male pattern baldness or mature hairline?

[JohnJohns1988]

This is the only camera I have(webcam) and I was in the brightest room in my house. If these pictures aren't good enough to make a decent opinion please say so, I can try to get better ones. If there is a angle that you would like to see that will help please ask. I tried to get a professional opinion but the result was not satisfactory(wait 6 months and come back). I have a cowlick but I'm not sure if it is filled in enough. Thanks for reading.

 

[shadowRX]

Very similar to my hairloss.

Jump on Propecia asap!

 

[JohnJohns1988]

Very similar to my hairloss.

Jump on Propecia asap!

How long did yours take to develop? The dermatologist would not prescribe me propecia so I gotta ask next time.

 

[Axl_Rose]

Jump on Propecia asap!

No, he shouldn't.

 

[JohnJohns1988]

Very similar to my hairloss.

Jump on Propecia asap!

I looked at your story, like it seems you use these drugs to maintain a NW1 hairline and it ended up not working from in the long run from what I could see. I'm not too hung up about the hairline just wondering if it will progress to NW3 anytime soon. Do you think without meds you would be at NW3 now? Any other opinions?

 

[shadowRX]

Mine looks pretty much like yours now. I basically always wore by bangs to my eyebrows and noticed it was getting thinner at the sides and that's how I knew. You can see my story in "Success Stories".

In your pictures you can definitely see hairs that are being miniaturized. If you're young taking Propecia can be a risk especially if you aren't finished with full puberty. It also depends on how fast your male pattern baldness.

 

[JohnJohns1988]

Mine looks pretty much like yours now. I basically always wore by bangs to my eyebrows and noticed it was getting thinner at the sides and that's how I knew. You can see my story in "Success Stories".

In your pictures you can definitely see hairs that are being miniaturized. If you're young taking Propecia can be a risk especially if you aren't finished with full puberty. It also depends on how fast your male pattern baldness.

Puberty? I'm 21 turning 22 soon. My hairline has been the same for about a year now(when i first noticed). Yeah, there are some miniaturized hairs in front of my hairline. Beyond that its the same density throughout my hair. Any other opinions? Should I go on propecia?

 

[JohnJohns1988]

My hairline looked just like yours when I was around 20, at the onset of my male pattern baldness. My male pattern baldness progressed badly and didn't slow down untill I started taking Propecia. I'm 24 now and, I wish I would have started the Finasteride before it got to this point. But I can't tell you if your hairloss will progress or stabilize, it's just immpossible to tell from a photo alone.

So in your experience it was very aggressive and progressed fast? There were no stable periods of a year or more? My hairline has been pretty stable for a while now..I guess I gotta wait some more time see how things go.

 

[JohnJohns1988]

My hairline looked just like yours when I was around 20, at the onset of my male pattern baldness. My male pattern baldness progressed badly and didn't slow down untill I started taking Propecia. I'm 24 now and, I wish I would have started the Finasteride before it got to this point. But I can't tell you if your hairloss will progress or stabilize, it's just immpossible to tell from a photo alone.

So in your experience it was very aggressive and progressed fast? There were no stable periods of a year or more? My hairline has been pretty stable for a while now..I guess I gotta wait some more time see how things go.

Well It seemed stable for the first few years, I first noticed my hairline changing when I was about 17 but I had such thick hair, that even with the recession it took a while before it became noticable. From the age of 17-21 my hairloss seemed minor it looked like yours, but from age 21-23 my hairloss became more evident, only because I had been losing for quite some time.

The point is if your going to go bald, your better off treating it before it progresses, its easier to prevent hairloss then it is to regrow lost hairs.

Understood. Argh, I don't know what to do. My family history is a toss up its hard to tell if I will go bald or not. My family checks my hair and they believe I won't be going bald in the near future. Guess I should wait some more.

 

[JohnJohns1988]

My family history is a toss up its hard to tell if I will go bald or not. My family checks my hair and they believe I won't be going bald in the near future. Guess I should wait some more.

Yeah my family told me the same thing. If I could go back in time and do it over again here's what I would have done. I would have gone to a dermatoligist who was willing to perform a ''minaturization study'' from that they would have been able to tell me early on whether or not I was experiancing hairloss, and based on that I would make my decision regaurding Propecia.

