24 y/o balding, need realistic advice

[Egat19]

I am a 24 y/o male, about to turn 25, and I probably saw the beginning stages of balding about one and half/two years ago.

I noticed some slight thinning around my vertex, and now I'm thinning from the vertex forward. My hairline isn't so much receding as it is just thinning.

Obviously, I've gone through a lot of the emotional toll that I've read from plenty of people on this forum. Fortunately for me, I have blonde hair so it is disguised a little bit better than those with darker hair, however that won't be for long if I don't decide to do something about it.

I recently ordered a 3-month supply of extra strength Rogaine, the topical solution kind. I did my first application today. According to Rogaine, it can only be used to treat hair loss around the vertex. For those of you who have used it, is that true? If I drizzle some of the solution towards the front of my head will it really not do anything? I find it strange... anyways

Some history, my dad is bald, not entirely, but he only has hair in a horseshoe in the typical fashion from ear to ear around the back. He completely shaves it though. He had male-pattern baldness. My older brother who is 26 is balding as well, his is more drastic than mine, however he has your typical male-pattern baldness as well. His hairline is receding unlike mine.

I don't know why I am balding in a different fashion from them, it may have something to do with the fact that I'm blonde-haired/blue-eyed and have a lighter complexion than them. In fact, out of my 4 brothers I'm the only blonde-haired/blue-eyed one.

Should I consider my balding pattern fortunate or not? Since I'm not receding in the front, its nowhere near as noticeable, however if you are balding like my dad did and my brother is, at least they have thick hair where it still grows. For me, the issue is like hitting the beach or having just gotten out of the shower, when my hair is wet, it looks ridiculous. It looks very thin when wet and its embarrassing enough that its caused me to not go into the water a lot of the time as a result.

Now for the nitty gritty. What do some of you recommend I do if I want to realistically maintain what hair I have left/maybe improve growth if I'm lucky?

Should I get on Propecia ASAP? How serious are the side-effects regarding my "male-ness"? Should I be concerned? Should I just stick with the Rogaine for the 3-months and see what happens? Ugh I'm probably losing hair just thinking about it.

The problem is the two people I should be able to talk about it with, aka my dad and brother, I basically can't talk to about it. My dad has taken the pride route and jokingly calls me a ***** for looking into hairloss solutions. My brother has sort of resigned to the fact that he is losing his hair, so he doesn't offer advice either.

I'm just really nervous. I've never had a shaved head, I don't know if my head would look money if I cut my hair really short and embraced the baldness. I'm afraid of taking that plunge and looking ridiculous.

All in all, I would really appreciate some realistic advice for my issue. I will take some pictures later today or tomorrow and post them on here so some of you can analyze the severity of my hair thinning and comment on what I should do. Thanks in advance for any advice. I will be around

[packette]

Hi dude I am older than you, turning 34 next week. My advice to you is not to petty over the little things in life. Life is too short. If you are destined to lose your hair it will happen regardless of medications you try or how much you worry.
I wish I could turn back the clock and tell that to myself 17 years ago (I started losing my hair at the young age of 16!). I tried rogaine and propecia and to me they didn't work since I am now bald I tried hiding my baldness like you are by avoiding embarassing situations like going swimming or going to places where there is extra lighting. I also bought those balding concealers (a good one is magic hair you should google it it's better than toppic if you are interested to know). That being said, my recommendation for you is to let yourself grow bald naturally and don't be shy telling this to people. You are not fooling anyone except for yourself is the bottom line. Embrace things as they are. Being bald is fashionable these days. It's not a disease. Many girls dig it. Other girls don't care - they have their own insecurities to worry about. The few who do care you don't want anyways.
Bottom line - be happy with who you are. If you ask me I wouldn't recommend any treatment or any cover up for that matter. Tell people you know that you are growing bald. Don't shave your head because it sounds like you still have a lot of hair and you probably look a lot better than you think. With time, you coud shave your head - it will grow back if you don't like it. Finally, if you are not mature enough to take my advice from my own life experience then try millefolium.com.
P.S: The advice I am giving you right now is priceless. I wish someone gave it to me or at least that I listened to them when they did
Good luck. Focus your worries about other more important things in life.
Rich

I am a 24 y/o male, about to turn 25, and I probably saw the beginning stages of balding about one and half/two years ago.

