Shaving your head is NOT a sign of defeat. It’s a sign of triumph. It’s a sign you’re taking ownership over your identity, on your terms, as a mature and self-accepting guy.
According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), more than 50 percent of all men over the age of 50 will be affected by “male pattern baldness”. So in perspective, it’s pointless to delay the look that almost all men are destined to embody.
Facing The Fear Factor
Sure, getting older can be daunting, but avoiding this reality is even worse. After all, there’s nothing sexy about denial — Prince William is a prime example. He parades around with some sad peekaboos of peach fuzz, when he should be taking cues from Bruce Willis.
But the question of “when?” is the conundrum. How severe should hair loss be before you officially join your bald brothers? Let’s talk about when to shave your head.
The Bald Scale Basics
As we age, our scalp becomes an unpredictable map of growth patterns. The hair loss scale measures these patterns, ranging from mildly thinning to full-blown, while each one’s has its own pattern of leftover patches.
Like a map, the hair loss scale represents growth for the following zones: front, temples, midsection and crown.
Why You Should Use The Bald Scale
The bald scale exists to help guys determine the status of their hair loss. We prefer to think of it as a way to cure your denial and start taking action.
But unlike other spectrums, like the ones measuring fluid politics or sexuality, the one measuring baldness doesn’t let you change sides. There’s no cheating the scale. Not amount of comb-overs will mimic your hairy adolescence.
Instead of trying to become an expert illusionist, get real with your situation, as many men do, and shave.
Diagnose Yourself… Honestly
Based on the illustrations shown in the scale, choose the most accurate representation of your hair loss. Your condition might fall somewhere in-between, but to keep things easier for you, this chart simplifies the most common stages.
Then, comes the hardest part, How far down this scale must you be in order to become a denier.
Saying Goodbye To Hair is Hard
Now comes the hard part: accepting where you fall fall on the scale and consider shaving your head. You’ll notice that there can be two or more similar illustrations ranking at the same number. However, each one has slight differences that are marked with an “A” or “Vertex”.
For example in both stage 3 and 3A, we see a similar receding hairline, but with a subtle difference: stage 3 only shows mild thinning at the temples, while stage 3A is more noticeable. And stage 3 Vertex represents the transition point where the scalp goes from a horizontal hairline to a vertical one, where hair loss starts the beginnings of a bald crown.
Find Your Cut Off
Once you’ve identified your stage of hair loss, be ready to play by the rules.
Stage 3 is generally the cutoff. If you’re a Stage 3 Vertex or higher, gather your guts and love for life to reach for the razor, knowing with 100% certainty you’re coming out a winner.
Don’t Be a Procrastinator
You might be tempted to wait until stage 4, but realistically, stalling is pointless. Time is a precious entity and wasting it with a lousy hairline will just devalue your pride and rob your opportunity to feel confident, handsome and free in your own skin. Or a less-polite manner of speaking, you’ll just be blundering through life looking like a defective chia pet.
Don’t ruin the potential of your handsomeness. Follow in the footsteps of our bald winner icons like John Travolta or Samuel L Jackson. As these men elegantly show, we should NEVER feel demoralized when going bald.
