Am i balding? 18y

[JaneyElizabeth]

Ooh, i see!! also, in what picture exactly did you notice that hair loss in front of my ears?? Sorry im just really bad at noticing this kind of stuff , so if you could point it out for me i would appreciate very very much!!!
So overall, do you think my condition is normal?? or should i worry?? Im kinda paranoid abt this sorry for the amount of questions

But really, thank you very very much for analyzing my pics!!! I really need some opinions here cuz im getting really mentally sick and worried thinking that im going bald all the time, i've always been so paranoid about things since forever

Well, here for one. My computer is struggling to load all of the pics in a timely fashion and now it won't paste images and there is very little way to cite to an entry, well, wait, let me get the png number. It ends with 1017.

Every time that I try to paste it, I get a message that says "oops, we ran into some problems". This seems to happen from time to time on here and it really slows me down.

 

[Norwoody]

There is obviously some slight hair loss. The question is, is it maturation to ~NW2 or will it progress beyond to male pattern baldness? No one knows for sure. Personally, I would say you can wait it out about a year and see what happens. If you start noticing the thinning progressing then you can hop on treatment and likely regain anything you lost since you didn't let it go for too long.

 

[amigocrocker]

There is obviously some slight hair loss. The question is, is it maturation to ~NW2 or will it progress beyond to male pattern baldness? No one knows for sure. Personally, I would say you can wait it out about a year and see what happens. If you start noticing the thinning progressing then you can hop on treatment and likely regain anything you lost since you didn't let it go for too long.

But what Norwood would you rate me on those pics?? am i a nw1? a 0? a 2? also, should i be worried or i can wait for this abt a year time period without being too much paranoid?
Idk, my greatest fear is like, wait for this 1 year-ish time period, but my mind is always telling me that if i do this, im just ignoring some serious problem and that i will wake up bald someday

 

[Norwoody]

But what Norwood would you rate me on those pics?? am i a nw1? a 0? a 2? also, should i be worried or i can wait for this abt a year time period without being too much paranoid?
Idk, my greatest fear is like, wait for this 1 year-ish time period, but my mind is always telling me that if i do this, im just ignoring some serious problem and that i will wake up bald someday

NW1

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

Ooh, i see!! also, in what picture exactly did you notice that hair loss in front of my ears?? Sorry im just really bad at noticing this kind of stuff , so if you could point it out for me i would appreciate very very much!!!
So overall, do you think my condition is normal?? or should i worry?? Im kinda paranoid abt this sorry for the amount of questions

But really, thank you very very much for analyzing my pics!!! I really need some opinions here cuz im getting really mentally sick and worried thinking that im going bald all the time, i've always been so paranoid about things since forever

Well, here for one. My computer is struggling to load all of the pics in a timely fashion and now it won't paste images and there is very little way to, well, wait, let me get the png number. It ends with 1017. Every time that I try to paste it

But what Norwood would you rate me on those pics?? am i a nw1? a 0? a 2? also, should i be worried or i can wait for this abt a year time period without being too much paranoid?
Idk, my greatest fear is like, wait for this 1 year-ish time period, but my mind is always telling me that if i do this, im just ignoring some serious problem and that i will wake up bald someday

Don't obsess over Norwood. You know what most people use Norwood for? So they can commiserate with other balding people by saying "you think that you have it bad at NW3. I am a NW7" and so forth. There's very little useful knowledge that comes from having any particular Norwood pattern. I think that the diffuse thinning vs. full blown male pattern baldness is much more important to treatments sought.

 

[SaveTheMane]

Once a person identifies a condition of male pattern baldness, family analysis is generally worthless in any individual case. Why? Because now we have a prior truth statement that is male pattern baldness/Not male pattern baldness.

Well it will still be useful to look up the family tree. Even if a person is diagnosted with male pattern baldness, if the rest of his/her family have a full head of hair, then there is a very high chance his/her male pattern baldness will stop at nw2~3 or at some low level recessions/thinnings. Saying this because I have never seen someone who comes from a family with zero baldness on both sides but have male pattern baldness himself with levels more than nw3.

 

[Norwoody]

Anecdotally, most guys who start treatment in their early 20s have the most regrowth and will usually never go bald. Time is definitely on your side for a few years.

 

[amigocrocker]

Well, here for one. My computer is struggling to load all of the pics in a timely fashion and now it won't paste images and there is very little way to, well, wait, let me get the png number. It ends with 1017. Every time that I try to paste it

Don't obsess over Norwood. You know what most people use Norwood for? So they can commiserate with other balding people by saying "you think that you have it bad at NW3. I am a NW7" and so forth. There's very little useful knowledge that comes from having any particular Norwood pattern. I think that the diffuse thinning vs. full blown male pattern baldness is much more important to treatments sought.

Oh, thats interesting! Thanks!!
Now, in conclusion, everyone, should i be worried about aggressive balding for now?? Norwoody already knows me because i posted the same kind of thread on February on a different account lol ( also, sorry for coming back man, i guess you are already tired of me lol, im a pain i know, im just really emotional about things and have some mental issues that lead me to obsess over my hair and that im getting bald )
But the point is, based on those pictures that i posted, what is the level of balding in my case??? Should i worry too much??? Can i rest easy and wait for the next couple of years and see what happens??? If so, do you guys predict an aggressive kind of male pattern baldness happening on my scalp?

