How much worse will it get?

[awesomeguy]

Hey guys,

So I'm a 24 year old guy and I've always had a high hairline throughout adolescence, but now I think it's getting a lot worse. I've always been very conscious about my hairline and styled my hair regularly to make it look good. Lately I've been worried about hairloss and I was getting sick of styling my hair so last week I decided to shave my head to see if that look would suit me. To my horror, I discovered the true extent of my baldness. As you can see from the picture, it looks as though I'm developing an island patch in the front. Lame.

What do you think? I am wondering if anyone has a similar pattern of hairloss and how it progressed? How much time do you think I have until I'm completely bald? I have a rather bumpy head and fine hair so the reflection off my scalp makes it look a lot worse.

I've heard too many awful things about propecia that I don't think I would consider taking it. Eventually I'd like to get a hair transplant but I'm not sure if I should do it now? What other options are there?

[StuckInARut]

Looks like you are probably heading for the dreaded NW6/7 territory eventually. Hard to say exactly how long before you reach that point could be in a year or two and possibly longer, just very hard to say with certainty.

I think at this point if you want to try and save your present hair and possibly regrow then Fin or Minoxidil are your only hopes. That is unless you wanna try something like RU which is nearly impossible to obtain, costs a fortune and is unstable.

Honestly, don't believe all the horror stories you read online in regards to fin. I'm not saying to discount them because I do believe some people really had genuine issues with the drug. My issue is with all the fear-mongering out there which I fell victim to unfortunately. All that fear-mongering caused me to delay treatment which in turn made my hair loss worse.

[Since 13]

Given your young age, I think that you will be NW6 by the early thirties in the latest.

My advice is go for Propecia and give it a try. I wish I had used it earlier. Otherwise, accept who you are and shave down and live with it.

[drybone]

Go to the doctor and get yourself a prescription for finasteride and minoxidil. Try to go find 'Nizoral' shampoo as well. This should slow down and even reverse your male pattern baldness.

[clandestine]

Propecia has the potential for sexual side effects; research them before you commit.

[clandestine]

I think at this point if you want to try and save your present hair and possibly regrow then Fin or Minoxidil are your only hopes. That is unless you wanna try something like RU which is nearly impossible to obtain, costs a fortune and is unstable.

RU is not necessarily unstable, or hard to attain.

[drybone]

Propecia has the potential for sexual side effects; research them before you commit.

He can simply ask his doctor, who can tell him .

Researching doesnt help the doctor decide whether to give him the meds or not. Combing the internet does nothing to guess whether you will have side effects or not.

Asprin has side effects. Multi Vitamins have side effects. I am certain his doctor is in a better position to help the guy out than you are.

[clandestine]

Why wait until be sees a doctor. Who may, or may not tell him. Doctors are ignorant concerning hair loss. This, by now, is obvious. I've experienced this ignorance first hand, as have others.

Why would you withhold information from this user? Is it to his benefit that you would neglect to mention a medication you're advocating has the potential for sexual side effects?

[FearTheLoss]

okay first off, no one can tell you that you will be a nw6 by early 30's, sure it's a possibility, but no one can predict hair loss...you could stop balding right where you are..but it's not likely. People lose hair because of DHT reaching the follicle and destroying it through miniaturization. You will lose your hair until you reach you genetically predetermined nw state. This could be a nw4 or it could be a nw7...

I would research RU, Propecia, Minoxidil, nizoral, and Keratene Retard and see which one's you would like to use to treat your lose until there are better treatments in the next 2-5 years.

[drybone]

Why wait until be sees a doctor. Who may, or may not tell him. Doctors are ignorant concerning hair loss. This, by now, is obvious. I've experienced this ignorance first hand, as have others.

Why would you withhold information from this user? Is it to his benefit that you would neglect to mention a medication you're advocating has the potential for sexual side effects?

I stopped right after you make this comment.

Nobody hired you to be some advocate of finasteride side effects. We told him to consult his doctor , who is a professional and will know.

If you have a personal story regarding finasteride, share it. Let the doctors advise him . He can do all the research in the world but he wont know how it affects him until he sees his doctor and tries the medication.

To the OP, 4% of those who try it end up with severe side effects. Discuss these with your doctor.

[awesomeguy]

Hey guys, thanks for your posts. I think I might give Propecia a chance.

You're right, it's true that all pharmaceutical drugs have potential side-effects, so I think it's just a matter of monitoring your bodies reaction. If the drug works and I get to keep my hair, lovely! But the moment I start having adverse reactions.. I'm done. I would rather be able to sustain an erection than have hair, and I heard some of those side effects are permanent. But I really don't wanna be a NW6 in two years either.. ahh life isn't fair!!

I'm okay with being bald, just not now in my 20s. Like come on! What's worse is that no one else in my immediate family is bald. My dad's got a similar hairline to me but he has much thicker hair so he's only slightly thinning on top. Both my brothers show no sign of hair loss. All the males on my mom's side have fine hair, and two of my cousins are going bald and they're around my age. So it would seem I inherited the fine hair from my mom and the widow's peak hairline from my dad, which is apparently a recipe for early balding.

I really wish I could forecast how much hair I'm going to lose. I know there's a chance it could just stop where it's at, but I'm assuming it's just going to get worse..

What is this RU you guys are mentioning? Right now I'm taking a natural remedy for hairless, called Bio-Fen Plus. The main ingredient is saw palmetto. I have no idea if it's working.

[chrisis]

Give Propecia a Chance... sounds like a John Lennon song.

Please be aware that backing off as soon as you acknowledge sides are occurring does not necessarily mean they go away just as easily.

It's something everyone should be fully informed about.

[BigThinker]

Hey guys, thanks for your posts. I think I might give Propecia a chance.

You're right, it's true that all pharmaceutical drugs have potential side-effects, so I think it's just a matter of monitoring your bodies reaction. If the drug works and I get to keep my hair, lovely! But the moment I start having adverse reactions.. I'm done. I would rather be able to sustain an erection than have hair.

That's the mindset you need to have. Give it a shot. Don't overthink or underthink it; just be mindful.

If I let some of the people on this forum deter me from giving it a shot any longer than I did, I think I'd be sick with myself.

[Buster]

There is really no way to tell how your hair loss will progress, everyone is different, but on the bright side, you look like you could pull off the bald look.

[itsmyhairs]

Why is everyone telling this guy he'll be a slaphead before he's 30?

He has temporal recession and as far as I can see no balding on his crown, though it's hard to tell with such short hair.

His hair may only recede another half an inch or so at the temples and none at all at the crown in the next 10 years.
Why give him worst case scenario "OH NOES, YOU'LL BE BALD SOON, GET ON PROPECIA IMMEDIATELY" nonsense?

He needs to see a professional who can evaluate his hair then monitor it over a period of at least a year before he commits to anything as dangerous as propecia.

He could start using Rogaine right away though, no harm in it.