20 YO What is the next step?

[JNorton52]

The thinning is starting to get worse. One weird thing Ive noticed is that right before an area will begin to thin, my scalp will get red, itchy, or dandruffy right before. Even though ive tried to take good care of it since I noticed the thinning. Also my hair just feels dry and crappy all the time now, like brittle almost.

Hey man, don't know if you were able to stop the itching / red bumps yet with the nizoral. I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about calling this a "DHT itch." I had the exact same thing happening to me in the beginning of the summer. I was still waiting for my prescription for fin, and I was freaking out about my excess shedding, accompanied by the red bumps and itching you described. I then simply made a switch to a dandruff shampoo that I used daily (not nizoral, couldn't find any of that in stock), and it all came to an end. The shedding also seemed to reduce by 50% (but that was still a lot though lol).

[polarbro]

I think the advice you have been given is good. Propecia will help maintain you existing hair along with the ketoconazole shampoo. The corners or you hairline will never regenerate without the help of transplantation. If you wanted to change the styling of your hair, this should be on the list of options. I believe the Fue method is the way to go, to minimize scarring and provide a great result. It is very difficult to regrow hair in the corners of the hairline without transplantion.

Sigh how disheartening! It seems my hairloss is most aggressive on my hairline. My hair continues to fall out and feels thinner everyday, the crown is starting to go now as well. I am considering starting Rogaine for this. Currently taking tamoxifen as a developed slight gyno after starting Fin but I was also smoking at the time so I figured that mustve tanked my Test. Quit smoking 100% and hoping the tamoxifen works like it has for me before.


I am really bummed about Fin not being able to restore much on the hairline. I have been on it for almost a month now and my hairline just keeps getting worse. If over the next few years I really wont see much regrowth there I might just come to terms with my baldness and shave it. Hope my head doesnt look weird!

Also, I am wondering what I should do for my next haircut. From earlier picture you can see I could cover it pretty well, but now it is unavoidable as there isnt enough hair left to comb over. Would a shorter milltary cut look better? Or should I just keep growing out my hair?

Updated pics. Im starting to feel the hair thing on the sides now as well and have included a pic to show it.

[polarbro]

still taking my 1mg/day dose and it seems like i can already feel my nipple hurting about a few hours after the dose. i am going to reduce to .5/day to see if that helps at all. but at this point i think i might be done. i already had slight gyno on my right nipple and now its coming in on my left a week after i started propecia. i think i was more susceptible than most people so i think I am the minority but I would rather be bald than have tits. not to mention my hair has only gotten worse since starting, perhaps it was meant to be.

[Vic12]

I think you should cut it short man. Guy's like Jude Law are much worse off than you and they look damn good with huge receded temples and short hair. I have receded temples and no one says anything because I have good thickness all over the place.

I'm thinking about starting Fin as well. I hope you keep posting about the side effects, I'm a little younger than you and hope I don't shrink my penis. Lol.

[redy]

I think you should cut it short man. Guy's like Jude Law are much worse off than you and they look damn good with huge receded temples and short hair. I have receded temples and no one says anything because I have good thickness all over the place.

I'm thinking about starting Fin as well. I hope you keep posting about the side effects, I'm a little younger than you and hope I don't shrink my penis. Lol.

cut the sides short and the top medium-short - go for a textured look with the crew fiber past or whatever and you'll be doing pretty good.

[Vic12]

cut the sides short and the top medium-short - go for a textured look with the crew fiber past or whatever and you'll be doing pretty good.

Exactly what I do.

Also I actually use the American Crew fiber paste to style, and seriously, despite being a NW2, I will TELL people I'm losing hair and they'll laugh at me, every single one.

[polarbro]

hey all, so unfortunately I think I am going to have to hop off the finasteride. After about a month I have noticed that the gyno in my left nippe is as sensitive as ever and might even be growing. Although I really am not looking forward to being bald this early, I dont want to have puffy nipples/small tits for the rest of my life either.

