25yr old Norwood (Not Sure) seeking good counsel

[SweetHairlineBro]

Hey all,

25 year old guy here looking for your insight/advice (pics below)

The first time I really noticed my hair loss was probably about 10-12 months ago when I swiped my hand across my head on a humid day. Much to my dismay, I found more than a few hairs in my hand. I immediately ran to the bathroom and began analyzing my hairline. Of course, I had noticed a bit of recession from the near eyebrow touching hairline of my childhood, but I always figured thinning/further baldness wouldn't rear its ugly head until much later in life, if at all.


Family History

On my paternal side, both my father (late 50's) and grandfather (80s) have strong heads of hair. My dad is probably NW2.5/3 with really thick dense hair. Pictures of my grandfather in his 50s show virtually no recession. However, one uncle on my father's side does have rather aggressive hair loss. He's in his early 50s and appears to have the diffuse type of hair loss. On my maternal side, things are a bit jacked up. Uncle always had thin hair. Grandfather appears to have hefty recession/thinning in pictures from the past. Perhaps this is where I was lucky enough to draw from.



Since I initially noticed the hair loss, I have also experienced issues with my scalp. While I have always had a mixture of an oily scalp combined with dandruff, more recently it has been especially sore, itchy, and generally irritated. I also have what appear to be red blotches in different areas. You can actually see one of them at the corner of my hairline in the one of the below pics.

Obviously, since I am here, I am concerned about loosing my hair altogether. The goal is to save what I have, but I also would like to put an end to the irritating symptoms of male pattern baldness. I should mention that I use nizoral shampoo now after reading about it on this site and others. I think I'm ready to bite the bullet and begin a regimen but I really am not sure where to begin.

Where would you say I am at on the norwood scale and should my first stop be the dermatologist? If I have to eat finasteride I will, but I suppose I should be evaluated by a doctor first.


Cheers!

 

[CursedMen]

I think you may be losing some on top of your head along with some slight recession. Get on some Finasteride now, and I think you'll be alright in the long run. Otherwise it doesn't look too bad at all maybe a NW1.5 or so but, you should go to a dermatologist to get the most accurate answer to your questions.

 

[SweetHairlineBro]

Thanks for the reply.

Have you any advice about what to expect from the dermatologist visit? In your experience, do they do some kind of scalp biopsy? I'm also curious as to whether there will be an eagerness to push me onto prescription medication(finasteride) right away or if I'm expected to ask for it.

 

[zzzzz]

I would not say you had male pattern baldness yet really just from the pics but the hairs in the hand thing is for sure male pattern baldness.

All you need is 1mg finasteride or 1.25mg daily and you should maintain your hair for many years. If after a year you are still losing your hair than you will have to try something else, but just finasteride works for most people for maintaining their hair. There is no need to use minoxodil or anything else, just keep using your nizoral and seek a prescription for finasteride or get it online.

The derm might pull at your hair and see if you are shedding which is what he did with me and hopefully he or she will be open to giving you a script for finasteride. Hopefully they won't decide to wait before giving you a script because you don't really look like you have hair loss yet. It felt like the derm I had was gonna wait for all my hair to fall out before he would give me a prescription and I ended up dropping him and getting some online

Some derms will give you a script super fast and casually and some will straight up refuse to

 

[SweetHairlineBro]

Thanks for your input. I guess my next step is to visit the derm and take it from there. To be honest though, since male pattern baldness appears to be an inexact science at this point, it seems like its largely up to the individual to decide for themselves whether or not they want to sack up and take finasteride semi-preemptively or role the die and let nature run its course..Definitely a conundrum.

And to be clear, its not like I'm some kind of model or anything by any means. Its just the idea of knowing you can prevent/halt hairloss versus not doing anything and ending up regretting it.

- - - Updated - - -

Thank you for the posts so far. I realize many of you may think my hair loss isn't even an issue right now and I can understand that given some of the more extreme cases I have seen both on this site and walking around in life. However, because of the nasty sheds I have been having and the amount of density I've lost in the past year or so I am very fearful of my current trajectory.

With that said, a big question I have for you men out there is: aside from dealing with the aesthetic value of loosing your hair, to what extent did irritating scalp ailments play into your seeking professional medical advice? Just from talking to a few friends going through hair loss, I have surmised that the itching, tenderness, etc. that I have been battling does not always accompany the loss. From what I can gather, these symptoms are caused by inflammation; the breeding ground for hair loss?

