Hi guys I am 25 and now I am diffuse NW2.5 . I am currently on minoxidil.When I was going through photos before I joined my current job in 2014 I was NW1 and within an year and half I was an NW2.5 .Can this be chronic telogen effluvium as I dont have a family history of balding ?I also noticed apart from badly receding temples , I am diffuse on the sides and the back as well .Will minoxidil help me even it is CTE?I used finasteride for a month and had very bad reaction to it.
male pattern baldness or CTE
- Thread starter bobby26
- Start date
Went to a dermatologist and he prescribed finasteride just seeing my receding temples . I think he does not know much about hair loss ,as he prescribed the same to my sister a year back. Thankfully she got a second opinion , and did not start finasteride.This is how my hair looked in 2014
and how it is now .and this how it looks now 
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Went to a dermatologist and he prescribed finasteride just seeing my receding temples . I think he does not know much about hair loss ,as he prescribed the same to my sister a year back. Thankfully she got a second opinion , and did not start finasteride.This is how my hair looked in 2014 and how it is now .
and this how it looks now
and how it is now .and this how it looks now - - - Updated - - -
Went to a dermatologist and he prescribed finasteride just seeing my receding temples . I think he does not know much about hair loss ,as he prescribed the same to my sister a year back. Thankfully she got a second opinion , and did not start finasteride.This is how my hair looked in 2014 and how it is now .
and this how it looks now Attachments
- Reaction score
- 5,210
Well I am pretty sure you have male pattern baldness and 0% sure you have CTE, but it's possible. Usually if you correct what caused the Telogen Effluvium in the first place, it's unlikely it will become chronic. Telogen Effluvium can sure as hell speed up male pattern baldness though. You see how your hair line has receded? Telogen Effluvium doesn't do that, unless it's coupled with male pattern baldness.
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actually, I looked again and I'll admit it's kinda hard to say this 100% certainty from those pics. Take some better pics man. Perhaps with your hair damp under good lighting.
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actually, I looked again and I'll admit it's kinda hard to say this 100% certainty from those pics. Take some better pics man. Perhaps with your hair damp under good lighting.
- Reaction score
- 594
Male pattern baldness has a very specific pattern or patterns. Telogen effluvium generally has no pattern, it looks more like diffuse unpatterned allopecia.
Basically, if it looks like typical male pattern baldness then it almost certainly is. If you have a receding hairline, primarily at the temples and/or diffuse thinning on your crown or in the typical male hair loss zone, then 99.9% sure it's male pattern baldness. People with Telogen Effluvium generally don't follow any norwood pattern.
Your options are the same as everyone else with male pattern baldness, either take finasteride and minoxidil and ride out the initial shedding phase, or don't and your male pattern baldness will progress. Everyone with male pattern baldness prays it's just Telogen Effluvium at first, we all hope that it's temporary and stress/diet/lifestyle related, and that it will regrow naturally when we fix these issues. It's normal.
Basically, if it looks like typical male pattern baldness then it almost certainly is. If you have a receding hairline, primarily at the temples and/or diffuse thinning on your crown or in the typical male hair loss zone, then 99.9% sure it's male pattern baldness. People with Telogen Effluvium generally don't follow any norwood pattern.
Your options are the same as everyone else with male pattern baldness, either take finasteride and minoxidil and ride out the initial shedding phase, or don't and your male pattern baldness will progress. Everyone with male pattern baldness prays it's just Telogen Effluvium at first, we all hope that it's temporary and stress/diet/lifestyle related, and that it will regrow naturally when we fix these issues. It's normal.