For anyone who is reading this and considering going on Fin I will just disclose that my father apparently dealt with gyno and even got surgery for it so I feel like I was MUCH more susceptible to that side effect from the Fin. I noticed no sexual sides when Im with a lady friend but when I sit down to fap I noticed that I will lose my erections much quicker and they arent quite as hard as they used to be. Could be placebo but so long as it still works when it counts I dont think it is a big deal at all.

I am going to continue with the nizoral and get on 5% rogaine and maybe eek out another year before completely shaving. I would say if you want to save your hair, you have to at least give Fin a shot. I feel more comfortable knowing I tried and read that so long as the gyno is still sensitive and lactating then it is still reversable though SERMs.

Not looking forward to the shed that is about to come . Maybe if I have any hair left by the time my gyno resolves I could start on like .25mg or something? Would that even have any effect? Overall very dissapointed that Fin wasnt for me as I was really planning on commiting to it. Good news is I get to enjoy some nice green again i guess

[Notcoolanymore]

Sucks you have to get off of fin, since it is the most effective treatment available. But yeah, man boobs are worse than being bald.

[35YrsAfter]

Sucks you have to get off of fin, since it is the most effective treatment available. But yeah, man boobs are worse than being bald.

When I was 20 there was absolutely no effective treatment for MPB. Not even Rogaine. Very discouraging.

Hopefully better treatments are around the corner. Keep in mind that hair restoration physicians performed plug surgeries for decades even though the results were always unsatisfactory. As a non-physician and a victim of plugs, even I questioned why doctors didn't place individual hairs at least on the hairline. Insufficient research by brilliant minds is the hold up in my opinion. MPB is a nightmare and I hope to see a life-changing solution before too long.

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office
Cole Hair Transplant - Atlanta
Phone 678-566-1011

[polarbro]

Alright so I had my haircut and I think it looks a little better.....if anything im glad the annoying thin hairs are out of my eyes for now. My bald spot on top seems to be getting larger so I am planning on starting 5% Rogaine soon and am wondering if anyone has any tips that I should know about? ive done some googling and some people say foam in the AM liquid at night?

Should I even bother applying it to my hairline/entire head? oh just on the bald spot on top? As for the shedding I know people said that you have to stick with it for a while before you can really know but about how long is that? Would appreciate any tips/ general advice for minox. thx guys.

[35YrsAfter]

Alright so I had my haircut and I think it looks a little better.....if anything im glad the annoying thin hairs are out of my eyes for now. My bald spot on top seems to be getting larger so I am planning on starting 5% Rogaine soon and am wondering if anyone has any tips that I should know about? ive done some googling and some people say foam in the AM liquid at night?

Should I even bother applying it to my hairline/entire head? oh just on the bald spot on top? As for the shedding I know people said that you have to stick with it for a while before you can really know but about how long is that? Would appreciate any tips/ general advice for minox. thx guys.

I remember when I was 14 years old and noticed recession. I thought the recession would grow larger. It didn't and my hair receded a little and then just thinned out. My brother in law had some serious recession in his 20s and it stopped. He's now an old man with the hair he had in his 20s except it's white. It's difficult to predict future hair loss. Your mother's father and your father can help you a guesstimate regarding where your hair could go. During patient consultations at Dr. Cole's office, we use the HairCheck system to help determine future hair loss. Consultations are free by the way, so if you're going to be in the Atlanta area, call our office for a consult.

According to a recent study, vitamin D3 is supposed to play a positive role in hair growth, some sun exposure helps hair and sunburn has the opposite effect. Cigarette smoking is bad and according to a study it raises testosterone levels which some doctors believe provides fuel for higher levels of DHT. Stress is bad but how do you avoid that? Coffee is good for hair growth. Much of the studies I mentioned were based upon identical twins. One was "good" and the other was "bad" when it comes to lifestyle that influences hair growth.