I think that you should do that, call around and find out if there's a dermatoligist in your area who is equipped to perform a Hair minaturisation study, that way you can get the answers your looking for now.

Thanks for the advice. I will try to call around. First derm said my scalp wasn't thinning but she was kinda lousy..gotta get to a hair specialist. By any chance did you have any major sheds or anything else while it was developing?

 

[JohnJohns1988]

Do you have a strong history of male pattern baldness in your family?

 

[JohnJohns1988]

Not really, both of my grandfathers had minor thinning but they still had decent coverage in their 70's my great grandfather even still has good coverage. Although I do have an uncle who is bald, and my father is a diffuse thinner, so it's a mix I guess.

I see. Alot of thinners? Most of the men in my moms side of the family have no thinning in the crown area but receded hairlines(they are quite old and its not too bad). Thanks for the advice. I guess the only way to be sure is to get a miniturization test. Or maybe even a blood test..but I'm not sure where I can find someone to do that.

 

[JohnJohns1988]

Not really, both of my grandfathers had minor thinning but they still had decent coverage in their 70's my great grandfather even still has good coverage. Although I do have an uncle who is bald, and my father is a diffuse thinner, so it's a mix I guess.

I see. Alot of thinners? Most of the men in my moms side of the family have no thinning in the crown area but receded hairlines(they are quite old and its not too bad). Thanks for the advice. I guess the only way to be sure is to get a miniturization test. Or maybe even a blood test..but I'm not sure where I can find someone to do that.

You should be able to get a hair minaturisation study done at a dermatoligists office or at an hair transplant surgeons office. You need to call and ask them if they do that first. Some are ignorant and won't even know what your talking about though.

A hair minaturisation study, is pretty simple. The doctor takes a microscopic camera and looks at different parts of your scalp with this camera, they will be able to see whether or not your hairs are minaturised. I can give you the link to a websight that has a lot of helpful info on this subject.

That would be nice(the link). I'm hoping to find a doctor on my medical coverage which might limit my options. Like is there a chance that they find no miniturization now..but the process happens soon after? Would I need to get tests regularly?

 

[JohnJohns1988]

Lets just say that, from your photos it's very likly they will find some minaturization under the microscope. And if they don't then you shouldn't worry about it.

Ok here's a very helpful websight, these doctors are the best, and this link explains hair minaturization , and hair minaturization study/mapping. Read this and print out a copy to bring to your dermatoligist.

Link- http://www.baldingblog.com/2006/08/31/m ... s-the-eye/

Alright then. I will try to find somewhere to get a test. I actually sent my story and pictures to that website too. My hair looks thinning in the pictures? Like the derm didn't think so but she never properly tested..I need to get tested to be sure.

 

[timbo]

Here's the thing, It is pretty obvious that you have started losing your hair around your hairline. A miniaturization study might be helpful, but it might just be a waste of time and money if you are going to end up treating it anyway.

Generally, when a person as young as yourself notices an onset of male pattern baldness, it ends up being much more severe in the future. Age is a tell-tale sign of male pattern baldness severity, and you are a young guy. Asking for a prescription of Propecia (or proscar) offers you a good chance to keep your hair.

 

[karl_h]

Looking at your pictures, I would say that you have begun the early stages of male pattern baldness. The hair at your temples has receded a little more than what you would see for an adult hairline.

 

[JohnJohns1988]

In the photos, along the hairline, the hairs appear to be in the very early stages of minaturization. The red area is where it appears that you have lost hairs and minaturization is likly occuring. It could just be a mature hairline, but there's no way of being certain, without first looking at the rest of your hairs under a microscope.

My juvenile hairline was never as filled in as your drawing. After examining the hair on the hairline with a magnifying glass there are random hairs in the temple area and they are not miniaturized. The temple hairs never really got thin they just stopped growing. I will get a professional opinion before making a lifelong commitment to a drug.
EDIT: comparing to pictures of me at age 12 with the hairline spiked up. Here is how much I lost approximately. I had quite a high hairline as a kid. The view of how much I lost is greatly exaggerated.