I must say I have the worst case of hair loss at an early age I have ever seen. I am 20 years old and have been balding and thinning since highschool. My confidence and happiness have gone way down as well as my self esteem. I don't know why I went bald so early but it's really bad and I want to do something about it. To let eveyone know just how bad it is, when I cut my own hair i don't even take the clippers to the top of my head. It's more like peach fuzz than hair. Why have I gone bald at such an early age and what can I do about it being so young? Has anyone else out there ever seen, experienced, or heard of anyone going bald so early.

Welcome Kyle2323,

You are not alone, my hair loss wasn't aggressive and has been a slow process, however, I also started balding at an early age.

I first visited the doctors at the age of 15, by that point I had receded to the extent class mates would notice while I did sports.

There are medical treatments available but you really need to go see a dermatologist first to be evaluated.

Stick with the forum, you will get the best advise on here... from doctors and members, we have all been through it.

Yes, this is not uncommon. Many people start going bald as early as 14, 15, 16, 17, etc.

Your best bet is to start taking the drug finasteride.

As Marvin said, Finasteride and Minoxidil will likely be what's recommend, however, I still feel you should be evaluated by a dermatologist or at least a transplant doctor first.

I was in a similar place at 20. Using concealers at 21. Still till this day am, now Im 25. Taking Finasteride since I was 20. Used the last few years to save hard, see how my pattern progresses, research copious amounts, and make a plan.

However far away this all seems to you now, stay active on this site and ask questions. It will give you peace of mind that you do have options. None of them easy, but they are there non the less.

__________________
Meds
1.25mg Finasteride
3000mg MSM
Vitamin C
Omega 3
Nizarol

My Hair Loss Website - Hair Transplant with Dr. Rahal

I actually had a 17 year old male patient who was already a stage 6. He came to me with his father and grandfather who were both stage 7-8. They felt really bad because they knew how hard it was for them at that age, and he was getting ready to go away to college. We worked together to create a reasonable game plan. He spent a lot of time working on how to be more comfortable with himself despite the hair loss. Eventually he gained self confidence and elevated his self esteem and concentrated on other issues that he realized were more important.

__________________
Dr. Glenn Charles is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians

Dr. Charles,
Did this reasonable plan include a HT? If so why? That bald, that young should be turned away IMO!

I'm also curious as to what the plan included; I think Azza at 19 is the youngest patient I know of who underwent a HT.

Just to add to the thread...I began to thin at 17 with what would be very aggressive MPB. It was even pointed out to me in jest my junior year of highschool (christ lol). I couldn't even fathom that I could be experiencing baldness, particularly since my hair was *the* thing that I most associated with my attractiveness and what I focused on the most as a metric for my aesthtic self.

At 19 it really hit me that I was balding and became very obvious to the point I had zero recourse for concealing it.

By the time I was 20 the sht hit the fan and I was a ~NW4, with a totally recessed and ravaged frontal 1/3rd that left me almot entirely barren, as well as a thin crown. My hairloss crippled me and I became obsessive; thankfully, my obsession did lead me to this site, and I began to research quality options while informing myself.

I had just turned 22 when I had my HT.

It's very much uncommon to have to experience what you're experiencing, especially if it is aggressive MPB. But adversity breeds rare power, and you simply must work through it.

You have options, regardless; more than you'd think. Shoot me a PM if you/anyone wants to emote or get direct feedback on routes to take in getting through things and adapting to one of life's more difficult curveballs.

__________________
-----------

*A Follicles Dying Wish To Clinics*

1 top-down, 1 portrait, 1 side-shot, 1 hairline....4 photos. No flash.

Follicles have asked for centuries, in ten languages, as many times so as to confuse a mathematician.

Enough is enough! Give me documentation or give me death!

Why? The concern with doing HTs young is the fear of having more hairloss in the future. If this guy's already Kojak then I'm not sure what's the difference. I'm sure Dr. Charles would appropriately go conservative and there can't be much more to lose.

I always had a high forehead since I was a kid, but I wore my hair fairly long and parted in the middle from age 10 to 17 before cutting it really short, at which point I noticed for the first time how high and vertex-y my hairline really was. Now that I look back, it's apparent that my hairline receded to a solid NW3 between age 10 and 14 or 15, in a pure recession pattern with essentially no diffuse thinning, and then just stopped. It never dawned on me until I was 25 that I had had MPB hairloss super-young. Weird.