Pretty sure I have male pattern baldness (pics)

[jameson]

I just turned 24 and noticed my hairline has changed, as well as the overall density up top. I always had really thick hair, and am seeing miniaturized shed hairs. I can't tell if my crown is thinning because I think I've always kind of had a spot there, but it probably is. That photo is taken directly under bright lights, in some lighting I can't even see it, but in most I can make it out. My right temple is a lot thinner than my left. I'm scared.

 

[yadayada029]

Make an appointment with a dermatologist. Tough to tell from those pics. Does anyone in your family, of advanced age, have male pattern baldness?

 

[jameson]

yeah sorry for the ****ty quality my cell phone sucks. I took two more pics w/ wet hair i'm gonna post, and I took a pic of the crown with an iphone i'll post in a min. and yes, on my moms side there are bald people. which I know is awesome.

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alright here goes. you can see in the wet pic that i'm certainly thinning up top. the iphone pics of the crown don't look too bad, but on my phone it looks like it's thinning so idk. my hair was/is my pride and joy man, I feel so ****ed. i'm sorry for everyone that's already lost it, and for those of you fighting the good fight, but **** me i'm starting to get reaaaal worried myself.

 

[badgenome]

Is this some sort of sick joke. Get out of here and stop taunting us with your thick lush hair.. No but seriously you're not even a norwood 2. You may have a bit of receding going on but none that I can see from the pictures you've provided. Go out there and enjoy your hair you lucky bastard.

 

[The_Mentalist]

ok, you need to make clear pictures of your temples. Pull hair back in front, from temples, and take pictures at different angles. Only, then something conclusive might come

 

[DoctorHouse]

Your hair looks fine. Hair density can change with age. Just watch it. If it makes you feel any better, my hair was similar to yours at 24, now more than 20 years later, its almost like it was at 24 but slightly thinner in density with slightly more recession. Most men lose about 10 percent in density for every 10 years. So your hair is going to thin when you age but it does not necessarily mean you will go bald. You have to face the fact that your teenage thick hair is gone. As you move toward 30, your hair density will change. If you have male pattern baldness, it will change much faster. I started Propecia when I first noticed my hair loss. My prescribing doctor took my word for it and wrote a prescription. My advice, get a professional opinion from a hair loss expert. I eventually did that and they all agreed for me to stay on Propecia. My older brother always had alot thicker hair than mine yet I was the one who kept alot more hair than him much later in life.

 

[jameson]

you can see that my right temple is much thinner all over than the left. even on the sideburns. I've always had that widows peak, even as a kid. but it's hard to tell how much I've receded. i'm not used to seeing that much forehead. what Norwood am I ? I've actually just popped my 5th dose of propecia, and I also have some questions about that so if someone could assist me i'd be grateful.

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neone?

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neone at all?

 

[DoctorHouse]

Your hairline is still fairly straight across so you are a NW1 still.

 

[Helel]

You're hair is pretty fine so far. The good thing is that you are acting on this now. If you were to start taking medication and taking care of your hair now, you can possibly keep most of it.

I'm hoping I can try to recover mine.

 

[badgenome]

You're hair is pretty fine so far. The good thing is that you are acting on this now. If you were to start taking medication and taking care of your hair now, you can possibly keep most of it.

I'm hoping I can try to recover mine.

Telling someone with no male pattern baldness signs what so ever to take medication for it is like telling a teenager to take statins so that he wont develop cholesterol. This guy does NOT need medication for his none existent hair loss.

 

[Helel]

Oh well. Idk.

 

[The_Mentalist]

You are right your right temple is alarming. Based on just that, I would have said that you had definite early signs of Androgenetic Alopecia but your left temple is not showing similar recession pattern; usually, Androgenetic Alopecia follows a balanced pattern. You are also seeing thin hair falling off, so I am thinking you are right to be worried.

However, you took the plunge too soon on finasteride. You first needed to confirm that you had Androgenetic Alopecia.

This is what you need to do asap

A) See a Derm experienced in hair issues. Let him run a test or two. I think they have some magnifying lens screening tests that look for miniaturizing hair on scalp. Once confirmed then continue with finasteride if you want to dedicate yourself to it.

B) If not that, I would gauge my hairline recession. You will need a magnifying mirror, a table lamp with a 75-100 watt bulb, and a measurement tape. Measure your hairline all over from, lets say, eyebrows, or in relation to sideburns etc, and make a note of it and note how it looks in terms of density etc. and do that as frequently as think you need to.

You will know when it further recedes within a certain time period. I would not have started finasteride yet until confirmed; if its not Androgenetic Alopecia, then you might be hooked to finasteride unnecessarily.

Regardless, even if you receded a little bit more without any treatments, and then started treatments later; I think you would still be fine with hair volume-You will know before it gets too bad; and finasteride. hopefully would have regrown some anyway or you would still have had plenty that you could be happy with. Some recession in temples does not look bad at all

Good luck!

 

[jameson]

alright so i actually did see a derm about a week ago because i was concerned with my hair thinning out and within 10 seconds she was just like "yep, male pattern baldness". got full blood work done, and was told everything was normal except for my vitamin d which was 20. (30-100 normal range) sorry for holding out but i wanted your unbiased opinions. so i've been taking the finasteride for almost a week now, taking some biotin and vit d, i am seeing a bit more shedding, although i've been shedding volumes i haven't experienced in the past for a couple of months i'd say.

my right temple is freaking me out, do you think i will see some regrowth in that area? i would say it's much noticeably thinner now than it was even a month ago. although tbh, i think this must have been happening for a long time. i've heard on the interwebs people are putting retin a on their temples for regrowth, can anyone explain to me why this would stimulate the hair follices? should i maybe do minoxidil on just the temple area? i'm talking about the actual temple, not the corner of the hairline. thanks.

 

[The_Mentalist]

This is what you need to do.

You have taken the right step. Keep finasteride for now. You might experience some to severe shedding soon, I think. But, it will eventually stabilize soon. Though finasteride is not a stimulant, it will help reduce dht, and reduced dht means less or no "hammering" the follicles. Thus, the shut down follicles have a good chance of restarting on their own after some reprieve from dht. I am thinking your deep temple follicles will recover with finasteride.

Once you assess your results in several months/years, then you see if you need to add anything. For the time being if you maintain what you have, is all you need. You have lost nothing much really. Little temple recession is not something to cry over. See some pictures of 16 years old here, so you see how lucky you are.

Retin A is used for skin rejuvenation. It helps build collagen that starts retiring with age, and thus you see saggy and wrinkled skin as you age. Similarly, follicles are a part of skin and Retin A helps with repairing damaged environment around follicles so that hair can pop out of the follicles. It has been found to be helpful for hair growth and is also sold on online pharmacy with a mixture in Minoxidil.

I would strongly suggest you not start anything else now or you will regret it. You took the major treatment which is finasteride. You need to give it time to see how that plays out for you. Adding too many at one time is a torture not knowing what is working and what not and what to stop.

Keep us posted. Thx

 

[talmoode]

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[jameson]

thanks guys for all the advise. just an update about a week on finasteride now and today when i shampooed i had probly about 100 shed hairs on my hands. never seen that and concerned. i know about the shedding from propecia, i just thought it might have been excessive.

more importantly, i've been researching claims that propecia actually accelerated hair loss in the front, or destroyed peoples hairlines. i originally was under the impression that it would eventually thicken the existing hairs up front, but the claims seem to be abundant. can anyone shed some light (not hair) on this? thanks. aww that joke was awful.

 

[talmoode]

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