedy it, but it
               | helped me see it in a grander scheme. I just wear a hat
               | now.
        
               | core-questions wrote:
               | Well, that list implies you have a built body so that the
               | baldness is not a factor. If you're average or worse,
               | it's not going to play the same way.
        
               | slim wrote:
               | a built body is an achievable target for most men
        
               | cko wrote:
               | As a (somewhat insecure) Asian guy, I have to say that
               | skull shape matters. Some of us tend to have flat back of
               | heads, which is less than ideal in Western beauty
               | standards.
               | 
               | In my younger years I had my head buzzed to a near monk
               | length (I was pretty obsessed with Buddhism at the time)
               | and it did not look right. Friends commented that I
               | looked 'intense.' While perfect for the monk persona, I
               | was going for the more badass tough guy look. It was a
               | tough few months.
               | 
               | Also, facial hair helps a lot, which I am unable to grow.
               | 
               | So I look forward to hair plugs if I ever start going
               | bald.
        
             | seph-reed wrote:
             | The concept of "pretty privilege" is something I'd never
             | really payed much attention to throughout life. I always
             | focused on hard work, kindness, sincerity, positivity, and
             | openness. I hit 30 recently, and while I had a lot of
             | people who value me, I didn't really feel like I was being
             | pulled in so much as proving my way into society.
             | 
             | So I started focusing on superficial stuff. Better clothes,
             | better style, cologne, shit like that. I don't think these
             | things alone would be enough to matter; I think it's really
             | important to work on _who_ you are on the inside before
             | becoming a facade.
             | 
             | But holy fuck there's a difference. From what I can tell,
             | being more or less attractive is the single biggest factor
             | in how people will treat you.
             | 
             | And from an evolutionary perspective, it makes sense: good
             | looking is supposed to mean good genes, and good genes are
             | precious.
             | 
             | Sorry if this is kind of a bummer thing to talk about, but
             | I think the more aware of it we become as a species, the
             | closer we'll get to recognizing our pre-programmed bias
             | towards good looks and perhaps looking passed it to the
             | actual quality of the character.
             | 
             | Also, I'm pretty sure every girl learns this the day they
             | wear makeup, and then the day they don't.
        
               | mensetmanusman wrote:
               | Not sure why this is getting down voted, there are
               | definitely evolutionary advantages to looking for
               | secondary and tertiary indicators of health.
        
               | fossuser wrote:
               | There's a great Sci-Fi short story by Ted Chiang called,
               | "Liking What You See: A Documentary".
               | 
               | It's about a reversible procedure that inhibits the
               | ability for people to detect prettiness 'calliagnosia'.
               | They talk about 'lookism'.
               | 
               | It does an interesting job exploring what this would mean
               | and the good and bad associated with it (which I think
               | Ted Chiang always does a great job of).
               | 
               | It's definitely worth reading.
        
               | Viliam1234 wrote:
               | > From what I can tell, being more or less attractive is
               | the single biggest factor in how people will treat you.
               | 
               | Sadly, this is absolutely correct. I want to say I wish
               | someone told me this sooner... but they kinda _did_...
               | only in hints that were easy for me to misunderstand.
               | Socially dumber people, like me, need to be told things
               | less ambiguously.
               | 
               | Things like hard work, kindness, sincerity, positivity,
               | openness... yes, they definitely contribute to long-term
               | success and happiness. Problem is, your looks decide
               | which doors will open for you. And it doesn't matter if
               | hypothetically you could do a great job, if you are not
               | allowed to try. On the other hand, if you get invited to
               | many places, you get many opportunities to practice, so
               | even if you suck at first, over time you improve.
               | 
               | There is this thing called "halo effect", which means
               | that if you are attractive, people are going to assume
               | all kinds of good things about you, without any evidence,
               | sometimes despite the evidence to contrary.
               | 
               | > Also, I'm pretty sure every girl learns this the day
               | they wear makeup, and then the day they don't.
               | 
               | With makeup, it is easy to make an A/B test. I wonder if
               | we could borrow an artificial body and face for a day,
               | how much that would change our priorities in life.
        