One other thing I'd like to ask you is related to the diagnosis of male pattern baldness. In your experience, was a full work-up done (blood tests, etc) to rule out other possible causes (thyroid deficiency, diet) before ultimately naming male pattern baldness as the culprit? By male pattern baldness, I'm referring to hereditary androgenic alopecia.

Thanks again. I am probably over thinking everything, but there seems like so much to take in.

 

[CursedMen]

Irritation did get a bit annoying for me until i started taking something. The irritation wasn't a factor at all when I decide to get on finasteride it was pretty much for aesthetic reasons only. At the dermatologist, they might pull some hairs out and look at them under magnification. I've never heard of someone getting a scalp biopsy.

 

[SayifDoit]

Are you sure that's not a NW2 m8?
I have kinda similar hairline to him, and his hairline looks exactly as the image that depicts a nw2...
My avatar.

But buddy I feel like maybe I'm suffering from the same condition as you in terms of sore and irritated scalp, I too also have quite oily skin and have started deveoping spots around my hairline and other ****.
Do you ever suffer from weird stinging sensations at times and and like you get pockets of sweat, because I do...
I'm honestly at the end of my tether when it comes to having hair, If i have to deal with this **** any longer I might tear my hair out. The reason I ask, is because you said you plan on getting on nizoral, and if does help your problem maybe it will help my problem...

One huge differing factor between me and you is my dad/grand dad are both cue balls, so you kinda expect it...

But seriously STINGING and SWEAT POCKETS ARE THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE.

 

[SweetHairlineBro]

Thanks, CursedMen.

SayifDoit,

Im not sure what Norwood im at. I guess given charts and what ppl have said here Im at a 2ish. But im also starting to thin on top and in the crown a bit.

And yes, I get tons of rogue itching and tingling. Especially when my hair is grown out. At times, my scalp can feel like little bugs are crawling around in it. I'm using nizoral shampoo atm. I've also tried some other anti-itch/dandruff shampoo, but from what I've read Nizoral is the best bet.

At this point, I am just waiting to go to the dermatologist. From there, I'll hopefully have a better idea of what's is going on with my dome. I'm going to get my money's worth when I go for the consultation, that's for sure. I really hope she doesn't minimize the situation because I'm not a cueball or in advanced stages. Since this is all started, the exodus of hair happening on my head has been vigorous. And from what I've read, and its been confirmed here, the best approach is to get on Finasteride earlier rather than later so as to abate the loss, stop it in its tracks, and potentially regrow.

 

[CursedMen]

Yeah dude just stay on Finasteride and Nizoral for now. If things don't work out, have minoxidil as a back up.

 

[stop dht]

Sir u got a big chance cause u got only some thinnig on top maybe ( maybe not just because of your hair style ) where that all treatments works better . Your hairline looks so strong , i think just use 1 mg finasteride and maybe some minoxidil if u gonna keep your hair short . After u got hair growth keep 0.5 mg anyway . If i got your hair i wounldnt use any thing so try some regrowth than lower your dose and maybe eod just to keep them alive . But to be honest u got no male pattern baldness even u shave very shor no problem i see

 

[SweetHairlineBro]

So, I had my derm visit the other day. The derm gave me the pull test, as some predicted here, and concluded that I could either have Telogen Effluvium or male pattern baldness. She told me to get started on Minoxidil because it will work for both and also let me know about Propecia. She seemed open to prescribing me finasteride, but wanted me to wait as I have an unrelated dermatological condition which I may be getting on medication for. I'm going to have a follow up visit with her at some point in the next couple weeks to decide the next step with that.

Overall, she pretty much informed me of things I had already heard about from researching here and other places : family history, age, etc playing a role in balding/shedding. However, I did find it interesting that she said I should start Minoxidil right away. In the meantime, I thought I'd post a few more pics of my hair since it has grown out some since my op. From these shots, I think it's pretty clear that I have some sort of thinning going on (even on the sides oddly enough).

 

[SweetHairlineBro]

Hello again. Just wanted to add some pictures of my hairline to the my thread.. At the direction of my derm, I started applying minoxidil twice daily. I also use nizoral shampoo regularly. Do you think that this an effective enough combination to combat what I've got going on? My hair is longer now and brushed to the side to show thinning/receding. Thanks.