I'm so devastated for my son

[mpb47]

Yeah I am over generalizing for sure, but most of the cases seems to be true. Its always been a sensitivity issue so someone with low androgen levels can still go bald but you also have to consider the speed. Higher androgens I would guess means faster rate of balding most of the time. I am just saying in most cases I see its true they are much hairier then most men their age. That is just what I see and you can always point out people that are not but they could be the minority. There are always exceptions to poorly understood things like this
If a guy can barely grow a beard and has little/no chest hair or body hair I would argue they are balding very slowly unless they say took steroids or made a major change to androgen levels.

There seems to be a connection, but like the other poster said, it is not always true. I would say I have average chest hair, but early/heavy beard and would rate my mpb as early, yet very slow. But one of my cousins can't grow a beard yet he has early fairly aggressive balding.

[burtandernie]

Yet I know many young bald men who can hardly grow a proper beard. So, what you are saying is not totally true. I myself have normal body hair. We make too many generalizations when talking about bald men, like for example, all of them are equivalent of females with PCOS, they are low in energy etc. while there have been top athletes like Michael Jordan and Andre Agassi who went prematurely bald.

Yeah I am over generalizing for sure, but most of the cases seems to be true. Its always been a sensitivity issue so someone with low androgen levels can still go bald but you also have to consider the speed. Higher androgens I would guess means faster rate of balding most of the time. I am just saying in most cases I see its true they are much hairier then most men their age. That is just what I see and you can always point out people that are not but they could be the minority. There are always exceptions to poorly understood things like this
If a guy can barely grow a beard and has little/no chest hair or body hair I would argue they are balding very slowly unless they say took steroids or made a major change to androgen levels.

[DepressedByHairLoss]

I actually commend this mother for doing what she is doing. Although some people can live their lives accepting their baldness, it is absolutely devastating for others (myself included). She is not looking down upon people with hair loss. She knows that hair loss can be devastating for many men and she loves her son so much that she does not want to see him experience this devastation, particularly at such a young age. She is trying to be proactive with her son, something that I wish that I would have done as soon as hair loss manifested itself in me. Hell, there were years where I didn't notice hair loss on myself yet I'm sure other people did. And I wish that they would have so I could've started treating it as soon as possible.

Baldozer, I respect your opinions though because you practice what you preach. You're not one of these people with such minimal hair loss that preaches for people with extensive hair loss to get on with their lives. That's almost like some one who does not suffer from hair loss telling an extensive hair loss sufferer how to live their lives. They cannot fathom what it is like to be in their shoes since they have never experienced it for themselves.

[baldozer]

I feel like men with MPB in general, have higher androgen levels like more body hair. The higher androgens are bad for you long term part of why women live longer then men. Partly personal opinion but I dont think high androgens are a good thing even if they help your sex drive or make muscle easier to get.
The androgen link is huge though you can see everyday evidence of it. Most young bald men I know are abnormally hairy. I just dont think its all coincidence. If you value hair you want to lower all androgens as much as possible safely

Yet I know many young bald men who can hardly grow a proper beard. So, what you are saying is not totally true. I myself have normal body hair. We make too many generalizations when talking about bald men, like for example, all of them are equivalent of females with PCOS, they are low in energy etc. while there have been top athletes like Michael Jordan and Andre Agassi who went prematurely bald.

[burtandernie]

I feel like men with MPB in general, have higher androgen levels like more body hair. The higher androgens are bad for you long term part of why women live longer then men. Partly personal opinion but I dont think high androgens are a good thing even if they help your sex drive or make muscle easier to get.
The androgen link is huge though you can see everyday evidence of it. Most young bald men I know are abnormally hairy. I just dont think its all coincidence. If you value hair you want to lower all androgens as much as possible safely

[baldozer]

Although your point about society's perception is right, it is old news that MPB is associated with increased risk for heart disease and prostate cancer. Whatever the link is between the two, MBP and heart/prostate disease, eliminating this plague at the genetic level (and not just restoring hair) should be set as one of the next goals in medicine.