             | f6v wrote:
             | Then there's Jeff who doesn't care.
        
               | novok wrote:
               | There is a lot of stuff you don't have to care about when
               | your a top ten wealthiest man in the world.
        
             | downandout wrote:
             | Elon Musk is a great example of what is possible with hair
             | transplants. He had severe balding at a very young age, and
             | you would never know it today. I have a feeling that public
             | perception of him would be quite a bit different if he
             | still looked like his old self. Here is a before and
             | after...the "before" image was taken in 2002:
             | 
             | https://pagesix-com.cdn.ampproject.org/i/s/pagesix.com/wp-
             | co...
        
               | [deleted]
        
         | maverick2007 wrote:
         | Adding my anecdote to this thread:
         | 
         | Started noticing hair loss in my early 20s but managed to
         | convince myself that it was just stress. By my mid 20s when I
         | was in a very low stress position I finally concluded that it
         | was just plain MPB. I continued to ignore it for a while, just
         | cutting my hair a little shorter than the longer hair that I
         | wore before (usually more out of laziness than anything else).
         | It finally came to a head a couple of months ago when I noticed
         | that I had stopped turning the lights on when I went into the
         | bathroom because I didn't want to see how thin my hair looked
         | that day. That day I made an appointment with my doctor and got
         | a prescription for Finasteride. Since I was very afraid of the
         | sexual side effects of the drug, before I started I decided to
         | shave my head to confirm my suspicions that I didn't like the
         | shaved look. If I hated it, I'd start the medication and deal
         | with the sides. Funny thing is, I really liked it. People don't
         | treat me any differently than they did before which is what I
         | was afraid of. Sure, women don't come up and hit on me but they
         | never did when I had longer hair either so I consider it a
         | wash. And I like it more and more now that I'm hitting the gym
         | and adding muscle. Bald + muscular is a great look. Shaving my
         | head (down to a #1 in my case) isn't my ideal situation but the
         | way I see it, MPB is a better condition to have than many, many
         | other genetic conditions.
         | 
         | If you're where I was a couple of months ago and your thinning
         | hair is stressing you out, just give it a shot and shave your
         | head. Best case, you like it like I do. Worst case, you hate it
         | and you can see if fin would work for you.
        
         | mc32 wrote:
         | If it comforts anyone, Prince William went through the same
         | anxiety and realized he was best served embracing the
         | characteristic. I think that's the best approach.
         | 
         | Unfortunately you have Hollywood and other lifestyle influence
         | setting the tone for men and women. Sometimes in the guise of
         | helping, they hurt people "accept being obese" for example.
        
         | dominotw wrote:
         | yes same. I accepted it and moved on in my 30s. Now i like my
         | buzzed look, i think i look better than ever.
         | 
         | I think bladness needs an equivalent of 'fat acceptance'. When
         | somone is in their 20's. Its hard to accept your lower value as
         | a potential mate for something that's totally out of their
         | control.
        
           | Dirlewanger wrote:
           | Controlling your weight is in your control. Going bald isn't
           | (at least not in the same side effect-free way that
           | controlling your weight is).
        
           | DanBC wrote:
           | There's a Youtube Channel called Bald Cafe where men are
           | interviewed about their hair loss, and they shave their
           | heads.
           | 
           | https://www.youtube.com/c/Baldcafe/videos
           | 
           | It's easy to see that for some people it's a big deal, and
           | it's a bit tricky for them to come to terms with.
           | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfxZvMydPYQ
        
             | dominotw wrote:
             | > and they shave their heads.
             | 
             | I think this a harmful trend too. Ironically, Pepetuates
             | the same concept that something natural like balding is
             | something to hide.
             | 
             | Being bald without completely shaven look is a ok, normal
             | and attractive too.
        
