Slowly growing more fed up, Hair transplant in a few years?

[mynameisrich]

Hey guys, I don't post on this forum much, though I'll probably make the switch as it seems to be the more lively community.

First, I'll state that it's hard to capture things with photos/video, and it looks worse in the mirror/real life, but i'm sure everybody can relate to how certain lighting can be flattering or the opposite.
I've been monitoring my hairline for maybe 4 years now, originally I had a problem with how high up it was and my ugly curved/receded temples, making me look less youthful, which is probably why I always wore a fringe/bangs down, however concealers gave me the confidence to try different hairstyles, and i've grown it out quite long over the last 18 months...

My hairline is getting more and more chewed up though, I'm long past the panic stage of "oh my god, i'm losing my hair" and no longer try to bargain with the situation in my head, but recently i've noticed that it's becoming more difficult to conceal the hairline, and frankly i can't be bothered with it anymore. I don't mind using concealers, if it gives the illusion of a good hairline, but now that this option is disappearing gradually, i'm going to have to do something else.

I'm 24 in just over a month, I earn a pretty good salary and save a lot, so I think I want to start looking into the most renowned, potential doctors.
I'll hold it off for a while, but I'd like to have a transplant by the time i'm 26.

Thoughts? Opinions? And also, I appreciate everybody's input, but I really don't want to hear "it's fine" or "theres nothing wrong" anymore. I've done years of observation to conculde that something IS wrong. I've lost over half an inch on my hairline, and it's looking more and more chewed up and ugly.
Maybe if i had FUE, on the slightly generous side of conservative, I could have a decent hairline, and make it look even better with some concealer? I'd be more than cool with that, to keep me going into my 30s.

Hairloss regime:
I take minoxidil (kirkland) twice a day, as well as apply azelaic acid in the nights, via cream. I use a nizoral shampoo every 3 days for 10 minutes, and I've been on Finpecia for over a year now, though I was on and off many times before that. I currently take 1/3 of a 1mg tablet every 3 days, but i'm going to lower my dosage even further, as my side effects are becoming annoyingly intolerable, i'm sick of having to pass up sex with girls.

Here's some photos from this morning, out of the shower:

[win200]

Well, I won't give you the "oh, you're fine, it's normal routine"--as you know, you're definitely receding. And you're experiencing one of the worst parts of receding, which is the "chewed up," ragged hairline, which makes it difficult to wear a "hair up" style with any confidence. I completely empathize. I had a transplant at 29 to address a similar type of thinning.

But share some key details with us: do you plan on staying on finasteride? Have the treatments slowed and stabilized your loss? What does your family history look like? These are all factors that should inform your decision to get a transplant, and if so, with which doctor and with how many grafts. You've probably read enough to know that any age younger than, say, 28 is pretty young to get a transplant. Until you're roughly 30, it's pretty tough to predict what your loss is going to end up looking like.

I would go ahead and consult with some top docs, though--preferably in person. They can evaluate your scalp, look for miniaturization, and give you a clearer picture of what you're dealing with. Any doctor that works on you at this age and with that stage of loss, though, should probably insist that you stay on finasteride. That's up to you as a patient, but most ethical docs should express strong misgivings about transplanting someone at 24/25/26 with your loss without a strong treatment regimen to mitigate further loss.

[mynameisrich]

Well, I won't give you the "oh, you're fine, it's normal routine"--as you know, you're definitely receding. And you're experiencing one of the worst parts of receding, which is the "chewed up," ragged hairline, which makes it difficult to wear a "hair up" style with any confidence. I completely empathize. I had a transplant at 29 to address a similar type of thinning.

But share some key details with us: do you plan on staying on finasteride? Have the treatments slowed and stabilized your loss? What does your family history look like? These are all factors that should inform your decision to get a transplant, and if so, with which doctor and with how many grafts. You've probably read enough to know that any age younger than, say, 28 is pretty young to get a transplant. Until you're roughly 30, it's pretty tough to predict what your loss is going to end up looking like.

I would go ahead and consult with some top docs, though--preferably in person. They can evaluate your scalp, look for miniaturization, and give you a clearer picture of what you're dealing with. Any doctor that works on you at this age and with that stage of loss, though, should probably insist that you stay on finasteride. That's up to you as a patient, but most ethical docs should express strong misgivings about transplanting someone at 24/25/26 with your loss without a strong treatment regimen to mitigate further loss.

