Mom of 16 year old son in search of advice...

[Lovinmyson]

And after reading your post again, I do see what you mean about guys with NW2 clearly receding at 17 and guys in denial about it. You're right...I won't post on here. I want you to know that it is early and slight. But clearly there is the start of something. Otherwise I wouldn't be posting and derm wouldn't say start minox.

[Plan C]

Oh please forgive my naivety. He is NOT an NW2. A 1 most likely maybe 1.5 at the most. Not Anything like I've seen on here but it's just starting. Could just be his mature hairline too. I wander if I should just leave alone until another 6 months. Can minox 1x a day do any harm? Was told can't hurt only help. I'm so confused!

If theres receding at his temples and there is a history of males in your family going bald, it's extremely likely that he's got MPB, rather than his hairline maturing. Taking precautionary measures is absolutely the right thing to do. I really wouldn't worry yourself about the action you're taking.

[Plan C]

I'll chime in as well. I found out that I was balding when I was 16 and my reaction was the complete opposite of the reaction of your son: I completely freaked out. My family history is not a very fortunate one considering hair loss, so I knew I needed to act quickly.

And there is the problem. Very young hair loss sufferers can't really act quickly as most of the products available on the market right now aren't recommended/prescribed for/to men under 18 and even when you're 18, it's better to wait a few years more as you're not always done developping when you're 18. Basically the only thing would be minoxidil, but minoxidil is relatively ineffective and if your sons hair loss is aggressive (and that seems to be the case when you describe the hair loss "history" of your family) then using minox as a stand-alone treatment is by far not enough to do something against his hair loss.

I turned 17 not too long ago and went to a hair clinic, where they prescribed me finasteride (propecia). This in itself is pretty rare I believe, as most dermatologists aren't prescribing finasteride to men under 18, for obvious reasons. You're probably going to have a hard time to get finasteride prescribed to your son by a dermatologists before he turns 18 and by then, probably quite a lot of damage has probably been done already. More than any, I usually feel that hair loss starting in your teens is an unfair battle against time. I think you're getting my point...

On to the whole mindset thing (which was your original reason to post I believe). I wish I had the courage and the self confidence to accept that I'm going bald and to just let it go, but I don't. I salute other teenagers who do have this courage and self confidence, although I sometimes doubt if they really don't care going bald or if they just don't know it or are denying it. Since you went to a dermatologist who confirmed that he had beginning hair loss, there's not really any point in denying it (or maybe he's holding on to the fact that it 'might' be a maturing hair line - hint: it most likely isn't). However, like another poster has already pointed out in this thread: he might not care at this moment, while his hair still looks good. But how is he going to feel about it if he doesn't undergo treatment and his hair line and hair density will look completely messed up in a couple of years?

I think this is a very difficult situation. You obviously don't want to 'destroy' his happy-go-lucky attitude by convincing him that baldness is something terrible and that he needs to do something against him, which will consume time, money and, the worst of all, a lot of mental energy. On the other hand, you also don't want him to regret not doing anything against it when his hair is starting to look bad... At first thought, your son would benefit from a clear conversation about what's lying ahead of him to see if he really doesn't care (pics help a ton to get your point through in this case). However, you could also achieve the effect I talked about: you scaring him into starting to care about hair loss even though he genuinely didn't in the first place.

If your son starts to care, get on finasteride ASAP (1mg a day or 1,25mg a day to begin with). Don't count on any dermatologist to prescribe it to him, they're probably all going to say that he's too young. You'll have to get it off-label. Like Plan C said, I'm not entirely sure whether finasteride only will be enough to save your sons hair. Not everybody reacts as well to finasteride in terms of effectiveness, so maybe he has to go a step further (which would mean he needs to take dutasteride, commonly refered to as "DUT"). We can't say too much about how well it will work for him... Time will tell. If you indeed decide to go a step further with 'fighting' against hair loss, I'd say that your son needs to go on ifn first for a year to see if it's effective or not. Because if finasteride does prove to be effective and sufficient, then dutasteride would be overkill in my opinion

There is a surgical treatment available if you really want to do a lot against it without using heavy meds. I'm not talking about a hair transplantation, I'm talking about Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy (PRP). You can look it up on this forum. Go to: Men's Hair Loss --> Hair Loss Treatments --> Cutting Edge/Future Treatments --> Platelet Rich Plasma Therapy. There ar emore cons than pros to this treatment though: it's really expensive (don't know about exact prices but probably $800/treatment and you're likely to going to need multiple treatments), it's efficiacy has yet to be proven (on top of that I've read mixed opinions on it) and not a lot of doctors do it. Even between the doctors that offer PRP, there's a difference in how well it will work I believe. If you decide to go through with this treatment, you MUST make a thread in the PRP subforum and ask around for the best hair specialist to go to for PRP. That way you (and your money) will be in good hands at the very least. Now that I think of it, I'm not sure if they offer this treatment to men under 18 but who knows...

