How Many of You experienced Balding in Late Teens/early 20’s

[Melvin- Admin]

We’ve been conditioned by society to think hair loss is an older mans problem. But the truth of the matter is that nearly a quarter of men in their 20s suffer from hair loss. I’d like to start a poll here to gather some intel. How many of you had hair loss in your late teens early 20’s. How did you feel, what did you do? Have you had surgery?

[Dr. Glenn Charles]

I agree Melvin I have been seeing more and more patients in their early 20's and even late teens coming in . Obviously these patients have a very strong genetic predisposition for male pattern baldness. These younger patients must be treated conservatively as they will almost certainly continue to lose more hair.

[hairlossPA]

First noticed it a year out of college so maybe around the age of 23-24, but thats when I caught it, not when it actually started. If I look back at some of my pictures from college I definitely had thinning around 20-21.

Didn't do anything about it until years later hopping on fin and eventually a HT at age 29.

[Melvin- Admin]

1 hour ago, hairlossPA said:

First noticed it a year out of college so maybe around the age of 23-24, but thats when I caught it, not when it actually started. If I look back at some of my pictures from college I definitely had thinning around 20-21.

Didn't do anything about it until years later hopping on fin and eventually a HT at age 29.

That’s a great point, here’s a picture of me at 20. I thought I didn’t have any hair loss, but you can see how thin it already was there, please don’t mind the Jersey shore hairstyle 😂 

How many guys are living in denial that they’re balding? 

[Phillyman1996]

11 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

That’s a great point, here’s a picture of me at 20. I thought I didn’t have any hair loss, but you can see how thin it already was there, please don’t mind the Jersey shore hairstyle 😂 

How many guys are living in denial that they’re balding? 

When did your family noticed that you were balding?

[deeznuts]

i had a bit of temple recession and that was it. it held up through most of my 20's and only got exacerbated by the stress from WFH when I finally noticed my hair didn't style properly anymore

 

I thought it was just my genetic hairline lmao. I thought some guys just had bad hairlines genetically and that was me. 

[Melvin- Admin]

2 hours ago, Phillyman1996 said:

When did your family noticed that you were balding?

Not until I was 24, I remember telling my mom when I was 22 that I was balding and she said I was imagining things. She also brought up that my grandpa her dad, my dad, my brother and all of my uncles have hair. All of which is true, but still does not matter. MPB gene can skip generations.

 

[Melvin- Admin]

39 minutes ago, deeznuts said:

i had a bit of temple recession and that was it. it held up through most of my 20's and only got exacerbated by the stress from WFH when I finally noticed my hair didn't style properly anymore

 

I thought it was just my genetic hairline lmao. I thought some guys just had bad hairlines genetically and that was me. 

If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say. I was born with a high receded hairline. I’d be a rich man lol

[Future Hair Doc]

Good post. I started noticing that I was balding in my early 20s as well with temporal hair loss that progressed to the crown and frontal aspect of my scalp. I should have started on finasteride/minoxidil MUCH earlier and could have salvaged that hair.

[deeznuts]

2 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone say. I was born with a high receded hairline. I’d be a rich man lol

That or when celebs claim that they regrew their diffuse NW3 hairline by doing lots of pushups and situps and drinking plenty of juice

[Al - Moderator]

There wasn't a choice for mid teens in the poll. I had noticeable thinning in my crown by 15. Noticeable meaning people were commenting that I was going bald or losing my hair.

[Melvin- Admin]

2 hours ago, BeHappy said:

There wasn't a choice for mid teens in the poll. I had noticeable thinning in my crown by 15. Noticeable meaning people were commenting that I was going bald or losing my hair.

That’s awful, I remember there was a kid in my high school who started going bald. He shaved his head and then coincidentally became a skin head nazi. But really everyone knew he was balding. Heart breaking, the good news now is that we can stop and reverse much of that, with surgery, medication and concealers.

[melendezam]

On 3/3/2021 at 8:03 PM, Dr. Suhail Khokhar said:

Good post. I started noticing that I was balding in my early 20s as well with temporal hair loss that progressed to the crown and frontal aspect of my scalp. I should have started on finasteride/minoxidil MUCH earlier and could have salvaged that hair.

Yep, my hair loss was pointed out by others before I noticed in my early 20s. I was in denial about it for years, and didn't start fin until my early 30s out of 1 shame to talk about it to a doctor and 2 fear about the side effects/commitment of taking a pill for the rest of my life. In hindsight, I see I was being totally irrational, but honestly so much was going on in my life from starting college at 21 to starting my first professional job in my mid 20s there was always something else to focus on and delay action. 

[Damifino]

A random girl at school first pointed out the bald spot on my crown when I was in the 11th grade, almost 30 years ago. From there, my hairline slid back a bit and the crown continued to thin throughout my college years. I got on Propecia not long after it became widely available in the late 90’s, and have been on it ever since. It helped me regrow some of what I lost, and I’ve been able to hold the line against further loss. And fortunately for me, no side effects.