Yeah it sucks.
Well on my moms side of the family, there isn't really much history of hairloss. my grandfather is 82 and pretty much has a full (though fine) head of hair, similar type of texture to my own, as well as my moms. He just has a slightly receded hairline, i'd say nw2 or something, but it's not 'chewed up'.

My dads side, i don't really know any other males in my dads family but i know his father was pretty bald, and my dad is around a nw5a and 56 years old. I actually did a video to show the males in my family, for this very reason:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGgX...49F79&index=12 - sneaky filming, i know. had to be done though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7lPHD-T9V0&list=PL5FEC055DD4449F79&index=13

hopefully this will give a better idea. obviously my dad isn't on any hair meds, though looking at pictures i don't think he really started thinning until around 32 years old, and it was more of a diffuse thinning.

[mynameisrich]

I plan on staying on finasteride, but i'm going to keep the dosage as low as possible. I can tolerate some sides, but wheres the point if I can't even have sex.

[win200]

Yeah it sucks.
Well on my moms side of the family, there isn't really much history of hairloss. my grandfather is 82 and pretty much has a full (though fine) head of hair, similar type of texture to my own, as well as my moms. He just has a slightly receded hairline, i'd say nw2 or something, but it's not 'chewed up'.

My dads side, i don't really know any other males in my dads family but i know his father was pretty bald, and my dad is around a nw5a and 56 years old. I actually did a video to show the males in my family, for this very reason:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGgX...49F79&index=12 - sneaky filming, i know. had to be done though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7lPHD-T9V0&list=PL5FEC055DD4449F79&index=13

hopefully this will give a better idea. obviously my dad isn't on any hair meds, though looking at pictures i don't think he really started thinning until around 32 years old, and it was more of a diffuse thinning.

Hmmm. So sort of a mixed family history. Your grandpa looks really great for 82, but your dad clearly hasn't had a hairline to speak of for a long time. With your hairline at your age, you might be pointed more toward your dad's territory. Again, at 30 you'll have a clearer picture; you could sort of plateau, or the loss could get more aggressive. Do you have any recollection of when your loss started to crop up?

[mynameisrich]

Hmmm. So sort of a mixed family history. Your grandpa looks really great for 82, but your dad clearly hasn't had a hairline to speak of for a long time. With your hairline at your age, you might be pointed more toward your dad's territory. Again, at 30 you'll have a clearer picture; you could sort of plateau, or the loss could get more aggressive. Do you have any recollection of when your loss started to crop up?

I first noticed that the very far corner of the right side of my hairline was a little more 'open' and thinner when i was 19, nearly 20. this was in a reflection under very bright lighting. i observed this ever since, and up until 21 I was convinced that the right side of my hairline was thinning. it was only very noticable. wasn't until late 2011 (nearly 22) that i saw the chewed up look appearing on the left.
Heres some pictures of me September 2011 (21 years old), so you can get an indication to how fast/slow things have progressed:

http://i51.tinypic.com/t8rlsn.jpg

http://i51.tinypic.com/swg10i.jpg

http://i56.tinypic.com/okc17l.jpg

http://i52.tinypic.com/2njhh8g.jpg

http://i54.tinypic.com/54hj0p.jpg

http://i53.tinypic.com/eiwg7b.jpg

http://i51.tinypic.com/30az3g3.jpg

At this point, anybody i showed the images to online said "you're crazy, nothing is going on" and obviously this backs up my point that it's harder to see an issue in pictures alone.

[win200]

Yeah, there's been a definite change. Not overwhelming, but the character and "feel" of your hairline is without a doubt very different from Sep. '11 to Jan. '14. The temples are growing higher and the hairline is getting uneven/ragged. But I think the biggest different is in the forelock--you've got that hole opening up at the center, and I'm pretty sure that the forelock has receded upwards more than the temples have come in. You had what looks like a fairly high mature hairline in 2011, but it's beyond that now.

How's your density behind the hairline, BTW?

[win200]

Actually, look at this thread I started; I could really see you getting a transplant very similar to the work I had done when I was 29. My hairline was also a little ragged in the front, though it didn't have that some "hole." But a similar look. If you look at my "after" pictures, you can see what a conservative transplant can do in terms of giving you a clean, firm hairline. I wear my hair up every day now, whereas I used to try to hide the high temples.

Totally up to you, of course, but I'd wait at least a few years to try this. You want to see if you can stabilize the loss.

