Be Bald And Free Day

What the day is

Be Bald and Free Day is observed on October 14. The suggestion is to go without the hat, the comb-over or the careful arrangement for one day, and see whether anyone reacts.

Origin and background

The origin of the observance is not documented, and it is one of a large family of novelty days with no institutional backing.

The underlying condition usually is androgenetic alopecia, known as male or female pattern hair loss. It affects roughly half of men by their fifties and a substantial proportion of women, particularly after menopause. The mechanism is not a shortage of hair follicles but a sensitivity to a hormone derivative, dihydrotestosterone, which progressively shrinks susceptible follicles until the hairs they produce are too fine and short to cover anything. Genetics govern that sensitivity, and the old story about inheriting it strictly from your mother's father is a considerable oversimplification.

Other causes behave differently and matter for treatment. Alopecia areata is autoimmune and produces distinct round patches. Telogen effluvium is diffuse shedding triggered by illness, childbirth, surgery or stress, and it usually reverses. Medical hair loss from chemotherapy is temporary. Sudden or patchy loss is worth a doctor's opinion rather than a supplement.

On treatments, the evidence is narrow but real for topical minoxidil and oral finasteride, both of which slow loss more reliably than they regrow hair, and both of which stop working when you stop taking them. Almost everything else sold for the purpose has little behind it.

How to take part

• Go without the cover-up for a day. Most people find the attention they expected does not materialize.
• Use sunscreen on the scalp. A newly bald head burns readily, and scalp skin cancers are common and easily missed.
• If you shave it, go with the grain first and against it only if your skin tolerates that, and moisturize afterward.
• Take a shorter cut rather than a longer one. Length emphasizes thinning; short hair does not.
• Be kind about it. Hair loss lands harder on some people than others, and that is their business rather than a joke.