Hi everyone, this is my first thread here. After reading a lot of other people's problems I decided I like the helpful community here, so I signed up to ask questions about my own situation.
I just turned 21 and have noticed I am receding at the front, as seen in my picture at the bottom (I apologise if its isn't a great shot, nobody here to help me take a pic right now so i couldnt take a frontal shot). Now, it looks like Im about a NW2, but I have always had a bit of a recede even when I was a child so its not severe yet. The red line shows approx where it used to be. That said, I am still starting much earlier than my older brother, who is now 29 and is about the same as me but with a little thinning on top.
I know one day I will be bald. There is not a single male in either side of my family with no baldness (although some are worse than others), but I am hoping that I can slow down the process as much as possible, because in my opinion I am too damn young. Receding in my 30s would be almost acceptable for me, but I dont want to be a NW3 or 4 by the time I am 25. Right now I see people in their 30s or even 40s with recedes, and it says a lot that I am actually jealous of their situation because it happened to them much later.
I understand I have caught it relatively early and thats a good thing, and I know finasteride (and/or minoxidil) can help me in fending off the inevitable. Heck, if it all worked out for me my hairline could stay where it is right now and everything would be dandy. BUT! (always a but) I gather that if I was to stop medicating that all the good work would be undone. So my question is, does stopping medication make only the hair that I saved fall out, or does ALL the hair I would have lost fall out as if I'd never been on meds? For example, if I was to take finasteride until say my 30th birthday, would I revert to the NW2 I am now or would I progress right up to a NW4 (or whatever I would be by then)? This really is the rub, as I know I could medicate until my 30s/40s then take the plunge and shave my head, but the thought of being on finasteride/minoxidil for the next 20 years isnt a nice one. What i really want is to just extend the time until it recedes.
Finally, in regards to the picture, you cant see it here but there is plenty of tiny fluffy hairs (vellus hairs..?) and numerous small brown ones (if you zoom right in they're visible) within the red region so the follicles are not dead yet. Im mentioning this as maybe that means I could possibly recover most/all of what Ive lost already? Note in the bottom right corner however, you can see similar fluffy hairs far down my forehead so perhaps they're not proper hairs?
Thanks for reading, sorry if I rambled and packed too much into one post. All responses are very appreciated!
(The upload function wouldn't load for me so ill post a direct link)
http://i.imgur.com/G8svEJi.jpg
I just turned 21 and have noticed I am receding at the front, as seen in my picture at the bottom (I apologise if its isn't a great shot, nobody here to help me take a pic right now so i couldnt take a frontal shot). Now, it looks like Im about a NW2, but I have always had a bit of a recede even when I was a child so its not severe yet. The red line shows approx where it used to be. That said, I am still starting much earlier than my older brother, who is now 29 and is about the same as me but with a little thinning on top.
I know one day I will be bald. There is not a single male in either side of my family with no baldness (although some are worse than others), but I am hoping that I can slow down the process as much as possible, because in my opinion I am too damn young. Receding in my 30s would be almost acceptable for me, but I dont want to be a NW3 or 4 by the time I am 25. Right now I see people in their 30s or even 40s with recedes, and it says a lot that I am actually jealous of their situation because it happened to them much later.
I understand I have caught it relatively early and thats a good thing, and I know finasteride (and/or minoxidil) can help me in fending off the inevitable. Heck, if it all worked out for me my hairline could stay where it is right now and everything would be dandy. BUT! (always a but) I gather that if I was to stop medicating that all the good work would be undone. So my question is, does stopping medication make only the hair that I saved fall out, or does ALL the hair I would have lost fall out as if I'd never been on meds? For example, if I was to take finasteride until say my 30th birthday, would I revert to the NW2 I am now or would I progress right up to a NW4 (or whatever I would be by then)? This really is the rub, as I know I could medicate until my 30s/40s then take the plunge and shave my head, but the thought of being on finasteride/minoxidil for the next 20 years isnt a nice one. What i really want is to just extend the time until it recedes.
Finally, in regards to the picture, you cant see it here but there is plenty of tiny fluffy hairs (vellus hairs..?) and numerous small brown ones (if you zoom right in they're visible) within the red region so the follicles are not dead yet. Im mentioning this as maybe that means I could possibly recover most/all of what Ive lost already? Note in the bottom right corner however, you can see similar fluffy hairs far down my forehead so perhaps they're not proper hairs?
Thanks for reading, sorry if I rambled and packed too much into one post. All responses are very appreciated!
(The upload function wouldn't load for me so ill post a direct link)
http://i.imgur.com/G8svEJi.jpg
