Round 2 (six years later) - (Pics)

[vinnyved]

Hey, what's up? I hope everyone is doing well. Anyways, as a longtime lurker, I thought it was finally time I get some opinions from you guys over here. About six years ago, I noticed a receding hairline (pics below), and I actually made a post on one of these hairloss forums. At the time, the general consensus was that I had a "mature hairline". What did I do back then? Probably the best thing ever: I stopped worrying and lived my life. Unfortunately, the worries of hair loss have snuck back into my life, and now at 22 I'd like to get an honest opinion on my hair (I can't count on family and friends).


Background:

Dad and uncles: currently have full heads of hair in their mid to late 50's
Older Brother: Minor thinning on the crown late 20s
Grandfathers: Maternal (strong head of hair into 40s). Bald now at 86. Paternal - same
Mom's uncles (grandma's brothers) - One lost hair fairly young (no one knew cuz he had a wig!) and the other lost hair over an extended period.

Also, within the last year I have lost about 15 pounds, mostly due to stress, and a very bad diet. I don't know how much this can contribute to the hair loss process, but I thought I should put it out there.


Sixteen years old








Current (22 years old)




















Now I'm at a point where I am debating what steps I should take, if I should take any at all. The top of the head seems to have remained OK; there seems to be a tad bit of thinning near the crown (right side) but I am unsure if that is the effect of curly hair and a cowlick. Also, I cut my hair a few days ago and hairdresser said that my scalp was full of little red dots.

What I currently use:

Nioxin System - Makes my hair feel and look nice and thick but it might be causing redness to the scalp.

Any help?

Thanks guys

[AGL]

Hey, at the most I would suggest minoxidil and/or finasteride. If there is a little thinning in the crown this may help. I don't see any issue with your hairline. Only my opinion for whatever it's worth.

[PatientlyWaiting]

Lucky you, your hairline from 16 to 22 is not much different. Maybe it's thicker at 16, but hairline and crown look fine. Try minoxidil and finasteride for one year, if you see progress then good for you, if you don't and you just maintain, it's still worth it because of where your hair loss is. See for me, being NW3-4, maintaining is a failure, but for an NW1-2 like you, maintaining is great.

[vinnyved]

Thanks for the response guys.

I think the hairline has pushed back a tad from when i was 16, but glad to know its held up OK for the time. My main concern is with my crown. I took a few more pictures tonight, and they look much different from the previous ones. I'm not sure if its just the effects of the cowlick + curly hair being wild, or if its actually some pretty darn fast thinning of the crown. My hair is pretty short right now too.

It looks pretty patchy too. It doesn't look like you could see the scalp through the hair, it seems as if you could see the scalp directly. Hairdresser says its cowlick causing havoc + hairdresser also noticed that the area was full of a ton of red spots. She mentioned something called psoriasis, because I even scale on side and back of head. Honestly, having some kind of temporary scalp problem is probably better than MPB, but who knows what it is.

Dermatologist appointment has been made. It's in about 4 weeks from now. I'm hoping nothing gets worse by then.

[vinnyved]

A few more after actually combing my hair; I'm not used to really combing since I usually wear my hair longer than this and I guess that "spot" was covered. Looks a bit better now, but I'm still not too happy. Honestly, I'm not asking for much, at least let me get into my thirties then who cares I'll shave it off myself!

The only thing scarier than hair loss right now is the thought of someone taking my phone and seeing the 200+ pictures that I've taken of my hair! LOL. Oh God, I guess there's worse things in life.

[Ohionin]

Hey. Your hair looks quite good. I would be happy with that

[vinnyved]

Thanks for the response Ohionin.

I am glad to hear that some of you guys think it looks OK for the time being. I've been having so much trouble really "diagnosing" my hair loss. My hair has always been fine and curly. And so, every time I take a picture (or look in the mirror) I am unsure if I'm looking at hair loss or just curly hair misplacing itself.

Right now, my concern is with the crown. If I actually comb the hair in the back, it looks alright. If I shower and let it dry on its own without combing, more scalp can be seen. Now is that thinning hair? Is it misplacement of hair? Is it the cowlick? Who the heck knows.

I guess I'll have to keep combing the back to make it look good, until I get my appointment.

As for treatments:

I'm looking to stop Nioxin and start RegenePure. Anyone know a place that ships RegenePure to Canada?

[Notcoolanymore]

Thanks for the response Ohionin.

I am glad to hear that some of you guys think it looks OK for the time being. I've been having so much trouble really "diagnosing" my hair loss. My hair has always been fine and curly. And so, every time I take a picture (or look in the mirror) I am unsure if I'm looking at hair loss or just curly hair misplacing itself.

Right now, my concern is with the crown. If I actually comb the hair in the back, it looks alright. If I shower and let it dry on its own without combing, more scalp can be seen. Now is that thinning hair? Is it misplacement of hair? Is it the cowlick? Who the heck knows.

I guess I'll have to keep combing the back to make it look good, until I get my appointment.

As for treatments:

I'm looking to stop Nioxin and start RegenePure. Anyone know a place that ships RegenePure to Canada?

Does Amazon not ship to Canada? I bought my Regenepure off of amazon, but I live in the US.

[vinnyved]

Does Amazon not ship to Canada? I bought my Regenepure off of amazon, but I live in the US.

I know the company sells on Amazon, though I didn't see any shipping instructions to Canada.