This post is pretty long and messy but I hope that it's useful to you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

I might be interpreting this wrong, but are you suggesting that she looks into getting her son finasteride now? That would be utterly irresponsible. There is no excuse for using finasteride before the age of 18. You should stick to minox + a keto shampoo. I only started fin at 19 because I had reached 6ft 2 and had very little development left.

MPB can't be only be so aggressive at such a young age. I outlined on a previous post that fin, dut and RU could be considered when the lad's fully grown, but suggesting these treatments to him before he is a) done developing and b) convinced he even wants to tackle his hair loss is ridiculous.

[Illusion]

I might be interpreting this wrong, but are you suggesting that she looks into getting her son finasteride now? That would be utterly irresponsible. There is no excuse for using finasteride before the age of 18. You should stick to minox + a keto shampoo. I only started fin at 19 because I had reached 6ft 2 and had very little development left.

MPB can't be only be so aggressive at such a young age. I outlined on a previous post that fin, dut and RU could be considered when the lad's fully grown, but suggesting these treatments to him before he is a) done developing and b) convinced he even wants to tackle his hair loss is ridiculous.

Yeah my post is a bit messy and long, so it all becomes a bit vague.

I'm advising that if he, in the end, does decide to really start doing something against MPB, he doesn't really have any other choice than fin (yeah he can try ru but I dont see an experiment treatment working for him if he's not willing to start with fin).

Regarding the bold, you made a typo so I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to say but I guess it was "MPB can't be so aggressive at such a young age". If this is what you tried saying, then let me give you a hint: it can be. It's not likely though, but most people that start to bald at a young age with a not so great looking family history don't bald slowly and gradually. 1 -1,5 year of not treating your baldness can make a huge difference in your battle.

For some reason your post surprises me a bit. Just skimmed through your thread and you seem like you're on a pretty heavy regime, implying that hair loss is a very big deal to you. Then why shouldn't a 16 year-old start with fin if he's really unhappy with his hair loss? Again, my opinion about her son starting with fin would only be of use if he's really unhappy with his hair loss, which doesn't seem to be the case. But if you look at my case: I'm really unhappy with hair loss. I started fin a very short time after I turned 17. You think this is wrong of me? Should I just have stuck with that weak-ass combination of minox-keto? I know that it's not advisable (if at all) for your body to take fin at such a young age, but we simply don't have other options (well, dut/ru/other topical AA's/etc but if you are against fin at that age then you're against those treatments as well I assume).

[burtandernie]

Right now you either take propecia or dutasteride or you just learn to accept it maybe the hair transplant thing later on. I can sum all the options in that one short sentence that is the state of hair loss at the moment.

[Lovinmyson]

Right now you either take propecia or dutasteride or you just learn to accept it maybe the hair transplant thing later on. I can sum all the options in that one short sentence that is the state of hair loss at the moment.

Thank you for your response. My babe is not a candidate for propecia at this time. He is in the earliest stage of hair loss so I'm going with the minox foam for now. Not noticeable at all except from me. I'm doing him a preventative service at this point and hope things don't progress until he is a bit older. Teenagers in my book should NOT have to deal with hair loss!

[Plan C]

Yeah my post is a bit messy and long, so it all becomes a bit vague.

I'm advising that if he, in the end, does decide to really start doing something against MPB, he doesn't really have any other choice than fin (yeah he can try ru but I dont see an experiment treatment working for him if he's not willing to start with fin).

Regarding the bold, you made a typo so I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to say but I guess it was "MPB can't be so aggressive at such a young age". If this is what you tried saying, then let me give you a hint: it can be. It's not likely though, but most people that start to bald at a young age with a not so great looking family history don't bald slowly and gradually. 1 -1,5 year of not treating your baldness can make a huge difference in your battle.

For some reason your post surprises me a bit. Just skimmed through your thread and you seem like you're on a pretty heavy regime, implying that hair loss is a very big deal to you. Then why shouldn't a 16 year-old start with fin if he's really unhappy with his hair loss? Again, my opinion about her son starting with fin would only be of use if he's really unhappy with his hair loss, which doesn't seem to be the case. But if you look at my case: I'm really unhappy with hair loss. I started fin a very short time after I turned 17. You think this is wrong of me? Should I just have stuck with that weak-ass combination of minox-keto? I know that it's not advisable (if at all) for your body to take fin at such a young age, but we simply don't have other options (well, dut/ru/other topical AA's/etc but if you are against fin at that age then you're against those treatments as well I assume).

Hair loss is a big deal to me, but there is no way I would sacrifice my development as a man for my hair. I can't believe somebody allowed you to start fin at 17. DHT is important for all manner of things as you grow, even the size of your d*ck...

In the case of the OP, her son is only experiencing slight receding at his hair line, plus he's not even bothered about this hair line. There is no case for him starting anything more than minox + keto.

[Plan C]

Thank you for your response. My babe is not a candidate for propecia at this time. He is in the earliest stage of hair loss so I'm going with the minox foam for now. Not noticeable at all except from me. I'm doing him a preventative service at this point and hope things don't progress until he is a bit older. Teenagers in my book should NOT have to deal with hair loss!

