Friar Tuck hair loss and what can you do about.

Friar Tuck Hair Loss, The Tonsure Pattern.

Seems like any movie about Robin Hood or any film based on medieval England there’s always a Friar Tuck type character in it. If you don’t know who Friar Tuck was, he was basically a Friar or some kind of Monk who had an extremely large balding crown with a fringe of hair surrounding it.

I don’t know why the Friar Tuck came into fashion back in medieval times. However, I do have some theories. One of which is that it simulates a halo type appearance.

My other theory is that in those times monks wore a kippah or yarmulke type cap, like religious Jews or the Pope wears today.

Does Minoxidil regrow lost hair?

It is well known that Minoxidil does regrow some lost hair.

But if you’re expecting Minoxidil to regrow all of your lost hair, especially if you’ve been balding for quite some time, then I hate to disappoint you but it will not regrow all of your lost hair.

Minoxidil works best when you catch your balding very early. In combination with Propecia and the use of a Dermaroller, you can really make the most out of Minoxidil’s effectiveness.

But don’t expect any miracles. It may slow down you’re balding, but it won’t prevent it. You may be satisfied if it slows your balding down to give you enough time to deal with it and explore your options.

However, it will never give you the head of hair that you once had at the height of your youth.

Nor will Minoxidil do much for a receding hairline.

I know when I first started using Minoxidil, I thought if it can buy me just a few years before they come out with a much more effective treatment or procedure, then it might be worth it.

I’m sure as all of you either have read about one latest breakthrough or another that some are still in FDA trials or in clinical trials that will revolutionize how we tackle balding.

You may watch videos and see before and after photos, read all the scientific research studies etc.

But as someone who has gone through this stage back in the 90s, I can tell you that I’ve read almost the same things that you’re reading now. About this clinical breakthrough with that promising drug or treatment etc. This was back in the 90s.

Yet here we are in 2019 and I don’t see anything on the horizon that’s even close to FDA approval that will totally reverse a person’s balding or hair loss.

The latest break through I’ve read about was the cloning of hair cells and hair follicles. Then duplicating them thousands of times and using those follicles to replant your head with. This in theory, can basically restore an entire full head of hair with just a small sample of your own hair follicles. 

However, the more I’ve read about this, the more I’ve found out that they have a lot more research to do. There are issues of whether or not these new follicles can grow outside a petri dish.

How long the life cycle of these follicles will be, as well as the direction these hair follicles will grow in once transplanted. Don’t forget, to make a natural looking hairline and a thick head of hair, you actually need to consider that direction and angle that each hair follicle grows.

When you consider the tens of thousands of hair follicles required to restore a full head of hair, that can be quite daunting. 

However, all is not lost. 3D printing technology along with AI and who knows what can come of it. But my advice, don’t hold your breath.

The sooner you come to facing your own balding inevitability, the better you’ll be able to deal with and overcome it. 

Does Rogaine fix bald spots?

Rogaine and Rogaine alternatives that contain the active ingredient of Minoxidil with a 5% concentration, can fix bald spots to a certain degree depending on the individual as well as the extent of the bald spot.

If you catch your bald spot forming early and it’s small enough, you may experience significant regrowth. Possibly just enough to cover that bald spot.

Now how thick you can cover and fix that bald spot with Rogaine or equivalent Minoxidil alternative brands depends on of course, the individual.

If the bald spot is too big and the thinning area is too sparse, then Rogaine nor other Minoxidil alternatives would be able to fix that on bald spot enough that may be aesthetically pleasing enough for you.

How do you cover up a balding crown?

This again depends on how big the balding spot on your crown is. If the balding crown is new and just forming, you still may have enough thinning hair left for Minoxidil to do the trick.

In fact, Minoxidil not only may help regrow some of that hair on your balding crown, it may also stop or at least temporarily stall your balding.

In addition, many men find the use of a derma roller in conjunction with Minoxidil helps with its absorption.

However, you should use ideally a .25 mm sized Dermaroller. You don’t want the Dermaroller to penetrate too deeply to where the Minoxidil could penetrate the bloodstream.

However, keratin fibers, even in products like Toppik, do have their flaws. For example, they’re not waterproof or water resistant.

So, if you catch yourself out in the rain or a light drizzle even, it could cause the keratin fibers to become wet, causing a run off. This will mark your forehead and face with runny, dark colored smears.

