Feel like everyone is always looking at my hair

[Guest]

I guess I feel kind of the same of Aplunk, except I am still motivated to do some stuff. But sometimes I refuse to go out in public without wearing a baseball cap and whenever I feel someone looking at me, I turn and look at them and I wonder if they are looking at my buzzed head and thinking "hey, that guy's balding".

I was in a restaurant last week with my girlfriend and we passed this table of guys and girls who cracked up right as I passed by. I could almost feel them staring at my hair and they probably continued to laugh about it for awhile afterward.

I have an NW6 teacher who made a remark about my buzz in class IN FRONT OF EVERYONE(so the whole class turned and looked at me), the day after I got it. Something like "Where did all your hair go"? I'm just not sure where to go from here. Obviously I'm staying on the Avodart forever, but I just have to hope that I can get all the hair back that I've lost so I cannot see scalp all over the place. It is really embarrassing and I don't know what I'll do if I become NW7 because am the kind of person that would get devastated over something like that, probably even more than most people who currently are at that stage would.

I decided yesterday that I'm not going to buzz my hair ever again unless I have to. I am letting it grow from here on out. I have been on Avodart for about 3 months and my hair is a quarter inch all over right now, so if it grows at half an inch a month, it will be back to the length it was pre-buzz in about 5 months. The waiting sucks and hopefully people will be able to notice my balding less at 2 and a half inches.

I told my girlfriend about this and she said that the teacher was probably just shocked to see me go from 2 and a half inch hair to half an inch, but I don't agree. She says she can't tell that I'm balding when my hair is buzzed but maybe she is just being nice. She says my hair loss is very minor but I disagree sometimes.

It's just depressing. I'm not letting it affect other parts of my life but I'm an impatient person and the laughs hurt.

Anyway,

Here's pics of my buzz that I took today. I buzzed it to 1/8th of an inch last Sunday so now it's between 1/8th of an inch and 1/4th of an inch. I see all the scalp on top and it makes me sad. Hopefully people will be able to see less scalp when I grow it out to 2.5 inches and up.

It looks like maybe my top is filling in compared to when i first buzzed it a month ago, but maybe not. I would be a lot less depressed if it was. If you look closely in the top two pics I think regrowth can be seen below the hairline:

These two pics are without flash but in bright light:







These two pics are without flash but in dimmer light:

 

[Aplunk1]

FUCASKLDfklasdjfl;kasj!#@#!@

I just wrote the longest post.

I EFFING HATE internet explorer.

I give up.

 

[s.a.f]

As I've told you before I think that you're being paranoid. Your Hairloss is hardly noticible at all and certainly not obvious. (I know you dont like to hear this) honestly nobody is looking at you and thinking wow he's going bald.
As for your teacher your girlfreind is probably right here. Bald guys notice other peoples hair much more than anybody else. Its not unusual for hairloss to cause severe paranoia in its sufferers.

 

[Guest]

FUCASKLDfklasdjfl;kasj!#@#!@

I just wrote the longest post.

I EFFING HATE internet explorer.

I give up.

Oh no :cry: And I was particularly looking forward to reading your response, too, aplunk. This should be the motivation that finally gets you to dump that piece of sh*t browser and go to Mozilla.

Here's what I'd do if you want to keep using ie. for every long post you make, just copy it into notepad first and then save it. then paste it into the window here.

 

[Guest]

Thanks aplunk

 

[H2O]

JayMan...

It's pretty ironic because I have basically the same haircut as you (style and length) the same density, and pretty much the same hairline. I'll say in all honesty I know how you feel in that this is my first buzz as well and I've been feeling a bit naked without some length on my head. It's also a weird transition for people in your life because the first time they see you they're always going to say something and your head becomes the topic of discussion multiple times a day.

Here's the thing though.....I decided when I got this cut I was doing this for me...and as you saw in my other post, to aid me in the next 6 months of topical applications in my regimen. Basically what I expected was to take myself "out of the game", so to speak, for 6 months and then come back strong depending on the results.

What I discovered is that a lot of people have complemented me on the new cut. I'm not just talking a few obligatory acknowledgements and uncomfortable silence. Multiple people have said they really like the buzz cut AND have stated it multiple times....meaning the first time they saw it they looked it over and said they liked it. Then the next time they saw it (3 days later) they said they REALLY liked it a lot. This has happened with a number of people this last week...even the person that cut it. So this has helped, sure. But no matter what they would have said, you've got to say phuck it and KNOW you look good. Know you've still got most of your hair on your head even if some is missing. Know you're doing everything you can/want to do and in 6-12 months you'll be looking even better either through additional re-growth or at least a thickening of the hair you have through its healthy growth.

You've got a, no doubt, hot girlfriend who loves you and thinks you're hot (one thing I'm in between at the moment so you're one up on me ).

Those people sitting in the booth were not even thinking about you...especially your head. They were laughing at some conversation they were having between themselves. I've seen self-consciousness manifest itself like this before in myself and others and, trust me, you're only warping reality to your own detriment.

Own who you are...be confident. You're one of the lucky ones that have begun treatment early and happen to be alive during a time that makes keeping progression at bay a reality. These are good things.

Trust your girlfriend more than your insecurities. Perhaps try and direct your focus on other matters of self improvement such as working out. While you're waiting for your regimen to do its work get into better physical shape than you've ever been and then in 6 months you'll have 2 things that put you on top of your game. Split the time you'd normally be on these boards and read a few books you've wanted to read (unreated to hair ) and add some knowledge in the old noggin' .

