Balding Progress

[chrisis]

Hi everyone!

Ok so I have another question today

For many years I've had a "widow's peak" - I'd say anything up to 10 years and I'm now 28. It's only been in the last year or two that the recession has progressed to the point of concern, where styling options become limited/difficult.

I'm wondering, since I'm 28 and my crown is absolutely fine, does this mean I probably won't have any issues there? Even without treatments? Or is that too much of an assumption?

Formally speaking: do men with class II and class III types of balding always progress to class III (vertex)?

I'm now a Senior Member by the way! 100+ posts in something like 2 weeks. I might be slightly obsessed

[StressedToTheBald]

It all depends chrisis, I think some people end up in the middle of baldness process and don't necesseraly get much worse, while others are bound to end up completely bald - with nothing in front or in the back.

What will happen is like predicting future.. You're certainly on the safer side, if You do take some action, instead of simply wait and see what happens as years pass by.

Essentially, I remember reading Dr. Cole's posts.. he was mentioning that some asumption of the future state might be made, but at the end of the day, only God knows what will actually happen with Your baldness in the future.

PS. I think I have III frontal + III vertex.. Seeing my balding crown with the 2nd mirror always comes as a shock ! Even though I've seen it before, its not visible from the front.. so it feels like everything should be all right in the back.

[Tracy C]

Formally speaking: do men with class II and class III types of balding always progress to class III (vertex)?

No but usually they do. You may stay II or III for many years before the progression of hair loss moves to your vertex – or it can stay right where it is and never get worse.

[ryan555]

I've been told by some very good docs that *most* men who advance to a norwood 6 or 7 generally show the pattern in their 20's. If you currently have minimal or no miniaturization in your vertex then you are more likely to land at a Norwood 4 or 5. I can kind of see this playing out with my friends in their 30's and 40's. There are the few guys that are already approaching a 6 or 7 and they were all clearly balding in their early 20's. Then there are those who are receding in the hairline a bit and they didn't seem to show loss until their late 20's or their 30's. They generally seem to have thicker hair toward the back and just a slow gradual recession up front. If you look at their families, you see a lot of older men with thin hair up top, but no visible "horseshoe" pattern of baldness. I'm sure there are exceptions all over the place but it seems to be mostly true.

[mattj]

The posts above highlight the uncertainty of hairloss. I would say that the odds are in your favour that you won't end up reaching a high stage on the Norwood scale - especially with treatments.

So now might be the time to consider those treatments: Propecia and Rogaine (Regaine in the UK) being the two main medications. At the speed you're posting I'm sure you're familiar with these things by now.

[chrisis]

So now might be the time to consider those treatments: Propecia and Rogaine (Regaine in the UK) being the two main medications. At the speed you're posting I'm sure you're familiar with these things by now.

Yeah I can't believe I'm a "senior member" already.

I took generic finasteride at 1.25mg starting in November. I had sides after a couple of months so now I'm just using minoxidil and Nizoral for about a month. I'm considering finasteride again when I feel back to normal at 0.25 or 0.5mg dose.

[mattj]

Some guys would've been scared off Fin for good after experiencing sides. I'm glad you're considering another try as people do have success when trying the lower doses.

Are the side effects wearing off?

[chrisis]

Yeah, slowly but surely I'm getting a little bit more sensitivity and libido back but I think it's gonna take awhile. I'm not touching finasteride again until I'm happy - got my own "target" for that, but I'll not go into detail haha

I see you're a representative for Dr Rahal. I need to send my photos soon for my online consultation

[rugger31]

Hi Chris

I am 33 from Durham with temporal recesion been receeding since my mid-20's same hairline as my uncle and grandad my uncle is 47 my grandad 87 and they have bothe receeding back but show no signs of baldness in the crown. My uncle is a solid 3 and my grandad a norwood 5.

I have been on proscar at 1mg a day for 5 months no side effects at all and am saving towards and waiting for an investment to mature to have an FUE procedure with Dr Rahal.

Steve

[chrisis]

Small world. You're not far from me at all

It's reassuring that there are others with temporal recession only. If I can get a hold of it with meds AND have a transplant, I should be in pretty good stead.

Gonna be meeting a guy from the forums soon who's already had a transplant with Dr Farjo in Manchester, and have another friend interested in a HT. If you want to keep in touch drop me a line. It's good to have a team I'm also thinking Rahal or Feller, but gonna look into a few docs in Europe too.

[mattj]

Yeah, slowly but surely I'm getting a little bit more sensitivity and libido back but I think it's gonna take awhile. I'm not touching finasteride again until I'm happy - got my own "target" for that, but I'll not go into detail haha

I see you're a representative for Dr Rahal. I need to send my photos soon for my online consultation

I'm scratching my head trying to think of what that target could be, but I'm not going to think too hard about it. (Pun not intended).