Identity is Key

[Exodus]

He should be ok Im a diffuse thinner with a NW5 pattern at 22. You'd think life is a living hell, but so far it's been ok. Obviously the more the treatment works, the better chance I have of maintaining and thickening.

[mpalardy]

I'm glad to hear that there are other Norwood 2-3s making the most of it. I have the 2 or 3A type, and recession has been quite slow. I'm 33 now, and first started noting thinning when I was 25. It's a rate that I think I could live with--and, being unmarried and a not quite secure career-wise, ought to be quite an impetus to get such going again. Thanks for the good words, guys.

[Fixed by 35]

"baldness bullies" and, it seems, "gym bullies".


There's nowt wrong with working out. Regardless of your hair surely everyone would be better off spending more time in the gym.

It's an interesting theory. On the face of it, going to the gym is a 'good thing.' However, that's when you consider the argument in a vacuum when your only choices are 'go to the gym' and 'don't go to the gym.' When you add other options to the mix, such as going for a walk or a run, the gym starts to be a less good option. It costs money. Other people leave their sweat and germs on the machines for you to pick up. You may well drive to the gym and maybe even pay for parking. Etc. Given all the choices, most people would not be better off going to the gym. They'd be much better off saving their money, eating better and walking more. Add the option of doing some heavy gardening or DIY and suddenly you not only get fit but also get a reward from the labour. Now the opportunity cost in time use makes going to the gym even more expensive!

Hmm. I just don't like gyms!

edited to add: becoming a bodybuilder is easier said than done and should take a lot of discipline (and I ain't one by the way)

Yeah, it does take a lot of discipline. And time. Which is why building oneself up says a lot about a person. It says that person spends a lot of time in the gym, may well subsist on protein shakes etc. It also demands the kind of discipline that means you must really want to do it. Most guys where I'm from prefer nights out drinking, TV, good food and a whole host of other hobbies (including other forms of fitness that require a very different body shape). I would therefore presume that most bald guys around here are like that too and conforming to the body builder ideal makes no sense and holds no appeal whatsoever, which is why it is not a viable option.

As for the fake tan, well.... okay, so maybe if you're the sort of guy who uses balm after shaving and you wax your chest hair you might be in to this stuff but I'll save my money!

[burtandernie]

Hair loss just kind of compounds all your other problems its another unfixable problem on top of all the other ones you have.
I have always thought going to the gym is stupid your way better off getting exercise other ways and just saving the time/money from that. Unless your doing something important like trying to get into college football or some real sport for money what is the point of having muscle its probably unhealthy long term compared to just staying skinny.

[BigThinker]

what is the point of having muscle.

It makes you look good and feel good? How many women do you know that like fat dudes for being fat, or skinny dudes for being skinny? And, are those women desirable in the first place? Probably not, or at least few and far between.

The extent that it raises your attractiveness is certainly limited, but it's significant.

I have always thought going to the gym is stupid your way better off getting exercise other ways and just saving the time/money from that.

Then don't get muscular. Be bald and skinny instead. You're just doing every other man on the face of the Earth a favor; one less dude capitalizing on a modifiable attribute to contend for women.

[hage]

It's an interesting theory. On the face of it, going to the gym is a 'good thing.' However, that's when you consider the argument in a vacuum when your only choices are 'go to the gym' and 'don't go to the gym.' When you add other options to the mix, such as going for a walk or a run, the gym starts to be a less good option. It costs money. Other people leave their sweat and germs on the machines for you to pick up. You may well drive to the gym and maybe even pay for parking. Etc. Given all the choices, most people would not be better off going to the gym. They'd be much better off saving their money, eating better and walking more. Add the option of doing some heavy gardening or DIY and suddenly you not only get fit but also get a reward from the labour. Now the opportunity cost in time use makes going to the gym even more expensive!

All good points and understood. Of course the gym does have one other massive plus and that is all the women, especially in the yoga classes apparently. Not that I leer () but I have happened to inconspiculously catch their reflections in one of the thousand mirrors.