1 year finasteride and minoxidil, What norwood am I at
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Norwood 2.5 maybe? I think everyone has a different opinion of what the norwood scale is because head shape can impact this. But my rule of thumb is.
Norwood 1 is a flat hairline.
Norwood 2 us a moderately receding hairline where the temple recession is about 2 cm away from the vertical point relative to where your ears begin.
Norwood 3 has the recession at the vertical point where the ears are and possibly thinning at the vertex
Norwood 4 has severe thinning at vertex and the hairline recession is starting to form a bridge. Crown area is balding.
Norwood 5 has a clear bridge and the frontal forlock is thinning and the crown is severely balding. Midscalp thinning severely.
Norwood 6 is complete baldness on top and only a horseshoe pattern
Norwood 7 is same horseshoe pattern but the pattern is about an inch lower. Especially in the back you have the balding dipping into the donor area.
Based on my rule of thumb. Some pictures look like Norwood 2, others look 2.5. I'll say 2.5 which isn't horrible.
Norwood 1 is a flat hairline.
Norwood 2 us a moderately receding hairline where the temple recession is about 2 cm away from the vertical point relative to where your ears begin.
Norwood 3 has the recession at the vertical point where the ears are and possibly thinning at the vertex
Norwood 4 has severe thinning at vertex and the hairline recession is starting to form a bridge. Crown area is balding.
Norwood 5 has a clear bridge and the frontal forlock is thinning and the crown is severely balding. Midscalp thinning severely.
Norwood 6 is complete baldness on top and only a horseshoe pattern
Norwood 7 is same horseshoe pattern but the pattern is about an inch lower. Especially in the back you have the balding dipping into the donor area.
Based on my rule of thumb. Some pictures look like Norwood 2, others look 2.5. I'll say 2.5 which isn't horrible.
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Taking a look at these pictures again... I see what you mean. I went through like 6 in a row where you look like Norwood 2 and then out of nowhere 2.5 and one even looked like norwood 1.5. Do you think maybe stopping the minoxidil caused you to lose gains?
As for hair transplant, good move on canceling. Too early to do that.
I researched hair transplant stuff and there are a few things you should know.
1. You need to get a really good surgeon so get consultation from multiple practices. I hate to say this but YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. Your priority should be natural look and graft survival rate.
2. Restoring to a norwood 1 hairline is a risk because you have limited donor hair. If you end up bald you may not be in a good spot and it's why they usually go for a more conservative hairline. The fact the surgeon was going to follow through on this shows he probably wasn't a good surgeon who would consider your long term implications. Also most great surgeons don't operate on under 25.
3. Surgery should be a last resort. The surgeon should have told you to wait 1 more year on your regimen as finasteride and minoxidil optimal results could be at the 2 year mark.
4. Once you go down the transplant route you have to be committed to it because bald with patches of hair is odd looking and potentially worse than bald.
As for hair transplant, good move on canceling. Too early to do that.
I researched hair transplant stuff and there are a few things you should know.
1. You need to get a really good surgeon so get consultation from multiple practices. I hate to say this but YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. Your priority should be natural look and graft survival rate.
2. Restoring to a norwood 1 hairline is a risk because you have limited donor hair. If you end up bald you may not be in a good spot and it's why they usually go for a more conservative hairline. The fact the surgeon was going to follow through on this shows he probably wasn't a good surgeon who would consider your long term implications. Also most great surgeons don't operate on under 25.
3. Surgery should be a last resort. The surgeon should have told you to wait 1 more year on your regimen as finasteride and minoxidil optimal results could be at the 2 year mark.
4. Once you go down the transplant route you have to be committed to it because bald with patches of hair is odd looking and potentially worse than bald.
The weird thing is all of those pictures were taken within a relatively short timespan of each other. I'm wondering if the blonde hair is affecting what the camera captures because the contrast against my skin is lower than someone with darker hair. I do think my right temple, the worst one, thinned out a bit after stopping, and I'm hoping it fills back in a little more now that I'm back on. I think I'm still above or at least at baseline compared to the 2019 and 2020 photos which is a good sign.
As for your last point though, I think I've already committed to the idea that I will never be bald. I honestly see fixing your hair as on the same level as getting braces and not something like a ridiculous plastic surgery that promotes unrealistic standards of beauty. Hair transplants are just getting back something that you lost that you naturally had in the first place. And if I have to commit to that for a lifetime then I'm perfectly fine with that, same as I was willing to wear braces and a retainer for life to keep my teeth straight.
Hopefully my optimal results are at the 2 year mark. At the very least I've cured my Seb derm with topical steroids and clinical strength shampoos, and my family history is pretty damn stellar when it comes to hair. I mean for christs sake look at my grandpa's hair at 85, never in a million years did I think I'd be worrying about this sh*t at 21-23 lmao.
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Bro i think your seb. Derm. Caused some thinning but it seems you have recovered nicely to a mature hairline. I dont see any other signs of hairloss. I would kill to have the hair you have. Dont stresa
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My dad has hair like this and his dads wasn't much worse than this when he died in his 80s either. It f*****g sucks to get the sh*t genes. maybe your good hair genes from these family members helped you respond well to treatment?
I'm hoping so. The crazy thing is the good hair genes aren't just my grandpa. Literally no one in my family has ever progressed beyond a strong NW2 hairline ever, and the majority above 30 are still NW1. I even went as far back as great and great great grandparents, uncles and great uncles on both sides. No one in my family has ever known anybody that went bald that is directly blood related. My uncle is going bald in his 50-60s but I'm not related to him, I'm related to my aunt. So I honestly have no idea how this is happening. It's obviously more complex than just direct inheritance. Either that or I just got comically unlucky and inherited something from some long gone ancestor from many generations ago.
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- 647
It could be that you were going to end up at worst norwood 3. Those guys are super lucky as a hair transplant fixes this forever.
- Reaction score
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Idk about that, nw3 in your early 20s is not a good sign but it can still stay like that, like it did for Jim Carrey.
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Yeah, super lucky.
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Looks like a Norwood 1.5 to me. Great recovery, your hair looks much healthier too. Definitely stick to Finasteride and Minoxidil. I think a hair transplant would be a waste in this case, only a few Norwood Spotters would think anything about that hairline.
Exactly like mine but I'm 55. Never had good temples even as a teen, But was still a Norwood 1 when they blew out.
Keep an eye on the crown. Mine didnt start thinning until I was late 40s. It's not bad yet, but at some point I'm going to just let it happen. Been on minoxidil for 2 years and finasteride for 7 months. At my age I'd rather just let go. My hair is better now than it was when I first noticed the crown thinning.
Yours will probably hold out until you late 30s. But it's almost impossible to predict.
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The hairs grow one by one & thin one by one I see what your worried about. You have a hairline, but if the hairs behind the hairline start to thin then your whole look is going to be compromised. The hairs that aren’t growing I feel can recover with correct protocols. You don’t need a transplant, but you have to watch it & find what works..