         | dj_mc_merlin wrote:
         | > Plus, it has made putting on sweaters so much easier, and I
         | never have to worry about helmet hair.
         | 
         | I had a shaved head for a while, and the freedom of not having
         | strands of really strong thin material attached to the top of
         | your head was amazing. It is comparable to not having to wear a
         | backpack.
         | 
         | I went back to normal hair to enjoy it while it lasts though.
        
         | d357r0y3r wrote:
         | When I was in my early 20s, I saw the writing on the wall w.r.t
         | hair loss. I decided then, if I'm going to be bald, I'm at
         | least going to be jacked. And so I got jacked.
         | 
         | 10+ years later, I buzz my head with a 1 guard once every week
         | or so. Hair is just a thing I don't think about. It's like
         | `gofmt` or `prettier` for your head.
        
           | cgh wrote:
           | Same here, except I use a #2. Nearly every guy can control
           | his build and when you are younger, you are a testosterone-
           | fueled muscle building machine. Young men (and women, to be
           | honest) reading this: take advantage of it.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | SyzygistSix wrote:
         | Yep. Fit and bald is far more attractive than a nice head of
         | hair and schlubby. And by far the most important thing is to be
         | happy with one's self, not based on external things.
        
         | twiceinawhile wrote:
         | > If it helps anyone else out there: no one else thinks about
         | your hair besides you.
         | 
         | People notice and care. Hair is sometimes seen as a health
         | indicator and it matters to a degree in society. We've never
         | had a bald president and probably never will. Look at the
         | lengths Trump went to with his "hair". I doubt he would have
         | been president had he been bald. The same goes for biden.
         | Search for elon musk before and after hair. He wouldn't be the
         | "media darling" if he looked the way he did in his paypal days.
         | 
         | Also, it's probably easier dating or finding a mate if you were
         | not bald - as a man or a woman. Consciously or unconsciously,
         | many people hold negative associations when it comes to
         | baldness. But it's not the end of the world and you shouldn't
         | lose any sleep over it - unless you hope to be president one
         | day or in a position where image matters. For the average joe,
         | baldness doesn't matter much.
        
           | throwawayboise wrote:
           | Eisenhower was pretty bald.
        
         | inglor_cz wrote:
         | I am a guy from a family whose members die of old age with a
         | lion's mane of a hair. So far (being 42) I am on the same path.
         | 
         | But greying of said lion's mane can happen in several ways,
         | from very charming to something that looks like a mildew
         | infestation.
         | 
         | I am not sure yet how I am going to turn out, but it is coming.
         | I hope the Japanese scientists can find some stem cells for
         | melanocytes as well.
         | 
         | Edit: a funny anecdote, my first high school love is very much
         | into bald guys, but somehow I got a pass.
        
         | samstave wrote:
         | A good friend of mine did what Joe Rogan did: just shave it all
         | off.
         | 
         | The funny thing is that they both said the same thing: "I was
         | so worried about how my thinning hair looked that I just
         | decided to shave my head, and havent looked back since"
         | 
         | And its funny they both look great completely bald - in fact
         | with Joe Rogan, he looks odd to see old pics of him with hair.
         | 
         | I dont know if I could pull off a full bald shave because I
         | have a small head and big ears :-)
        
           | [deleted]
        
