11 Secret Strategies For Dealing With Hair Loss

Sooner or later it happens to everyone. You may start with a bit of thinning or the arrival of a bald spot at the crown of your skull. You are losing your hair. What’s next? Do you hide the evidence? Experiment with hair oils and potions? Sign up for transplants? Embrace your receding hairline as the harbinger of a new phase in life?

There’s no single right answer. Here are a 11 proven options for coping with hair loss.

1. Minoxidil

The most common topical medication for hair loss is Minoxidil. You can buy it over the counter at your local pharmacy. Minoxidil comes in a foam or cream that can be applied easily at home. This ointment is not going to restore you to a full head of hair, but after three to four months you are likely to see a noticeable improvement.

Moreover, Minoxidil has proved to be effective in slowing or stopping future hair loss. So even if it doesn’t give you the full head of hair you enjoyed in your youth, at least you can retain your current hairline.

2. Shave Your Head

The easiest way to disguise your impending baldness is to hurry the process along. Don’t worry about a receding hairline – just shave off the hair that remains.

The advantage to this strategy is that no one knows you’re balding. If you’re worried about looking less masculine, or older, you can stop worrying. A bald pate is considered a sexy statement now that so many rock stars and celebrities have embraced the blade.

If you choose this option, you will have to make it a part of your daily routine. If you skip a day or two, your receding hairline will become visible, so you must maintain a smooth scalp at all times.

3. A New Style

Not ready to shave your head? A less drastic solution is to ask your barber for a haircut that will flatter your new hairline.

Barbers know all about thinning hair and receding hairlines, and their expertise can save you from embarrassment. Confide in a competent barber and you will be in good hands.

How do you know your barber is competent? There’s one way to know for sure. If he recommends a comb-over, you’re in the wrong barber shop.

Brushing a long lock of hair over your bald spot hides nothing. It makes your problem more prominent and it makes you look ridiculous. A good, regularly maintained haircut should be more than enough to reduce the impact of hair loss.

4. Don’t Sweat It

Here’s a 100 percent foolproof way of dealing with your hair loss: Simply decide you don’t give a damn. Giving up stress and worry is the easiest way to solve a hair-loss problem. Stress can actually speed up your hair loss in addition to making you look worse in the mirror. So a relaxed attitude can actually help you preserve the hair you have left.

Yes, hair loss alters your appearance. But you don’t look as bad as you are afraid you do. It happens to everyone. Embrace the change and stop worrying.

5. Cultivate Patience

So you’ve scouted out the options and decided upon a treatment. You’re rubbing lotion into your scalp, or altering your diet, or putting your trust in a special shampoo fortified with secret herbs from the Orient. That’s fine. It’s your money and you can spend it as you wish.

But you must also be patient. Every hair-loss treatment requires several weeks before results are noticeable. Even the best treatment won’t deliver results overnight. Once you’ve committed to a plan, stick with it. Give the plan time to work. Be patient.

6. Hats and Bandanas

Hair loss may be inevitable, but you don’t have to share the current state of your scalp with everyone. Lots of men find comfort in wearing a hat, cap, or bandana.

Even young men are wrapping their heads in bandanas these days. You can hide your balding head and be stylish at the same time.

The right hat can lend character to your appearance. You’ll become known for it. Think of Bruno Mars. Sherlock Holmes. Harrison Ford in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

A hat can be attractive, even sexy. As an added advantage, a hat can keep your head warm in the winter and protect it from the summer sun.

As a last resort, consider converting to Judaism. The yarmulkes worn by observant Jewish men are precisely the right size, and worn in precisely the right place, to hide a bald spot. Truly, the lord works in miraculous ways.

7. Accept the Inevitable

The easiest way to deal with hair loss is to accept it. All the treatments disguises and hair solutions are only putting off the inevitable truth: One day there will be no hair left on the top your head. Accepting this reality is actually a crucial step in dealing with it.

Sooner or later, almost every man experiences thinning hair, a receding hairline, and the development of a bald spot. This doesn’t diminish you as a person, and it certainly doesn’t mean the end of your life as a virile, attractive man. (Does the name Sean Connery ring any bells?)

If you just accept that hair loss is now part of your life, then the impact that it will have on you is minimal.

8. Remember: Less Hair Means More Testosterone

Doctors say that the men who lose their hair early are those with higher testosterone levels. Testosterone is the male virility hormone – the one that puts hair on your chest and fuels your sex drive.

Your balding head is an announcement to the world that your blood stream carries an abundant supply of testosterone. The inevitable conclusion – that you are a potent, virile man and probably a superb lover – will not be lost on women who are in the know.

9. Update Your Diet

Researchers say that a change in your diet may slow or halt your hair loss. It’s especially important to avoid high concentrations of saturated fat. (This is good advice anyway, as saturated fat is a known contributor to heart disease and high blood pressure.)

Studies of Japanese men, who rarely suffer from hair loss, have found a link between full heads of hair and the Japanese diet, which is low in saturated fats. Researchers have not yet shown that changing your diet can halt or even slow the progression of your hair loss, but it can’t hurt. And the health benefits are undeniable.

10. Look After What Is Left

It’s important to make the most out of the hair that remains. Grooming tips and lifestyle changes can make your remaining hair look its best and may even mask the effects of your hair loss. Pat your hair dry instead of rubbing it vigorously after you wash it. This will prevent you from pulling out hair as you dry it.

Sleep with a silk scarf wrapped around your head or switch to smooth pillowcases. The smooth cloth feels great and it helps protect your hair. Ask a hairdresser to recommend a mild shampoo and conditioner that will keep your hair healthy. The right hair products can increase the volume and shine of your remaining hair, making it appear that you have little or no hair loss.

11. Get a Transplant

Doctors have made impressive strides in treating hair loss with cosmetic surgery. Men with deep pockets can have hair follicles plucked from elsewhere on their body and relocated to their scalps. After time, when the hair has taken root and grown out, the result is impressive.

This operation is expensive, of course, and generally not covered by health insurance policies. Hair transplants look great for a while, but some patients report that they continue to experience hair loss. Surgery should always be accompanied by drug treatment to help make the new hairline permanent.

Be sure to review client recommendations before committing to this expensive last resort.

FURTHER READING: 3 WAYS To Tell If You Have A Receding Hairline – & What To Do About It!