Hair that’s parachuting from the head that isn’t growing back, leaving ever-wider bare patches, is devastating for women and for men, who it more commonly affects, due to hormone levels and other factors. While many men who find themselves with a shiny pate may take comfort in associations with virility, as floods of testosterone may be linked to follicle death. They may also experience joy at no longer having to bother washing their hair or brushing it, in the end every bald man, if he’s true to himself, wishes he had his crowning glory back.
Everyone, after all, no matter their gender or age, is vain to some degree, and looking good – with a full head of hair – is felt as an essential element of having good self-esteem and confidence. One third of 1,500 men questioned in a recent survey by Hair Ink Company said they had lost confidence in themselves as they began to lose their hair, and many of those questioned were desperate to get their hair back, even saying they would give up sex for a year if they could.
The enlightening survey about men’s attitudes to hair loss revealed deep-seated inner dissatisfaction and anxiety among those who were losing their hair or had already lost it all. Nearly 40 percent of men suffering from hair loss questioned in the survey said they felt degrees of envy when they saw other men with lots of hair. One aspect of the survey showed a clear lack of understanding about what causes hair loss, which is generally understood to be either hereditary or caused by hormone levels as well as a number of other factors, such as medical conditions and stress.
The survey showed that one in four believed that an over-abundance of hair led to losing it, while just over 7 percent were of the view that if you used your brain too much – in thinking – it caused your hair to fall out. Perhaps these men thought that overworked brains heated up, destroying hair follicles. Nearly 9 percent, meanwhile, said wearing a hat was a factor in hair loss.
Today there is more openness about hair loss, and many men as well as women are willing to talk about it and how it affects their self-confidence. This shift has been caused to a large extent by celebrities, from footballers to entertainment stars, publicly talking about their hair woes. Whereas before, those in the public gaze may have sought refuge in wigs and toupees, covering up their bald spots with crunchy and ill-fitting hairpieces that were all too evident, leading in some cases to widespread derision, now some celebrities’ hair-loss treatments have been documented by the clinics they attended, and the public figures have spoken openly about their confidence-shaking ordeal and how glad they are that they managed to remedy it.
This had led to a sea change in how hair loss is viewed, particularly among the younger generations. There’s no longer any shame or anxiety about it, in losing hair or getting treatments. That’s because there are workable treatments available, and now everyone can regain their crowning glory, and their confidence.
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