         | ohrockhrhor wrote:
         | I think this is very wrong, and almost irresponsible.
         | 
         | Without your hair, you will earn less money. Fewer people will
         | do business with you (fewer investors, fewer contracts, fewer
         | business partners). You will be paid less as an employee for
         | the same work. You will be passed over for leadership
         | positions.
         | 
         | Fewer people will be friends with you. People will want to
         | spend less time with you. You will not be invited to the same
         | or as many parties as other people. Strangers on the street
         | will look at you with pity and disgust. Children will shame
         | you.
         | 
         | No matter how inherently talented, intelligent, and hard-
         | working you are, this will seep into every aspect of your life
         | and rob you of success. It is a crippling disfigurement.
         | 
         | And so, there are entire sections of the female population that
         | won't touch you with a ten foot pole. Considering how painfully
         | this impacts a persons life, they are right to do so. It is a
         | travesty of evolution that male-pattern baldness exists.
         | 
         | There currently isn't a way to re-grow lost hair. You have to
         | do everything you can to keep what you have. The medication you
         | mention, finasteride, might have sexual side effects, but for
         | most people it doesn't. It's almost irrelevant if it does,
         | because you won't have much of a sex life if you lose your
         | hair. I wish I could have afforded it when I was young. If you
         | can, go see a doctor at the first sign of hair loss. It's all
         | you can do.
         | 
         | If I hadn't lost my hair in my early twenties, I know that I
         | would have been able to find romantic love, and have a better
         | career. It is the single worst thing that has ever happened to
         | me, and not a day goes by that I don't consider killing myself.
         | It has made me less than human.
        
           | voisin wrote:
           | This is the most absurdly ludicrous thing I have ever read,
           | and I am not exaggerating for effect. I honestly cannot tell
           | if this is a bad joke or sarcasm, because I can hardly
           | imagine a human being who could believe such nonsense. If you
           | experience any of this nonsense first hand it is because you
           | believe it to be true and have created a self fulfilling
           | prophecy. You need to change your perspective. Go see a
           | therapist and work out your issues.
           | 
           | I suggest reading some Gabor Mate and work on resolving
           | unresolved childhood trauma (the only thing I imagine to be
           | strong enough to create such self-limiting beliefs - assuming
           | of course your post is not just a failed attempt as sarcasm).
        
           | mpfundstein wrote:
           | you sir, should get checked out. thoroughly
        
           | sonofhans wrote:
           | You sound really upset. I don't blame you. I started going
           | bald in my 20s. It was heartbreaking to cut off my long hair.
           | I truly loved it and felt strongly that it was part of my
           | identity. The alternative, I thought, was ridiculous -- a
           | bald man with a pony tail.
           | 
           | Now I'm nearly 50, and if I could grow my hair back, I
           | wouldn't. I've been shaving with a trimmer once a week for 15
           | years now, and I adore it. It's quick and easy. My hair is
           | predictable and zero-maintenance. I think I still look pretty
           | cool.
           | 
           | Professionally I've never felt the lack. When I leave one
           | company I quickly have offers piling up for new gigs. I have
           | a family now, but (back when it was ok to be out in public)
           | women still hit on me.
           | 
           | Consider that no matter what your qualities, some people and
           | contexts will ostracize you for them. You must instead find
           | places and people that are acceptable to you, and accepting
           | of you. There's no magic here, just work and perseverance.
           | 
           | There are plenty of worse situations: being Black is still no
           | picnic in the US, and plenty of other places. Being a woman
           | is still very challenging in many places. Being poor (like,
           | too poor to own a computer) is still the worst.
           | 
           | If you'll forgive me for being blunt: if going bald is really
           | the worst thing that's happened to you, consider yourself to
           | be very, very fortunate. There's no reason to be suicidal
           | about it. Find a therapist. Only you can improve your life,
           | hair or no hair.
        
           | Majestic121 wrote:
           | While baldness definitely has a negative impact on most men
           | life, it's merely a factor among many other things that can
           | actually be controlled, and it's not life shattering on its
           | own.
           | 
           | If that's actually how you feel, it's pretty serious and I
           | urge you to try and search for help in your environment :
           | life does not have to be this bad, and it can get better.
        