I noticed some slight thinning around my vertex, and now I'm thinning from the vertex forward. My hairline isn't so much receding as it is just thinning.

Obviously, I've gone through a lot of the emotional toll that I've read from plenty of people on this forum. Fortunately for me, I have blonde hair so it is disguised a little bit better than those with darker hair, however that won't be for long if I don't decide to do something about it.

I recently ordered a 3-month supply of extra strength Rogaine, the topical solution kind. I did my first application today. According to Rogaine, it can only be used to treat hair loss around the vertex. For those of you who have used it, is that true? If I drizzle some of the solution towards the front of my head will it really not do anything? I find it strange... anyways

Some history, my dad is bald, not entirely, but he only has hair in a horseshoe in the typical fashion from ear to ear around the back. He completely shaves it though. He had male-pattern baldness. My older brother who is 26 is balding as well, his is more drastic than mine, however he has your typical male-pattern baldness as well. His hairline is receding unlike mine.

I don't know why I am balding in a different fashion from them, it may have something to do with the fact that I'm blonde-haired/blue-eyed and have a lighter complexion than them. In fact, out of my 4 brothers I'm the only blonde-haired/blue-eyed one.

Should I consider my balding pattern fortunate or not? Since I'm not receding in the front, its nowhere near as noticeable, however if you are balding like my dad did and my brother is, at least they have thick hair where it still grows. For me, the issue is like hitting the beach or having just gotten out of the shower, when my hair is wet, it looks ridiculous. It looks very thin when wet and its embarrassing enough that its caused me to not go into the water a lot of the time as a result.

Now for the nitty gritty. What do some of you recommend I do if I want to realistically maintain what hair I have left/maybe improve growth if I'm lucky?

Should I get on Propecia ASAP? How serious are the side-effects regarding my "male-ness"? Should I be concerned? Should I just stick with the Rogaine for the 3-months and see what happens? Ugh I'm probably losing hair just thinking about it.

The problem is the two people I should be able to talk about it with, aka my dad and brother, I basically can't talk to about it. My dad has taken the pride route and jokingly calls me a ***** for looking into hairloss solutions. My brother has sort of resigned to the fact that he is losing his hair, so he doesn't offer advice either.

I'm just really nervous. I've never had a shaved head, I don't know if my head would look money if I cut my hair really short and embraced the baldness. I'm afraid of taking that plunge and looking ridiculous.

All in all, I would really appreciate some realistic advice for my issue. I will take some pictures later today or tomorrow and post them on here so some of you can analyze the severity of my hair thinning and comment on what I should do. Thanks in advance for any advice. I will be around

[mattj]

It sounds like you have a lot of hairloss in your immediate family. That your pattern differs from that of your dad's and brother's is not unusual. Genes can be mysterious and unpredictable. You have what is called diffuse thinning. It's not atypical but could be considered worse than receding because a wide area of balding can appear relatively quickly.

The good news is that the treatments (Rogaine and Propecia), while rarely reversing a receded hairline, can often thicken up diffuse hairloss. Both treatments work better at the vertex than they do further forward on the scalp, but it isn't the case that they are completely useless for the frontal region.

[kanyon]

Hey mate,

I think you're in a good position because you have 2 treatments which are likely to work for you - Propecia and Rogaine. You haven't really been on either yet so they should give you a few more years of keeping your hair each.

For the period of time that Rogaine worked for me it improved thickness all over my scalp including the front of my hairline. My hairline had already receded somewhat so there was no hair there at all to apply the Rogaine too. But where hair was still present, Rogaine thickened all that up to a remarkable degree. It can work for you for up to 5 years I'd say.

