Turn Loose

It’s a question most men face at some point in life: “Will it turn gray or will it turn loose?” If you find yourself facing the later option, joining the likes of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Andre Agassi, below is a little information you may find useful.

Why?

Some hair loss is actually a normal everyday function as part of hair’s natural rejuvenation process. Typically most individuals shed about 100 hairs each day. However, many men experience far greater numbers than that due to a condition know as androgenic alopecia or ‘male pattern baldness’. Estimates claim that about half the population experiences some level of hair loss by age 50 due to this inherited condition. The amount of hair loss and area affected can vary greatly from person to person. Some may experience a gradual receding hairline while others may start developing a bald patch on top of the head. While the majority of hair loss is attributable to genetics, other factors that may increase the risk of hair loss include stress, disease, and medications. Since you can’t change your genetics or predict disease outbreak, we recommend you do as much as you can to reduce the stress in your life, since that is one thing you can regulate.

Prevention and Restoration

Just like the rest of your skin, you should make sure you take good care of your scalp, which will keep your hair follicles free of excess sebum oil and impurities. Purchase a good quality shampoo and conditioner that will keep you scalp clean and moisturized.

Most preventative measures tend to be more effective than trying to revive hair follicles that have already gone dormant. Drugs like Rogaine and Propecia have some proven success in partially reversing loss and preventing future fall-out.

Hair transplants are another popular procedure. This surgical process is often referred to as “hair plugs” or “hair grafts” and involves moving portions of the scalp with healthy hair follicles to areas that are balk or thinning. This procedure is fairly expensive and has no guarantees that the transplanted follicles will produce new growth.

To Disguise or Embrace?

One option for disguising hair loss is the traditional “comb over”, which involves restyling the remaining hair to conceal the balding area. Foreman does not endorse this option because everyone, but you, can tell what’s going on. Another is wearing a hairpiece, also known as a toupee. The toupee can be made of either real or artificial hair. A good one will set you back quite a few bucks and takes quite a bit of maintenance and preparation. This one is tricky and we do not recommend you try this one alone without the help of a trained professional.

While some guys may choose to go with one of the options above to deal with hair loss, our preferred method is just to accept your baldness and embrace it! Again there are two options for you. You can go Matt Lauer style and tell your barber to trim down what you have left to a short easily managed length that will not accentuate your thinning areas (go with a #1 or #2 guard on the clippers). Or you can go Mr. Clean and shave it down. A clean-shaven head tells the world you are confident and that you embrace the new look your genes are trying effortlessly to achieve. In fact, tons of women find bald men sexy, so you may find yourself with a new fan base you never had before. Should you choose this route, just follow the same procedures for shaving your face. If it’s your first time trim it to a #1 length with the clippers before you apply the razor. Then, make sure you apply some sun protection with at least and SPF of 15 (there are actually several aftershave balms available with built in sunscreen that will soothe and protect).

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