         | decafninja wrote:
         | I think there are cultural (racial?) aspects too.
         | 
         | I'm East Asian. Hair loss at a young age and shaving your head
         | is still not considered very acceptable or attractive in any
         | way in East Asian cultures, short of being a monk. There are a
         | tiny handful of exceptions - but that's just that - exceptions.
         | 
         | If you're pushing 50? 60? etc. sure it happens to many so not a
         | big deal - but even then I think more East Asian men choose
         | wigs, hair transplants, or even au natural horseshoe rather
         | than shave. If you're 20? 30? Or even 40? It's terrible - dare
         | I say more so than men of other races/cultures.
         | 
         | As someone in his thirties that is starting to lose hair, I
         | envy men of other races/cultures where shaving your head is
         | considered an acceptable option.
        
           | x86_64Ubuntu wrote:
           | I never thought of this till you mentioned it, like, never.
           | But you are right, I can't think of any high-visibility East
           | Asian person with a bald head that isn't a monk. Xi Jianping,
           | Mao, Psy, Jack Ma and pretty much every prominent East-Asian
           | has hair. I guess with me coming from the black community,
           | we've always had Michael Jordan, Isaac Hayes and Samuel L.
           | Jackson as the standard-bearers of baldness.
        
             | slim wrote:
             | Mao?
        
               | x86_64Ubuntu wrote:
               | Whoops.
               | 
               | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mao_Zedong#/media/File:Mao_
               | Zed...
        
         | fossuser wrote:
         | > "If it helps anyone else out there: no one else thinks about
         | your hair besides you."
         | 
         | I had a girl cancel a date when she learned I was balding (she
         | explicitly told a friend this) so there's a reason men feel bad
         | about it.
         | 
         | That said, shaving your head and getting on with your life is
         | the right approach and has a lot of other benefits anyway.
         | 
         | Elon did something different, but for most people going bald,
         | shaving your head is the right move. It can just be hard to
         | know when and most people wait too long (plus it's hard to deal
         | with the social stuff around a dramatic change like that).
        
           | kareemm wrote:
           | > I had a girl cancel a date when she learned I was balding
           | (she explicitly told a friend this) so there's a reason men
           | feel bad about it.
           | 
           | Dodged a bullet there!
        
             | snshn wrote:
             | Well done, 47.
        
             | fossuser wrote:
             | Sure, in that specific case I'd agree it's a flag.
             | 
             | But there's a general truth to sexual attractiveness in
             | there, and it's better to accept the reality as it is and
             | adapt.
             | 
             | Sometimes it's better to just learn the dance:
             | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX40mBb8bkU
             | 
             | Remember what the dormouse said: Shave your head (or
             | something like that)
        
               | voisin wrote:
               | > there's a general truth to sexual attractiveness in
               | there
               | 
               | Even a cursory consideration of the numerous bald
               | celebrities should be sufficient to disabuse yourself of
               | this notion. There is no general truth to sexual
               | attractiveness as related to hair, or height, or skin
               | colour, or weight, or...
        
               | fossuser wrote:
               | This is bad reasoning.
               | 
               | The existence of balding celebrities does not mean that
               | balding has no affect on sexual attractiveness.
               | 
               | A lot of celebrities are famous for reasons other than
               | attractiveness.
               | 
               | Balding and bald are also different (which was part of my
               | point).
               | 
               | > "There is no general truth to sexual attractiveness as
               | related to hair, or height, or skin colour, or weight,
               | or..."
               | 
               | This is just straight false. There are always varied
               | preferences and outliers, but there are general trends
               | too. You ignore them at your own peril.
        
               | da_big_ghey wrote:
               | Danny DeVito is a celebrity. This does not mean that he
               | is attractive.
        
               | kareemm wrote:
               | The general point is that confidence is more attractive
               | than baldness or any of 100 other kinds of uncontrollable
               | issues that impact physical appearance.
               | 
               | When you become comfortable and confident with who you
               | are and recognize what you can't change, you attract the
               | same.
        
               | fossuser wrote:
               | I agree that confidence is important.
               | 
               | The other stuff does matter too though. It's better to
               | recognize that rather than pretend it's all confidence.
               | 
               | The girl that canceled the date didn't do so because I
               | wasn't confident, she did so because she saw a picture of
               | me with thinning hair on FB. Another canceled when she
               | found out I was 3 months younger than her. People are
               | picky.
               | 
               | Thankfully I've since met someone really great and I'm
               | now engaged/out of the game. I'm glad.
        