Almost looking like a woman with mascara running down her cheeks after she’s been crying. Not a pretty sight on a man that’s for sure. 

Also in more intimate situations, where a person is running their fingers through your hair or merely touching it. They could get their fingers smeared with the stuff.

So Toppik as well as other keratin fiber products do you have their shortcomings.

Is shorter hair better for thinning hair?

Shorter hair is definitely better for thinning hair. Aesthetically, you can call it, “the less is more” hairstyle for thinning hair.

Whether you have a receding hairline, a balding crown or just an overall thinning of your hair on the top, short hair and short hairstyles always look much better than if you try to grow it out and use it to cover balding areas. 

Additionally, shorter haircuts give you, as well as people around you, a chance to become adjusted to your appearance with less and less hair.

The last thing you want to do is to try to cover it up or worse get a hair system. It does take a lot of guts to come to the conclusion that you are eventually going to go bald.

Especially, if you start experiencing baldness when you’re young, like in your 20s.

But the sooner you face reality and come to the conclusion that eventually you’re going to be without hair, the easier it will be. 

I personally have been shaving my head for over 20 years. I’ve been shaving it for so long that I can’t even imagine what I would look like with a full head of hair.

In fact, I don’t even know if I would want it when I think of all the maintenance involved.

But every man has to come to terms with it in their own way and make their own conclusions. 

How can I thicken my hair and make my thin hair look fuller?

To make the most out of your thinning hair and to make your thin hair look fuller, you should take these basic steps. These steps are not going to reverse your male pattern baldness.

In fact, I hope that these steps will not only serve as a temporary and cosmetic stop gap measure, but will actually discourage you from trying.

The sooner you come to terms with your hair loss, the better it will be. 

I personally don’t like giving this kind of advice since the best option for you would be to just shave your head bald.

Get it over with and you’ll find that it’s almost like jumping in a cool lake or diving into the ocean at the break of dawn.

Shaving your head will feel like a fresh new start, but more importantly it will be more of a sigh of relief than anything else.

Let’s go through the steps on how you can thicken your hair and make your thin hair look fuller:

1. Look into getting Minoxidil. Minoxidil now comes in a 5% active ingredient solution, the most famous brand being of course, Rogaine. However, there are cheaper brands that are now on the market since Johnson & Johnson, the makers of Rogaine’s patent’s, has already expired. If you want to explore your options, short of any invasive procedures like hair transplants, then I would make an appointment to see a dermatologist to see if you can get a prescription for Propecia as well.
2. Get a short haircut. To give you the appearance of fuller, thicker hair, then out of any of the steps, this one is the most effective. There really is something to be said about the “less is more” aesthetic in making your thinning hair look thicker.
3. You can start with using hair thickening shampoos and conditioners, which usually contain a thickening agent called panthenol. It actually strengthens hair strands making your hair look and feel a little thicker.
   
4. Try some hair thickening serum. It doesn’t take much. Just dab some in your palm and rub it through your hair and style as usual. This will also add thickness since most hair serums contain panthenol as well. However, unlike panthenol that is found in shampoos and conditioners, you do not wash this serum out. Just style your hair with it in. This adds an extra layer of panthenol to the panthenol residue left behind from the shampoo and conditioner that you use beforehand.
   
5. Short of actually getting a hair system, you can start applying some keratin hair fibers like Toppik to your thinning areas. Know that these keratin fibers will not help you with a receding hairline as far as restoring the hairline’s appearance.
   

However, keratin fibers like Toppik work for adding fullness and thickness to thinning areas on the scalp itself.

Toppik comes in a variety of hair colors and you need to buy the Toppik hair color which best matches your own natural hair color.

It comes in a metal container and you sprinkle the hair fibers sparingly over the thinning areas of your scalp.

This will help cover the thinning areas as the keratin fibers attach themselves to the thinning strands of your hair, giving your scalp better coverage and fullness.

As I’ve said above, keratin fiber products for your hair do have their drawbacks. So consider them wisely beforehand.

Bottom line guys, if you have hair loss. Whether that’s hair loss turning you into Friar Tuck, which is better known as balding at the crown or any other type of hair loss, the best way to deal with it is to just shave your head.

You may eventually come to that conclusion yourself.

You’ll find out that once you shave your head, the only regret you’ll have is not shaving it sooner. As Charles Barkley says, “just come home, come on home man. Shave your head.”