Avoid   Baldness

Toupees and comb overs are completely uncool. You may suffer from a receding hair line, but these little tricks are just not the best way to start looking better. Short, cropped hair on a man oozes sexiness and as most women put it, is ‘pretty darn hot’. If you opt for a totally shaved head, that’s also a big thumbs up from the ladies. Take cues from Michael Jordan who shaved it all off in the late 1980s, and then Bruce Willis, Andre Agassi and many more.

Here are a few tips to help you along the way:
” Use a slightly soapy washcloth to wipe against the grain of your hair, which makes it stand up and easier to shave.
” Try steam towelling your head before and after shaving
” Use liberal amounts of shaving lubricant to soften coarse hair and give you a comfortable shave.
” Use new blades when shaving your head. Make sure they aren’t clogged with lather or loose hair.
” Shave using slow, even strokes. Don’t apply pressure on the scalp.
” Do not use cocoa butter on your scalp - it clogs your pores.

There are scores of male grooming products on the market - and a few things you should consider getting are:
” A soothing aftershave or moisturizer.
” A formula that replenishes natural oils lost due to constant shaving.
” A conditioner
” Scalp-specific sun block
” Razors designed for head shaving

While balding is commonly faced by millions of men around the world, ideas for compensating the much dreaded hair loss condition are sometimes absolutely bad choices. Keep in mind that going bald does not have to mean a bad hairstyle. A few dos and don’ts:

Do not…

…comb your hair straight back. While this may cover bald spots, it exposes the forehead and your receding hairline.
…grow your hair longer at the back. This doesn’t by any means make up for the loss on top. If you choose to do so, it draws more attention to the scalp and your baldness.
…be tempted to use gel. This is a definite no-no. While gel clumps hair together, it reveals the scalp and more bald spots.
…grow your hair long. If this is your attempt to cover up, it won’t work. It only causes your hair to separate and show more scalp.

Do…

…use mousse and conditioner to get more natural looking fluff to your hair.
…grow your hair a few more inches, get it layered and brush it forward. This breaks up the receding line.
…keep the front long and comb your hair straight back. This will also help if the hair at the top of your head is starting to thin.

While these options might help, be open to the fact that your bald spot will expand. The smartest choice would be to shave it all off or at the very least to opt for a very close trim. A shaved look is very much in fashion these days, therefore choosing this option could go down very well for you.

Hair first starts to disappear from the temple and crown of the head. For some men, this process starts as early as late teenage years, and for most during their 20s and 30s. It starts off with a thinning of the hair, which in most cases is barely noticeable, while wider hair loss makes the scalp more visible, and the condition apparent.

Male pattern baldness [MPB], generally inherited, accounts for more than 95% of hair loss in men; while statistics from the American Hair Loss Association indicate that by age 35, two-thirds of American men have some degree of appreciable hair loss and by age 50, approximately 85% of men have significantly thinning hair. Around 25% of men who suffer from MPB begin the balding process before they reach 21.

Hair loss happens due to an excess of a DHT or dihydrotestosterone, a chemical which causes hair follicles to thin, until they break down completely. Other causes include iron-deficiency anaemia, fungal scalp infection, certain prescribed medicines and even stress. However, hair loss is reversible. For instance, if you are anaemic, then the balding process can be stopped or slowed down by replenishing your body’s iron stores. While a vast number of treatments are available to treat hair loss, only some are successful.

Seeing a doctor is a good idea, just to rule out the chances of any kind of illness, especially if hair loss is patchy. Some bizarre treatments include rubbing curry into the scalp and having a cow lick it. Moreover, wigs and hair transplants are the move obvious, while different herbal preparations and medicines do exist that slows down the process.

Trying to grow back bald spots is always a problem area. Called Androgenic Alopecia in medical terms, it tends to affect men a lot more than women. Keep in mind that everyone is physiologically different, and not every method will work 100%. However, a few tips that could aid the process:

Rub your fingers all around your scalp giving yourself a nice, stimulating head massage. Use deep circular motions and get the blood in your scalp really well circulated. This activates hair follicles vital to the growth of hair, delivering oxygen to them. You can do that exact same thing, but with a prong-style hair brush or even a head massager. You might also want to re-look at the food you eat. Make sure its protein heavy. Eat a lot of lean meat, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, nuts, yoghurts and dairy.

The use of chemical substances is also another way of re-growing bald spots. You can use Finasteride, which counteracts the effects of androgenic hormones which lead to hair loss. A well-known treatment is Minoxidil, commonly known as Rogaine. It causes the blood vessels on your scalp to open wider, enabling a better flow, and thus more nourishment to hair follicles and scalp area, aiding hair re-growth. This treatment has to be continued on a regular basis. You can also opt for hair transplantation sessions at speciality clinics, though this choice might be the more expensive one to make.

If nothing works, you might consider shaving everything off, though not all women are too pleased with this option.

When you age, hair loss is one of the first things you’d like to be able to control. Men generally start to lose hair on the top of their head, while women simply have an advantage over this and don’t lose as much. Men start heading towards ‘baldness’ as early as teenage years and this of course is depressing.

A number of products exist in the market to aid this, and mostly expensive ones at that. The products offer no guarantees and if by chance they do work, the new hair you grow tends to not match your normal hair.

Hypnosis is one thing you could try. A lot of things that happen with your body are not controlled, nor do you think about them often. You never think that you need to breathe or stop your brain from thinking various thoughts. This applies to your hair as well. It grows on its own. Hypnosis helps with the process by means of gentle assistance. It pushes your subconscious to make the changes you want to your hair growth. Simply listen to a hypnosis track a few times and you might just halt the process of going bald.

If you wear a cap all the time, it might be a good reason as to why you are going bald. It is one of the leading causes of men going bald. Stop wearing your favourite cap to cover it up.

Keep in mind that going bald can also be natural or inherited.