               | ben509 wrote:
               | Yup. There are no bad reasons to not pursue a
               | relationship, because anything that avoids heartache and
               | misery is implicitly a good reason.
        
         | _448 wrote:
         | My maths teacher once joked that he finds it difficult every
         | morning to wash his face as he don't know where his face starts
         | and ends :D
        
         | powvans wrote:
         | My dad went bald very early and I was always afraid of it. I've
         | had the typical progression of male pattern baldness going for
         | the last 20 years. I'd look really weird in my 40's if I had
         | the same hairline as my 20 year old self. Over the years I've
         | gotten used to it and consider it not a big deal.
         | 
         | On the other hand, now that my dad is in his late 70's he has
         | melanoma all over his chrome dome. He has to get things burned,
         | frozen, and lasered off every couple of months. It's ironic
         | that after accepting the vanity aspects of baldness and no
         | longer caring, I see that there are much worse things.
         | 
         | If you're bald or balding, wear a hat! Wear sunscreen! The
         | spray on stuff is sort of gross but it can get to your scalp
         | where the hair is thin and skin is exposed.
         | 
         | If a stem cell treatment for baldness were affordable, I would
         | consider it. 80% for the UV protection and 20% for the vanity.
        
           | ido wrote:
           | Going off topic, but that's one of the reasons I really
           | appreciate moving to Berlin (UV index from 2 to 5) from Tel
           | Aviv (UV index 3 to 11). I haven't burned even once since
           | leaving Israel in 2005.
        
             | powvans wrote:
             | Latitude matters! I grew up outside of Atlanta, which is
             | 33N and similar to Tel Aviv at 32N. My dad's Irish skin
             | probably faired much worse here than it would have at 53N
             | (Ireland, Berlin).
             | 
             | I don't burn too easily in the sun here and it's easy to
             | avoid in prolonged exposure with a little sunscreen. I was
             | shocked the first time I ventured close to the equator. In
             | southern Mexico (15N) and Costa Rica (10N) my skin burns in
             | about 10 minutes without sunscreen.
        
         | agumonkey wrote:
         | I vaguely knew a dude who got bald at 20. Beside the slightly
         | strange feeling in the early days it really never made a
         | difference in how we were with him. But he was a cool guy so
         | that helped.
        
           | throwawayboise wrote:
           | I knew a guy who was losing his hair in high school. He
           | always had girls around.
        
         | Aloha wrote:
         | I started going gray in my mid 20's, and I made a similar
         | choice. I just accepted that this is how its gonna be, and came
         | to terms with it, not that I dont go out of my way to minimize
         | it now that I'm in my late 30's thru hair cuts. But I dont
         | bother with dye or any of that.
        
           | da_big_ghey wrote:
           | I went gray young. The downside is that most younger women
           | turned away and would no longer approach. They would also not
           | respond very well if I did. And I did not want to date a
           | person 15 years my senior, so it became hard.
        
         | kvgr wrote:
         | Was shaving my head the best decision? Of course. I still had
         | some hair in front and a lots on the sides. But top of my head
         | is almost bald and my hair is quite thin. So I would always
         | have bad hair and would fix it in the bathroom constantly.
         | Wearing hat was a problem. Going on a holiday to tropical
         | country - bad hair every day. I shaved that thing after
         | returning from 4 weeks in Indonesia. I just had enough of it. A
         | lot of women complimented my looks. My wife got used to it I
         | think. But if there was a way of making my hair the way it was
         | when I was young without side effects and transplants? I would
         | probably try it. But until that day comes, I am shaving my head
         | and don't care about anybody.
        
