Starting Treatment Questions

[JohnyV]

I am 23 and unfortunately just noticed that there is some definite hair thinning occurring right on the crown of my head. I think I am lucky in that I have just spotted this before it is extremely noticeable, I can only see it when I brush my hair (which is fairly long) and again its only right on the vortex of the crown so to speak. I would love to return to having a full thick head of hair and have purchased some Minoxidil (generic liquid form 5% form) and also gotten some propecia. I don't mind risking the side effects with the propecia but I wanted to get some people's thoughts on my upcoming process.

If I apply the Minoxidil to that area on the top of my head would it be safe to say I can expect the hair to return or regress to being thicker (after the 8 months or so that they tell you to expect)?

Should I apply the minoxidil all over (or include my front hairline) for precautionary measures?

Would anyone advise that I simply stick with the oral propecia rather than doing the rogain for what I guess can be considered very mild hair thinning/loss?

I would love to avoid the shedding, however as I understand its an integral part of the process and so I also will suck it up but would that be reduced if I started the propecia first (and if so for how long?)

Basically I think i've caught this pretty early and would love any suggestions on how to minimize adverse effects but long term consistent hair is the overall goal.

Thanks in advance.