I don't even remember what it was that caused me to notice that my hair was receding. I guess the way I styled my hair, made it very hard to tell anything was up with my hairline. I just remembered that the day I noticed was the worst thing I ever felt. To me, it felt like it came out of nowhere. I did not have diffuse thinning or shedding. That was the day I became obsessed with my hair, especially my hairline. I can still hide it very well styling it. My crown has filled in very nice, but my hairline is slowly getting worse. It had been stabilized until the last year, when I noticed a bit more recession, along with thinning around the area that was already receded... Crown is still thick. The following is what I have been using religiously for the past 5 years.
1) Nizoral 2% 3-4x/week
2) Kirkland minoxidil 5% liquid 1x/day
I was also on saw palmetto for the first 4 years, but I stopped taking it from 2011-2012, as I was away and was too lazy. I was unsure whether it did anything, but from 2011-2013 is when I noticed my hairline getting worse. So maybe the SP was helping. I started back up on the SP and have been on it for about 3 months now. I did notice some testicle ache after taking the SP so hopefully it does have similar effects as finasteride, since that is one of the sides for finasteride. No more testicle ache though, as it only seemed to be present the odd time here and there during the first month. I also have added dermarolling to the equation, and have been doing that 1x/week for the past month. So here is my current regimen
1) Nizoral 2% 3-4x/week
2) Kirkland minoxidil 5% liquid 1x/day
3) dermaroller 1.0mm 1x/week
4) just ordered spironolactone and will be applying it 1x/day before bed to the hairline (hopefully it will work)!
5)SP extract 320mg 1x/day
Even though 5 years has gone by, I am lucky to still have the hair I have on my head. I never went through much of a shed as my main problem is the slow recession of the hairline. I am going to give spironolactone a shot. If it doesn't yield the results I want (thickening of the existing hairs on my hairline/prevention of further thinning), I am going to take the plunge and try finasteride. At my stage of hairloss, barring side effects, I can only imagine good results from finasteride, after seeing results from others with the same level of male pattern baldness as mine. I have seen baby hairs sprouting as a result of the dermarolling but only time will tell if it's affective in producing thick hair, and not vellus hairs. So what do you guys think? NW1 or 2?
UPDATE (June 20th, 2015):
I removed the pictures originally posted... I have stopped dermarolling and my regimen is now this
1) 5% minoxidil foam 2x / day
2) s5 cream morning
3) saw palmetto extract applied TOPICALLY at night (started beginning of June 2015)
I subbed the night application of s5 with the SP to see if it works any better...
I went to Hasson and Wong for a free in person consult as they now offer FUE and was very interested in that. As a NW2, I would never consider FUT at this point in my hairloss.. Crown is still strong.. The pics are with my hair pushed back to really expose the temples.. the lack of hair in the middle of my hairline is from a scar.
Dr Hasson recommended 800-1000 grafts, at $8 a graft.. which makes it anywhere from 6400-8000 CDN. Pricey but they are known to do a kick *** hairline. The only thing I am hesitant about is that they just started offering FUE to the public in January, however they did say they have done FUE i the past as they had patients who demanded it. Anyways below are pics... they can be used as "before". I am trying to get in for my procedure in July or August.. If scheduling doesn't work, then in the Fall.
I will update post op!
1) Nizoral 2% 3-4x/week
2) Kirkland minoxidil 5% liquid 1x/day
I was also on saw palmetto for the first 4 years, but I stopped taking it from 2011-2012, as I was away and was too lazy. I was unsure whether it did anything, but from 2011-2013 is when I noticed my hairline getting worse. So maybe the SP was helping. I started back up on the SP and have been on it for about 3 months now. I did notice some testicle ache after taking the SP so hopefully it does have similar effects as finasteride, since that is one of the sides for finasteride. No more testicle ache though, as it only seemed to be present the odd time here and there during the first month. I also have added dermarolling to the equation, and have been doing that 1x/week for the past month. So here is my current regimen
1) Nizoral 2% 3-4x/week
2) Kirkland minoxidil 5% liquid 1x/day
3) dermaroller 1.0mm 1x/week
4) just ordered spironolactone and will be applying it 1x/day before bed to the hairline (hopefully it will work)!
5)SP extract 320mg 1x/day
Even though 5 years has gone by, I am lucky to still have the hair I have on my head. I never went through much of a shed as my main problem is the slow recession of the hairline. I am going to give spironolactone a shot. If it doesn't yield the results I want (thickening of the existing hairs on my hairline/prevention of further thinning), I am going to take the plunge and try finasteride. At my stage of hairloss, barring side effects, I can only imagine good results from finasteride, after seeing results from others with the same level of male pattern baldness as mine. I have seen baby hairs sprouting as a result of the dermarolling but only time will tell if it's affective in producing thick hair, and not vellus hairs. So what do you guys think? NW1 or 2?
UPDATE (June 20th, 2015):
I removed the pictures originally posted... I have stopped dermarolling and my regimen is now this
1) 5% minoxidil foam 2x / day
2) s5 cream morning
3) saw palmetto extract applied TOPICALLY at night (started beginning of June 2015)
I subbed the night application of s5 with the SP to see if it works any better...
I went to Hasson and Wong for a free in person consult as they now offer FUE and was very interested in that. As a NW2, I would never consider FUT at this point in my hairloss.. Crown is still strong.. The pics are with my hair pushed back to really expose the temples.. the lack of hair in the middle of my hairline is from a scar.
Dr Hasson recommended 800-1000 grafts, at $8 a graft.. which makes it anywhere from 6400-8000 CDN. Pricey but they are known to do a kick *** hairline. The only thing I am hesitant about is that they just started offering FUE to the public in January, however they did say they have done FUE i the past as they had patients who demanded it. Anyways below are pics... they can be used as "before". I am trying to get in for my procedure in July or August.. If scheduling doesn't work, then in the Fall.
I will update post op!
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