Norwood stage -2 and only 24! can anyone help

[royall93]

Hello everyone ,

New guy here who is just seeking a little advice or comfort from people in the same or similar situation.

I went to a Dr as I noticed that my hair seemed to have gotten slightly thinner at the from- even though I have always had thin hair on the top of my head I though that this had gotten a little bit worse.

The doctors reported specified that there were "Some signs of retraction of the frontal margin compatible with Hamilton Norwood Stage 2". Since doing some research I can honestly say I have been Norwood 2 from about 16-17 years old , my older brother is a Norwood 2 as-well. The Doctor also said I showed signs of thinning. The Doctor couldn't tell me if I was going to go completely bald and she didn't seem to think it was going to be a rapid process.

I don't really understand the diagnosis- both my mother and father have thin hair, but nevertheless a full head of hair and likewise for all my grandparents. I have a bald uncle and my Great Granddad was bald (Mums side) .

Is there anyone out there that was a Norwood 2 in their 20's and stayed that way?

Below are a series of pictures of my hair when it gets a little high, brushed and unbrushed. Note that my hair has been this thin since 16 years old and my hairline similar.

[royall93]

Any thoughts

[Zdude]

You're barely a Norwood 1. You're fine.

This is what Norwood 2 looks like:

[k9gatton]

Any thoughts

Balding younger usually means it's more aggressive. She said you weren't going to
go bald fast?


It's really hard to judge hair recession from the pictures shown. You can block out your
face, and show the front part/and hairline. (That is what she's basing NW 2 on, I'm guessing?).

[k9gatton]

You're barely a Norwood 1. You're fine.

This is what Norwood 2 looks like:

That looks like a Norwood three, in my opinion. But without seeing your entire face I can't tell.


A Norwood one (male scale), which of course means nothing (diffuse, non receding thinners), means one centimeter has receded from the hairline.

[Zdude]

That looks like a Norwood three, in my opinion. But without seeing your entire face I can't tell.


A Norwood one (male scale), which of course means nothing (diffuse, non receding thinners), means one centimeter has receded from the hairline.

I am mostly basing it on the below diagram (there's plenty of them on Google images) and comparing what looks closest to my hair:



The photograph is a few months old, but I was five months into treating my baldness and am pretty confident I was at Norwood II at that stage. I have always had a big forehead, though.

When I was at Norwood III imo (before I began treating my baldness), this is what it looked like:




I cringe when I look at my old photographs.

This is my hair now:



I am pretty sure I am a solid Norwood I by now (my right side is lagging behind my left side when it's come to regrowth, though) and it's still a bit thin for my liking on both sides. However, it's still getting thicker and thicker since the start of my regime - been taking saw palmetto, biotin, and using minoxidil for 10 months now.

This is my hair before I started balding at age eighteen years old as a point of comparison:



I don't think I will get it all back (the sides of my temples haven't really budged at all, been using freckles on my face and forehead to measure growth), but people have commented that my hair's growing back out-of-the-blue, so that's a good sign.

Also, getting back on topic, I had a better look at the OP's photographs. Their hairline is completely fine, but I did notice some diffused thinning (might be the lighting overheard that's giving that illusion, though). If they're concerned, however, I do recommend trying out my regime of saw palmetto, biotin, and minoxidil. I know for some people minoxidil doesn't work, but it personally worked very, very well for me (side-effects are a little annoying, including hairier arms, hands, bushier eyebrows, ridiculous amount of nose hair, the odd hair that grows on my left earlobe, and sometimes it irritates my eyes). There's also the fact that you're basically trapped using it forever, on top of that it's slightly embarrassing that I have to use a 'hair tonic', but I figure my results are worth the fuss and slight annoyance.

I used Rogaine (brand, foam) for the first month. Then I decided to change to the liquid instead.

Receipts -

Foam Price (3 month supply): $124.99 AU / Chemist Warehouse
Liquid Price (4 month supply): $107.69 AU / Chemist Warehouse

I then ordered a different brand for a much cheaper price (Foligain.P5).

Foligain - Liquid (12 month supply): $111.20 AU / BIOVEA

I have been using that 12 month supply ever since without a problem (notably, the syringes they give you for Rogaine are better than the ones they give you in Foligain imo - so I just ended up using the syringe I got in my Rogaine pack instead).