Percentage of MPB Sufferers Who Fight Back?

[giantanddwarf]

Several weeks ago I ran into a friend I hadn't seen since high school. He was balding very noticeably and quite bothered by it. After telling a story about a girl from several years ago, he sighed very heavy heartedly and said "...but i can't play that game anymore", citing his balding. And his mood was just generally very somber, obviously derivative from his hair loss. Hard not to feel quite bad for him. A couple of weeks later I message him on facebook to see if he's on fin and he replies "nah I'd rather be bald than deal with those insane side effects I've heard of. I'm using nioxin though so hopefully that is helping".

 

Those "insane" side effects "you've heard of"? Nioxin as the sole ingredient in your regimen? Hello, Rogaine? It seemed obvious that he had done little to no research on balding/balding treatments, despite how advanced his hair loss was and how much it affected him. I bet he would have said something about "hair plugs" if I had broached the topic of hair transplantation.

 

This raises the question of what percentage of men are aggressive in trying to fight MPB, whether through medication and/or hair restoration surgery. Is there any data on this? I cannot wrap my head around going through aggressive MPB but doing nothing to fight back. But it seems more common than one might think. My friend has killer donor, can afford hair transplantation, and could have a continuous smile on his face within 18 months if he got on the ball. Sorta dumbfounding.

[esrec]

The drugs are ok. Lets be honest. Fin is great at stabilizing and comes with potentially great consequences. Hairline regrowth quite rare. Min is fine but the stats on % who see benefit are low.

 

Listen these are great tools--but to think we've had ZERO medical advances in the past 15 years is pretty disappointing. Maybe Latisse? Havent heard much about that. Laser, PRP? Supposedly gaining populairty for maintenance.

 

The biggest culprit IMO is the stigma of HT naturalness. Most guys in their 20s-30s-40s remember back to terrible tv infomercials on transplants in our adolescence, or watched our parents balding bc they werent privy to current HT technology during their prime. The educated are few and far between.

 

Net / Net: Most people arent aware of the advancements made by FUT and FUE. The cost is nothing in grand scheme--save some cash, find a low interest CC, or convince yourself that the cost over 10 years averages out to an extra monthly cell phone bill.

 

You should help your buddy.

[giantanddwarf]

Agree to an extent on the drugs. Permanent fin side effects seem quite rare though. And don't studies show a relatively high % benefit from rogaine? I tend to think people slack on rogaine over time because it's so tedious to apply and requires confronting one's hair loss each time it is used.

 

I would like to help him but don't want to step on any toes by prying any further. Then again the stakes are an advanced 4A look vs. a fully restored look.

[esrec]

Much higher than reported. Some people respond nicely, others have horror stories. Personal decision, but lets just call it controversial. Neither works great on hairline better for crown. Point wasnt to discredit validity, they are valuable. I think the HT stigma around naturalness is most pervasive.

 

I feel you on not stepping on toes...I think its easier if you shoulder it. " I was researching this, and found out this, can you believe these advancements, etc?" Depending on his curiosity level, you can go further, or not. Most people feel helpless when options dont exist. Do you think he realizes he has options?

[Al - Moderator]

How do you know he hasn't researched it? He's already told you he doesn't want to use finisteride due to the possible side effects, so that tells you right there that he has researched it. How do you know he hasn't gone to a HT Dr and been told that if he doesn't want to use fin for the rest of his life that he's looking at best case being a NW 3 after spending $40000 for the HT? How do you know he hasn't researched all these things and decided it might be best to wait a few more years until he's over 30 to have a HT?

 

You don't know any of this. You are just speculating due to the fact that you see him depressed about his current hair situation. Perhaps part of the reason he is so depressed is because he HAS researched it.

 

What makes you think the best solution is to be aggressive in combating it? I can tell you I tried being aggressive with my plan very early on and it hasn't worked. Is that the right thing to do?

[Al - Moderator]

I cannot wrap my head around going through aggressive MPB but doing nothing to fight back. But it seems more common than one might think.

 

The more aggressive your hairloss is the less options you have of doing anything that is worth the effort. This is something you may not understand if you don't have aggressive hairloss. Finisteride is less effective in those with agressive hairloss, so even that may be useless in those people. Sure it may slow it down a bit, But is that worth risking the side effects? If you're already bald, what is the point of slowing it down?

[giantanddwarf]

How do you know he hasn't researched it? He's already told you he doesn't want to use finisteride due to the possible side effects, so that tells you right there that he has researched it. How do you know he hasn't gone to a HT Dr and been told that if he doesn't want to use fin for the rest of his life that he's looking at best case being a NW 3 after spending $40000 for the HT? How do you know he hasn't researched all these things and decided it might be best to wait a few more years until he's over 30 to have a HT?

 

You don't know any of this. You are just speculating due to the fact that you see him depressed about his current hair situation. Perhaps part of the reason he is so depressed is because he HAS researched it.

 

What makes you think the best solution is to be aggressive in combating it? I can tell you I tried being aggressive with my plan very early on and it hasn't worked. Is that the right thing to do?

 

 

Hear you, for sure. I inferred his lack of research from the casualness of his reply, the fact that Nioxin is the only ingredient in his regimen, and my general sense of things.I think its accurate but there's a chance I'm wrong. He's 4A and I am guessing will go 5A in the absence of meds. So either no crown loss or not that much, making restoration easier. I think a weakish "full" head of hair is possible, which would be a marked improvement. But if he can't get a decent hairline then yeah, you're right, might be best to not invest the time, money and energy.

[esrec]

How old is he?

[Louisjams]

To answer the question of the OP, I think that a great many men do nothing, a good portion do meds, and only a few do HT. While the number of HTs in the US is growing, compared to the overall number of men with MPB it is quite small. I think that a big part of this is that even in 2015 HT is still beyond the price range of most people.