Just noticed some slight thinning, please HELP!

[Meek703]

I'm 25 and went to get a hair cut yesterday and got some damning news. My barber told me that he sees some thinning in the front and that I need to do something now. I went into full on panic mode and quickly bought a shampoo he suggested, Nioxil, went home and started angling mirrors towards the top of my head...

 

It looks like he's right, there is some slight thinning towards the front, sort of in a V shape.

 

I want to be as preemptive as possible about this but really don't know where to start.

 

a) Is anyone familiar with this shampoo? Is it worth my time? I've also seen Nizoral thrown around a lot, is that a more consensus option?

 

b) Is it worth getting to my doctor and getting on propecia now? Or should I ride this out a bit?

 

c) Any supplements, anything OTC that you can think of that help?

 

Please help!

[Meek703]

I'm 25 and went to get a hair cut yesterday and got some damning news. My barber told me that he sees some thinning in the front and that I need to do something now. I went into full on panic mode and quickly bought a shampoo he suggested, Nioxil, went home and started angling mirrors towards the top of my head...

 

It looks like he's right, there is some slight thinning towards the front, sort of in a V shape.

 

I want to be as preemptive as possible about this but really don't know where to start.

 

a) Is anyone familiar with this shampoo? Is it worth my time? I've also seen Nizoral thrown around a lot, is that a more consensus option?

 

b) Is it worth getting to my doctor and getting on propecia now? Or should I ride this out a bit?

 

c) Any supplements, anything OTC that you can think of that help?

 

Please help!

[T.C]

Meek, the first area to thin is usually the temples and hairline ends up in the v shape.The hairs miniturize first so you still have the hair there but it is thinner than the centre of hairline and looks thinner.This is how mine started and it progressed over 8/9 years slowly till I took action with a HT.no Shampoo is going to stop this as it is genetic so you should consider propecia and rogaine and see if you can tolerate them without side effects if you want to give yourself a chance.You can also try Nizoral but wont stop your loss on its own.

[HK500]

I have been using Revita shampoo for more than a year and I think it has really helped. You could take some pictures without flash of your head and get online consults from our recommended Dr.'s, if you care to share them with us you'll also get different points of view.

[Dr. Timothy Carman]

Meek703;

Welcome to the HTN.

A good indicator of "where you are headed" is your genetic background/history; i.e., your familial hair loss history.

What is the extent of your father's hair loss? Siblings? Dad's brothers? Mom's side of the family? While there are no hard and fast rules to this genetic inheritance, in general, it can give you an idea what to expect.

Proactively, the best thing you can do is to begin taking finasteride at 1mg/day (sold as Propecia in 1mg tablets for about $60 a month, or Proscar in 5mg tablets at about 1/3 that price, which you break into quarters and take 1/4 tab/day.) This blocks the enzyme which converts testosterone into dihydrotestosterone (DHT), which is the hormone that is responsible for male pattern hair loss. At your age any sexual side effects (loss of libido, etc), in my opinion, would be very rare. Topical rogaine is also a good tool, although some find it a bit of a pain to use.

The sooner you start the meds, the more hair you potentially will stand to hold on to.

And yes, of course, the medications only work as long as you are taking them.

90% of men who take finasteride at 1mg/day experience a perceptible cessation of their hair loss. An additional 10% regrow hair, but that is generally limited to the crown.

Hope that helps.

Sincerely,