When you express your displeasure with you receding hairline, those around you may offer a response like these: 

• Just be glad you’re healthy.  It really could be a lot worse.
• It doesn’t look bad! I didn’t even notice.
• Your dad had even less hair than you, and he looked fine.
• Stop being so sensitive. It’s not big of a deal. 

While those loved ones may mean well, those words only make the problem seem worse rather than helping you cope with your male pattern baldness.  After all, of course it could be worse, and in a few months it will get worse as hair continues to fall out.  

You don’t need someone to tell you it doesn’t look bad.  You have a mirror, and YOU aren’t happy with the way you look. Sure, your dad had less hair, and that’s exactly what you figure your hair will look like in time. 

As for being sensitive, how could you help it?  There is something happening to your body that you’re not happy about.  Of course it’s going to bother you.  No, you don’t have terminal cancer, but that doesn’t mean that you should just be able to shrug off male pattern baldness as though it were an acne outbreak that will be easily cured with some medicated cream. 

The fact is that there is NO cure for male pattern baldness.  This is something that you are going to have to learn to deal with – one way or another – for the rest of your life.

Perhaps your fears include some of those listed below. 

• No one is ever going to love me when I look like this
• I look way older than I am
• I cannot be attractive and bald at the same time
• People are laughing at me behind my back

Let’s address those one by one.  First, plenty of bald men find love every day.  It’s just not realistic to think that you must be physically perfect (whatever that means) in order to find love.  You will, however, have trouble finding and maintaining a relationship if you do not learn to have a good opinion of yourself. Your low self-esteem will create, first, a roadblock to a relationship and, second, problems once you are in one.

Do you look older than you are?  You might.  Studies done showed that the perception of men with male pattern baldness was that they were older than they actually were. 

As for being attractive, the truth is that many celebrities choose to be bald.  Vin Diesel, Bruce Willis and Jack Nicholson are just a few.  Also, there are many women that find bald men very attractive.  But the issue of whether OTHER people think you are attractive is not nearly as important as what you think of yourself.

Finally, it is really doubtful that people are pointing and laughing at you behind your back because you have male pattern baldness.  By some estimates, 75% of men suffer from the condition.  If someone wanted to point and laugh at all the bald men that they saw that would be a full time job with a LOT of overtime.  Truthfully, other people are not paying nearly as much attention to your hair loss as you are.  Many people probably don’t even notice. 

Make a Decision

The bottom line is that, while there are products to treat the baldness, there is no actual cure for male pattern baldness. The underlying condition is going to be there.  If you really are unhappy with your hair loss, and don’t think it is something you can learn to like, then you may want to research some of your options. The best option is, of course, to buy Propecia, which is the only FDA approved medicine to treat male pattern baldness.

There is nothing wrong with finding a way to undo some of what nature has done.  People spend billions of dollars every year on all types of cosmetic surgery procedures.  If you think that finding a way to treat your hair loss will make you feel better about yourself, then do it.

Do What it Takes

If you have decided to seek treatment, then you are going to have to follow the instructions of whatever product you choose to the letter.  Remember that even the most effective treatments will only work if you use them according to the manufacturer’s specifications. 

You will have to be willing to invest some time and money and, even then, you still might not get the results you want.

Build Your Self-Esteem

When coping with male pattern baldness, there is something that is far more important than trying to regrow your hair.  That is building your self-esteem.  Today it is hair loss, tomorrow it may be wrinkles or weight gain or whatever else comes next.  That’s not to say that you shouldn’t treat the hair loss, but you should learn to like who you are even if you are completely bald. 

There is much more to you than the way you look.  What kind of person are you? What have you accomplished? What goals have you set for yourself? How do you treat the people that you love?

All of those things are far more important in determining who you are than how much hair you have on your head.

The best way to cope with male pattern baldness is to learn to like yourself enough to know that a physical change doesn’t detract from WHO you are.  When the treatment that you chose starts to work, you’ll feel that much better. 

You’ll know that you don’t NEED your hair, but when it starts growing back, it will just be like icing on the cake.

First, it is important to define male pattern baldness.  The medical term for the condition is Androgenic Alopecia.  In general, it refers to hair loss that follows a distinct pattern, typically beginning around the temples or on the crown of the head. 

