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Permalink Reply by hagster on August 31, 2017 at 12:26am

I (personally) think head covering msnagement i.e. scarfs, hats, wigs, etc is much easier being bald. And, I'm all about looking good in a little amount of time. I felt like I looked worse than the main character in "Beetlejuice" (the movie) with what hair I had left, so I shaved my head on New Years Day. In the 8 months since, I have only shaved my head once - about a month ago - and it was only because the slight stubble felt like sandpaper. I have had no hair growth to notice.

A little tip: my son shaves his head with a blade especially for heads and still gets ingrown hairs. So, when I decided to go completely bald, I cut my hair really short with clippers and then used an electric razor to finish the job. This is how I was advised to do it for my best friend just before she lost her hair from chemo and I figured if it worked well for cancer patients and their extremely sensitive scalps, then it should work for me.

That said, I have read on here that some of the people shave their heads daily - which would indicate hair growth to me. As we all say, everyone and every case is individual and alopecia has its own course of action for each of us.

And, yes, the hair pattern patchiness can show on a shaved head. There is a discussion on here about that very topic.

Finally, a basic wig will fit slightly different with hair than without hair. They are made somewhat full at the crown to be able to pile one's hair to the top of the head. Yep, basic wigs are made for people with hair! It may need to be taken up a bit at the crown, or you might need to put something under the crown for fullness if it is too flat. And, attaching / securing them uses different methods with hair than being bald.

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Permalink Reply by Jo on September 1, 2017 at 5:44pm

For me going bald worked much better than trying to cover my baldness.  I am 57, had very thick wavy hair almost shoulder length for as long as I can remember.  My first bald spot appeared in March, 2017 - and from then until May I lost at least 90% of my hair, many bald spots and thinned throughout.  I decided to shave my head in June, against the recommendation of my hair dresser who felt it would be too much of a shocker.  I was very happy I shaved my head (a barber did it) and had a second shaving done with a straightedge razor in early July.  The hair has been growing back but in answer to your question, the bald spots still show through - at least as of now and no you do not have to keep shaving.  The hair is continuing to grow but at a very slow pace and is dark in some areas and white in others and almost bald in others.  I believe the shaving helped my re-growth as before shaving my bald spots were bald-bald and now they have some sparse re-growth while other areas are very thick.  I tried on wigs but don't like anything on my head and found them uncomfortable and made my hot.  Do what is comfortable for you but one good thing these days is bald is becoming more and more common even among women.  I've been told many times that bald looks very good on me and I should keep my hair pixie short if it ever grows back,  I'm married with kids and grandkids and everyone now is used to my new look and I'm actually liking it myself.  Hope all works out well for you.

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