23 year old bald (NW5) since 15! Worst case of hair loss ive ever seen.

Renovation

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Stop lying to yourself you need HRT.
HRT is an anomaly, meaning it will regrow loads of hair some men but some other men will lose more hair. Wouldn't touch it or any meds with a barge pole.

I had hair transplant 15 years ago, started finasteride and minoxidil about 12 years ago persisted for long enough to know it wasn't helping maybe made things worse so stopped after about 2 years, also has obvious side effects from finasteride which were obvious once I stopped taking it and got back to feeling male again.

Never touched them since and have maintained most hair transplant hair with everything I currently do otherwise I would be bald even the hair transplant hair would be on last legs now and miniaturised.

Scalp expansion resulting in scalp tension and high localised DHT is real. It's just very difficult to address and even harder to reverse.

Although I said I would never consider HRT an interesting note is estrogen prevents bone turnover - During bone growth estrogen is needed for proper closure of epiphyseal growth plates both in females and in males. (Hence why most women have far smaller galea than men and obviously no male pattern baldness)

You won't see many females with the same shape galea as the guy on picture in this thread so ironically HRT may actually reverse affects of scalp tension but I would not try to find out.
 
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losingbattle88

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HRT is an anomaly, meaning it will regrow loads of hair some men but some other men will lose more hair. Wouldn't touch it or any meds with a barge pole.

I had hair transplant 15 years ago, started finasteride and minoxidil about 12 years ago persisted for long enough to know it wasn't helping maybe made things worse so stopped after about 2 years, also has obvious side effects from finasteride which were obvious once I stopped taking it and got back to feeling male again.

Never touched them since and have maintained most hair transplant hair with everything I currently do otherwise I would be bald even the hair transplant hair would be on last legs now and miniaturised.

Scalp expansion resulting in scalp tension and high localised DHT is real. It's just very difficult to address and even harder to reverse.

Although I said I would never consider HRT an interesting note is estrogen prevents bone turnover - During bone growth estrogen is needed for proper closure of epiphyseal growth plates both in females and in males. (Hence why most women have far smaller galea than men and obviously no male pattern baldness)

You won't see many females with the same shape galea as the guy on picture in this thread so ironically HRT may actually reverse affects of scalp tension but I would not try to find out.
I got a permanent side effect from finasteride so I wouldnt try hrt either. Dht in the male body is important. Ever since quitting finasteride my morning erections are back for example.
 

Renovation

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I got a permanent side effect from finasteride so I wouldnt try hrt either. Dht in the male body is important. Ever since quitting finasteride my morning erections are back for example.
I completely agree DHT is vital. DHT also helps injuries and arrives at an injured body part arm knee etc to help heal, if a doctor was to check levels of DHT at an injury it would be higher than normal. That's why it also arrives at scalp when under tension for the same reason. My theory anyway and no reason to doubt it it all makes sense to me.

Even saw palmetto gave me side effects.
 

deamond

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I completely agree DHT is vital. DHT also helps injuries and arrives at an injured body part arm knee etc to help heal, if a doctor was to check levels of DHT at an injury it would be higher than normal. That's why it also arrives at scalp when under tension for the same reason. My theory anyway and no reason to doubt it it all makes sense to me.

Even saw palmetto gave me side effects.
I think skull shape at least affects the pattern of baldness, people with the same patterns have the same skull shapes. The presence of a large or small skull does not guarantee baldness, genetic factors of mechanosensitivity of tissues, for example, their response to damage (higher expression of androgen receptors than others) are at play here.
 

Renovation

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I think skull shape at least affects the pattern of baldness, people with the same patterns have the same skull shapes. The presence of a large or small skull does not guarantee baldness, genetic factors of mechanosensitivity of tissues, for example, their response to damage (higher expression of androgen receptors than others) are at play here.

It's interesting, I tend to believe it's a bigger factor but agree it's very multifaceted. I don't think an expanded galea is always easy to spot and someone's head can look normal or even small but still have outward growth with incorrect bone closure. I also think factors such as neck alignment, the size and angle of muscles in particular the sternocleidomastoid, and the function of thyroid are all significant.
 

deamond

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It's interesting, I tend to believe it's a bigger factor but agree it's very multifaceted. I don't think an expanded galea is always easy to spot and someone's head can look normal or even small but still have outward growth with incorrect bone closure. I also think factors such as neck alignment, the size and angle of muscles in particular the sternocleidomastoid, and the function of thyroid are all significant.
In many men baldness stops at 3rd norwood for decades, you can look at many 20th century actors who walked around with 3rd norwood for 20 years, but by old age the baldness continued. One could assume that their skull shape or muscle arrangement is such that the mechanical forces ceased to have much effect at a certain point and the baldness stopped, but as they get older, the tissues age and deteriorate and eventually the mechanical forces destroy the remaining hair and the norwood grows.
In this respect, frontal fibrous alopecia is curious, which also has a pattern, sometimes completely identical to the Norwood scale, in the pathology of this alopecia it is obvious in the tension of tissues due to senile disturbance of hormones and the ability of tissues to hold tension and build the correct structure of connective tissue.
 

losingbattle88

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In many men baldness stops at 3rd norwood for decades, you can look at many 20th century actors who walked around with 3rd norwood for 20 years, but by old age the baldness continued. One could assume that their skull shape or muscle arrangement is such that the mechanical forces ceased to have much effect at a certain point and the baldness stopped, but as they get older, the tissues age and deteriorate and eventually the mechanical forces destroy the remaining hair and the norwood grows.
In this respect, frontal fibrous alopecia is curious, which also has a pattern, sometimes completely identical to the Norwood scale, in the pathology of this alopecia it is obvious in the tension of tissues due to senile disturbance of hormones and the ability of tissues to hold tension and build the correct structure of connective tissue.
Nicolas Cage is a good exemple. Doubt hes on treatments.
 

BurningCoals

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Nicolas Cage is a good exemple. Doubt hes on treatments.
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reckless

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I started going bald at 16

When I think of it, mine probably started at a similar age but I was diffusing very slowly and my barber mentioned something when I was 21 but it only became more noticeable at 22/23. Without finasteride I would have been completely bald by 30.
 

AnxiousAndy

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Me too, how did spironolactone work for you when you tried it?
spironolactone doesnt seem to work for most guys (I've tried oral and topical and it didnt work) if you're gonna use an anti androgen I'd say Cyproterone orally (if you're desperate) or RU topically is the way to go.
 
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