I cannot forget the poster that I saw many years ago in the consultation room of a cardiologist: it was about risk factors for heart disease and, among other things, it had the image of a miserable BALD (NW6+) middle aged man looking like 60+, tired and sad. I was in shock. The message of the poster was that if you go bald at younger age, you better start monitoring earlier the health of your heart.

Not true really. Another study suggested that bald men have lesser chance of getting prostrate cancer. And about heart diseases, only those bald men were at most risk who started balding from the crown. But if you compare every bald/balding men against all men with hair, the risks were the same. Secondly, there was also a study which suggested that prematurely balding guys could be the male equivalent of women with PCOS. But that was also debunked later on by another study. I don't have time to put the links of those studies here, but you can find those yourself by using google.

[baldozer]

The reality is that there is very little that can be done for hair loss in this day and age. Your son can try finasteride and minoxidil, but they are stop loss measures at best. They lose effectiveness over time, they don't work for everyone, and for some people, they can have terrible side effects.

If your son is destined to go bald, I think one of the key things you can do for him is to examine your own reactions to baldness. You want to build his confidence not destroy his self esteem. Do you ridicule men with hair loss? If so, stop. If you discuss hair loss at all, be careful not to make it sound like it is a terrible thing. Talk about it like it's no big deal and just something that happens to most men as they get older. If there are bald celebrities you find attractive, such as Patrick Stewart or Jason Statham, figure out ways to casually mention this in conversations in front of your son. Better yet, do this with any bald men you know personally that you find attractive. I think it will do your son a lot of good if the women in his life reinforce the message that "bald is beautiful," and not something to be ashamed of or something that will render him "damaged goods" in the eyes of women. If he needs to lose weight or dress better, don't tell him this directly, but praise him when he does go to the gym or dresses well or does other things to improve his appearance. For bald men, I think confidence is key. You want to do whatever you can to build it up.

From what she has posted, she does think of baldness as something terrible and consider bald men as inferior. Nothing surprising here, as most women nowadays are fixated with looks and outer appearance. They spend all their lives trying to appear sexy.

[Vox]

Any suggestions or words of wisdom??

You must already know that there is presently no cure, except the well-known bandage-like solutions discussed earlier. They may help; but then, they may not.

However, talking about his psychological well-being, the best you can do is to encourage him to invest in a stable and long term relationship with a girl. The best time to do it is just around the end of his university studies. If he is involved in such a deeply gratifying relationship with the perspective of creating a family, he (and consequently you) will quickly forget anything about hair loss.

[Vox]

Perhaps you don't like baldness, but many women do.

To say that *some* women do, I can understand. But many? This comes from nowhere. There is nothing to like about baldness aesthetics wise, although there are definitely some practical advantages in everyday life.

[Vox]

Flawed genetics? I'd have to disagree, it's society's perception that makes people fear going bald, the general consensus that balding is a negative thing in terms of looks, but biologically it isn't a threat to your health or life

Although your point about society's perception is right, it is old news that MPB is associated with increased risk for heart disease and prostate cancer. Whatever the link is between the two, MBP and heart/prostate disease, eliminating this plague at the genetic level (and not just restoring hair) should be set as one of the next goals in medicine.

I cannot forget the poster that I saw many years ago in the consultation room of a cardiologist: it was about risk factors for heart disease and, among other things, it had the image of a miserable BALD (NW6+) middle aged man looking like 60+, tired and sad. I was in shock. The message of the poster was that if you go bald at younger age, you better start monitoring earlier the health of your heart.

[greatjob!]

Just make it a habit of going out with your son and whenever you see a bald guy, tell your son how hot you think that bald guy is.

LOL, yeah the last thing I want to hear is my mom telling me how hot guys are

[Notcoolanymore]

Just make it a habit of going out with your son and whenever you see a bald guy, tell your son how hot you think that bald guy is.

Joking, but on a serious note, the treatments we have today are not the best. But they are something and for some they can work wonders. Your son is going bald and I guarantee if you know it, he does, and by some of his comments that you have said he has made about it, he cares. Make him a dermatologist appt. and let him discuss treatment options with a professional. Your comment about the doctor that mentioned fin causes cancer, I am sure there are many more that would say that guy if full of it. Take him to see a Dr. and let him make his own decision on whether he wants to treat his hair loss. Being kind and acting like life will be ok might end up hurting him in the long run.

