What Norwood status am I at?

[Nowayjesus1]

26 years old. When I was a teenager I had godly thick density and it has been on the decline since at least 23 or so. But I have only gotten aesthetically displeasing consequence as of the past few months. I recently started minoxidil 5% but the jury is still out on how well I can tolerate it. My T levels are not crazy high as it is so I have no interest in taking the risks associated with anti androgens as I fear my existing dht is vital to my dick function based off my current hormone panel.

 

[NickyA]

I'd say it's like a NW2 since your hairline isn't straight anymore and your temples have receded. Consider checking your family history for balding patterns and/or balding age and getting more blood work done in a couple months or a high precision blood test, since if what you had was done using ECLA/Electrochemiluminiscence the results may be skewed and you may actually have average Testosterone. Also evaluate starting habits to raise your testosterone naturally such as exercising one or two hours daily.

 

[Nowayjesus1]

I'd say it's like a NW2 since your hairline isn't straight anymore and your temples have receded. Consider checking your family history for balding patterns and/or balding age and getting more blood work done in a couple months or a high precision blood test, since if what you had was done using ECLA/Electrochemiluminiscence the results may be skewed and you may actually have average Testosterone. Also evaluate starting habits to raise your testosterone naturally such as exercising one or two hours daily.

My hairline was never naturally straight. However, it was much thicker. As you can see the clear thinning on the front. Also I work out 90 mins per day 6 days per week so my natural production is as good as it’s going to get. If worse comes to worse I will be considering getting on TRT with finastride but as my current test lvls sit I do not plan to tank my dht as many experts believe dht is anabolic and beneficial to hypertrophy. And no one denies that it assists in getting your dick hard. So here’s to hoping for a good minoxidil response.

 

[Will Be an Egg in 5 years]

NW2-3

 

[jamesbooker1975]

tiger blood norwood

 

[NickyA]

My hairline was never naturally straight. However, it was much thicker. As you can see the clear thinning on the front. Also I work out 90 mins per day 6 days per week so my natural production is as good as it’s going to get. If worse comes to worse I will be considering getting on TRT with finastride but as my current test lvls sit I do not plan to tank my dht as many experts believe dht is anabolic and beneficial to hypertrophy. And no one denies that it assists in getting your dick hard. So here’s to hoping for a good minoxidil response.

I was more concerned about your temples since they're usually the first to go and are notoriously hard to recover, but if your hairline was never straight it may be okay in that department. I could see some slight thinning at the very front of your hairline but you seem alright density wise to me, if you're worried about thinning at the front you could shave it and that will reveal all the frontal thinning, provided that it is happening noticeably.

There's always topical finasteride or dutasteride too, you're unlikely to maintain more than 2 to 5 years on minoxidil unless your hair loss is very mild to begin with since it doesn't address the root cause which is the DHT that is damaging your follicles. And men who were naturally born without 5-Alpha-Reductase 2 and thus have lower DHT are actually more muscular than your average guy since they have higher Testosterone. Finasteride will actually boost your Testosterone by 7%-12% too. If it's any relief I had low Testosterone in my ECLA blood tests and that prompted me to start taking 1 mg Finasteride thrice a week, it's been a month already and everything's alright so far. Haven't noticed any difference in my workouts either and I exercise five times a week.

Also, you could get a scalp biopsy too. That will be seen by a professional and they could tell you if you have MPA and which areas are affected.

 

[Nowayjesus1]

I was more concerned about your temples since they're usually the first to go and are notoriously hard to recover, but if your hairline was never straight it may be okay in that department. I could see some slight thinning at the very front of your hairline but you seem alright density wise to me, if you're worried about thinning at the front you could shave it and that will reveal all the frontal thinning, provided that it is happening noticeably.

There's always topical finasteride or dutasteride too, you're unlikely to maintain more than 2 to 5 years on minoxidil unless your hair loss is very mild to begin with since it doesn't address the root cause which is the DHT that is damaging your follicles. And men who were naturally born without 5-Alpha-Reductase 2 and thus have lower DHT are actually more muscular than your average guy since they have higher Testosterone. Finasteride will actually boost your Testosterone by 7%-12% too. If it's any relief I had low Testosterone in my ECLA blood tests and that prompted me to start taking 1 mg Finasteride thrice a week, it's been a month already and everything's alright so far. Haven't noticed any difference in my workouts either and I exercise five times a week.

Also, you could get a scalp biopsy too. That will be seen by a professional and they could tell you if you have MPA and which areas are affected.

What was your ng/dl on your test? And your election quality is the exact same?

 

[NickyA]

What was your ng/dl on your test? And your election quality is the exact same?

3.20 ng/dl for a range of 2.20 ng/dl to 8.90 ng/dl. I'll probably up the dosage of finasteride by March or April if everything stays alright, since I haven't had any sides so far. Will also get another blood test by June or so since they were done by ECLA and thus I may actually have average T levels and the results for the baseline test may be skewed due to the imprecise technique. Sadly I couldn't get high precision blood work done since there aren't any labs that do it in my country.