19, Thin hair.. I can't take it anymore :(

[NeedSomeHelpBro]

Hi guys.. My hair used to be thick when I was younger. As I got older it started to thin out. I've gone through alot of things in my life which I don't feel are so important to put all out there but it's just some family issues with.. substances.. and things that cause problems.. stress and all that.

My father is bald only on the top, not the sides & back. Same with his dad. He didn't start losing his hair until his late 30's.. I'm only 19 and my hair is thinning.. My moms side of the family has no baldness whatsoever.

I have been stressing out about my hair for the longest time, it means the world to me. This didn't start at 19, it started around I would say after 13 with thinning.. I have been to a dermatologist and got the checkup. I only have thinning on the top of my head, not the back or sides.. I feel like someday I am going to be bald and I can't deal with that. I love my hair and I want to have normal hair like everybody else. I am one of 3 other brothers and none of them have thin hair or any signs of hair loss. Why did this happen to me so young? I look around at kids my age and younger who have thick hair, and no issues.. who are happy and don't have to deal with this kind of constant worry. I understand some people can look good bald but I do not want to be one of these people.. I know sometimes you can't control what happens in life and things don't always go the way you want. When I went to the doctor he said I have early signs of MPB. I went to a hair clinic and I was begging for a hair transplant.. because my hair is only thinning on top. The doctor said I was to young and that I had to wait it out because he doesn't know the direction of baldness if it happens. I know that situation, but I feel like that won't happen. He prescribed me Propecia when I went there. (was 18 at the time) and I have used it for almost a year now. I would say my hair has improved but it's still way to thin.. in the light you can see right through my scalp, it's almost see through in places.. and my ends of my hair are so thin when it's down and it just kills me to look at myself in the mirror. I have taken rogaine almost twice a day with the propecia, and I know the story about rogaine to. I am so busy sometimes with life and stuff that I didn't have time to be putting it on twice a day. I didn't even see much improvement with it anyway..

Why can't I get a hair transplant at 19? I obviously know the risks associated.. I have an appointment to see my derm in like 5 years or something? I can't wait that long to have a hair transplant.. This is something that bothers me every single day of my life.

I don't want super thick hair I know this is unrealistic and I know it is what it is, but I don't deserve all of these problems so young.. My hair has absolutely destroyed my self image and I have no confidence in myself because im always focused on how my hair is so thin and that I look bald. I'm basically always self conscious. Kids in my school have told me I am definitely going to be bald someday and that thought has always made me sick to my stomach.
I avoid going out because I know people see it just like I do, I avoid pictures because in flash you see right through my head.. The damage it's doing to me has stopped me from being happy and I am giving up on everything.. I graduated high school in june and I have to start college soon, probably next semester. I have constant worry about going knowing people will see my hair and I can't deal with all of that stress. This is breaking me down so much. I don't know what to do anymore. Girls don't like a 19 year old bald kid.. and why would they? I just want to have a normal hairline with normal hair..


I cried a couple of days ago because I just can't deal with this pain this has caused me, I don't know where else to turn to. I just want to be happy and with hair, what can I do? How old do I have to be to just fix this problem? I try not to think about it but I can't, I see myself every day in that mirror and I hate what im seeing..

The thought of taking propecia every day for the rest of my life bothers me, I still take it every day. I just hate relying on a drug to just keep my hair.. and I know I have to do this.. I just feel so forced into this and I just hate all of the problems my hair has caused me. Nobody else in my family has this problem and I hate it, im so alone.

What should I do..? I can't have my hair down, it looks to thin.. I put it up, it's see through.. down it's see through. I get haircuts to try and hide the thin as much as I can.. just doesn't seem to help..
This is to much for me..

What can I do? What do you guys think.. When can I just transplant some hair and end this constant pain.. ?

I'll attach pictures of my hair.. so you guys can see it..
(Sorry about the quality, had to take all pics myself..)


(Pics I just took... Front and side views)




(Hair flat, with nothing touched)


(Back and top views)

[macster]

Brother, I feel your pain. I was there 3 years ago.

You are like me...you really care about your hair, your looks, your appearance. There is nothing wrong with that. It is not that you are being vain. You are not asking for some super duper plastic surgery or anything. You just want to look like yourself.

