Is this balding or just how my hairline looks?

[Dandrel]

What's up guys. I'm 23 years old and I've gotten a thought in my head which I cannot shake. Am I balding or am I not balding? I'm not really sure. My dad is bald, so is his brother and his dad. My uncle on my mothers side is not bald, nor was my grandfather even though he had what you would call a 'mature hairline'.

I have included photos, some taken with flash - some without. And one picture from 4 years ago.




Thanks.

[thehatman]

Hi Dandrel you are balding! your crown is diffused and your hair look limp compared with the photo 4 years ago. you should put minoxidil 5% on your crown and start take Finastride 1mg to slow it down or even regrow.

[Dandrel]

Hi Dandrel you are balding! your crown is diffused and your hair look limp compared with the photo 4 years ago. you should put minoxidil 5% on your crown and start take Finastride 1mg to slow it down or even regrow.

Hi! Thanks for your answer!

Are you sure? Note that my hair four years ago was longer. And that I have three swirls in my head. I recently (April this year) cut my hair to 3mm - to regrow. I have a picture of that as well. And then a picture of me when I was about six years old when you can see the way my hair looks - colourwise and with the swirls.

But I do think my hair quality has changed drastically within a year or so. Let me find some more pics.

[Dandrel]

Top one is a picture of my crown when I was six.

Middle one is from before I trimmed my hair, in April.

Bottom one is when I had trimmed my hair, in April.

[thehatman]

The quality of your hair is diffused and are lacking that shine you use to have 4 years ago. If i where you i would start taking min and fin, they will be your best friends. GOOD LUCK

[Dandrel]

The quality of your hair is diffused and are lacking that shine you use to have 4 years ago. If i where you i would start taking min and fin, they will be your best friends. GOOD LUCK

Hmm.

All right. What do you mean that it's diffused?

[thehatman]

DRY, BRITTLE, THINNING, LIMP, UNEVEN, FLOATING ISLAND and so on is the look of some one diffusing, a diffused hair is a dying hair.
I know the truth hurts! trust me in the beginning it's hard to accept whats really going on. My advice start your meds now!

[Dandrel]

DRY, BRITTLE, THINNING, LIMP, UNEVEN, FLOATING ISLAND and so on is the look of some one diffusing, a diffused hair is a dying hair.
I know the truth hurts! trust me in the beginning it's hard to accept whats really going on. My advice start your meds now!

All right, thanks. :-)

[thehatman]

No problem! BTW have you tried Minoxidil? i think you could reverse your problem.

[Dandrel]

No problem! BTW have you tried Minoxidil? i think you could reverse your problem.

No, and I'm not sure I want to try it either because of the side effects. I'd rather wait and see what happens for a while - if it stays like this up until my 30's or something I'm pretty fine with being bald, I guess. And if I'm not by then I'd rather do a hair transplant to be honest. If it doesn't stay like this I'm just going to shave it off and grow a beard instead.

I'm also going to try and change my diet a bit to see if that has caused this. I mean, I might be grasping for straws here but it's worth a shot. I've been a vegetarian for about a year and a half, since then my hair lost all the shine it used to have. I've also been under a lot of psychological stress for about a year - I've always had anxiety but this year has been taking the toll on me. I'm just trying to find what could have triggered it so quickly.

[Notgivingup2]

100% losing your hair bro. It sucks, but it's happening to all of us so we would know.

[Skin]

No, and I'm not sure I want to try it either because of the side effects. I'd rather wait and see what happens for a while - if it stays like this up until my 30's or something I'm pretty fine with ybeing bald, I guess. And if I'm not by then I'd rather do a hair transplant to be honest. If it doesn't stay like this I'm just going to shave it off and grow a beard instead.

I'm also going to try and change my diet a bit to see if that has caused this. I mean, I might be grasping for straws here but it's worth a shot. I've been a vegetarian for about a year and a half, since then my hair lost all the shine it used to have. I've also been under a lot of psychological stress for about a year - I've always had anxiety but this year has been taking the toll on me. I'm just trying to find what could have triggered it so quickly.

You look like you're losing it quickly. Don't delay in treatment. It could be pretty much gone this time next year! Get on the big 3. Min fin and nizoral. Most people don't get sides dude. Don't let anyone or any horror stories put you off. Honestly hurry up man, you don't have much time!

[Skin]

Also dude, a hair transplant isn't a be all and end all cure. Most people end up having 3 to chase their continuing balding. The docs will tell you to take minoxidil and finasteride after a transplant for the rest of your life so you can maintain the original non transplanted hair. So basically the bad news is the transplanted hair stays but the rest of your scalp eventually succumbs to baldness. Thus why some end up having 3 surgeries. You're going to need a good 30 grand dude to do that. If you wait to lose all your hair you will never have enough hair on the sides to cover the bald patch.

Your best bet is to keep what you've got now at least. That way you may get decent regrowth and not need a transplant. If you decide in a few years to have one at least you won't have to spend a fortune.

But just to reiterate. Unless you can fully except baldness finasteride and minoxidil are your only effective options. Transplant or not.

[thehatman]

I was also a vegetarian for almost 5 years. 4 years in to it i also started to lose hair and my quality became real bad, so i started to eat meat again and the limp looking hair became normal agin. A vegetarian diet is not good for all.

[Dandrel]

100% losing your hair bro. It sucks, but it's happening to all of us so we would know.

Yeah, kind of sucks. But, I was sort of expecting it - to be honest.