I Shaved My Head

I just turned 23 and last week I shaved my head.

History

Male pattern baldness runs in the family. My dad’s bald, his twin brothers are bald. His dad was basically bald and his grandfather was bald. I knew I was going to lose my hair. It was just a matter of when.

It started at about 17 or 18 during high school. High school. The last thing you want to be thinking about during your final years of high school, while you’re trying to get good grades, all the while fitting in socially, is hair loss.

I didn’t just suddenly become bald. I started to notice a birth mark at the front of my head was exposed, that used to hide under my hair. As a self-conscious teen, naturally the anxiety begins. Not only can they now see my birthmark, but they too can probably tell my hair is thinning. No one ever commented, but that doesn’t necessarily make the internal insecurity any easier.

Slowing it down

There is no cure to male pattern baldness. None. There are ways to delay it, but nothing cures it. Being young, I took what was a rational decision at the time, and started taking finasteride daily, prescribed by a dermatologist, as well as applying Rogaine twice a day to the thinning parts.

While these medications certainly slowed the hair loss, it was definitely not stopping it. These drugs cost money, time and mental space that could have been spent more productively. I was only delaying the inevitable. Not to mention, I still had the feeling that people could notice the receding hairline, because it was still thinning. So, I was really just stacking and delaying problems, instead of just facing the core of the issue.

The Trigger

After being liberated from Covid lockdown for a couple of months, Melbourne had to return to “only four reason to leave the house” from midnight last Friday. That left my Saturday free. It was a productive Saturday, one I may write about in the future, in terms of personal growth. Because by the end of Sunday, I had solved a problem that had annoyed me for years, and would have continued to annoy me for years.

I shaved it all off.

Shaving My Head

I stood in the mirror for about half an hour. Contemplating whether this was the right course of action. I’d considered it before, but never had I stood in the mirror with the electric shaver in my hand.

I was deciding between the bad but comfortable and the better but uncomfortable. Far too often we opt for the comfortable option, even if we know it’s wrong. Discomfort is hard.

The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.

Marcus Aurelius

I eventually decided to put on Free Tibet – Vini Vici. Immediately I had the power. I began shaving it off. The power of music.

After

For the first week afterwards, I continuously scared the shit out of myself walking past mirrors and other reflective surfaces.

A week on and I’m used to it.

I can now enjoy the benefits of:

• Not having to dry my hair
• Not having to style my hair
• Not having to worry if anyone can see my receding/thinning hair
• No headphone/hat/beanie hair
• Saving money (no more hair loss drugs, hair cuts, shampoo, styling product)
• Healthier – no more drugs that can have side effects
• Looking like a badass
• Being able to do “the thing”

You

If you’re hair story is anything like mine, I encourage you to suggest shaving it off. There’s something empowering about taking something that was out of your control, and just giving it the middle finger, taking control, and owning it.

For some it is harder than others to make the decision, but there is a growing community of people at Baldcafe who share their hair loss stories. If you were after a bit of inspiration.

Remember. At the end of the day, it’s just hair. It shouldn’t define you and it doesn’t define you.