What's my norwood level approx.? 23 year old

[Shan]

I would say it is a Norwood 2 which can also be a mature hairline. Your hair is fine bro

[canuhandleit]

You have a realistic opinion about the situation. That's a good thing.
And I think you are doing the right thing to take action and worry right now about this. I know several men (including me :P) who took action way too late and now the battle is a very tough one.

Looking at old pics sucks most of the time when you are looking at your hair
I know that feeling.

I read several threads about HASCI on this forum, but also on the dutch forum (I'm from Holland) and I'm too still not sure about this donor regeneration thing. I hope within 2/3 years we will get more info on this, but if you ask me now I'm not entirely sold on the idea of HASCI's donor regeneration. They seem like a top class HT option though for a FUE.

It's good for you that money is not an issue, but don't rush it with a HT I would say. I think with your current situation you should at least wait for 2 years (if you keep receding, that is) before taking a HT.

Like you said hopefully in the meantime we can get some other options like Aderans. But to be honest I am not counting on it for the forthcoming 4/5 years. Don't know it's just a gut feeling (would be delighted to be proven wrong though)

From what I read about fina/duta you did make the right decision to stay off it. I did the same thing as you. It just seems like a very dangerous drug, even if you don't get any sides at all. Messing up with your hormones.. I don't know, it puts me off. I have never used it and don't intend to, but you never know, maybe in the future.

However I do use minoxidil and I did get some good results with it. But I am a diffuse loser so it won't have the same impact for you I guess. Minox can get some regrowth at your temples but most of the time these hairs remain thin. Overall minoxidil can also make your hair thicker and healthier, but I don't think your hair suffers from being too thin when I look at your pictures. The thing is, if you use minoxidil you probably won't see much result, but maybe in the meantime it can slow down your regress and it won't be visible for you.

If you do decide to take a topical I would use minoxidil because the sides are at a minimum (for me and for lots of other users I read about). You do get more facial hair, but that's something you can handle pretty easily

On second thought when I look at your pics I agree you are not a full NW2. More like a NW1+ towards NW2.

It seems like rogaine might be a good thing to try in a few months if it continues to recede. I don't want to start it prematurely either since if I time it right, I can extend my timeline a bit I imagine.

[canuhandleit]

Did you post this on another forum as well? I remember seeing this before but I thought I replied to it lol, maybe I'm tripping balls.

But anyway, like I said before (I think lol), that is a completely normal hairline for someone 20+, 99% of men don't keep a perfectly straight hairline after their teens, I genuinely think when you see someone 30+ with a perfectly straight hairline it looks ridiculous, I would definitely rather be NW2 than NW0, it adds maturity but doesn't make you look "old" imo.

I did! Lol I figured there are different enough users at each to get different opinions.

Sorry for tripping you up hahah

I do like the NW2, I just don't want to go farther... of course. Can only hope it's a mature hairline, or will at least stay this way for a while.

[Shan]

If you really don't want to recede past a Norwood 2 then you're best act would be to take fin.