[Thinning@30]

The reality is that there is very little that can be done for hair loss in this day and age. Your son can try finasteride and minoxidil, but they are stop loss measures at best. They lose effectiveness over time, they don't work for everyone, and for some people, they can have terrible side effects.

If your son is destined to go bald, I think one of the key things you can do for him is to examine your own reactions to baldness. You want to build his confidence not destroy his self esteem. Do you ridicule men with hair loss? If so, stop. If you discuss hair loss at all, be careful not to make it sound like it is a terrible thing. Talk about it like it's no big deal and just something that happens to most men as they get older. If there are bald celebrities you find attractive, such as Patrick Stewart or Jason Statham, figure out ways to casually mention this in conversations in front of your son. Better yet, do this with any bald men you know personally that you find attractive. I think it will do your son a lot of good if the women in his life reinforce the message that "bald is beautiful," and not something to be ashamed of or something that will render him "damaged goods" in the eyes of women. If he needs to lose weight or dress better, don't tell him this directly, but praise him when he does go to the gym or dresses well or does other things to improve his appearance. For bald men, I think confidence is key. You want to do whatever you can to build it up.

[burtandernie]

Well I would just argue none of the existing treatments work that well period. You can try 40 different things or propecia but the fact is even with those over the years your probably still going to slowly keep balding.
Just need better treatments. CB 03 01 might make MPB history in a few years if it can stop MPB and a powerful enough AA certainly can. Its just a waiting game because some years from now MPB will be much less a problem then it is now

[baldozer]

Dont be devastated for him, just be supportive. If he see's its upsetting you it could make him feel bad. It's not flawed genetics, its just genetics and its normal. there is no cure for male pattern baldness, it doesn't exist. You can delay or slow down the loss with the following treatments, minoxidil which you apply topically twice a day, finasteride which you take one tablet a day, and nizoral which is a shampoo that you use about twice a week. These are treatments, not cures, they are more about retaining what you have. The finasteride can have side effects in some guys such as low libido, erectile dysfunction, anxiety, depression, affected memory etc, these affect a small percentage of men but it does happen and there are forums where people still suffer the sides after they cease taking the pill. Your dermatologist or doctor will re affirm what I've just said.
The hair transplant route is very very pricey road to go down running into tens of thousands of dollars. Its not a case of one transplant and everything is fixed, its a case of multiple surgerys over time because more hair will fall out in the future and more transplanted hair will be needed to take its place, it also leaves scarring in the donor area from where the hair was taken depending on the method used. So if in the future your son decides he wants to buzz his hair off he will have scars to show for the transplants.
How does your son feel about it? Because it seems a little like you are more upset than he is, is it something that really bothers him? Or is he the kind of guy who's happy enough to buzz his hair short and get on with life?

I started losing my hair when I was 20. I went through the treatments of minoxidil, propecia, looked into surgery etc but in my experience all it really did was inhibit me from accepting myself for who I was and moving on, for a decade I was just constantly worried about my hair and taking propecia and minoxidil and checking to see how much hair I had lost and checking the meds were still working and it just made me insecure. Instead of "bald" jokes you just get "balding" jokes instead. I dropped the treatments because after a while they lose effectiveness and looking back I wish I had just accepted it from the start like I do now.
I've said it before, its much less stressful and so much better to be a bald man in control than an insecure man trying to fight against his genetics. In the long run your son will just need to accept it so he will need to cross that bridge sooner or later. There is no reason he cant by happy even with hair loss. A lot of people who cant let it go think its the end of the world and they make themselves miserable as a result when all they need to do is accept who they are and move on.
Im not saying it wont be tough for him, but what I am saying is, at the end of the day when he accepts who he is, he's going to be just fine. Its better to be the bald guy who's smiling instead of the insecure guy who's looking at his shoes.

I totally agree with you. A man trying to cover up his baldness is just pretending to be someone which he is not. Baldness is nothing to be ashamed of. You are what you are.