Going Bald
Apr. 19th, 2023 08:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerI'm going bald. That was a startling realization I had at the tender age of just 23. Hawk and I had been to the beach the day before, and as I was looking in the bathroom mirror to apply lotion to my face I realized that I had sunburn on my forehead in places where I didn't even know I had forehead!
The basic statistics of baldness— the fact that 70% of men, and even 25% of women[1], eventually experience significant hair loss— didn't comfort me. The key word is eventually. There I was, at not even a quarter century old, feeling like I was already marching to the grave. At age 23 was it already "Game over" and "Time to die"?!? 😰💀🤯
Over the years since then I've watched my forehead grow gradually more exposed. Fortunately it has been a slow process; I didn't go bald in 5-10 years, or anything like that. But a lot of years have passed since then. And starting 7-8 years back I noticed I was also developing male pattern baldness, with my hair thinning in a patch on the back of my head.
Well, I don't have a picture showing my receding hair at age 23 [2], nor do I have a picture of the thinning area in back 7-8 years ago (though seeing it in video someone recorded is how I first noticed) but I do have a picture of the current state:
I took this selfie yesterday. You can see that I've still got a hairline on my forehead. Even after many years it hasn't crept over the top and down my back! (Yet.) And that balding spot in the back has gotten thinner.
In pictures like this, where there's brighter light above my head, it almost looks like I'm bald on top and combing hair sideways over it. I am not combing my hair sideways. I swore that to myself at age 23 lo these many years ago, and I intend to keep that promise. There's still hair on top, no bald spot, just a thinning spot. When I go bald up there I will shave it all off rather than comb the last 3 hairs sideways.
Update: More thoughts in Part 2.
_____
[1] At the time I'd read that hair loss affected 25% of women. A search today finds figures of 40-60% from reputable sources depending on definitions.
[2] Actually I do have a photograph of me showing my receding hairline at age 23, but it's in a box of prints from years ago that I don't feel like digging out.
The basic statistics of baldness— the fact that 70% of men, and even 25% of women[1], eventually experience significant hair loss— didn't comfort me. The key word is eventually. There I was, at not even a quarter century old, feeling like I was already marching to the grave. At age 23 was it already "Game over" and "Time to die"?!? 😰💀🤯
Over the years since then I've watched my forehead grow gradually more exposed. Fortunately it has been a slow process; I didn't go bald in 5-10 years, or anything like that. But a lot of years have passed since then. And starting 7-8 years back I noticed I was also developing male pattern baldness, with my hair thinning in a patch on the back of my head.
Well, I don't have a picture showing my receding hair at age 23 [2], nor do I have a picture of the thinning area in back 7-8 years ago (though seeing it in video someone recorded is how I first noticed) but I do have a picture of the current state:
I took this selfie yesterday. You can see that I've still got a hairline on my forehead. Even after many years it hasn't crept over the top and down my back! (Yet.) And that balding spot in the back has gotten thinner.
In pictures like this, where there's brighter light above my head, it almost looks like I'm bald on top and combing hair sideways over it. I am not combing my hair sideways. I swore that to myself at age 23 lo these many years ago, and I intend to keep that promise. There's still hair on top, no bald spot, just a thinning spot. When I go bald up there I will shave it all off rather than comb the last 3 hairs sideways.
Update: More thoughts in Part 2.
_____
[1] At the time I'd read that hair loss affected 25% of women. A search today finds figures of 40-60% from reputable sources depending on definitions.
[2] Actually I do have a photograph of me showing my receding hairline at age 23, but it's in a box of prints from years ago that I don't feel like digging out.
