Frontal receding - Fin or Dut?

[Dench57]

Hey guys.

I'm 24 years old, and have never used any hairloss treatment. My hairline is receding at the temples, and looking at my hairline and my Dad's, there's no reason to suspect I'll get any diffuse thinning or balding at the crown; my problem is going to be frontal receding, at the temples and forehead.

Should I use Finasteride or Dutasteride to try and stop the receding, and maintain what I have? I'm really stuck with this choice as obviously picking one or the other is a huge commitment.

From the stuff I've read online, Dut is generally considered more effective, but comes with the downside of not being around for as long, not having the depth of studies Fin has, and not being FDA approved. Is this the general consensus?

What are your experiences or advice, particularly for just frontal/temple receding?

Pics attached.

[chrisdav]

Dench57,

The medications in general work best in the crown and midsection for regrowth if you get any. The main purpose of them is to slow down the rate of loss and in some cases stop it.

Realistically for frontal hair loss - you need a transplant to regain hair in the front.

Dr Bernstein's website has some good examples of regrowth below but I am guessing at age 24, this is not the type of regrowth you will want.

http://www.bernsteinmedical.com/medical-treatment/medications/propecia-finasteride/

[johnwalters]

If I was you mate I would jump on fin to see how you go and if you need to then you can always use cut

[london81]

Start with Fin!! I wouldn't go near DUT especially as you are young and may want children. DUT can cause you to have a low sperm count. Fin is your best bet at this stage and there is a very good chance it will halt your hair loss. You really do need to give it a year before you can analyse results but it starts to work from day one.

[chrisdav]

Sorry this was the link I was meant to place:

http://www.bernsteinmedical.com/medical-treatment/patient-photos/

[billybong]

I'm really stuck with this choice as obviously picking one or the other is a huge commitment.

Not really, you can switch from one to the other, it's fine. I myself take 1mg of finasteride every other day, and 0.5mg of dutasteride every 2 weeks.

[Dench57]

Thanks a lot for the responses guys.

I know frontal/temple is almost impossible to regrow so I'm really just looking to maintain what I have now for the foreseeable future. From what I understand, if the hair has been gone for a while, like it has on my temple (its completely bald) then that won't regrow. However where it's thinning, and there are still follicles, it could regrow.

I think I'll jump on the Fin 1mg tablet - I didn't realise how expensive the branded Propecia stuff was, but I guess I'll suck it up and pay for the branded rather than risk generic, especially considering what is at risk (my hair and my sexual health!). I figured I could take it once every 2-3 days, instead of every day... at least to start with, to reduce the cost and risk of side effects. Then I can step it up as I see fit.

How long did people take to see results with this stuff roughly? I'm guessing it's completely different for each person. I've read some people saying they noticed results in 4-6 weeks, but a lot of sites saying it can take longer than 12 months.