How To Grow A Man Bun With Thin Hair

Tutorial on how to wear a manbun or topknot if yous're balding

I've been getting some questions nearly the human bun hairstyle for bald men. Instead of answering each and every question, I thought that it would be best to simply publish this guide on the man bun for balding guys. Different the thick and lustrous manbun manes that we're shown on magazines, Boob tube and websites 24-hour interval in and day out, the reality is that about l% of men in the U.s. (and in most other countries) over the age of 35 are balding.

Balding may non necessarily mean a shiny dome that would brand Vin Diesel proud. No, not at all. Balding, too known as male pattern baldness or androgenetic alopecia, normally starts with a receding hairline, so it'southward very common for many men (especially the younger ones) to non be enlightened that they are balding equally the starting time two stages of male pattern alopecia can become unnoticed with medium length hair and long-length hair. Then all hell breaks loose when you notice that the funny shape of your hairline that y'all were developing equally of lately is, in fact, the first stage of a (very-soon) life with no pilus.

A picture of a bald Vin Diesel with no hair to tie a man bun hairstyle

To give you a better idea of how male pattern alopecia develops, hither is a diagram showing the 7 stages of male pilus loss. These stages are known every bit Norwood stages and the model used to diagnose male pattern baldness (i.e. the diagram below) is known as the Norwood calibration or Hamilton-Norwood scale (named after Dr James Hamilton and Dr O'Tar Norwood who created and revised this hair-loss diagnosing model in the 1950s and 1970s respectively).

A diagram of the famous Norwood scale used to diagnose male pattern baldness

The first stage of the Norwood scale is of a non-balding male, although not all non-balding men will take such a round hairline. By the second stage, the balding has started. Comport in mind that male pattern baldness ordinarily follows this stage procedure, but the hair loss may sometimes occur at the same time all across the top of the head in what's known equally diffuse pattern alopecia and diffuse unpatterned alopecia.

I need some tough dear, dude, so tin can I have a man bun when balding or not?

Essentially, that'south what you really desire to know, and so I volition be as clear as possible. Yes, you tin can grow a man bun if you lot're balding. No i can stop you in the same manner that no one can stop me from walking naked beyond the highway looking to get hitting by a car.

A picture of a bearded hipster with a receding hairline caused by his top knot hairstyle being tied too tight You see, with male pattern alopecia, you're not just losing hair but your follicles which are withal growing hair strands are also weakening as time passes by. This is specially applicable to the pilus follicles on the superlative of your head, as the pilus follicles on the sides and (lower) back of the caput seem to exist resistant to androgenetic alopecia.

Weaker pilus follicles do not agree upward the pilus strands against tension equally well as a good for you hair follicle. This means that, if yous pull your hair with enough strength, you will rip off enough of pilus strands that were on their way to existence lost but which were all the same in that location as their corresponding follicles were weakening. Furthermore, hair follicles during male blueprint baldness are gradually starved from essential nutrients for hair growth, hence the reason for balding men having low-quality hair strands that interruption easily. All in all, it's one heck of a mess and I feel for you guys losing your manes.

With all this said, the amend question would thus exist as follows.

Should I grow a human bun if I am losing my hair and going bald?

It's hither where I can give you two answers. The short answer is no; the longer reply is "maybe". I've gone through these two answers in our detailed man-bun and pinnacle-knot FAQ so make sure to also read that linked FAQ guide as yous will learn even more almost the human being bun, including whether it is suitable for you lot equally you lose your hair. I don't listen going through the topic again in this guide, so let'southward continue with information technology.

In terms of aesthetics, the man bun will start to look bad in one case you lot're at a Norwood 3 stage and progressing. At that phase, your frontal hairline has receded too much and the pilus strands left on the front are thinning out and falling; furthermore, hair loss on the vertex (where the man bun sits on) starts to accelerate too. See this flick beneath for a young guy who (unfortunately) is balding and is already a Norwood 3 and on his style to a Norwood 4, which is a sorry-all the same-common pattern for men who offset losing their hair at a immature historic period.

A picture of a young balding male with a man bun hairstyle and a Norwood 3 stage of hair loss

Every bit you tin can see above, the hairline has receded too far and left a circle of thinning hair on the forepart, every bit per the typical pilus loss pattern of an almost Norwood 4 stage. If you care nearly aesthetics, but ditch the man bun if you're on your fashion to a Norwood iv stage. The man bun will merely expect proficient (or epically-expert if you read this site ofttimes!) when you lot're under a Norwood 3 and if, you're a Norwood iii, you're stuck on it and non progressing to a Norwood 4 stage. Then that's every bit far as hairstyle aesthetics and "looking skilful" go.

Both the man bun and the elevation knot are "tied" hairstyles, with "tied hairstyles" being (equally you probably have guessed) hairstyles that have the hair tied. Other types of "tied" hairstyles include the e'er-so-epic ponybun and the timeless ponytail. Then yous take lots of braided man bun hairstyles and the whole lot, but, in essence, both the man bun and the superlative knot require that your pilus exist tied. And not only "tied", but tied tight (and herein the trouble for folks with male pilus loss).

Tying a man bun or summit knot places lots of stress on your follicles

Since nearly guys who want to wear a man bun or meridian knot will merely grow their manes to pilus lengths between 6 inches and 12 inches, they volition need to pull tight and tie tight so as to become the bun or knot in identify. The mere act of grabbing your hair equally illustrated in our homo bun hairstyle tutorial in club to grab your hair and proceed to tie information technology will put a lot of stress on your (weakened) follicles.

