26 years old NW3 : tell me what you think

[Jay88]

What are the medical issues that prevent you from using fin if you dont mind me asking? To my knowledge the only health issues that interfere with finasteride is some kind of liver problem or an immune system disease such as HIV etc...

If you want to keep it personal thats fine, but if the health reason is you are afraid of side effects or have gotten side effects in the past Id say get on Fin and just do it at a lower dose. I personally only take .25 mg every day and it seems to be working for me.

sorry to sound like a jerk but I really would prefer to keep it personal

[Jay88]

Where I outlined with red corresponds almost exactly with a textbook future NW6 outline.

Wow seeing that really puts it into perspective. I guess I was really delusional, again ! I'm in much worse shape than I thought I was. I had no idea I was in a NW6 pattern. As foolish as it sounds I thought I had a normal amount of hair on top and that I just lost my temples and temple points. The Bald truth is definitely a very fitting name for this site



So this means I'm pretty much guaranteed to eventually lose all the hair I have on top without fin ? Oh me and my naiveté.

[win200]

Wow seeing that really puts it into perspective. I guess I was really delusional, again ! I'm in much worse shape than I thought I was. I had no idea I was in a NW6 pattern. As foolish as it sounds I thought I had a normal amount of hair on top and that I just lost my temples and temple points. The Bald truth is definitely a very fitting name for this site



So this means I'm pretty much guaranteed to eventually lose all the hair I have on top without fin ? Oh me and my naiveté.

You won't necessarily lose all of it, but at 26, with that level of thinning, you'll almost certainly lose MOST of it, at least. Tough to ballpark, but you're at 10-20% original density on top, I'd say.

[BigThinker]

sorry to sound like a jerk but I really would prefer to keep it personal

Not to be invasive, but did a doc tell you you couldn't be on fin for health reason? If it's your own speculation, you're doing yourself a serious injustice. If a doc did tell you then yeah of course don't take it.

[Notcoolanymore]

Looking at your pics, we are pretty much in the same boat. Some might say it is too late to start treatement, but the way I look at it, I would rather buzz my head and at least have some coverage. I think that looks way better than being slick bald and shiny. At least that is what I think, so I will do my best to keep what I have.

[drybone]

I was also in for the shock of a lifetime when I shaved my hair down to 1/4 inch. I had no idea I was thinning that badly.

We tend to just grow our hair longer and pretend its not that bad. I wish I had started fixing my hair when I was 20.

[win200]

I was also in for the shock of a lifetime when I shaved my hair down to 1/4 inch. I had no idea I was thinning that badly.

We tend to just grow our hair longer and pretend its not that bad. I wish I had started fixing my hair when I was 20.

Agreed. I buzzed my hair down to a 3 grade this summer and was terrified about what I'd find. Luckily, all was well--but nerve-wracking.

[Ted]

It's not easy to say if your hair has thinned out a lot or if you always have had thin hair on the top. If you take a picture of the hair in the safe zone (back or sides) where the hairs are in the same angle as in the picture from above that you've shown us, you can compare them and see how your top is progressing.

[Notcoolanymore]

Your hair does look thin, but I still think it looks much better than slick bald. Even if you don't grow any new hair. You will luck much younger with the buzzed down look, than slick and shiny.

[bbbbbb]

Amen to this. If you have this pattern at 26, you're probably destined for a higher Norwood; there's clearly a NW6 outline there. Go for the big 3 - finasteride, minoxidil, Nizoral.

I'm 32 and have identicial hair to you. I'm now an NW5a, I have basically given up and quite happy with it., was on here just in case there was some new miracle that I hadn't heard yet which offered no sides

Why can't you use Fin?

Realistically you'll go bald (if you follow my pattern, you'll be around NW5 in early 30s), but you seem to have a good head shape. Do you think you look good shaved?

While your chance of regrowing hair is minimal without Fin, your chance of looking good even while bald is high if you hit the gym regularly, eat well, etc. Personally I look better than I did when I was 27. Aim for the Jason Statham look. Women love it, Men fear it

The chances of your keeping what you have are decent if you jump on the "Big 3", however you may experience sides even with Fin. If you got on Fin now, in 12-18 months you would perhaps notice some solidifying of your hair line, thickening of hairs.

If you are able to use Fin, and you want to, then just take it every day or second day for 12-18 months, and don't change your routine. You wont' see magic results in 5 months for example.

Regrowth would be very hard. Even with Dut etc. I deffo wouldn't suggest Dut or any of that oral Spiro crap. Not unless you wanna grow tits and not be able to use your penis.

Fin maybe I'd suggest, but bear in mind you'll likely increase water retention with Minox, and your hormones may be affected with Fin to the point you get fatter, esp around the chest, get generally "softer" (less muscle), and look a bit bloated. Then there's a smallish chance of erection and desire problems.

If you look good with shaved head, then I'd recommend accepting it, hitting the gym, improving your style, and improving your confidence. All of these are basically 100% guaranteed to work if you put effort in.

The same amount of effort with Fin, Dut etc will maybe give you a 10% chance of success. Back the winner, save yourself time and stress, and get on with enjoying life. For the $3-4,000 you could spend per year on hair treatments (hey, we've all done it!), you could have 2 amazing travelling experiences and enjoy your life more and grow as a person.

Good luck!