Young and receding

[Rowdey]

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!

[baldingbro]

I started loosing hair at the same age. I can understand your situation.

Now I am 32 and I regret that I have not used any Meds for last 5 years. Now I started using Finasteride again .It is kind of too late. My family history indicates I will go NW6. It is tough to get a good coverage and density with HT alone.

 

Consult one of the top doctors recommended on this web site. discuss with him about your family history. He probably will ask you to go on Finasterides. He may suggest you not to go for HT at this age. Listen to his advise. If you are not satisfied consult couple of other doctors recommended on this website. Probably you will get same advise from all of them.

Edited February 7, 2011 by baldingbro
Edited to correct some details

[TakingThePlunge]

Rowdey,

 

All of us here can relate to haw you are feeling. I used to have long hair and it was a great part of my persona and how I viewed myself. I began to recede early at around 20 years old. I continued to pull of the long hair for several years until it just became a pain to hide the hairline and I cut it off. After that, I managed a pretty good hairstyle until my early 30s.

 

In reading your post, like many young men who are fairly new to hair loss and its treatments, you have very high and not entirely realistic expectations and should spend more time researching your options.

 

For the vast majority of men with genetic balding, hair loss will continue to progress over time. Someone your age is probably in for a lot more hair loss. With a finite number of donor hairs available, hair transplant physicians will not typically restore a juvenile hairline and normally will not operate on such a young patient.

 

Believe me when I tell you that no member of this community wants to take drugs or put chemicals on our heads. However, many of us realize that this is currently the best option we have for maintaining our hair. Most hair restoration physicians emphasize that these medical treatments should be used in conjunction with hair transplants in order to create the most effective results.

 

If you choose not to use medical hair loss treatments then you will most likely continue to bald. Your young age is an asset when it comes to Propecia (finasteride) and Rogaine (minoxidil). The earlier you start the better your results may be.

 

Best of luck!

[Rowdey]

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.

Edited February 5, 2011 by Rowdey

[RCWest]

First off, you DO have extremely nice hair! Meds like Finasteride can be obtained for just a few bucks a month. Get the inexpensive 5 mg. tablets and break them into fourths. It's imperative that you do this or you may end up chasing your tail with hair transplants for the next 10 years. Finasteride can make a huge difference.

 

The frontal peak of your hairline looks perfectly placed to me. Your hairline is nowhere near being too high. Filling in the corners is probably all you would need. But you really need to stabilize your loss before doing a HT session. Most ethical surgeons would turn you away until you can prove that you are not going to lose much hair. Just because your father/uncle/etc. have no to little hair loss doesn't mean you didn't get a gene passed to you somewhere. I've seen a family with men who have perfect hair but somehow one of the kids went bald.

[Rowdey]

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.

[mattj]

Hi Rowdey,

Your hairline doesn't look too bad at all. The recession is minor and you look like you can probably still cover the hairline and temples when the hair is long enough.

 

Dr Rahal would advise you to give the meds a try, especially as you are very young. If you were to have a transplant, then considering your plan to shave your head in the future, presumably you're looking at FUE, correct?

 

Are you British? (Just got that feeling.)

[mattj]

Oh, I would put you at a Norwood 2. Not a 3 yet.

 

You will lose hairs every day even without permanent hairloss, but Propecia should slow it down or stop it if the shedding you are experiencing is more than the normal hair cycle.

[Rowdey]

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.

Edited February 5, 2011 by Rowdey

[Sean]

Rowdy, you don't look like you need 3000 grafts. I am getting about that much and look at my pics. You are not a norwood 3. I would give the meds a try, give propecia a shot after talking to a doc or rogaine, whichever.

 

Try it for about a year and see how it goes. If it works fine, if it's not what you expect, then give a call to the clinic. But at age 20, I would be cautious. That's too young for a transplant. If none of your family members are bald, you can try getting a baldness dna test. They are available and will test your dna to see if you have the balding gene. This will confirm if you will go bald later. I think the test is called deCode me complete scan and it is offered by decode me. You just have to google it, there are probably more companies that offer it but that is just one example.

 

I am also booked for Dr. Rahal for fue.

[Rowdey]

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.

[kathie47]

It looks like you have a really thick head of hair! Still, definitely start on Propecia and don't jump to HT too fast. You should see a doctor and discuss all the options out there.

[baldingbro]

Cheaper alternative to propecia is proscar.

Like RCWest said there are some rare cases where some kids are bald without any family history of baldness. Hopefully it may be some temporary loss for you. Or you may just be heading only to NW2 as you indicated your father also has hight temples.

Sean gave you the best advise to go and get the DNA test done.First findout what is happening then procede.

[HARIRI]

Are you kidding buddy, I wish i would have you hair. I dont think you need a hair transplant at all. looks full and healthy. However if you want and insist to have a HT, Rahal is the greatest choice, he has many similar cases like you, but no way you would need more than 1500 grafts just to re design your hairline.

 

About chemicals, yes stay away from finastride, it would make you hate being a man lol..Minoxidil is alright maybe apply by night only, purchase 10% concentration or use 5% twice a day. No side effects so far.

 

But seriously bro. Your hair is awesome. You make me laugh about NW3, im NW3, you are NW2 ONLY...

[Sean]

I agree with Baldingbro, this may be just temporary or it may be that you might be the few that has no family history and headed towards a NW2. Sometimes stress can thin you out and make you lose your hair and after that stress is gone your hair can grow back, even certain diets can make you lose hairs and when you eat healthy it comes back, even certain illnesses. So, in your situation where you don't really look like your balding and that you have no family history. You really don't know if you will progress or how much you will progress.

 

A DNA test for hair loss can show you if you are going to bald, and how severe it may be. Like 10 percent chance or 80 percent chance. The higher the chance, the higher you are likely to recede and go bald. Depending on how your own dna is, this may give you an answer, It's a private discrete test and it's not that expensive. Before speaking to a doc, check it out, and get an answer from the lab, and if you are prone to go bald, then talk and ask if you can get on propecia or rogaine, and if things get worse, then look into a transplant. There are so many companies that do these tests. Right now, looks like you got a pretty healthy and decent head of hair. And I wish you good luck!