         | airhead969 wrote:
         | One of my female roommates had a thing for chrome. I don't
         | think she's the only female to have that interest. Shave it all
         | off and rock it. :)
        
         | matwood wrote:
         | I agree. My dad and his brothers were all bald fairly young, so
         | I accepted that it would happen. I didn't really start losing
         | my hair until my 30s, and for me at least, I just buzzed cut my
         | hair and went on with my life. My wife, who I met after it was
         | clear my hair was never coming back, asked me if I missed my
         | hair. I pulled out some old pics of my late teens/20s where it
         | was all the same length past my shoulders and her response was
         | 'thank god you went bald'...
        
         | Waterluvian wrote:
         | There are so many good bald looks these days. Even just shaving
         | your entire dome looks pretty awesome.
         | 
         | I've never had a "hah that guy's bald" moment. But I've had
         | many, "damn, kinda jealous of that style..." moments.
        
           | 0xffff2 wrote:
           | As a guy who's been shaving my head since I realized my hair
           | wasn't getting any thicker when I was ~20 (13 years ago), I'm
           | curious what other "bald looks" there are besides shaving the
           | whole thing?
        
             | moosebear847 wrote:
             | Muscles underneath. Lots, of muscles.
        
               | Koshkin wrote:
               | Nah, it's 1) age and 2) height - none of which you can
               | control.
        
               | jjoonathan wrote:
               | The correct haircut for a bald man is muscles.
        
               | voisin wrote:
               | The correct haircut for any man is muscles.
        
               | CodeGlitch wrote:
               | This. Muscle plus personality is 100x more attractive
               | than hair. 2 things you can control (generally)
        
               | medium_burrito wrote:
               | Yeah, that's pretty much it. Tattoos also, as that
               | complements the look.
        
             | Waterluvian wrote:
             | There's the Jason Statham look where he doesn't shave it
             | all and blends it into his beard and it looks great.
             | 
             | But, yeah, I didn't word that well. Most good bald looks
             | involve what you do with your facial hair.
        
         | abraxas wrote:
         | Lots of people have anxiety about their head shape. I know I
         | do. I'm not looking forward to the time when I have to buzz cut
         | my hair. There is definitely a lot of flatness on the back of
         | my head.
        
         | cassianoleal wrote:
         | I still remember the day I saw a quote on Twitter from an
         | account that I think was called something like @PicardQuotes.
         | Their tweets were usually little gems that could have been said
         | by Capt. Picard. This particular quote was simply:
         | 
         | "Bald is better than balding."
         | 
         | When I realised there was no turning back, and not having hair
         | would be a lot better than fighting against the inevitable, I
         | started wearing my bare scalp with pride.
         | 
         | It's a great look.
         | 
         | It's also a lot easier to maintain.
         | 
         | Don't get me wrong, if I weren't balding I wouldn't have done
         | this and that would have been fine. That doesn't change the
         | fact that this is also fine.
        
           | thesuitonym wrote:
           | I love the way I look bald, but I don't have the wherewithall
           | to keep my skin smooth. It's so much more work than just
           | keeping a decent haircut.
        
       | yuriko_boyko wrote:
       | Random loading screen tip: Worrying about hairloss makes it worse
       | if you're balding.
        
       | purple_ferret wrote:
       | Anyone who looks at Elon Musk can tell hair can always come back
       | if you have enough $$$
        
         | agumonkey wrote:
         | I wonder if he thinks about reusable hair buds in his sleep.
        
         | CptJamesCook wrote:
         | A hair transplant isn't extremely expensive, and price is
         | definitely not the limiting factor on the result you can
         | achieve. They cost around $10k on the low end and $35k from the
         | most expensive doctors in the USA.
         | 
         | Elon was lucky to have great donor sites for the hair. Likely
         | also started using finasteride, minoxidil, and a DHT inhibiting
         | shampoo right around when he got the transplant if not a couple
         | years before.
         | 
         | I've had 3 hair transplants myself, and have spent enough time
         | in and around hair transplant surgeon's offices to know that
         | the vast majority of cases don't turn out as well as Elon's.
         | Most people just don't have enough hair.
        
