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[wildcat07]

Hi there, I'm a 30 yo male (turning 31 in 2 months), and have never really thought about my hair in terms of thinning or balding. 2 weeks ago, while I was playing with my 7-yo nephew he said I was balding which surprised me. so in the last 2 weeks I've been reading about the topic and freaking out wondering what to do.

Basically, from the front, and sides I guess my hair appears "normal" to me. I looked at some pictures from the last 3 years and it doesn't look different, in that it's not receding in the front (i think). However, from the top/black it appears to be thinning? or that my whorl is getting bigger. I've always been aware that I have a whorl but obviously wasn't something I checked out or examined closely in the past. No one else has mentioned this so I haven no idea if this spot has gotten bigger over a short time period or what. Anyways, I've attached some pictures below

[Tracy C]

Hello,

Your hair line looks fine for a male. It does look like you are thinning in your vertex though. Better pictures would help. Photos with your hair parted down the middle could tell the tale much better. The wider that part looks the more hair you have lost.

Anyways, if this bothers you there is something you can do about it. You may find that the two medications available for treating hair loss might give you acceptable results. Book an appointment with a doctor who specializes in treating hair loss to discus it.

A couple of other things that could be helpful as adjunct treatments are to use Nizoral A-D shampoo in place of your regular shampoo once or twice per week and consider giving the laser comb a try. A good quality concealer such as Dermmatch may also be helpful to you because it can help boost your confidence as well as hide the fact that you are treating your hair loss.

Take care,

Tracy

[wildcat07]

Thanks Tracy, I will try to get some better photos and post them, along with a part down the middle.

I looked at the Nizoral shampoo on Amazon and it looks like they all have 1% ketocanazole, but I've seen other people refer to 2%. Is that a prescription?

From reading, it sounds like my other options are Minoxidil (rogaine apply once per day), and Propecia (1gm / day - prescription needed). Some of the propecia threads have me worried, but it sounds like I can start the other 2 right away without any downside. is that true?

I'll be booking an appt very soon, thanks for the feedback

[Zao]

Honestly Propecia (finasteride) is the single most effective drug on the market to slow or reverse male pattern baldness. The people who have had the best long term results in this battle are people who take propecia. I personally believe that the side effect issue has been blown way out of proportion by a extremely vocal minority, but ultimately it is up to you.

[Tracy C]

Hi wildcat07,

Zao is correct. Propecia (or generic Finasteride) is the single most important medication for arresting hereditary hair loss in males because it blocks the formation of the hormone that triggers hereditary hair loss. I cannot comment on the possible side effects because those concerns do not apply to me. It would be best to discus this with a doctor who specializes in treating hair loss. I will say that many men save a lot of money by asking their doctor to write the script for 5mg generic Finasteride and then split the pills to make their daily doses.

Propecia and Rogaine do two different things. As I mentioned above, Propecia blocks the hormone that triggeres hereditary hair loss. Rogaine stimulates hair follicles that can still grow hair to start growing hair again. Rogaine is most effective when used twice per day. Many men and women use Rogaine foam in the morning because it is stealthy and then use generic liquid Minoxidil in the evening to save money. You can buy Rogaine foam and generic liquid Minoxidil at your local pharmacy. Walmart started selling a generic version of Rogaine foam last month. I plan to give that a try when my current supply of Rogaine foam runs out. I already use Walmart's generic women's liquid Minoxidil for my evening dose.

Nizoral is available in two versions here in the states. The 1% Nizoral A-D version is available without a presciption and you can use that up to twice per week in place of your regular shampoo. The 2% version of Nizoral is by prescription only. You should not use the 2% prescription strength version more than once per week. You can buy Nizoral A-D at your local pharmacy without a prescription. Nizoral A-D is much less expensive at Walmart than Amazon. The prices for Nizoral A-D are grossly inflated on Amazon. I don't know why.

The laser comb is available directly from Hairmax.com. It is quite expensive though but I feel it has helped me. I've been using the 9 laser model for several years now.

You can buy Dermmatch directly from Dermmatch.com or you can order it from Walmart.com using their "site-to-store" service.

All my best to you,

Tracy