Jump to content

Establishing a Norwood- Diffuse Patterned?


Recommended Posts

Hello,

 

Long time lurker. First time poster.

 

I am a 24 (25 next month) male who first had the fact that I was going bald when I was 21. Back then I had to have wet hair, comb it, and I could see on the crown a slightly thinner spot. Things have changed since then. I have attached some pictures of how I look currently (today).

 

Pictures 1, 2, and 3 are with wet hair and combed back. This is how it looks at it worst.

Pictures 4, 5, and 6 are how it normally looks.

 

These photos were taken on an iPhone5 in the bathroom under quite high lighting.

 

I have never been sure what kind of male pattern baldness I have had. I have never noticed shedding hair, my hair line hasn't receded (looking back at pics from a teenager, my hairline has always been this shape) and while it did start on the crown not long after the whole top of my head was evenly thin.

 

I have a few questions:

-Where am I on the Norwood scale?

-Is this considered DPA (diffuse patterned alopecia)?

-Is there any way of knowing if I will lose more hair on the sides? My donor areas are thick.

-Am I a candidate for a transplant? Or is it still too early?

 

Current regime:

1.25mg finasteride every day (6 months)

Nizoral every second day

 

I have used Kirkland Minoxodil before, but I wanted to try just fin for a period. I did have good results with Minoxodil though.

5b32e495deeb1_20150222-1.jpg.58886f9960d1e3ea0ad8011c8457d476.jpg

5b32e495f0861_20150222-2.jpg.5fe6e8bf429fe33696977c14ad96b911.jpg

5b32e496108cb_20150222-3.jpg.107a9404e6023e5c4837b8299772aa92.jpg

5b32e496ae85e_20150222-5.jpg.3c7db9120ea3b8f5356e2285ef7b6236.jpg

5b32e496c29b1_20150222-9.jpg.89ac365dfa9a131fc594390c0a41f292.jpg

5b32e496d2e2d_20150222-7.jpg.96799808cdbde77addcfdc5597cd0f00.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

I agree with KO. I believe you have diffused thinning. Meds require a life term commitment. Stay on both meds for a year to assess whether hair loss is stable. Diffused thinning is difficult to treat due to native hairs can be lost to shock loss. Meds will help counter this

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

-Where am I on the Norwood scale?

 

5A

 

-Is this considered DPA (diffuse patterned alopecia)?

 

No

 

-Is there any way of knowing if I will lose more hair on the sides? My donor areas are thick.

 

Family history is the best guess but you can probably bank on being full blown NW6.

 

-Am I a candidate for a transplant? Or is it still too early?

 

You appear to be a good candidate with the exception of your age. Some bullish doctors will be happy to undertake a transplant, other wont.

 

I would wait it out for a long as you can. Try shaving your head. You probably need 3500-4000 grafts at least.

4,312 FUT grafts (7,676 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2013

1,145 FUE grafts (3,152 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2018

763 FUE grafts (2,094 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - January 2020

Proscar 1.25mg every 3rd day

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

My hair actually thinned out in a patten very similar to yours -- diffuse NW5+ or I guess 5A as 1978matt put it. I underwent the first HT when I was 28 (w Dr Ron Shapiro) and then two more HTs after that , progressively chasing my hair loss. All the while I had enough diffuse donor hair to hide my transplants from colleagues and friends . Thats the one positive I guess of this NW pattern that it makes for easier concealment post op and also there is less of a surprise to people who know you -- it just appears to them that your hair got thicker with time , instead of a new crop suddenly popping up in barren land.

 

The one thing I would say is if you are truly a diffuse thinner NW 5-6, you better hope that finasteride works for your crown , or learn to live with a bald spot as you will never have enough donor supply to adequately frame your face and fill in the crown.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FUT #1, ~ 1600 grafts hairline (Ron Shapiro 2004)

FUT #2 ~ 2000 grafts frontal third (Ziering 2011)

FUT #3 ~ 1900 grafts midscalp (Ron Shapiro early 2015)

FUE ~ 1500 grafts frontal third, side scalp, FUT scar repair --300 beard, 1200 scalp (Ron Shapiro, late 2016)

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/185663-recent-fue-dr-ron-shapiro-prior-fut-patient.html

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

You are indeed young at age 25 so my question is, "Are there any males on either side of your family history (maternal or paternal) that have reached Norwood class 7 ?

Gillenator

Independent Patient Advocate

I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice, but are my own views which you read at your own risk.

Supporting Physicians: Dr. Robert Dorin: The Hairloss Doctors in New York, NY

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are indeed young at age 25 so my question is, "Are there any males on either side of your family history (maternal or paternal) that have reached Norwood class 7 ?

 

My mother and father all have sisters.

 

Father is starting to lose in a diffuse pattern. Started around 1 year or so ago (he is 54).

 

Both grandfathers are NW6s. But they both went bald as older men (from what I have seen in pictures).

 

None of my cousins or brothers are going bald (all around my age).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Senior Member

olsooslo,

 

Sounds just like my family except that my paternal side has no MPB. It's on my mother's side with my grandfather and uncle being a class 6. My two brothers did not have MPB either, only me.

 

Like you , mine started diffusing in my early twenties. It's a good thing that there are no class 7s in your family, and if you progress no further than a class 6, then I think you have potential.

 

The quality of your hair appears very good in the photos so if you do not go overboard with trying to achieve upper end density levels, you should be able to achieve a good transformation IMHO.

Gillenator

Independent Patient Advocate

I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice, but are my own views which you read at your own risk.

Supporting Physicians: Dr. Robert Dorin: The Hairloss Doctors in New York, NY

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...