When it eventually fails, then convert to Propecia.

[packette]

I disagree completely, although perhaps you had a different experience. It worked for you for 5 years because it takes that long for you to notice it isn't working - don't forget losing your hair is a slow process and so unless you count every hair on your head you won't notice losing your hair from a day to day basis. I was diagnosed with male patter hairloss at age 16 by a dermatologist. This is when I had most of my hair. I immediately tried rogaine (propecia wasn't available until I was a few years older and yes I tried that as well). I lost all my hair now; it took more than 10 years, which is the good news about male pattern hairloss.
I also disagree with the good doctor's comments above. rogaine is a drug that originally was used to treat hypertension and patients noticed they grew some peach insignificant fuzz particularly over the back of their head. Propecia is used in higher doses in older men for an enlarged prostate. Again, one of its secondary effects was to potentially grow some hair. Propecia in particular is a pill - you are 24 and if you take this pill now you don't know what effects it may have for you down the road even decades from now. I don't recommend you try this personally.

Hey mate,

I think you're in a good position because you have 2 treatments which are likely to work for you - Propecia and Rogaine. You haven't really been on either yet so they should give you a few more years of keeping your hair each.

For the period of time that Rogaine worked for me it improved thickness all over my scalp including the front of my hairline. My hairline had already receded somewhat so there was no hair there at all to apply the Rogaine too. But where hair was still present, Rogaine thickened all that up to a remarkable degree. It can work for you for up to 5 years I'd say.

When it eventually fails, then convert to Propecia.

[kanyon]

Hi packette,

Are you saying that you don't believe Rogaine works at all? That it doesn't slow the process or regrow hair? If so from my experience that is incorrect. There is no question whatsoever that for 5 years it worked marvellously. Not just slowed MPB process but regrew (eventually) thicker hair that matched the hair on my sides and back. It has fallen out now. No doubt but it is an excellent temporary solution.

[mattj]

I also disagree with the good doctor's comments above. rogaine is a drug that originally was used to treat hypertension and patients noticed they grew some peach insignificant fuzz particularly over the back of their head. Propecia is used in higher doses in older men for an enlarged prostate. Again, one of its secondary effects was to potentially grow some hair. Propecia in particular is a pill - you are 24 and if you take this pill now you don't know what effects it may have for you down the road even decades from now. I don't recommend you try this personally.

I'm not a doc myself but you must mean me. You're right that both of the main male hairloss treatments started life as drugs for unrelated conditions, but Rogaine (like Propecia) has proven to be effective in regrowing thick, terminal hairs. Neither treatment is magic; but they can be successful in many patients. Rogaine would be completely useless and no one would buy it if the very most it could offer was some cosmetically insignificant peach fuzz.

[Egat19]

Thanks for the advice guys. I don't think I will take the plunge on Propecia yet, I'd like to talk to a doctor first, however I've been on Rogaine for a week now. The topical solution is a pain in the ass to apply, maybe because I'm not that bald yet, but I'm having trouble applying it to my scalp because my hair gets in the way.

Should I switch to the foam solution?

Also does anybody have any suggestions regarding shampoos? I thought I read a thread around here recently about this great shampoo that some of you were raving about. I'd love to get my hands on that

[nobaldio]

Should I get on Propecia ASAP? How serious are the side-effects regarding my "male-ness"? Should I be concerned? Should I just stick with the Rogaine for the 3-months and see what happens? Ugh I'm probably losing hair just thinking about it.

That was my question too. Started taking finasteride for hair-loss 3 years ago at the age of 24 when the balding became evident. My balding started in the crown area and moved it's way toward the temples, so I am/was a diffuse thinner. I was lucky enough to stop it in time and regrow virtually everything and more with Propecia, along with the help of Rogaine. There are no side effects for me to document. My sex-drive has and is still always in hyper-speed; I have suffered no brain-fog, no ill effects to speak of whatsoever. You have to try it out for yourself. And just to note: there is no possible way for 1 pill to have permanent side effects, do your research.