Just don't let the possibility of shrinking follicles shrink your personality and enjoyment of life with it. When we're all dead and in the ground it won't matter how many hairs we had on our heads. What will matter will be how much we appreciated and lived life and if we let some superficial standards or our own insecurities interfere with getting the most out of life. Look into the eyes of your friends and partners without the clutter and noise of insecurity so you can truly appreciate the moment...every moment. You need to find that mental trick to be able to dismiss that voice in your head, that critic, that continually tries to tear you down. There are enough negative people in the world who will beat you up over stupid, trivial crap throughout the rest of your life. Give yourself a break and don't be one of them

H2O

 

[Guest]

Thanks H2O. What a great post. You should post some pics of yourself since you say your hair is roughly the same density and length as mine, so it would be interesting to see.

No one has complimented on my cut except for my girlfriend who cut it so she wasn't going to say it looked bad. Hahahaha. No one else has really said anything about it.

Take care.

 

[H2O]

No probs JayMan

I'll definitely work on taking a few pics...gotta do that for the baseline regimen documenting anyway...and I'll post 'em.

....and now I'm off to see a flick with some friends... :hairy:

Cheers

 

[TheGlamorous]

Your hair looks good lol 8)

That's my thourough response for the day!

 

[IBM]

Keep your head buzzed. They'll get used to it.

 

[Nathaniel]

I don't think those people were laughing at your hair bro. Trust me, we all here suffer from hairloss and can spot a balding guy pretty easily and your hair doesn't look bad at all.

What I'm trying to say is, do you really think that a bunch of guys or girls sitting at a table would be better than all of us at spotting hairloss? Hell no. Relax bro your hair is fine.

Aplunk: Copy and paste your posts to MS word or something before submitting. If you lose the post, you can just paste it back.

 

[Guest]

Thanks again H20.

Thanks Spec. I just wish that I saw it that way.

Thanks IBM. I'm not going to keep it buzzed though. I'm going to grow it out back to pre-buzz length(which will take 4 months, so until March) and hopefully it will look better than it did back in October, 5 months previous.

Thanks Nathaniel,

I know that maybe they weren't laughing at me, but it just seemed so coincidental. I think that they either were laughing at me being bald, or they were laughing at my buzz cut, or they were laughing at something totally unrelated. So two out of the three options involve me and feeling self-conscious.

 

[Guest]

As I've told you before I think that you're being paranoid. Your Hairloss is hardly noticible at all and certainly not obvious. (I know you dont like to hear this) honestly nobody is looking at you and thinking wow he's going bald.
As for your teacher your girlfreind is probably right here. Bald guys notice other peoples hair much more than anybody else. Its not unusual for hairloss to cause severe paranoia in its sufferers.

saf you may be right but i am totally paranoid, for better or worse, of people seeing it.

 

[Felk]

Mate there's no way they were laughing at your hair. You have way to much for them to do that, there's no way I could even tell, let alone them having enough certainty (and nastiness) to have a big laugh.

If anyone ever points it out or anything, say, m"eh it's probably just because of stress or something, see me in a couple of years and you'll see im not losing hair" - thanks to your meds, you'll be right.

 

[ginald]

of course they were laughing at your hair .....you're so bald.

in truth, mate i have no idea why you are so paranoid about what looks to me like a full head of hair.

quite honestly it looks like a p*ss take on those of us who are really bald.

what you going to be like when/if you really do go bald?

sorry to be so forthright but you really do need a kick up the jacksy.

you must get out more.

 

[Guest]

of course they were laughing at your hair .....you're so bald.

in truth, mate i have no idea why you are so paranoid about what looks to me like a full head of hair.

quite honestly it looks like a p*ss take on those of us who are really bald.

what you going to be like when/if you really do go bald?

sorry to be so forthright but you really do need a kick up the jacksy.

you must get out more.

ginald, i have almost 3000 posts on here. do you really think that i'd waste hours and hours on here if i wasn't balding? even i'm not that stupid.

 

[Guest]

of course they were laughing at your hair .....you're so bald.

in truth, mate i have no idea why you are so paranoid about what looks to me like a full head of hair.

quite honestly it looks like a p*ss take on those of us who are really bald.

what you going to be like when/if you really do go bald?

sorry to be so forthright but you really do need a kick up the jacksy.

you must get out more.

ginald, i have almost 3000 posts on here. do you really think that i'd waste hours and hours on here if i wasn't balding? even i'm not that stupid.

I don't think Ginald wanted to deny that you're going bald. I think what he meant is that you're not nowhere near bald yet, and I bet those kids weren't laughing at you, mate. Maybe some of them just told a joke or something? That has happened to me too when someone has passed me by.

 

[Guest]

I don't think Ginald wanted to deny that you're going bald. I think what he meant is that you're not nowhere near bald yet, and I bet those kids weren't laughing at you, mate. Maybe some of them just told a joke or something? That has happened to me too when someone has passed me by.

thanks ghg. your hair looks good.

 

[kalbo]

Trust me, your teacher was not implying that you're balding. No matter how long your hair was before, if you buzz your head w/ a 1/8th guard or less for the first time, you're bound to get comments like that. I remember getting all sorts of comments like "where'd all your hair go?" when I first did the 1/8th buzz and this was when I was 15 w/ a full head of hair. And I was buzzing my head w/ a 1/4th guard prior to that so trust me, the 1/8th buzz makes a world of a difference in the eyes of most people.

And if that group of friends were laughing at you b/c of your baldness then that must be the most easily amused group ever. Who the hell laughs at a balding dude that they don't even know? Seriously, you're just being WAY too paranoid.

And btw, your hair looks completely fine. Your gf's not lying to you when she says you can't tell you're balding.

 

[Felk]

Grrrr JayMan, lurkin gurd..... grrrr

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........

Ahem.

Sorry, it must be the nizoral...