I did check their website, and they sell the DR + NT package (8 oz) for about 45$ + 20$ of shipping. Shipping is nearly 50% but it seems as though it is the only way to purchase the shampoo.

[vinnyved]

Hey guys,

how's it going? Here I am once again, on my routine anxiety hair checkup...it happens every couple of months. Anyways, I took a few pictures of my crown today, where I've been wrestling with a stubborn cowlick (according to two hairdressers) and perhaps some thinning. I wanted to get some insight from you guys here.

The first two images are with some direct lighting from the window. It's fairly strong but that's what I got. I also parted my hair just a bit to make it more clear. The last pictures were take with flash in a fairly lit room. The swirl/cowlick is fairly more evident in this picture (center-right).

Now I'm not exactly sure what is up with my hair. The surrounding hair near the cowlick is pretty strong. At the same time, curly hair + cowlick has been a nightmare styling. Some days it looks like I'm losing it all, and some days it looks like I haven't shed one hair. These images will show what I mean; or I could just be losing my mind with this hair!

Let me know what you guys think. I'm sorry that I keep coming back to post, but I'm pretty sure some of you's know what the constant checking feels like. Thanks!

http://imgur.com/fcyNrZQ

http://imgur.com/ttFFD8O

http://imgur.com/byGmmSz

http://imgur.com/iXk7ltT

http://imgur.com/qxpzgQZ

[win200]

Don't worry about coming back with anxiety; that's what the forums are for.

Others might disagree, but I don't think your crown is thinning. Given the way that the head is shaped, at some point on the back of your head the hairs have to start growing in different directions from one another. For some people, they have the "whorl" with a vortex-type shape; for others, there's just a sort of short linear area where the hair starts spreading in different directions. That's what you've got, and it tends to look thinner than the whorl because it forms a kind of a part that reveals scalp (whereas the whorl doesn't). My crown looks like yours, and I'm constantly scared that it's thinning, but it's just the way my hair grows back there.

[Notcoolanymore]

Have you started any treatments? In the first two pics there appears to be some crown thinning. It's not bad, so don't start panicking, but it looks thinner than the rest of your head. The last few pics actually look pretty normal. I wouldn't be able to tell you were losing hair if you didn't say anything.

[vinnyved]

Don't worry about coming back with anxiety; that's what the forums are for.

Others might disagree, but I don't think your crown is thinning. Given the way that the head is shaped, at some point on the back of your head the hairs have to start growing in different directions from one another. For some people, they have the "whorl" with a vortex-type shape; for others, there's just a sort of short linear area where the hair starts spreading in different directions. That's what you've got, and it tends to look thinner than the whorl because it forms a kind of a part that reveals scalp (whereas the whorl doesn't). My crown looks like yours, and I'm constantly scared that it's thinning, but it's just the way my hair grows back there.

Thanks for the response win200. That's why I've been having so much trouble trying to gauge the situation in the crow area. Some days, if the hair back there falls nicely, it looks like there's absolutely nothing wrong. On the bad days, the hair falls in such a way that it looks like there's quite a bit of thinning.

There is a sort of "whorl" near the center right, but aside from that the hair seems to run in every direction.

[vinnyved]

Have you started any treatments? In the first two pics there appears to be some crown thinning. It's not bad, so don't start panicking, but it looks thinner than the rest of your head. The last few pics actually look pretty normal. I wouldn't be able to tell you were losing hair if you didn't say anything.

Thanks for the response Notcoolanymore.

The only treatment I've used from the past few months is Nizoral once a week. Aside from that, I've used Nioxin as well (doesn't do much but it does make my hair look nice!).

As for the meds, I did get a prescription for Proscar from the dermatologist. I haven't taken a pill though for various reasons. For one, the dermatologist noted that the minimal thinning could be due to SD, as I would do some extreme scratching on the crown area. He also said that my hair was not bad at all, and while it could continue thinning in the short term, there's an equal chance it could stay like this for X amount of years. He recommended that I monitor it. Still though, I was there so I asked (and got!) the prescription. The second reason was due to problems I have been dealing in the testicles; my family doctor ruled out Proscar until everything was settled with this situation. (Note: the doctor did not say finasteride was good or bad, the reason was because he did not want any outside factors playing into the prior situation).

But you basically see what I see in the pictures. Some look alright, maybe a tad thinning in the crown. Others looks like there's no thinning at all, and the "Swirl" I mention in the center right. Then it gets me thinking, are the first pictures bad because the light is directly on that area? Is it the way I parted my hair? Should I move this way or that way to get a better angle? In other words, I'm obsessive and unfortunately it could, and has, ruined some of my days.

Everyone I know tells me there's nothing wrong and I'm crazy, and rather than being comforted, I get more anxious! Oh well!

[vinnyved]

Hey guys, how's it going.

I just recently got a real short haircut, and I'm having trouble gauging the current level of my hairline (Norwood stage I guess). It seems as though it hasn't really changed much since my initial post (over 3 months ago). I've been looking around the forums, and the Norwood stages vary quite a bit. I'm not too experienced, but I guess I'd say I am around a NW 2? The hair behind the hairline is also pretty strong so far.

Honestly, the sad truth is that I have a hard time trusting friends and family when I ask for an honest opinion of my hair. I guess that's why I like posting images here, since everyone is pretty straight up! Anyway, here are the pictures. I could post more if a better look is needed.