While there is no cure for male pattern baldness, there are treatments that address the symptom of hair loss. There are some products that can slow down the balding process and others that have had success in regrowing hair in some users.

Below are some of the most common myths surrounding the topic of male pattern baldness.

• Going Bald Means I’m Getting Old

The fact is that some men as young as 20 years old begin losing their hair due to Androgenic Alopecia.  While the chances of losing hair increase with age, it can effect men of any age. 

• Men with Male Pattern Baldness are More Sexually Active

There is no basis in fact for this myth, but if you ask a group of bald men, they might tend to agree with it.  Some have studied the levels of testosterone in relation to the DHT levels (which are a factor in male pattern baldness).  In none of the studies was any evidence found that would support this myth.

• There is a Cure for Male Pattern Baldness

As mentioned above, there is no cure for the condition.  However, in many men the symptom (baldness) can be effectively treated. As such, there is a huge market for hair growth products, though curiously only one treatment is clinically proven. Those men who buy into the very speculative (to say the least) market of ‘natural’ hair growth formulas, often find themselves out of pocket and (still) out of hair. On the other hand, the select few who manage to wade through the herbal gloop that is the market of hair regrowth, and come instead to buy Propecia, often find themselves pleasantly surprised as they ‘outwit’ nature. Therefore, while there is no permanent cure for male pattern baldness, the manifestation of it (baldness) can be stopped and even reversed. 

• Certain Hair Products Can Cause Male Pattern Baldness

There are no gels, shampoos or other hair products can cause male pattern baldness.  If you notice a significant thinning of the hair after using a certain product, particularly if the balding does not follow a distinct pattern, you should immediately discontinue use and see your dermatologist.

• Wearing a Hat Increases the Chances of Male Pattern Baldness

This is false. While it seems to make sense that the constant rubbing of the hat against the scalp could cause baldness, it simply is not true.

• Exposure to the Sun Causes Baldness

Exposure to the sun, whether it be natural sunlight or through use of a tanning bed, does not contribute to male pattern baldness.

• Trauma

The myth says that suffering an emotional trauma can cause male pattern baldness. The fact is that male pattern baldness cannot be brought on by trauma, but some other types of baldness, that is usually temporary, can.  As mentioned earlier, if the hair is not coming out in a distinct pattern then it is not likely male pattern baldness.

• Male Pattern Baldness Can be a Sign of a Serious Medical Condition

Male pattern baldness is not, but other types of baldness may be a sign of a more serious condition.  If you start suddenly losing hair in clumps, you should pay a visit to your doctor.

• My Dad Has a Full Head of Hair, so I Don’t Have to Worry About Male Pattern Baldness

The fact that your dad has a full head of hair is no guarantee that you will not suffer from male pattern baldness.  The genetics that cause the condition can come from the mother’s side of the family as well as the father’s.  Also, the condition may not affect every single male in a family.  It’s entirely possible that your dad could have thick hair his whole life yet you could start losing your hair at 20.

Now let’s look at some FACTS about male pattern baldness.

• Caused by Genetics

Male pattern baldness is caused by one thing: genetics.  It cannot be prevented, and making lifestyle changes, such as changing hair products, cannot slow down the process.  The fact is, because the cause is genetics, there really is nothing to do to stop the process.  However, as mentioned earlier, there are steps that can be taken to reverse the symptoms and slow down the hair loss.

• There are Effective Treatments (for the symptoms)

While no cure for Androgenic Alopecia exists, there are treatments that can slow down the process and even regrow some of the hair that has been lost.  Propecia is the most well-known and effective of these treatments.

• For Every Effective Treatment There Are 100 Ineffective Treatments

A quick internet search will point you to endless websites, all claiming to have THE answer to your male pattern baldness.  Coconut oil, garlic, a special comb….and the list goes on.  Unfortunately, most of these will do absolutely nothing to slow down or reverse the balding caused by male pattern baldness.  If you are serious about slowing down or reversing the process, see you doctor for recommendations on which of the proven treatments will be right for you.

• Treatment Must Continue For Life

This is, unfortunately, true.  The treatments that do help with Androgenic Alopecia all must be continued throughout the life of the user. Once you buy Propecia, you will have to keep buying it as long as you want to keep your hair! If the treatments are stopped, the progress that has been made will soon reverse and the balding will continue.  This, of course, does not include hair transplants which are a more permanent solution to the problem of balding. 

