26 years old NW3 : tell me what you think

[Jay88]

Looking back I guess I started losing my hair when I was 17. My hair was long and thick so I didn't even pay attention to it at the time, had no idea I was going bald. Then when I was 22 my temple points suddenly fell off and that's when the hair loss hit me like a ton of bricks. Losing my temple points made me lose the frame of my face and I hated how I started to look. So I started shaving my head because of how bad it looked to have a low hairline and very high sides. I lost a lot of confidence. I'm thinking about doing a FUE HT in the next year or two. I'd like to go to a NW1, and I really want my temple points back.

What can you tell me by looking at my hair ? Is my hair too thin or is that normal ? Does it look like it's receding more ? I shaved my head using an electrical clipper no guard about a week before taking these pictures

[Gordknight]

I would say jump on Finasteride asap. The hair on your crown and on top of your head is clearly thinning but you still have it. If you respond well to finasteride all the hair you have will go back to its normal thickness and you may even get some regrowth on your temples. If you respond well to it, the amount of money you have to spend on a HT to fix your hairline would be dramatically less.

Besides most doctors wont let you get a HT without being on finasteride anyway because you would look ridiculous with a good hairline but no hair behind it.

Stabilize your current loss with finasteride then in a year you can see what a HT can do for you.

[win200]

I would say jump on Finasteride asap. The hair on your crown and on top of your head is clearly thinning but you still have it. If you respond well to finasteride all the hair you have will go back to its normal thickness and you may even get some regrowth on your temples. If you respond well to it, the amount of money you have to spend on a HT to fix your hairline would be dramatically less.

Besides most doctors wont let you get a HT without being on finasteride anyway because you would look ridiculous with a good hairline but no hair behind it.

Stabilize your current loss with finasteride then in a year you can see what a HT can do for you.

Amen to this. If you have this pattern at 26, you're probably destined for a higher Norwood; there's clearly a NW6 outline there. Go for the big 3 - finasteride, minoxidil, Nizoral.

[Jay88]

I would say jump on Finasteride asap. The hair on your crown and on top of your head is clearly thinning but you still have it. If you respond well to finasteride all the hair you have will go back to its normal thickness and you may even get some regrowth on your temples. If you respond well to it, the amount of money you have to spend on a HT to fix your hairline would be dramatically less.

Besides most doctors wont let you get a HT without being on finasteride anyway because you would look ridiculous with a good hairline but no hair behind it.

Stabilize your current loss with finasteride then in a year you can see what a HT can do for you.

Thank you for the advice but I can't use finasteride due to some health issues I've had in the past. I am trying other things to keep the rest of my hair though like nizoral and rogaine(just started)

[Jay88]

Amen to this. If you have this pattern at 26, you're probably destined for a higher Norwood; there's clearly a NW6 outline there. Go for the big 3 - finasteride, minoxidil, Nizoral.

Could you please explain the NW6 outline to me ? I just don't know how to see look for it or see it

[BigThinker]

Could you please explain the NW6 outline to me ? I just don't know how to see look for it or see it

NW6 is one step before horse-shoe or "power donut". Basically you have a tad bit of hair on the crown but it's so far back it may as well be an NW7.

I agree with everyone else, get on fin and minox to see if you can't maintain what you have.

I'm almost 26 and not far behind you hairloss wise. In fact our hair lines look pretty identical. I might just have a bit more density. But, I also just applied my 2nd minox application of the day and will be taking my daily dose of finasteride in ~8 hours so, time goes on.

[inspects]

Thank you for the advice but I can't use finasteride due to some health issues I've had in the past. I am trying other things to keep the rest of my hair though like nizoral and rogaine(just started)

Fin is the only thing we have to help stop loss or slow it down which works very well for most people.

[Gordknight]

What are the medical issues that prevent you from using fin if you dont mind me asking? To my knowledge the only health issues that interfere with finasteride is some kind of liver problem or an immune system disease such as HIV etc...

If you want to keep it personal thats fine, but if the health reason is you are afraid of side effects or have gotten side effects in the past Id say get on Fin and just do it at a lower dose. I personally only take .25 mg every day and it seems to be working for me.

[ccmethinning]

Could you please explain the NW6 outline to me ? I just don't know how to see look for it or see it

Where I outlined with red corresponds almost exactly with a textbook future NW6 outline.

[Jay88]

NW6 is one step before horse-shoe or "power donut". Basically you have a tad bit of hair on the crown but it's so far back it may as well be an NW7.

I agree with everyone else, get on fin and minox to see if you can't maintain what you have.

I'm almost 26 and not far behind you hairloss wise. In fact our hair lines look pretty identical. I might just have a bit more density. But, I also just applied my 2nd minox application of the day and will be taking my daily dose of finasteride in ~8 hours so, time goes on.

thanks for explaining it to me.

[Jay88]

What are the medical issues that prevent you from using fin if you dont mind me asking? To my knowledge the only health issues that interfere with finasteride is some kind of liver problem or an immune system disease such as HIV etc...

If you want to keep it personal thats fine, but if the health reason is you are afraid of side effects or have gotten side effects in the past Id say get on Fin and just do it at a lower dose. I personally only take .25 mg every day and it seems to be working for me.

sorry to sound like a jerk but I really would prefer to keep it personal

[Jay88]

Where I outlined with red corresponds almost exactly with a textbook future NW6 outline.

Wow seeing that really puts it into perspective. I guess I was really delusional, again ! I'm in much worse shape than I thought I was. I had no idea I was in a NW6 pattern. As foolish as it sounds I thought I had a normal amount of hair on top and that I just lost my temples and temple points. The Bald truth is definitely a very fitting name for this site



So this means I'm pretty much guaranteed to eventually lose all the hair I have on top without fin ? Oh me and my naiveté.

[win200]

Wow seeing that really puts it into perspective. I guess I was really delusional, again ! I'm in much worse shape than I thought I was. I had no idea I was in a NW6 pattern. As foolish as it sounds I thought I had a normal amount of hair on top and that I just lost my temples and temple points. The Bald truth is definitely a very fitting name for this site



So this means I'm pretty much guaranteed to eventually lose all the hair I have on top without fin ? Oh me and my naiveté.

You won't necessarily lose all of it, but at 26, with that level of thinning, you'll almost certainly lose MOST of it, at least. Tough to ballpark, but you're at 10-20% original density on top, I'd say.

[BigThinker]

sorry to sound like a jerk but I really would prefer to keep it personal

Not to be invasive, but did a doc tell you you couldn't be on fin for health reason? If it's your own speculation, you're doing yourself a serious injustice. If a doc did tell you then yeah of course don't take it.

[Notcoolanymore]

Looking at your pics, we are pretty much in the same boat. Some might say it is too late to start treatement, but the way I look at it, I would rather buzz my head and at least have some coverage. I think that looks way better than being slick bald and shiny. At least that is what I think, so I will do my best to keep what I have.