Rowdey

I've been on propecia for 7 months now, no idea whether it is working or not, really can't tell. But it's got me thinking about HT's again and how 20-30 is probably the most important decade of my life. In this time, I go to university (almost finished one degree - hoping to go to med school next year) get my first real job, probably find the girl etcetc, so all these huge and important changes, I feel as though I should be as confident as possible (and my hair knocks the wind out of my sails some times). A lot of you would say 20 is too young for a HT, and on the whole I agree, as who knows what the loss may be in the future, but surely at some point, it's time to bite the bullet? If I could get 5 years of no real hair troubles before I had to cross the 'receding again' bridge, I'd be more than happy. Just to get out of these critical years. Is this my emotional side taking over? On one hand I worry about further loss, on the other, I worry that I'm wasting my early years worrying about something I should be too young to worry about, for all I know, I could die at age 30. Needed to get that off my chest.

I completely understand where you're coming from. I'm 20, also from the UK and my hairline is worse than yours. I'm currently on propecia and have been for three months, so we'll see how that goes. I can just about hide mine as I have longish and quite thick hair, but it's getting increasingly difficult and I'm getting more and more fixated upon it. At this moment in time I can say that if the propecia seems to work and halt my receeding in a year, I would be seriously considering a transplant with Dr Rahal. I know people will say at 21 that is far too young, but the way I see it, if it gives me 10 years of not having to constantly worry about my hair, it'll be worth it. Best of luck

Hey All, I start on Propecia on Saturday and have heard about the initial shedding. Does the shedding make a noticeable difference to your hair? Ie, will I and others notice my hair is much thinner? Or is it just more than the average shed where you can't really tell, but looks alarming on the shower floor? Thanks

I can't even start to relate to you, as it puts my situation in perspective. I started receding at 18, but it is really noticeable until now (20), and it's only at my temples. But I can absolutely understand the pressure on social aspects (and girls) when it comes to hair. It was a huge part of me and despite being relatively confident, I can feel that fading away with each lost hair. I can't really offer any advice on surgery, as I'm not at that stage yet. I'll be starting meds and hopefully having surgery next year to sort it out. But I just wanted to say that when I shaved my head around a year ago, it was great. It looks much better than trying to cover it (even though at the time, I was the only one who could see the hair loss) and I felt better not having to be reminded all day, every day about it. Very quickly my friends, flatmates and people at university got used to it, and socially I was much better. I did experience a poor reaction from professionals in the field I want to enter (which is extremely annoying), which is why I've had to grow my hair back. Try shaving your head, I can guarantee you'll be pleasantly surprised. Best of luck.

Cheers for the reply. I'm going to get on Propecia asap. I wasn't planning on HT'ing for at least a year anyway, so if I stick to the meds for a year and see where we are then, that'd be great. I still think I'd want a HT, even in a year or twos time, just to bring those temples down and allow me to continue with long hair.

Thanks for the reply. I can just cover it with my hair at my current length, but it is getting increasingly difficult on my right temple, where it is higher than the left, so it's leaving gaps in my fringe. This makes it more noticeable, so catch-22, can't shave, can't have it too long. I hadn't considered FUE as I thought I would need around 3000 grafts? I have a feeling I'm being far more critical of my hairline than is actually required. To be honest though, even with a scar from FUT, I wouldn't be too worried about shaving my head. Also, yes, I'm British.

I didn't actually realise propecia was a tablet. That sounds far more appealing and is around ?30 per month. So is NW3 still a fair assessment? I realise the pictures aren't great quality. Also, would propecia stop the shedding? One of the things that really does my head in, every time I have a shower and rub shampoo in my hair, I get loads of hairs in my hand.

Hi Guys I probably should have mentioned a few other details. No one in my family is bald, going back to great grandparents. My dad has very high temples, but no balding at the crown, my uncles and great uncles all had full heads of hair and my granddad only started thinning at around 50. I've attached some pictures to show what I mean about the temples. I really only need these filling in, and I'm not particularly bothered about going bald after that, it is just the short term I need help with. Ie, I need to be able to have longish hair until I qualify, after that, I can shave my head. So I have no need for any drugs, as this isn't a long term issue. Yes it does get me down socially, but this is only when I have long hair, when I shaved it, I wasn't bothered and other people weren't bothered - apart from those I need to impress. As you can see I'm probably a NW3 maybe? Other than my temples, there is no other thinning, everywhere is very thick and dense. By the way, I'm not expecting miracles, far from it. With the hairstyles I use, all I need is some hair in those temples.

Hello All! I've finally plucked up the courage to register. I'm 20 years old and probably started receding at around 18/19. I'm at university and for the first year, it wasn't particularly noticeable, but now, my temples are really starting to show and I'm struggling to hide it. I have thick, dark brown hair everywhere, and used to be famed for lovely, long hair, sometimes curly, that girls used to love. I would like a HT to fill in my temples and drop my hairline slightly. I've always had a relatively high forehead anyway, but would like to come down a few cm's if possible. Although this year it has been getting me down, it isn't really for personal reasons. I shaved my head during the summer and didn't think twice about it, woke up one day and thought what the hell. Unfortunately, I received a poor reaction from future employers in the professional environment I want to work in. Quite simply, they assumed I was a thug. This leads onto why I want a HT (which I've considered since realising I was loosing hair). I need something that will allow my longish hair to continue until I can qualify, after that, I'd quite happily shave. Also, I have absolutely no plans to take any drugs or put chemicals on my head. It's too expensive for a short term/temporary fix, and I don't fancy any side effects. I was thinking of Dr Rahal, as he seems awesome for hairlines, which is really my weak point. I think I'm around Norwood 3 but I'm not sure, I'll add pics later. Any thoughts/Tips etc? Cheers!