A final fact about male pattern baldness is that more and more men are embracing their balding head rather than trying to fight it.  More and more celebrities are proudly sporting a hairless noggin.  Some of these include Vin Diesel, Michael Chiklis and Bruce Willis.  Along with more confident bald men come more women who find those men attractive.

If you do choose to seek treatment for your hair loss, your search should start at the doctor’s office, not on the internet.

Chuck

Chuck thought he had dodged a bullet. His dad had lost most of his hair in his late 20’s, but when Chuck was 35, he still had a full head of hair. Then, it seemed like it out of nowhere, he started losing his hair. It didn’t really bother him. He had been married for 15 years, and his wife wasn’t bothered by his hair loss. He thought about doing nothing, until he checked the mail one day and saw the invitation to his high school reunion. About four years after his hair loss started, he had lost a good amount of the hair on top of his head. He thought that he looked much older than he actually was and he felt self-conscience about it for the first time.

The reunion was almost a year away, so he had a few options about which treatments he could try. He knew a transplant was out. He just wasn’t willing to go through a surgery, no matter how minor. He considered non-surgical hair replacement, but he didn’t like the idea of having to remove “his” hair. He decided to try a topical solution. He figured the time commitment was minimal, and if he didn’t get good results, he wouldn’t be out a huge amount of money. The products stopped the progression of his male pattern baldness, and by the time the reunion rolled around, he had started to regrowth some of the hair he had lost.

Ken

Ken started losing his hair in high school. He wore hats all the time, because he hated showing off what seemed to be an ever growing forehead. In his senior year, he started wearing what hair he had left in a crew cut, hoping that would make the fact that he was going bald less obvious. While his hair loss really bothered him in high school, he didn’t care anymore once he started college. That changed one night when a girl told him that she thought he was “like 35”, and he knew at that moment he wanted to do something about his hair loss. He started taking supplements and within a month noticed that the hair loss had slowed down. He also noticed that the hair had left seemed to be thicker.

Steve

When Steve was about 30, he noticed a lot of hair in the drain. Thinking it was his wife’s hair, he bent down to clean it out. When he saw how short the hair was, he knew it his own. He asked his wife if she thought his hair was starting to thin. She said yes but, because the hair loss had just started, it was hardly even noticeable. Steve knew that he wasn’t going to take this lying down. He immediately found three treatments that sounded promising, topical solutions, supplements and a laser comb. Rather than choosing just one, he decided to use all three. He hoped that by catching the male pattern baldness early, and treating it aggressively, that he could slow down – or even halt – its progress. He still uses all three products diligently and, two years later, the hair loss has not progressed.

Ron

Ron was getting married in a month and decided that he did NOT want to meet his bride at the altar with a shiny baldhead. Because he had waited until just a few weeks before the wedding to make this decision, his options were limited. It was too late for most of the treatments to be able to achieve their full results. Ron quickly figured out that his only option was non-surgical hair replacement. He opted for a hairpiece that provided only a subtle change, rather than a full, thick head of hair. He thought he’d only wear it for the wedding and then tuck it away in a drawer. When he got so much positive feedback, however, he decided to keep wearing it.

He thinks he looks 10 years younger, and he likes what he sees when he looks in the mirror. So what is the point of telling the story of these men and their hair loss? The point is to illustrate the fact that not everyone who suffers from male pattern baldness will have the same experience. Some will start losing their hair when they are still very young. For others, it will not start until later in life. Some men will not mind when the process starts, others will instantly feel self-conscience about it. There is not right or wrong way to deal with your male pattern baldness.

There are many treatment options available and you, like Chuck, Ken, Steve and Ron, will need to find the solution that is right for you. It is worth noting, however, the only treatment with clinically significant results enough to be FDA approved, is Propecia. When you buy Propecia, you leapfrog Chuck, Ken and co. with the click of a button. Ah, the wonders of the internet! These four men realized that they could take control of the situation and all were able find a solution that satisfied them. No, they did not end up with the same thick hair they may have had as teenagers, but by doing something, they were able to achieve some measure of success.

Take control of your own male pattern baldness. There is no guarantee that you’ll again have a full head of hair, but you don’t have to just sit back and watch as your hair continues to fall out. Find a treatment that you can live with, and start taking back control today.