37 And Balding At The Crown? Will Minoxidil Help?

[AlexJay80]

Hello everyone, my name is Alex.

I'm 37 and probably have a Norwood 2 hairline (2a at worst). I've been a Norwood 2 since my early to mid 20's but have always had thick hair.

However, I do think I'm thinning on top at the crown/vertex so if there are any professionals on here, an opinion would be appreciated.

Can you see obvious miniaturization? If so, how long do you think I have until a full bald spot develops?

Will Minoxidil help stop this at least for a while? I'll probably add Propecia at some point but I have to be careful as even though I'm in fairly decent shape physically, I suffer from hereditary high blood pressure so I take medication for that. Thus, I have to be a bit careful about introducing other tablets willy-nilly.

Any comments would be helpful. Thanks.

 

[Oscar66]

Yes thinning. Yes minoxidil could help at your age, depends on how you respond. As far a propecia or anything like I'd consult your DR.
Also, as far as how bald or how fast depends on 1)family history and 2) how long has it been thinning?
The better news is "older" usually means slower balding.

 

[AlexJay80]

Yes thinning. Yes minoxidil could help at your age, depends on how you respond. As far a propecia or anything like I'd consult your DR.
Also, as far as how bald or how fast depends on 1)family history and 2) how long has it been thinning?
The better news is "older" usually means slower balding.

Thanks for the response and information Oscar66.

With regards to thinning on the crown, I hadn't really noticed it until a couple of months ago. I presume it's been thinning for a fair bit longer though but certainly not longer than a year. I had a pretty horrendous 2017 as my business went through some difficulties so I don't think that helped.

Family history:

I'm 37, have a Norwood 2 hairline (maybe approaching 2a) with light vertex thinning.
My 67 year old dad is a Norwood 2 with some diffused thinning on top but no bald spot. Probably started thinning in his early 40's but the thinning was very, very slow.
My late Grandad on my Mum's side was a Norwood 2 up until he died and had a good head of hair.
My late Grandad on my Dad's side became a Norwood 3 in his late 20's and stayed like that for 20 years. Was a Norwood 4 when he died with some light thinning on top but certainly no bald spot.
My 48 year old brother is a Norwood 5 with thinning hair and a noticeable bald spot. Started receding in his early 20's and thinning on top in his late 20's.
I've no uncles although I suspect my Brother's balding takes after our late Great Uncle who became bald in his late 30's/early 40's.

 

[abcdefg]

yeah my situation is pretty similar to yours.IMO I would use a little minoxidil on bald spots, but its a pain to use. You will get sick of applying it, and using on places with hair makes it look much worse like using grease. It might not be too bad in the crown though where its less noticeable. I watched people I knew go bald despite being on minoxidil for a long time.
Personally I think propecia is much easier to use, and much more effective long term with helping to slow/stop male pattern baldness from getting worse. Personally I think anyone balding is going to be bald unless they are on propecia, and even than you need some luck.

 

[AlexJay80]

yeah my situation is pretty similar to yours.IMO I would use a little minoxidil on bald spots, but its a pain to use. You will get sick of applying it, and using on places with hair makes it look much worse like using grease. It might not be too bad in the crown though where its less noticeable. I watched people I knew go bald despite being on minoxidil for a long time.
Personally I think propecia is much easier to use, and much more effective long term with helping to slow/stop male pattern baldness from getting worse. Personally I think anyone balding is going to be bald unless they are on propecia, and even than you need some luck.

Thanks for the response. I'm not at the point where I have any bald spots and I can still comb over fairly effectively so I'm only the one who notices. However, it's definitely thinning noticeably on the vertex and crown. I think if I left it I'd probably have a bald spot on my crown in my early 40's. Having said that, my Dad started thinning in his 40's and still doesn't have a bald spot so who knows. Not willing to take a chance though.

I'm using Minoxidil and have now bought 6 months supply of Finasteride so I'm hoping in 6 months I can see some progress and if so, I'm prepared to take both religiously at least for another 10 years.

 

[Drake013]

Hello everyone, my name is Alex.

I'm 37 and probably have a Norwood 2 hairline (2a at worst). I've been a Norwood 2 since my early to mid 20's but have always had thick hair.

However, I do think I'm thinning on top at the crown/vertex so if there are any professionals on here, an opinion would be appreciated.

Can you see obvious miniaturization? If so, how long do you think I have until a full bald spot develops?

Will Minoxidil help stop this at least for a while? I'll probably add Propecia at some point but I have to be careful as even though I'm in fairly decent shape physically, I suffer from hereditary high blood pressure so I take medication for that. Thus, I have to be a bit careful about introducing other tablets willy-nilly.

Any comments would be helpful. Thanks.

Dude you are 37, finasteride and minoxidil you will safe for all your life