I'm so devastated for my son

[baldozer]

Your Michael Jordan, etal reply on each of these points is ignorant and actually doesn't even make a lot of sense. Can you not relate to losing your hair at age 20 as gut-wrenching? Not a 40+ year old man, a 20 year old kid! And yes, I feel that it IS flawed genetics no matter whose side it comes from, or is it desirable in your opinion to go bald at 20?? Other than this, some very knowledgeable, supportive and helpful posts - thank you everyone.

In my opinion even if you are bald at 20, it is not flawed genetics. In my case it made me work harder on my career. I have a cousin who pretty much looks like me but had a full head of hair at 20. He is pretty much a failure in life, although he used to attract a lot of females.

Don't worry, your son can still work hard on his career, have a wife and kids. So baldness would in no way affect him. It didn't affect me. If it was that bad, then why so many men are going bald. Why nature didn't phase that gene out.

Perhaps you don't like baldness, but many women do. Otherwise why my wife married me when I was only 25 and bald? Even after 7 years of our marriage, she is still very much attracted to me, as she keep on asking for sex and I make excuses. Unless you were a model or looked like a model, you don't have perfect genes either, so stop ranting!

[mpb47]

Your Michael Jordan, etal reply on each of these points is ignorant and actually doesn't even make a lot of sense. Can you not relate to losing your hair at age 20 as gut-wrenching? Not a 40+ year old man, a 20 year old kid! And yes, I feel that it IS flawed genetics no matter whose side it comes from, or is it desirable in your opinion to go bald at 20?? Other than this, some very knowledgeable, supportive and helpful posts - thank you everyone.

It sucks and is not fair but is probably more common than you realize. My friend at work could not believe her son was balding due to mpb and really thought it must be something else and asked me if it could happen to men so soon.

You should talk to to Tracy as she can explain it better than most of us.

Propecia is controversial...as I know too well, but if anything will save your son it will be it.. Knowing what I know now, if history repeated itself I would still go on it but at a reduced dose.

I lucked out that most of my mpb has been very very slow.. Today I saw a new pic of my friend's son and debated about suggesting propecia yet again as I noticed he is getting balder pretty quickly. I am not sure if women really understand or perceive how much guys dread it at my friend has very short hair yet it still very thick like what I had as a young teen.

Good luck!!!

[muchtooyoung]

working REALLY WELL for now...

A lot of time has passed since I've been on this forum and started this thread. When my son was home from college last summer, I couldn't believe how much more hair he had lost just since that Christmas. I explained what I was seeing, remained very nonjudgmental, laid out his options and asked what he liked to do. He opted to try Propecia but stopped after only 2-3 weeks just due to bad side-effects (mostly sexual). I then got him some Rogaine but he didn't start using it until mid-December. I just saw him yesterday since he went back to school in January and his hair has SUBSTANTIALLY thickened on the application areas (entire top/back twice a day) - it's really incredible. Will it last and for how long - I don't know. He claims he's happy just buying some time for now as he was so upset with the prospect of baldness at an early age. I was listening to a famous national cancer doctor (Dr. Agus? based in LA) and he claims that Propecia is absolutely horrible for you. It may work for baldness but it's doing really bad things to the rest of you. I hated it when my son was taking it. So to those non-Propecia users, Rogaine alone (or the generic version) is definitely worth a try. Good luck.

[burtandernie]

There is nothing to be said its part of life just like being short or any other genetic problem people face. Go see a derm or doctor about options since there are some treatments and go from there what else can you really do? I mean people get cancer everyday what comfort can you give them? Its not a curable problem its just part of life.

[Jazz1]

Word advice get him on a good shampoo like Revita or regenepure, I use both but regenpure DR and NT is way better. Leave it applied on scalp 10-15 mins DR and 5 minutes NT then use a good conditiner. He can kiss his hair good by because minoxidol alone will work temp but he will start to lose gains after a while. I know how propecia can effect Someone it's a big downfall iv had major sides on it but 3 years later I'm still using it I always found a way to counter my major sides, one way is deffinatly less anxiety and stress mind control. But if he does not use propecia I really highly suggest he use a keto shampoo nizoral is junk regenepure is best, trust me it will help in everyway.

[goldnt]

Well it seems to me he might acutally just be suffering stress from college if he thickened very well with rogaine. I personally think the best way of stopping male pattern baldness would have to be a growth stimulator like rogaine combined with a dht inhibitor. If it get worse at any point consider dht inhiibtors like ru58841 and spiro which are actually topical and dont bring the side effects of propecia. And Jazz1 is right, get him on a keto shampoo like regenpure or revita. Ketoconazole(main active ingredient) is a weak anti fungal. But also has properties of a weak anti androgen. (dont expect miracles from a shampoo alone though)

[fred970]

Stress from college? Well it seems that no young man is suffering from this mysterious stress from college in my university then. All thick NW1 all around here in Brussels.

[goldnt]

well it might not be common but not everyones body can handle stress efficiently. I know this because ive had a friend who went through that. Besides its not like its something new though, heavy and long stress is known to cause hair loss. I for one when i have heavy stress i tend to shed more. I know as i take ru and i shed as if i dont have mpb.

[Notcoolanymore]

I was listening to a famous national cancer doctor (Dr. Agus? based in LA) and he claims that Propecia is absolutely horrible for you. It may work for baldness but it's doing really bad things to the rest of you.

As a finasteride user, I thank you for this.

[baldozer]

I realize my comment about my husband's flawed genes is irrational, possibly bitter and hopefully fleeting, but can't we just let it all out here?

I'd like to clarify that the fact that a guy was bald never even registered with me in the past - I really never noticed it nor did I particularly think negatively about it. That was before it began happening to my 20 year old kid! Once my kid realizes this is happening to him now and not at age 40, I know that he'll be so pained and that pains me.

You know what pisses me off is the thinking that baldness is an old man's disease. That is totally bullshit. Men with baldness gene, generally start balding in their teens, when their testosterone level is at its peak. If you don't have hairloss till 30, you won't ever go bald. I haven't ever seen a man with a full head of hair at 30 going bald later on. And you try to get advise on a forum whose members have the baldness gene, and then dare to say its a flawed gene. God, you are pathetic!

[Hicks]

Have you thought about PRP? During my ground stomping to find a surgeon, Doctors or their office promoted PRP. If you got the coin I would at least try this and document the process over the years. They never promoted it as a regrowth but more as maintenance. You might not think something is working till you stop. Then it's game over. Best of luck.

[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.

[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

[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.

[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.