           | voisin wrote:
           | I posted this above but then saw you have direct experience
           | and thought I'd ask: am I correct in understanding that
           | transplanted hair is done in random patterns but not at
           | random angles, and so the hair tends to look "stiff" and
           | unnatural, like it has hair spray in it?
        
       | Koshkin wrote:
       | There's no point trying to look "younger" than you actually are.
       | _They_ will know, no matter what.
        
       | jchw wrote:
       | For users hit by anti-adblock: https://archive.is/dOgGD
        
         | flatiron wrote:
         | Thanks. PiHole + mobile must have blocked me
        
       | f6v wrote:
       | I'm losing hair and can't grow a beard(I can grow muscle, and
       | testosterone is fine). So viking look isn't an option. But
       | anything related to this research isn't hitting clinic in the
       | next decades.
       | 
       | We came a long way when it comes to reprogramming cells in-vitro,
       | and I'm sure further research will allow inducing growth on
       | demand. However, it'd be hard to guarantee the growth won't
       | result in cancer somewhere down the line. Unfortunately, for all
       | of us who lose teeth the improvements in implantation technology
       | are the only hope.
        
       | airhead969 wrote:
       | Can we get a cure for graying hair too (restore melanocyte
       | function)? ;)
       | 
       | Btw, dry ice can be used to make patches of hair permanently
       | white (selectively kills melanocytes).
        
         | gns24 wrote:
         | My hair recently went significantly less white - a significant
         | fraction of the hairs that I vainly plucked because they were
         | white at the tips were dark at the roots. It correlated with a
         | significant change in diet to eat more healthily, but I've
         | noticed it happen before so it may also be seasonal or related
         | to some other factor such as how stressed I am or how well I am
         | sleeping.
        
         | sandworm101 wrote:
         | This is called "cold branding" and is used to brand/tag furred
         | animals like wild horses. It is more humane than hot irons and
         | the brands are easier to read at distance, but it isn't exactly
         | pain-free.
        
       | dj_mc_merlin wrote:
       | Excuse me for the slight off-topic, but in regards to hair: has
       | anyone noticed that people are shaving their heads randomly more
       | during the pandemic? Maybe just boredom. Or a desire to self-
       | actualize during the lockdown. What a weird way for humanity to
       | react to a crisis. I did it too.
        
         | superbcarrot wrote:
         | It's a mix of people having to cut their own hair for the first
         | time and people who wondered what it would look like to shave
         | it being able to do so with lower social risk during the
         | pandemic.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | JMTQp8lwXL wrote:
         | Are we counting buzz cuts here? I did it very short, but not
         | fully shaved. Prior to the pandemic, my last buzz cut was 15+
         | years prior.
        
         | xtracto wrote:
         | I think the reason is quite simple (it was for me): The
         | alternatives are to let your hair grow wild, go to the barber
         | and risk getting COVID, or have someone in your family trim it
         | with the risk of looking terrible.
        
           | disgruntledphd2 wrote:
           | Alternatively, plan ahead and marry a hairdresser ;)
        
           | throwawayboise wrote:
           | Yep I always just went to a walk-in barber shop. Now they are
           | appointment only and I just started using a clipper. In 5
           | minutes I am done, $25 still in my pocket, and don't have to
           | leave the house. I am probalby never using a barber shop
           | again.
        
         | LockAndLol wrote:
         | Are the barber shops allowed to operate where those people
         | live? Are people allowed to travel all the way to whoever used
         | to cut their hair?
         | 
         | Shaving it all away is easy.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | Smithalicious wrote:
         | Isn't it simply that it's impossible to get a haircut, and
         | shaving it off is something you can do by yourself easily?
        
         | Moncefmd wrote:
         | For me (and the vast majority of people I know that did it) it
         | was just to avoid going to a real barbershop.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2021-02-24 23:01 UTC)