Started yo go bald at 16...

[RGW]

I'm now 19, so that means I've been balding for 3 years. Believe me, its felt like longer.


When I was 15/16 I had long shoulder lengh unkempt hair. It was my little rebelion against my parents and I liked it, but it always got really knotty so I had to agressively part it when I combed it to keep it unmatted.

One day my mum looked at it, and said I think the way your brishing your hair is causing it to fall out. I thought she was just trying to get me to cit it so I ignored her, but after a few months I noticd it too. I cut it short, but I had a resonable area on my crown where hair simply refused grow any more. At that time I didn't care much, btu as I've got older, most of the hair on the top of my head has gone the same way. And right now its causing me confidence issues. (I'll post pics up when I have them)

My dads bald, but I have the same type of hair as my mum (Really really thin anyway) which only makes it look worse. I take after my mum a lot and since her dad had a full head of hair when he died in his 60's I find it curious that I'm going to have lost all mine by 22.

Also curiously, I have no hair on my arms or legs but I do have normal pubic hair. I've been to see a doctor and a dermatologist about the problem after I had it cut and I noticed a large chunk of hair was missing from the back of my head, the doctor did several tests and all the results came out fine.

I'm having a slight crisis at the moment of what to do. I know the best thing would be to just shave it all off and be done with the problem. But I just got this feeling that I'll look like an oddity with a shiny bald head, plus the girl I'm currently after has said 'bald men dont do it for me' in conversation before, so I'm hesitant to do it.

Before I get pictures of me, my balding pattern is quite similar to that of prince william

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_UDIwZAxomYk/S5Y5QzhQOSI/AAAAAAAAAV0/h74-_SHaUXE/14-pwilliambald05.jpg

I've thought often that my balding man not be natural, especially since clumps where just not growing at the back and I have little body hair, but all my blood test results came back in normal ranges. I've not really posted here looking for help as I believe there is nothing that can be done, I just wanted to share my story and hear your feed back


Thanks! Pics to come soon.

[mattj]

Mistreating your hair in various ways (such as tying it back too tightly or maybe brushing it too aggressively) can cause hair to be lost, but if yours is continuing to thin now that it's short then it's almost certainly unconnected to anything you've done. You talk of a chunk missing. Your choice of word makes it sound unusual but you probably just mean a bald spot. It does sound like you probably have male pattern baldness rather than anything abnormal going on.
Have you looking into the hairloss drug Propecia at all?

[RGW]

Thanks for the swift reply.

What you've said about me brushing it, pretty much is how I orginally felt about it. I didn't think the brushing had much to do with the actual hair loss.

What I mean by clump of hair, is at the back where my hair still grows as normal, at the bottom theres about a 2 inch square patch of head which no hair grows. You can't see it unless I push my hair up though.

I've never taken propecia, but I've just looked it up and it has some nasty sounding side effects. I also remember my dermitologist mentioning something like propecia and saying at my age it was not the best option? I would love to have my hair back, but if that meant jeopardizing my health and erectile functions I'd rather have a bald head.

[mattj]

At 19 you are old enough to take Propecia. As for the side effects, well, that's a personal value judgement. Propecia is pretty much the only thing that will give you a chance of stopping your hairloss and it could even re-grow some of the lost hair. It's worth at least trying it. The risk is very minimal.

[RGW]

I hear you, but why was my dermatologist so against me having it?

[mattj]

I really don't know. Some physicians are very cautious. I don't recall ever hearing of a negative outcome resulting from Propecia use at your age. You said you've been losing hair for three years. Were you under 18 when you saw the dermatologist? Propecia is not recommended for males under the age of 18.

Also, you shouldn't assume that you'll have lost all your hair by age 22. I started showing visible signs of hairloss at age 22 (although I didn't actually notice until I was 24 - I had to check old photos) and I'm now 30, and only a very small amount of hair has been lost between then and now. This is probably largely due to the effects of Propecia.

[JOE-91]

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2010.02157.x/abstract

[gmonasco]

Extensive clinical studies proved that Propecia, with just 1mg of finasteride, could safely and effectively treat male pattern baldness.

Some men (and doctors), are concerned about Propecia’s side effects. However, clinical studies showed that they were uncommon and had no long term effects.

http://www.belgraviacentre.com/blog/long-term-safety-of-propecia/