Brother, stay on Propecia. DO NOT get bogged down in all the garbage on the internet about sexual side effects. Just don't read it. It is bunk. It does not come from scientific sources. If you were treating cancer your wouldn't be listening to people's hysterical cr#p on the internet. You would just be looking at the proven treatments, the scientific studies. Same here. It's not cancer, but it is a medical condition. You've got a 98% chance of being just fine, no side effects. If you are in the 2% of folks with side effects, for 1% of those people, the side effects go away after 6 months. This leaves us with a 1% chance of side effects. And you have an 85% chance of stopping your balding for at least 10 years according to the latest studies.

I know your suffering. I have felt it in the past. It is horrible.

Don't mess around with "substances". That is bad for you and can kill you. But that is a different issue.

Stay on the Rogaine also. That stuff has worked well for me and has given me significant regrowth. Yes, it is a lifetime commitment, but us guys with MPB really don't have a choice. Just use it 2x a day, although they say 1x a day is still pretty good.

Cosmetic camouflage like Toppik Dermmatch also can help. Yes, a pain in the behind, but there is no other choice.

[redy]

honestly, your facial structure and hairline would look completely fine if you ended up saying ef it and buzzing it down, keeping the sides at like a one gaurd and the top at maybe a 3 guard and keeping the stubble on the beard to match. I have a shit hairline otherwise I would have buzzed this shit down instead of freaking out which way the wind is blowing every day. I can't grow a beard either.

I think you should try to focus a little bit on what you have rather than what you don't have man, it will just bog you down and cloud your mind. I try to focus on what I have rather than my hair when I can, and just hope that these meds fix my hairline or keep it from getting worse before 25 or so when my friends start going bald too :P

It sucks and its fight nobody wants to fight, but taking propecia and rogaine and keto and whatever is really all you can do. You can't play with transplants with unstable hair at a young age without being on propecia especially.

Good luck

[Notcoolanymore]

In your first 3 pics your hair looks pretty damn good. I see your problem in your fifth pic. Mac and redy hit the nail on the head. Too early for a transplant, need to stabilize first. Just stay the course with fin and even minox. If you can stabilize your hair, then get a transplant. Getting a transplant before could possibly make you look worse.

[Californication]

-keep with the fin/minox--- you may hold for a while

-worst comes to worst and you're too young for a transplant, look into SMP-- have a decent look for your 20s, bridge with it, and wait for something else to come along.

[drybone]

Hey Dude.

Go get minoxidil and finasteride. Also go get a Nizoral shampoo.

Then go try these two products.

1) derm match.

2) Kaboki

These are thickeners. In your case you are lucky you have jet black hair so you can get an easy color match. Go put those two items into the search bar and go research them yourself.

They are cheap, easy to apply, and make your hair look way thicker.

[thinkingaboutit]

I genuinely feel your pain. I started going bald at 19. It had a huge effect on my confidence, character, and so many other things. It shaped how and what I became in my 20's. Although it's now nearly 20's years ago, I can honestly say when you start to go bold at such an early age, it can have huge psychological effects. I started at 17, I mean the balding process started for me at 17. from 17.5 to 18 or the next 4 or 5 years, I wore a baseball cap almost everywhere. I won't go on. Let's say, at 16 I was enjoying life, girls, clubs , the usual, and then I went into hibernation and a shell.

At least you are doing something about it, and you have had some really good advice here. Back then my options financially were limited. Plus the technology and medicine then wasn't that great as well (20 years ago). Regaine had just come out, and for a £17 year old, £30 or £50 a month back then was a lot of money. I won't go on, but nowadays you have a lot of options and support. Try and stay positive.

[Notcoolanymore]

Losing hair as a teen has to be tough. I was in my early twenties when I started dealing with this. At 37, I am handling it much better, but it still sucks.

[win200]

All of this advice is spot-on. That being said, I don't think your situation is bad. In most of the pictures, I really don't see the problem at all and it looks like you have a perfect head of hair. One of the commenters above is correct--pic #5 looks like there's some see-through scalp, but your hair looks really thick in the other pictures. Your part isn't wide, and that's usually the giveaway. Plus, pulling your hair straight up like that exposes thinness more than anything else, and it looks like you've got a great wall of hair is front. Is the thinning farther back on your scalp?

[NeedSomeHelpBro]

Is the thinning farther back on your scalp?

I don't understand the question really.. I posted all views of my head.



Don't you guys see the thin-ness of the front when it's down in pic #4? Also.. you guys are telling me to just keep up with the propecia and rogaine..? I had already planned doing that. I just hate what is happening to me, and I just wish there was a way to just solve this.. I wish I could just transplant and end this. But clearly that doesn't look like the right choice..?