Where to start?

[ohlife]

Hey guys,

 

I know there's a lot of info already on these forums and the net, but there also tends to be a lot of stuff that either conflicts or isn't really explicit, so I thought it might be better to get some feedback.

 

Ok, so about a month ago my Dad reminded me that both sides of my family have a history of MPB and for him (and my cousins on the other side) its started at a fairly young age.

 

Anyway, this concerned me a fair bit (I'm only 21!), and coincidentally (or perhaps not) i've noticed over the past few weeks that my hair line in the temple areas seems to be getting a fair bit thinner. At the moment, my fringe from the frontal area is covering up the thinning at the temples but only just - and I don't expect it to last.

 

Basically, I need some advice on what to do with it with regards to treatment etc.

 

Although at the moment only the hairline at the temples seems to be getting thinner (other than that I have a full head of reasonably thick hair, although the crown area might be getting a bit thinner to be honest), I'm thinking it might be worth trying out finesteride, making sure I have no unmanageable side effects, and at least hopefully stop/delay the rest from thinning out. Would you guys recommend getting on it now?

 

What I also want to know is whether, if I start taking finesteride and it more or less happens to keep what I have at the moment, will the hair at the temple region keep receding much further, and if so, will I be able to hide it if I grow the rest of my hair to a certain length?

 

And finally guys, If you have any other advice whatsoever it'd be much appreciated - this is a really, really tough time for me.. I'm used to being fairly good looking I suppose and if shit does hit the fan, its going to be incredibly hard to adjust. I was thinking for the time being that a little bit of that 'toppik' solution might help to thicken up the thinning hair at the temple area? Also, is there anything else that could at least potentially slow down the process? diet, shampoos etc. ?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.. I need it

 

Thanks

[ohlife]

anyone?

[ScottishGuy]

Hey.

 

In general more people read the 'hair restoration questions and answers' section of the forum so there's not much traffic here.

 

Anyway, I think your first step should be to consult with a doctor/derm/HT surgeon to confirm that you are suffering from MPB. They should be able to prescribe meds for you as well.

 

As you correctly point out, its something that only gets worse the longer you leave it so I would recommend starting meds sooner rather than later if hair loss is something that you want to tackle. The only thing you have to be aware of is that these are a lifetime commitment (until a better treatment comes along at least).

 

Propecia is super expensive so I would try to get proscar or a generic version instead. If you do get a 5mg finasteride pill, then you should cut it into quarters and take one a day (or cut it into fifths if you can but that is more tricky).

 

Finasteride is likely to allow you to hold onto the hair you have or at least slow down the hair loss, but you won't really know until you try. You'll need to wait for a year before you can really assess whether it is working (and that means taking photographs of your head every few months).

 

One further thing I will add - hair loss is definitely tough when you are younger. As you get older you will still care about it, but it won't quite seem like the end of the world since it is only hair after all...(its probably hard to believe this but it really is true).

 

Toppik and other concealers can be pretty effective. I use DermMatch sometimes although it is a bit messy especially if you use too much. Other guys prefer toppik though.

 

Provided your diet is reasonable there's nothing else you need to (or can) do on that front.

 

Browse the forum and get to know what options are out there for you. The good news is that you've got most of your hair and prevention is better than cure, so I'd investigate finasteride.

 

You never asked directly about it, but I would not even consider surgical treatments just now since you are too young. If you respond well to meds, then HTs can be good when you are 30+.

[ohlife]

Hey,

 

Thanks so much for that.. just a few more quick questions if thats ok.

 

I've heard that finesteride mainly works for the crown area.. However, seeing as most of my hair is seemingly intact, with the exception of my fringe starting to thin out, is there a better chance that the frontal area will remain ok.. as opposed to if it had already started falling out? I know there is no definite answer, but I was hoping that starting earlier would give a better chance of the finesteride helping these areas.

 

Also, if it does help me keep the rest of my hair, but the temple areas continue to recede, how far will that recession go? I mean, would it be relatively coverable if I grew the rest of my hair a bit longer and used some kind of concealer?

 

Finally, would it be worth trying out a suitable shampoo? For a while now I've had dandruff on a few occasions as well as a really poor diet (uni student) so maybe these things have contributed; maybe not.

 

Thanks for any further help,

 

It really is appreciated

[mattj]

Propecia works better at the crown, and is certainly more likely to re-grow hair in that region, but it can still be very effective at the hairline too.

[ohlife]

Ok cheers,

 

And with regards to Minoxidil - is this totally useless at the hairline.. or?

[ohnomahair]

I'm 23 and used minoxidil when i was 21 at the hairline for a year and half, I hated it because hair was growning around my eye brows and I was getting bad acne due to the product. I switched to the laser comb (and watched my hairline receded ) I started finasteride 1.5mg today, I heard it's ok to take it every other day. And that this will decrease any side effects.

 

Good luck man, get on something stable, I don't recommend minoxidil for the front, since its so messy. Try the lasercomb? It did nothing for me yet (4months) but some people claim that it works. There's interesting studies by nbc on youtube.

[Anouar]

right now just focus on propecia. It easy to pop a pill. Doing the rogain regiman is a pain in the arse

[ohlife]

yeah, only thing is I really don't like the idea of a lifetime commitment to something that is most likely going to inhibit you sexually, and that doesn't really have that great evidence to back up that it works to a worthwhile extent. The big problem I think is that, once you start taking it, its hard to tell whether it has slowed down/stopped your hair loss, or whether you're hair loss is simply going in cycles as you might expect?

 

I guess I'll probably end up taking it out of desperation and hope the side effects aren't too bad.

 

With the minoxidil..surely if you're careful you can do it without getting it on your face etc? Im thinking I might have to start it, but I know that once I start ill get a lot of shedding at the temples and probably hairloss, and will go from Being able to cover it up, to Being an obvious victim of hair loss. I know the latter is inevitable anyway, but is it worth a shot with the minoxidil? it works for a lot of people, and for seemingly a lot it causes shedding and doesn't give an adequate amount back.