How to Cover Up Bald Spots: 4 Tips and Tricks

Hair loss is common, especially as you get older. But if you’re noticing thinning hair on your scalp, you might be wondering how to cover up bald spots.

Thankfully, there are a few effective options for masking bald spots. These allow you to hide thinning while you figure out the best hair loss treatment option for your needs.

Below, we cover some of the best methods for hiding bald spots, tips for preventing them, and information on promoting hair regrowth.

There are many options for treating bald spots. Your method of choice will vary based on your hair color, hair volume, the size of your bald patches, and the hair look you want to achieve.

Depending on your hair goals, you may be able to hide bald spots resulting from male pattern baldness by:

• Covering them with a new hairstyle

• Using concealers

• Looking into hairpieces or wigs

• Investigating cosmetic procedures

Let’s take a more detailed look at how these strategies work.

Cover With a New Hairstyle

Wondering how to look good balding? You can make it less obvious by changing up your hairstyle.

The solution to hiding thinning or bald spots might involve a few style changes since everything from your haircut to how you dry your hair can affect the appearance of bald spots.

Ask any stylist, and they’ll likely agree that the best haircut for a man with thinning hair will vary from person to person. Your barber can offer style tips to help you cover sparse spots on your scalp or give you a fresh cut that masks balding while you address it.

At home, using a blow dryer after showering can help give hair more lift and hide the appearance of thinning.

Use Hair Loss Concealers

Hair loss concealers are topical camouflaging products that help conceal bald spots without actually growing hair.

A commonly used camouflage is hair-building fibers, which is a keratin-based product in a shaker jar. You apply it to your scalp near bald spots, and it increases hair density.

Scalp spray thickeners provide a similar illusion by bonding hair fibers together to create the appearance of density. They can also add color to cover grays.

Another option is alopecia masking lotion, a tinted lotion that, when applied to the scalp, creates the impression of thicker hair.

Wear a Hairpiece or Wig

Wigs, toupees, and other “hair additions” can be attached to existing hair and blended to achieve the look of a full, natural head of hair. For best results, opt for a hairpiece that consists of real hair.

Accessories like scarves, hats, bandanas, and turbans are also good for quickly concealing bald spots.

Learn more about these options in our non-surgical hair replacement guide.

Try Cosmetic Procedures

Looking for a more permanent solution? A cosmetic procedure might be right for you.

There are many options for permanently concealing bald spots, from microneedling and dermarolling to cover-up procedures like scalp micropigmentation and hair tattoos.

While hair transplants are safe and effective, they can also be expensive, and results aren’t guaranteed. You’ll need to consider cost, recovery time, and surgical success rates when deciding if this treatment is the right choice for addressing your hair loss.

Scalp pigmentation procedures are another option that can help mask bald spots. However, they’re generally best for mild or early hair loss and men who keep their hair short.

Concealers and tattoos can help cover up bald spots, but they don’t do anything to promote hair regrowth.

With hair loss treatments, you may be able to achieve a healthy hair growth cycle. A healthcare professional like a dermatologist specializing in hair loss can help determine the best medication-based treatment for your situation.

The right treatment depends on the underlying cause of your hair loss, which a medical professional can help diagnose. But if you’re experiencing progressive thinning or a receding hairline, the most likely cause is androgenic alopecia, AKA male pattern baldness.

Male pattern baldness is an imbalance of the hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which binds to hair follicles and eventually stops them from growing hair. It’s also the most common hair loss type for men and the typical cause of thinning and balding crowns. You can start to show symptoms as early as your 20s, but hair loss can also manifest much later.

Other types of hair loss, like alopecia areata, are less common. If you’re aging and have bald spots, male pattern hair loss is much more likely.

Different treatments may be more effective for different root causes of your hair loss, and a healthcare professional can help you find the best one. Here are some of the most common treatments that can potentially help you cover a bald spot:

• Finasteride. Finasteride blocks DHT, the hormone that causes hair loss in androgenic alopecia. According to a very small study involving just 15 people, taking finasteride daily reduced DHT levels by about 70 percent — which is enough to slow down the effects of male pattern baldness and even reverse it in some cases. That’s why finasteride has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat male pattern baldness. Learn more in our finasteride for hair loss guide.

• Minoxidil. Studies show that using minoxidil over 48 weeks increases thickness and total hair count by about 13 to 19 percent. If you’re not entirely bald but have thinning hair, the extra thickness minoxidil use gives you can help disguise thin spots. Both minoxidil foam and minoxidil solution are FDA-approved and effective.

• Topical finasteride & minoxidil spray. This is another way to get the benefits of both FDA-approved hair loss medications. Our topical finasteride & minoxidil spray combines the best of both worlds and is safe and effective.

• The right shampoos and conditioners. The popular supplement saw palmetto helps lower DHT levels and may be effective alongside a medication like finasteride. Saw palmetto may also be an ingredient in shampoos that include biotin and other essential compounds for hair health. Our guide on what to look for in men’s hair loss shampoo contains a complete list of ingredients you should check for in a volumizing shampoo and conditioner or a thickening shampoo with saw palmetto.

Though many men struggle with self-confidence when hair loss begins, it’s possible to address balding with products like concealers or research-backed hair growth treatments.

Keep the following in mind as you weigh your options:

• Consider seeing a specialist. Some hair shedding is natural, but if you’re concerned about a bald spot, a dermatologist can help you find solutions.

• Understand that concealers aren’t a permanent solution. Covering up a bald spot might be a short-term solution to an immediate problem, but it won’t totally solve your hair loss. You should tell your healthcare provider what’s happening instead of just turning to concealers or hairpieces.

• Know that an underlying issue might be at play. While hair loss is a typical part of aging, it can signal other health concerns related to diet, stress, blood pressure, and other potentially life-threatening conditions. So, if you’re noticing a rapid change, reach out to a healthcare professional.

• Connect with a dermatologist online. If you’re ready to talk to a dermatologist or another healthcare professional about hair loss treatments, we can connect you with one online.

Want to learn more about male pattern baldness? Our guides are a great way to explore the potential reasons for hair loss, including vitamin deficiency, medication hair loss, or illnesses. And with so many possible causes, it’s important to know if you’re going bald or whether something else may be impacting your overall health.

We can also point you to more of the best (and longer-term) treatments for thinning hair.