23 and strugglin' - also, whats the deal with Minoxidil??

[stomachbuzz]

I decided to make an account to get some opinions, and to answer a critical question I've had about minoxidil.

Background -
I'm 23. I started noticing receding corners at 17, but I was in the "am I losing hair or is this just how a man's hairline is....?" mode for a while. Signs got pretty hard to deny. The sink would collect ~30-50 hairs when gently combing. The top-middle (Y-shaped area pictured blow) area seemed it had lost ~85% hairs. It was like I could see all the way through my hair from front to back. My dad is 52, and has had the "horseshoe" as long as I can remember. My dad's brother is about as bald as it gets. No info for either grandfather, but seems pretty damming as it is.

At 18, I asked my dermatologist about my hair loss. He didn't comment on my loss of hair, but said "we can talk about that in the future. It's a big decision and it's for life".
4 years later (22) I brought it up again and he prescribed Finasteride. At this point, I estimate I had lost about 85% of my hair volume in the Y-pattern area. I wonder how different it would be if I had started taking it at 18 when I asked.

One time at a small party, I went to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. My hair had moved a bit and revealed a thin spot. It was the first time that I couldn't cover it up, no matter how I tried to comb or lay my hair. Every time I moved a lock of hair, it just revealed another thin spot.

I've been on Finasteride for 18 months now. Working as advertised (hair regrown on crown, not corners), and zero side effects AFAIK. The top of my head (crown, I suppose) has regained lots of volume. I'm happy for that, but my corners and the arc right behind my front tuft of hair is worse than ever.

I've also been using minoxidil semi-regularly for 2-3 years. What annoys me most about minoxidil (and why I say 'semi-regularly') is that it's SO hard to apply. Like what the heck??
The recommended dosage is 1 MILLILITER!! TWICE (2!) a day!! Even applying minoxidil in *one drop* dosages is too much. It's the most ridiculous thing. It runs everywhere! I can't stop it. Even with a single drop applied, I lay in bed or walk around my house playing a weird balancing game with my head. I have to hold my head straight back (looking at the ceiling) for 2-3 minutes before I'm safe. Even after that, it sometimes still runs. Additionally, it doesn't dry for sometimes as long as 30 mins.

Sometimes I try to do a couple drops at a time, and it's hopeless. It immediately runs off my head and collects on my forehead, ears, or the back of my neck. I literally can't imagine a whole mL.
What's even crazier is I have searched and searched on google for things like "better way to apply minoxidil" or similar, and gotten zero useful results.
AM I THE ONLY ONE HERE???

For the past 6 months or so, I've used exclusively Kirkland minoxidil. I try to apply it whenever I can. I take it with me while driving, put it in my backpack, etc. Even only applying 6-7 drops a day, the top of my head gets insanely itchy after 4-5 days of using it regularly. Sometimes it gets so bad, the very top of my head will dry and scab up.
Again, I can't imagine an entire mL twice a day.

What should I do? Put a drop on my finger tip and rub it in? Go get a sponge and wipe it on my hair? A paint brush?
One time I tried to fill the teeth of my comb with minoxidil and comb it in. My strands of hair accepted the liquid, but looked wet and greasy for 2-3 hours after.

I've attached some pictures below. The first 2 pictures are exaggerated to show my hair loss. I have purposely combed up my hair to reveal the thin areas. The 3rd picture is how I normally comb my hair down to cover it up a bit. The last picture is how much minoxidil I can apply at one time. Look at the very bottom of the dropper. Yes, I'm being serious.