Since MPB is hereditary, studies as the ones mentioned above fall into the category of "Epigenetics"

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office
Cole Hair Transplant
1045 Powers Place
Alpharetta, Georgia 30009
Phone 678-566-1011

[optimisticyouth]

I remember when I was 14 years old and noticed recession. I thought the recession would grow larger. It didn't and my hair receded a little and then just thinned out. My brother in law had some serious recession in his 20s and it stopped. He's now an old man with the hair he had in his 20s except it's white. It's difficult to predict future hair loss. Your mother's father and your father can help you a guesstimate regarding where your hair could go. During patient consultations at Dr. Cole's office, we use the HairCheck system to help determine future hair loss. Consultations are free by the way, so if you're going to be in the Atlanta area, call our office for a consult.

According to a recent study, vitamin D3 is supposed to play a positive role in hair growth, some sun exposure helps hair and sunburn has the opposite effect. Cigarette smoking is bad and according to a study it raises testosterone levels which some doctors believe provides fuel for higher levels of DHT. Stress is bad but how do you avoid that? Coffee is good for hair growth. Much of the studies I mentioned were based upon identical twins. One was "good" and the other was "bad" when it comes to lifestyle that influences hair growth.

Since MPB is hereditary, studies as the ones mentioned above fall into the category of "Epigenetics"

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office
Cole Hair Transplant
1045 Powers Place
Alpharetta, Georgia 30009
Phone 678-566-1011
Please feel free to call or email me with any questions.

My question is, if my mothers father has a full head of hair at 86, and my father had a full head of hear up until he passed away at 33, but his father is seriously bald, what are the odds of me going bald before I reach my 30s? As far as I know, all of my uncles on my fathers side also have good hair in their 40s.

Is it possible for hair loss to skip my dad and affect me? Thanks!

[35YrsAfter]

The odds are heavily in your favor of not being bald, but in a way, hair loss can have the appearance of a crap shoot. We had a young man in recently for a consult who had a pattern on top similar to yours except it was more pronounced with a great deal of miniaturized hair. He told me that he didn't know of any men in his family with hair loss. Sometimes men can get the MPB gene from a distant relative.

What Norwood category was your grandfather on your father's side?

[amadeus]

Rogaine can actually help some people in the hairline, but your best bet would to talk to your doctor about Propecia if you want to really hold off the balding process in the longer term.

Here's the thing in your case, you have an extremely strong face so you are going to be good looking with or without hair. If you think you can deal with the shaved look eventually, you should just hit the gym, maybe grow some facial hair eventually, and enjoy your life. You look like one of the chosen few who can look as good without hair as you do with it.

Just food for thought.

Alright so I had my haircut and I think it looks a little better.....if anything im glad the annoying thin hairs are out of my eyes for now. My bald spot on top seems to be getting larger so I am planning on starting 5% Rogaine soon and am wondering if anyone has any tips that I should know about? ive done some googling and some people say foam in the AM liquid at night?

Should I even bother applying it to my hairline/entire head? oh just on the bald spot on top? As for the shedding I know people said that you have to stick with it for a while before you can really know but about how long is that? Would appreciate any tips/ general advice for minox. thx guys.

[optimisticyouth]

The odds are heavily in your favor of not being bald, but in a way, hair loss can have the appearance of a crap shoot. We had a young man in recently for a consult who had a pattern on top similar to yours except it was more pronounced with a great deal of miniaturized hair. He told me that he didn't know of any men in his family with hair loss. Sometimes men can get the MPB gene from a distant relative.

What Norwood category was your grandfather on your father's side?

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office
Cole Hair Transplant
1045 Powers Place
Alpharetta, Georgia 30009
Phone 678-566-1011
Please feel free to call or email me with any questions.

I'm not the original poster on this thread, so the pics in thread aren't mine, but my paternal grandfather is really bald. Like a full-blown NW7.