Can you laugh at being bald?

I first noticed I had some missing hair at the front when I was 19 years old but my hair was still quite thick. Later in my 20's it was starting to become noticeable. I absolutely hated it. I used to have the comb over but bravely opted for a number 4. A few weeks ago I had a number 1 which is only a few millimetres long. I've had to accept it and now am able to crack a joke about it.

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Permalink Reply by Kimberly on May 21, 2013 at 4:38pm

at one time in my life, probably not, but better to laugh than cry! I recently had to have a total hysterectomy and when talking in pre-opt, told them that I have alopecia and wore a wig so if my wig came off during surgery to please put it back on best they could! and laughed. they laughed with me. I think we need to learn to be comfortable with who we are, hair, no hair, leg, or no leg, and so on....life goes on! :-)

Permalink Reply by Sue Ellen on May 21, 2013 at 5:36pm

Tonya, I totally empathize with you. Although I'm honest about wearing a wig because I have 3 different ones in different styles and colors, I'm not comfortable wearing a scarf or hat outside the house. I don't know how I'm going to deal with the heat this summer. I'm seriously considering eyebrow and eyeliner tatoo but I have such sensitive skin, I'm afraid I'll get a bad reaction. Sending you hugs.

Permalink Reply by Nuni Ta on May 21, 2013 at 6:45pm

Good on you!! I think is different when you are a girl though. In my case was only a week maybe and I was bald. I didn't have the time to get use to it or to accept.
Nowadays I try to be ok with it, as it is me and who I am.

Good luck!

Permalink Reply by Millie on May 21, 2013 at 7:33pm
It took a while to laugh about being bald! Now I laugh all the time sometimes my daughter talks abt washing her hair and styling it and ill say something like me too! She just laughs really hard! You get used to it
Permalink Reply by Fiasaurie on May 22, 2013 at 10:12am

I lost all my hair (AU) one year ago and like Denise says.....Humour was my salvation to! My coworkers tells me that it is easier for them to when they can see that I´m done dealing with my AU and accept that Im problaby going to be bald for the rest of my life. They telling me every day (so does my family) that it is so nice to see a smile on my face again after one year in (what feels like) hell. It takes time but we need to keep up with laugh and smile.

Permalink Reply by Bald and Fabulous AKA Terri on May 22, 2013 at 1:31pm
that is the key to find humour is what may seem like a horrible situation. not to take things too seriously. I often crack hair jokes. especially if work is stressful. .. I will say something like "its enough to pull your hair out. oh wait I can't can I borrow yours"
Permalink Reply by Miss Erica on May 22, 2013 at 11:29pm

Laugh, smile and take it all in! I don't think my baldness has been serious since I lost all my hair! From my kids to my husband, it's been a lot of jokes! I don't think I'd manage any other way! Sometimes it hurts, then you just go with it because people don't think it bothers you...just smile a lot.

It's ok when you don't want to laugh anymore too...that's perfectly normal.

I think the first month was laughing and the rest was, how do I move on?

Good luck and God Bless
xoxoErica

Permalink Reply by NORMAN ABBOTT on May 23, 2013 at 4:17am

Can you laugh at being bald? CAN YOU! people make fun of us on the daily, now self lol.

Permalink Reply by Vesselsong on May 23, 2013 at 9:06pm

Tomorrow I will be wig-free for one year. I can say, "I have learned to laugh, even through the insults, insensitivity and ignorance about Alopecia.

Keep looking up - God is looking down!

Permalink Reply by Tovah on June 6, 2013 at 9:37pm

You have to.

Once you get over the shock, do all the things you think will bring it back and have come to peace with it, you realize ikt doesn't define you. Now I'm just like..."Are any of my bald spots showing?" Yes, it took alot to get to this place but it will happen.

Permalink Reply by Ivan on June 16, 2013 at 9:28am

It would be an extremely strange person who was not devastated by the sudden loss of their scalp hair. I personally think that it's worse when its patchy. Initially we all try to cover up the patches; often it becomes hopeless and then arguably the lot has to be shaved off. One then can face white patches of scalp which appear to be unduly white, and hair patches which are clearly visible even after shaving with a cut throat razor. (Please be careful). The razor comes out twice a day, the tanning machine far too often, and all in all a dark cloud descends and mild (or worse) forms of mental illness can creep in.

Can we laugh about it? Wow, that's seriously difficult to imagine, even for a mature person with a strong character.

I certainly didn't laugh, least not in the early years. Beaten by my father for having too long (cover up) hair; then shouted at and vehicle hooted at after when I went out running each day (long before the days when jogging became invented let alone became popular); and regular cries of "Kojak," or "Baldy" abounded.

It became impossible to secure work unless I wore a wig, and if I walked into an interview wigless I felt a wall of hostility which almost bowled me over. In the 1960s there was no fashion head shaving or skinheads, and a young bald person was interpreted as a hostile individual, certainly in the U.K.

What was there to laugh about? I went from being extrovert and friendly to being introverted and nervous.

Although I soon discarded wigs, possibly what hurt the most was my fiance asking me to marry her in a wig so as to 'look nice.' Nowadays I would have said "Get lost," and walked away. But initially the whole damned experience made me grateful to have any fiance on any terms. Only 21 years old but arguably a wimp then.

For me the wigs episode was a great mistake, likewise getting married (bar two wonderful sons), and not going self-employed from the age of 16.

So any general advice I may give out now is not based on finding an easy road from the beginning, but rather (for me) from making mistake upon mistake.

Nowadays what I miss the most is being unable to grow facial hair as, by nature, I'm naturally a beard person.

I'm now of an age when a lot of men are bald anyway, and so I'm easily accepted particularly in this 'go as you please' age.

So, can I now laugh at my baldness? Hell no. But fifty years on it no longer bothers me so much.

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