[mynameisrich]

Yeah, there's been a definite change. Not overwhelming, but the character and "feel" of your hairline is without a doubt very different from Sep. '11 to Jan. '14. The temples are growing higher and the hairline is getting uneven/ragged. But I think the biggest different is in the forelock--you've got that hole opening up at the center, and I'm pretty sure that the forelock has receded upwards more than the temples have come in. You had what looks like a fairly high mature hairline in 2011, but it's beyond that now.

How's your density behind the hairline, BTW?

I really don't really think that centre part has changed at all, personally, i've always been conscious of that, i noticed it back when i was 15 or so, and it's sort of noticable in a picture from when i was 13. don't think it's hairloss, just a spot of less hair. could be wrong though, but i don't think it's changed, myself.

Behind the hairline, it's fine, i think. At least, to compare it to how it was when i was 18 or so, when i definitely didn't have any hairloss, it's no different, on top. If i style it down with bangs, i can see that it looks the same, coming from the center.

[mynameisrich]

compare http://i52.tinypic.com/2njhh8g.jpg to http://www.baldtruthtalk.com/attachm...3&d=1390140717 i really don't think the centre is changing

[win200]

I really don't really think that centre part has changed at all, personally, i've always been conscious of that, i noticed it back when i was 15 or so, and it's sort of noticable in a picture from when i was 13. don't think it's hairloss, just a spot of less hair. could be wrong though, but i don't think it's changed, myself.

Behind the hairline, it's fine, i think. At least, to compare it to how it was when i was 18 or so, when i definitely didn't have any hairloss, it's no different, on top. If i style it down with bangs, i can see that it looks the same, coming from the center.

Got it. That's not all that uncommon--a girlfriend of mine has a small open spot on her hairline. It's something you could cover in a transplant, if you wanted to.

[mynameisrich]

Actually, look at this thread I started; I could really see you getting a transplant very similar to the work I had done when I was 29. My hairline was also a little ragged in the front, though it didn't have that some "hole." But a similar look. If you look at my "after" pictures, you can see what a conservative transplant can do in terms of giving you a clean, firm hairline. I wear my hair up every day now, whereas I used to try to hide the high temples.

Totally up to you, of course, but I'd wait at least a few years to try this. You want to see if you can stabilize the loss.

I saw your thread earlier, and it looks awesome. with such a small number of grafts used, i'd be over the moon with those results.

I don't know if my hairloss will completely stabilise at the front, but is this what one would consider fast balding? or is my hairloss relatively slow? I know some people go from full head to nothing in 5 or so years...

[win200]

compare http://i52.tinypic.com/2njhh8g.jpg to http://www.baldtruthtalk.com/showthr...d=1#post163278 i really don't think the centre is changing

Huh. It's definitely a little different--I'd guess it's starting to thin a big, though it may not be receded. Tough to tell given the tilt of your forehead. But I don't think it's as dense as it used to be. Not a big difference, though.

[mynameisrich]

Got it. That's not all that uncommon--a girlfriend of mine has a small open spot on her hairline. It's something you could cover in a transplant, if you wanted to.

I cover it with concealer, so it's not really a biggie to me, just annoying to see in the mornings when i've washed my hair. i've gotten to the point where i actually live a very comfortable life with my hair, thanks to the concealers bulking up the front, but obviously this is only going to last for so long. i'm going to have to switch to bangs again soon, until i get a HT.

[win200]

I saw your thread earlier, and it looks awesome. with such a small number of grafts used, i'd be over the moon with those results.

I don't know if my hairloss will completely stabilise at the front, but is this what one would consider fast balding? or is my hairloss relatively slow? I know some people go from full head to nothing in 5 or so years...

No, I don't think you have the kind of loss where it's going to take you from what you've got now to bald by the time you're 30. But I'd still reinforce my suggestion to wait. Based on my talks with doctors and looking at pics on this board, it seems like the 20s are a really tumultuous period for hairloss. Some guys suddenly experience really dramatic loss, while others keep chugging along at a very gradual rate of recession, which is what happened to me. None of this necessarily predicts the future, and you could always get slapped with a horrible shed at 35, but generally speaking, that gets less common after 30. If I were you, I'd talk with a couple docs now, get their read, and revisit closer to 28. But if you're on meds now and they're working, I don't think a procedure on you would be irresponsible. I'd keep it very conservative, though.