Nearly four in 10 American men have experimented with their looks during the pandemic

SWNS
·3 min read

Bald is beautiful: Over half of men have shaved their hair off completely after receiving the worst haircut of their lives during the pandemic, according to new research.

The survey of 2,000 American men found 45% of them have experienced a bad haircut in the last year, and 57% of them hated it so much, they took drastic measures by buzzing it all off.

Forty-two percent of respondents took advantage of their time off during quarantine by experimenting with their looks, which included trying different hairstyles (61%), new clothing styles (52%) and growing out their beards (40%).

Four out of five (82%) deemed their experiments successful and said they'll keep their new makeover post-pandemic.

Commissioned by GAINSWave and conducted by OnePoll, the study also revealed two in three men had moments in their lives that made them feel insecure about themselves.

Some insecurities that men have endured are weight gain (46%), quality of life (41%) and sexual performance (37%). Others said they felt insecure in areas such as hygiene, sexual and gender identity, and social anxiety.

In the bedroom, over a third (35%) of men struggle to get turned on, and 37% struggle to admit they're having sexual performance issues.

Close to half (48%) said not being able to satisfy their partner in bed makes them feel depressed, and for 32%, the pandemic has made their libido to be worse than ever.

Even though 35% said bad sex took a toll on their relationships, only 38% of men have actually spoken with their partners about their sexual insecurities.

Aside from feeling low during sex, four in 10 revealed they compensated for their insecurities on a regular basis since 53% said their self-confidence has been at an all-time low during lockdown.

Men recalled doing anything to feel more secure — from applying homemade acne remedies that failed, to buying new and expensive cars.

"Men suffer from all kinds of insecurities, with erectile dysfunction being one of them. Taking supplements or PDE-5 inhibitors (pills) are the most common go-to short-term solutions for men experiencing erectile dysfunction. However, there is a critical third element that is often overlooked: the pipes," said urologist Dr. Judson Brandeis of GAINSWave. "Men need to pay attention to the underlying causes of ED and how to remedy them, which is overall increasing the flow of blood to the penis. Extracorporeal shockwave therapy is the better, long-term solution because it focuses on not only cleaning out the pipes, but creating new blood vessels to deliver more blood."

More than half (53%) of men said they want to overcome and embrace their insecurities, but don't know where to start. Fifty-four percent have already started their journey.

Overall, 43% of men have taken the past year to reset themselves, and many have changed their diets (56%), improved their mental health (53%), and physical appearance (52%).

"In the past year, we've seen men with a lot of time to themselves. Some may have gotten into better shape, some may have started new jobs, but among these acts, we've seen a lot of men start to embrace their insecurities and grow from them," said Urologist, Dr. Bruce B. Sloane. "Facing ED head-on is just one way to grow out of insecurities. Every man needs to learn it's okay to accept outside help. That's exactly what we exist to do."