Am I a Norwood 2 or 3? (or 2A or 3A?)

[Kirby_]

Been using fin since beginning of January and Nizoral since last December. Shed an awful amount of hair on top - look far worse than baseline, actually noticeably balding to the naked eye, which I didn't before I started treatments.

Anyway, I'm more concerned with my hairline in this particular thread. Is it 2, 3? These pictures were taken in March after I shaved it grade 0 because of the heavy shedding loss. I put myself as a 3 or 3A, looking at the Norwood scale.





April, after growing hair out a bit.

[mattj]

I don't think you're anything more than a NW2. The 'A' designation for NW2 and 3 means that the front forelock area is receded or significantly thinned, and yours is still going strong and is actually quite low.

[Tracy C]

Originally Posted by mattj

I don't think you're anything more than a NW2.

I have to agree with this.

Originally Posted by Kirby_

Sure? NW2 and not 2.5 or so?[/IMG]

I'm sure and no, it is not more than a Norwood 2. Your hair does not look diffuse to me.

[25 going on 65]

Looks NW 2 to me as well.
Meds tend to work pretty well on diffuse thinners (I'm one myself). My guess is that you'll recover nicely from the med shed, which is normally a sign that your hair is responding to treatment.

[Kirby_]

Nizoral can cause shed loss? Interesting. Like you I tried Niz/keto before I got my Propecia sorted, and it seemed like my density took a hit then in terms of cosmetic appearance. Perhaps in retrospect it was an initial shed, and what I shed due to fin was a 'double shed', if that makes sense. Unprovable of course, but something for me to contemplate.

Thanks for the kind words BTW.

[25 going on 65]

Yeah, maybe it was a coincidence but I noticed a whole lot of shedding when I started keto, and it seemed to go on for months (though much less some weeks than others). I was using it more than I should have, so that was almost certainly a factor. But I also wonder if it spared me from a worse shed later when I started fin....who knows

[Kirby_]

Took a photo of the awful extent of the diffuse thinning on my iDevice last night. Going to be a struggle to get back to cosmetically viable hair.

[Tracy C]

Originally Posted by Kirby_

Going to be a struggle to get back to cosmetically viable hair.

Not really, if you respond to the medications - but it will take a long time. Using a laser comb every other day might speed it up a little bit - but not a lot.

[Kirby_]

Originally Posted by Tracy C

I'm sure and no, it is not more than a Norwood 2. Your hair does not look diffuse to me.

Unfortunately, it is rather diffuse, so much so that at the current length (Grade 2-ish), under strong lights I look like a NW5/6 with merely lots of 'fuzz' in the non-horseshoe area. I had thought before I started Propecia that it'd be easy, just sit back and take a tablet every morning. The actual shed-loss has been incredibly difficult to deal with personally, and has turned me into a neurotic mess when it comes to my body image: I look 'balding' now, when I didn't really to start with.

25, I hope you're right that a decent recovery from the medshed is possible.

[25 going on 65]

Shedding phases can be really rough. My fin shed was on the mild side but my keto shampoo shed (keto was my first MPB treatment ever) definitely depressed me. I had never been through anything quite like it.

I've told people before to remember something when they're feeling really down during this phase: because of our genetic condition, the hairs you've shed would have fallen out without meds anyway. The difference is that none of them would grow back, ever. 0% regrowth.
I know how this hair fall messes with your body image, believe me. This is the part where some people freak out, quit their treatments, and 5 years later they've fallen 3 Norwood levels (or worse). But you're on the right track man. Hang in there.