Last Updated on May 9, 2020 by Robert Price
Joe Rogan is a great role-model for anyone looking to embrace baldness. He’s passionately opposed to all hair loss treatments, even though he took minoxidl, propecia, and had multiple hair transplants as a young man. “Shave it, bitch” is the advice he usually offers to the balding dudes who contact him — and they contact him all the time! Is Joe offering good advice? Should you just man up and say goodbye to your mane forever?
Not necessarily! I’m going to tell you why I disagree with Joe, and why I think he’s so adamantly against treating hair loss.
Embracing baldness is the best option for many men, especially those who are experiencing a severe, aggressive case of early-onset male pattern baldness. If you’re destined to look like Dr. Phil, fighting hair loss could be a tough battle.
Aggressive hair loss often requires more potent treatments, like Propecia, which effectively targets the cause of hair loss by reducing DHT levels. A very small percentage of guys have reported experiencing long-term sexual side effects with this drug. That’s the downside! And even if you take Propecia religiously, it’s not going to stop your hair loss completely or permanently. Another negative.
Anyway, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.
Why Is Joe So Opposed to Treating Hair Loss?
I’ve watched a few of his youtube rants on the subject, one of which I’ll embed at the bottom of this article. Based on what I’ve heard, I surmise that Joe has 4 primary reasons for opposing hair loss treatments:
- A Lot of Dudes Look Good With Shaved Heads – Joe certainly does! In fact he believes he looks better with a shaved head than he did with hair. I can’t disagree with him there. No doubt, Joe meets all the look good bald parameters that I’m aware of. And so do many other dudes. Valid point. Touche, Mr. Rogan.
- He Was Very Unhappy with His Hair Transplants – Joe regards his hair transplants as one of his biggest mistakes in life. He has a large scar, which is visible primarily because he shaves his head, and he says the transplants never looked good to begin with. The transplantation industry was considerably more corrupt and unregulated back in 90s, when Rogan had his transplants. And he couldn’t do his due diligence via the internet like people can today. So he had bad luck with his transplants, but that doesn’t mean you will! That would be my retort to point #2.
- He Views Treating Hair Loss as a Waste of Time and Money – This is certainly a valid point, even though many people would disagree with it. Again, I think his view is biased to a significant degree with this one, given that he had a bad experience with his hair transplants and his attempts at treatment in general. Nevertheless, treating hair loss requires time, commitment, and money. So touche again, Mr. Rogan.
- He Approaches Hair Loss Like an Action Hero! Seriously, he’s totally ripped and he’s got a quadruple black belt in Brazilian jujitsu or some shit like that and he has a particularly awesome set of skills. Hair would just get in his way. He has no need for it. Maybe you don’t either, in which case, you have nothing to worry about.
So Yeah, He’s a Little Biased Against Hair Loss Treatments
But hey, we’re all biased in myriad ways, so I’m certainly not criticizing Joe. He had aggressive hair loss, which I believe had already progressed a fair amount before he got on Propecia. I’m not sure what Norwood pattern he has now, but I would guess he’s a type 5 at minimum.
Joe’s battle against hair loss was ultimately unsuccessful and extremely disappointing for him. That doesn’t mean yours will be, assuming you choose to fight your balding genes. Maybe you just have some mild recession and thinning going on. Most people aren’t destined to be as bald as Joe or Dr. Phil as I mentioned earlier.
And if your baldness is of the mild to moderate variety, and assuming you catch it early, you may find that treating your hair loss is pretty straightforward and hassle-free. There are even ways to combat hair loss on a budget. And aggressive, early hair loss, like Joe experienced 20 some years ago, is much more treatable today than it was then.
Joe famously got Elon Musk to smoke marijuana on his show. Elon obviously took a different approach to his hair loss!
Bitch, Should You Just Shave It?
Sure, why not! It’ll grow back, at least for the most part. You might as well find out once and for all if you’ll look good as a bald dude. You can treat it later (or now) if you want to; shaving it won’t change your prognosis. Ultimately I believe Joe is an awesome example for balding dudes everywhere, and living proof that bald dudes can crush it in all aspects of life.
As comedian Bill Burr Says, go out there and hit on women that are allegedly way out of your league and swing for the bleeping fences! I concur. The world is yours for the taking, hair or no hair. You can listen to the Joe Rogan podcast for free here. Now, for your viewing pleasure, here’s a video of Joe discussing his philosophy on dealing with balding.
Robert Price is a writer, consumer advocate, and hair loss researcher with thousands of hours of experience in the field. His goal is to keep you out of the hair loss rabbit hole, underworld, or whatever you want to call it. He founded Hair Loss Daily, the unbiased hair loss blog, in 2016. You can learn more about Robert in the my story section of this website.