I'm not sure if burtandernie has taken the time to see that your boy is 16. Minox should do the job for the next few years, after that it's up to him.

[Swooping]

Pretty much what Plan C said;

I outlined on a previous post that fin, dut and RU could be considered when the lad's fully grown, but suggesting these treatments to him before he is a) done developing and b) convinced he even wants to tackle his hair loss is ridiculous.

If you give Finasteride to a 16 year kid I wouldn't even be surprised if penis tissue wouldn't develop as well as without. Perhaps this might be a strange thing in your ears but this has a high probability if you are going to mess with 5ar2 inhibition in such a young kid. Not to speak of other possible complications/side-effects. Any hormonal intervention is a no-go at that age. You also seem to care more about your son, educate him and let him make his own decision. Minoxidil would probably be the best option if he wants, yes. That's my 2 cents.

[Illusion]

Hair loss is a big deal to me, but there is no way I would sacrifice my development as a man for my hair. I can't believe somebody allowed you to start fin at 17. DHT is important for all manner of things as you grow, even the size of your d*ck...

Well yeah you're right about that, but I didn't really want to wait until I was old enough (taking fin when you're 18 can still be pretty bad imo, something like 20 is better imo).
Time is key. Anyway, I'm most likely starting RU anyway due to sides so my development can continue (semi)normal. Yay!

[Illusion]

Thank you for your response. My babe is not a candidate for propecia at this time. He is in the earliest stage of hair loss so I'm going with the minox foam for now. Not noticeable at all except from me. I'm doing him a preventative service at this point and hope things don't progress until he is a bit older. Teenagers in my book should NOT have to deal with hair loss!

Good choice. He probably has more safer (and perhaps better) treatments to choose from anyway when he's older, so that's nice too.

[atthekeysbored]

Really appreciate a mother looking after the son, I signed up to this website in part due to the respect I have for such a proactive help.
The following is advice I would have wished to have gotten when I was 16 and my hair loss is not nearly as bad as someone like prince William.

You need to come to terms that if it is noticeable at 16 and other family members have balded significantly at 18 then it is going to happen VERY soon and get bad VERY soon. Prince Williams hair looked GREAT at 19 and very suspect (and unable to do a modern hairstyle) at 21.

Modern society is a LOT harsher than it has ever been due to narcissism and the metrosexual men phenomenon we have now, what your son will face is a lot worse than an uncle or and grandfather will have faced 20 or 40 years ago.

If I thought I was balding *at 16* and my dad wasn't balding I would feel ashamed and find it difficult to admit, early in the stages of "denial". I certainly wouldn't open up to my mom and tell her how much it was worrying me, it is your job as a parent to assume it is worse for him than he is letting on.

If he is balding REALLY BADLY and is suitable (and can't pull of the bald muscular look) just get him a hair piece when the time comes, minox will not work for more than 1-2 years if the hairloss is super aggressive and it's a fools game to try to stop it with fin *if* it is the super aggressive kind. The timing of this is important as is the facebook "evidence" of previous balding, if he goes to college he can't suddenly start wearing the hair piece the second or third year, he needs to start wearing it during the summer before college to get used to it and so that when he meets new people he can control how his hair timeline is introduced to them.

Rather than focusing on treatments at this point in his life (other than minox which is legit for extending your hair for 2 years) you need to make sure he has fulfilling experiences with the opposite gender, if most girls are shallow from 16-28 he needs to capitalize on the few years he will have access to these women before his baldness becomes a major turnoff. You need to make this his main priority in life, not sport or studying, that can be done later unless you aiming *seriously* to be a doctor or a professional athlete, simply "going to the school of his choice" is not going to be enough to justify wasting these precious years 16-20 before it accelerates and becomes obvious. If he has a serious girlfriend or confidence with girls from having a lot of casual relationships then he will be able to make the transition of becoming a bald man a lot easier.

In the modern world we have the mentality of "school as preparation for life" and in doing so let life go by us, this is tragic for the balding young male, he does not have "time to do that later". Back in the day people got married a lot younger and were allowed to become self actualized a lot earlier, this prolonging is not healthy, even moreso for someone who is balding.

[TooYoungToobald]

Hair loss is a big deal to me, but there is no way I would sacrifice my development as a man for my hair. I can't believe somebody allowed you to start fin at 17. DHT is important for all manner of things as you grow, even the size of your d*ck...

In the case of the OP, her son is only experiencing slight receding at his hair line, plus he's not even bothered about this hair line. There is no case for him starting anything more than minox + keto.

Lol i started when I was 16 and am on DUT at 17, dont think its such a big deal

[LeonardoD]

Lol i started when I was 16 and am on DUT at 17, dont think its such a big deal

It's a big deal if you've not been prescribed these drugs by a dermatologist. I don't even think a dermatologist would prescribe those for you at that age without having an endocrinologist looking at you first.

Finasteride and Dutasteride is among some of the most dangerous prescription drugs.

[Plan C]

Lol i started when I was 16 and am on DUT at 17, dont think its such a big deal

Guessing your p*nis isn't a 'big deal' either