Hello all, new member here and obviously, this is my first post. I ask that you please bare with me and read this post in it's entirety because I imagine a lot of you have done quite a bit more research in hair loss than I have and I would greatly appreciate any and all feedback.

I have some questions that are of a great concern to me regarding my hairloss. First off, I'd like to say that I somewhat expected some degree of hairloss because MPB runs in my family, but I've had some slight variations in my hairloss that make me question whether this is strictly MPB.

For some additional background info I'd like to add that I went to the dermatologist a few years back (possibly 08, may have been 09) after developing bald spots and thinning in my facial hair. I'm now 28, so I was around 24 or 25 then.

This aspect has been extremely frustrating because I always thought, "well, at least if I go bald I can still be the cool guy with awesome facial hair." I DID indeed have awesome facial hair prior to these patches showing up.

Not any longer. I used to have very dark brown, thick facial hair. I could grow a full mustache no problem, soul patch, goatee, etc. Since 07, I started developing bald patches or thin patches in my facial hair. I also began to notice over time that some of it would grow when it appeared bald, but it was extremely light or white colored. Since, I have also started to notice red, white, grey, and light brown hair growing on my face.

Additionally, it seemed for awhile that the patches would appear then hair would start to show up with some color again in those spots and then I'd develop a patch somewhere else. With my mustache for example, it appears to grow back thicker sometimes and then other times I'll have a bald spot in it or a straight line of baldness running through it in different spots at different times.

For the most part though, the original spot where my facial hair started "balding" has remained fairly consistent - it still has remained fairly thin but at certain times appears to grow dark hairs again.

When I went to the dermatologist in 08 or 09 it was mainly about my facial hair but I also had them look at my hair in the frontal area because I originally developed a small indention in my hairline that hadn't previously been there but wasn't all that noticeable. My barber noticed it because he had been cutting my hair for years, but anyone else aside from he and I probably wouldn't pay it any attention.

At the appointment, despite not shaving and looking like a homeless person with face mange, the doctor said he didn't see what I was talking about initially. I told him from what little research I had done, it appeared to me that I was developing alopecia barbae. He was a resident doctor so after debating for a few seconds with him saying he didn't see it, he called in the attending. The attending immediately says it is alopecia barbae.

We then talk about how there is no known cause and some treatments work for some but not others. We talked about injections but they said they preferred to go with a topical ointment first because the injections could cause temporary indentations in your face.

I used the prescription ointment once, and after further reading about it's "black box" warning, I decided to never use it again. I'd much rather be miserable and feel ugly than develop a disease because of the medicine. No thanks.

Furthermore, at the appointment, the Dr. said he did notice some possible or "slight" MPB, but not much of anything at the time. They had me do some blood work to rule out any possible thyroid problem and all of that came back fine.

Fast forward to today, I'm still very unhappy with my appearance, mainly because of my facial hair. I always took pride in it and was one of the first to grow a mustache in high school. I considered it a part of me, not an add-on. Now it's hard to make it symmetrical when grooming it because of all the variances in color/thickness or presence of hair period.

Additionally, I started to thin even more in the frontal portion of my hairline and am well on my way to balding as my hairline has receded as well, not horribly yet, but noticeably.

But, after letting my hair grow out a bit more so I could style it to disguise the thinning by spiking it or combing it back, I decided to go back to my clean cut, close hairstyle that I do myself with a #2 or 3 clipper.

So, after cutting it today, some once small and barely noticeable areas are now much more pronounced and defined in regards to thinning. What concerns me is that these spots in my hair make me question whether this is just MPB or is it alopecia? I have attached pictures and would greatly appreciate your help if any of you could guess.

I know you're not doctors and I shouldn't substitute your opinion for a licensed physicians, yadda yadda yadda, but I could use some other insight. I actually went to the doctor about 3 different times for the facial hair thing before seeing the dermatologist about it in 08, but they didn't care and half the time acted like I was seeing something that wasn't there.

As a sidenote, I don't prefer or even really consider taking any oral meds for hairloss because of the possible side effects. In the pictures I'm attaching, you can notice in the back the patchy spots and I have thinning up from the neckline as well (which concerns me about getting a transplant at some point).

In the back, the more pronounced spot is actually a scar from a childhood accident that required stitches. But, notice the other thin spots with no specific pattern.

Is this possible alopecia barbae and areata? Could either the facial hair or head hair patches/hairloss be a result of some sort of fungal thing or other non-alopecia cause?

Here are the pics, and please help if you have any insight:

Attached Thumbnails

         

         

         

I think you could be on to something. I see the spots you are talking about. I would consider consulting a top ht doc just to see what they think. You could be in a lot worse shape as far as the mpb for your age and no meds but I think it could be more. It you don't take any meds if they were to perscribe you something there may not be anything you can do about it tho.

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"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." -Eleanore Roosevelt

Thanks so much for your reply Spanker. Any ideas of what it could be? As I said, back when I first brought up the facial hair issue to the dermatologist they did bloodwork to check on my thyroid and said all of that was fine.

I didn't really notice any spots in my head hair aside from the original indentation in my hairline until the two years or so. Now I have the spot on the side of my head that isn't really noticeable in the pictures and now is the first time I'm noticing the multiple spots in the back.

I haven't really had any medical issues and am in great health overall. Apparently just my looks are suffering...

I would do what Spanker said...I would consult a top notch HT doc and see what he or she has to say!!

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Newhairplease!!
Dr Rahal in January 19, 2012
4808 FUT grafts- 941 singles, 2809 doubles, 1031 triples, 27 quads

My Hairloss Website

I'm not a doctor so I won't be much help. Not sure what would cause it. Could be fungal or a number if things. Worth another visit to the doc tho.

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"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people." -Eleanore Roosevelt

Thanks guys!

Definitely see a specialist