A picture of a hipster with long hair and a receding hairline caused by the balding from wearing a tight man bun hairstyle To compound the consequence, in one case the bun or knot is tied, you have abiding tension beingness placed on the pilus follicles for as long equally you wear the bun, which is normally about half of your twenty-four hours. Now, that would be fine if you did it once every month, but, if you're doing information technology daily, so take my word that your follicles will suffer over time. This pilus-loss miracle is known as traction alopecia and information technology is an issue that typically affects a lot of women, specially black women who use chemicals to straighten their hair (as the chemicals weaken the hair and follicles). Only, as of 2012, the number of men with traction alopecia has spiked brutally, the cause of this? The popularity of the man bun and the tiptop knot.

Here is a picture of a non-balding male person with a serious case of traction alopecia from wearing a bun constantly. You can see how his hairline has receded dorsum nigh an inch (and this isn't even the worst case that I've seen).

A photograph of an Indian male with a manbun and a very bad case of traction alopecia causing his hairline to recede

Because of the anatomy of the skull and the natural positioning of the human being bun, the follicles suffering the virtually tension stress volition be those effectually your frontal hairline. Unfortunately, the follicles in your frontal hairline are the first to be weakened and miniaturized (thus losing the hair they produce), which ways that a man bun and a top knot are the worst hairstyles that you can wearable if yous're balding.

To requite you an idea of how traction baldness tin occur anywhere on the scalp from pulling the hair too tight, here'southward some other case of traction alopecia from tying a bun also tight on kinky curly hair that was initially straightened.

A hair salon picture of a black male with a horrible case of traction alopecia from pulling her bun too tight and using hair-straightening chemicals on her scalp

In this traction alopecia case above, the barbershop customer never managed to grow most of the hair back. He had to use special constructed hair fibers for the rest of his life to hide the balding patches.

Just as bad as all of the above is that I encounter a lot of guys who are at their first phase of male pattern baldness tying their top knots extremely tight. Doing this actually speeds upwardly your rate of hair loss, yet the current hairstyle tendency is to wear very-tight topknots and manbuns, and so many guys are tying their buns and knots really hard while unknowingly losing their hair. Truly, I've seen some horrible cases of guys in their belatedly twenties destroying their hairline in a span of 6 months from wearing tight top knots and having male person pattern baldness. Speaking with other barbers from other barbershops, they're amazed at not just the devastating damage they're seeing but they're also amazed at how the numbers of men destroying their hairlines are increasing past the calendar month.

Unfortunately (once more), male person pattern alopecia is irreversible and traction alopecia can besides be irreversible. But, put the two together on a guy who is afflicted with male blueprint baldness, and you then have the perfect recipe for a destroyed hairline and an accelerated (irreversible) pilus loss rate.

Then, what can y'all practise if you desire to wear a human being bun while balding?

Earlier, I said that the respond to whether yous should vesture a man bun or not could too have a "peradventure" factor included. If you lot're careful and are taking your hair care seriously, you can still habiliment a man bun hairstyle if you're losing your pilus.

A photograph of a young balding guy with a topknot hair style and a Norwood 2 stage of hair loss as per the popular Hamilton-Norwood scale

Here are the measures that you must take in order to wear a man bun while balding. I cannot emphasize enough that you must follow these measures, otherwise you volition go bald faster than your genes have maliciously programmed for you.

The minimum length to grow a man bun for balding men is 12 inches.
Avoid the top knot hairstyle at all costs; it'due south but not worth information technology.
When tying your man bun, practise not pull hard. Softly catch your hair and tie a loose (albeit secured) bun.
Only as you finish tying your manbun, release some tension from the follicles on the front by softly pulling the hair from these follicles against the bun and towards the follicles. This will automatically release some tension from the follicles and loosen up the locks of hair from those follicles which are being held in the bun.
Do non vesture a man bun every twenty-four hours. Requite your follicles some days to balance. Once every other twenty-four hours is a good frequency. This ways that you apply the man bun one twenty-four hour period, the next day you don't and and so you start the cycle again.
Employ a styling foam or a leave-in conditioner when tying your man bun. Glaze your hair first with it and then proceed to necktie the bun. Come across our man bun hair products guide for the recommended styling cream and get out-in conditioner that will become your allies when it comes to looking subsequently your manbun and your mane.
Apply minoxidil daily. Minoxidil is an anti hair-loss chemical that is used in products such as Rogaine to tame, stop or fifty-fifty regrow lost pilus. You should be already using a minoxidil product if you're balding, but you simply must utilise it if y'all're going to be wearing manbuns.
Clean upward your nutrition and accept a couple of supplements. Eat healthy and increase your intake of vitamin A and C besides as zinc and omega-3 fatty acids (establish in fish oil or cod liver oil). You lot should always ask your doctor or dermatologist first, but these nutrients (in supplement form) will help you to keep your pilus follicles potent.
Avoid pulling your hair past any other means such equally combing your pilus or getting your pilus caught up in your jacket. Throw the rummage in the trash can and exist a flake more pro-agile avoiding situation where your pilus may exist defenseless into things.

Wear a man bun if you're balding but be careful

I actually cannot stress this enough: y'all take to exist careful if you're balding and you want to accept a man bun. Religiously follow the measures listed in a higher place and try to article of clothing your long hair down (i.east. untied) for most of the time. Also, avoid braiding your hair or putting it in cornrows (this will kill your hairline even faster than a top knot tin can!).

So at that place y'all have it folks, a guide to grow and wear a human bun even if you're balding. Follow the above measures as I welcome you to our man-bun ranks, brother!

Guide last updated: 5th Oct 2015