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

Oh, thats interesting! Thanks!!
Now, in conclusion, everyone, should i be worried about aggressive balding for now?? Norwoody already knows me because i posted the same kind of thread on February on a different account lol ( also, sorry for coming back man, i guess you are already tired of me lol, im a pain i know, im just really emotional about things and have some mental issues that lead me to obsess over my hair and that im getting bald )
But the point is, based on those pictures that i posted, what is the level of balding in my case??? Should i worry too much??? Can i rest easy and wait for the next couple of years and see what happens???

You are going to force us to tell you? What Norwood do you think that you are on?

It's great to be proactive early like you are but probably not if you are going to obsess anyway. Under those circumstances, I would recommend two percent minoxidil and a weekly dandruff shampoo so you can at least feel like you are doing all that you can do, and yes, maintenance is pretty much it except for very young guys like you so early intervention is important. But if you are going to obsess just like the already bald guys on here, then you are in bondage to your hair anyway. I guess I am too but mostly in a good way since I just keep reading the relevant literature rather than stew and fume and I never did that anyway. It's seems like we had less anger about baldness in the olden days probably because there were no treatments so what was the point of fighting it? I refused to give up and finally found a couple of things that worked for me and then on to min and finasteride and duta and keto with nothing but maintenance ever. Now I don't diss maintenance. That got me to a ripe old age and I was pretty much always able to arrange it so that I presented decently even with longish hair.

But I had been thinking about estrogen for a long time going back to the age of 20 and so I threw myself into that once regular min/finasteride began to peter out.

 

[amigocrocker]

You are going to force us to tell you? What Norwood do you think that you are on?

It's great to be proactive early like you are but probably not if you are going to obsess anyway. Under those circumstances, I would recommend two percent minoxidil and a weekly dandruff shampoo so you can at least feel like you are doing all that you can do, and yes, maintenance is pretty much it except for very young guys like you so early intervention is important. But if you are going to obsess just like the already bald guys on here, then you are in bondage to your hair anyway. I guess I am too but mostly in a good way since I just keep reading the relevant literature rather than stew and fume and I never did that anyway. It's seems like we had less anger about baldness in the olden days probably because there were no treatments so what was the point of fighting it? I refused to give up and finally found a couple of things that worked for me and then on to min and finasteride and duta and keto with nothing but maintenance ever. Now I don't diss maintenance. That got me to a ripe old age and I was pretty much always able to arrange it so that I presented decently even with longish hair.

But I had been thinking about estrogen for a long time going back to the age of 20 and so I threw myself into that once regular min/finasteride began to peter out.

Im sorry i guess yeah, i just need someone to tell me what should i do, if i need to worry for now or not, if im in a critical state of hair loss or if im just being way too much paranoid. I'm sorry. I don't know what Norwood i think i am and i don't know if my current state is something i should worry and be paranoid about, im just lost, thats all.

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

Well it will still be useful to look up the family tree. Even if a person is diagnosted with male pattern baldness, if the rest of his/her family have a full head of hair, then there is a very high chance his/her male pattern baldness will stop at nw2~3 or at some low level recessions/thinnings. Saying this because I have never seen someone who comes from a family with zero baldness on both sides but have male pattern baldness himself with levels more than nw3.

I am not sure that the evidence supports that conclusion. Baldness is a multi-gene nightmare so our powers to re-engineer it have not had enough science/data to do so. Apparently, there are many permutations. I sure wouldn't count on my family background to keep my baldness from progressing and I am pretty sure that I would be pretty much completely bald but with pretty high fringe had I just never sought treatment. Now, I discover that just by saving that hair in a male context, it gave me much better prospects for regrowth/restoration.

So pretty much up to now, there have been copious reasons not to rely on anecdotal data like family history because once that hair is gone, the inertial factors in bringing it back appear to be mostly useless perhaps in both a male and a female context but some MtF's do recover from NW7 although they rarely improve enough to ditch their wigs. But we have a different relationship with wigs than do cis-guys with systems. We tend to love wigs because they give us the opportunity to present differently on special occasions. Not many guys are only going to wear their systems on special occasions though. I feel no stigma whatsoever from males or females in my wig and that was definitely not true before.

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

Im sorry i guess yeah, i just need someone to tell me what should i do, if i need to worry for now or not, if im in a critical state of hair loss or if im just being way too much paranoid. I'm sorry. I don't know what Norwood i think i am and i don't know if my current state is something i should worry and be paranoid about, im just lost, thats all.

You don't have to apologize. What do you think about the two percent minoxidil idea? You can just buy it at the drug store with no prescription needed.

 

[amigocrocker]

You don't have to apologize. What do you think about the two percent minoxidil idea? You can just buy it at the drug store with no prescription needed.

Yeah, i guess thats a good idea.
But Janey, this minoxidil recommendation means that im in a critical state of balding ? Am i balding aggressively? is there some sign of thinning? Or is it just something to make me feel better and that im doing something? if i dont do this minoxidil thing will my case get worse?

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

Yeah, i guess thats a good idea.
But Janey, this minoxidil recommendation means that im in a critical state of balding ? Am i balding aggressively? is there some sign of thinning? Or is it just something to make me feel better and that im doing something? if i dont do this minoxidil thing will my case get worse?

It is currently something to help you psychologically. Everyone's hair worsens at some point. Without minoxidil you might see no progression ever or only years in the future but there are no guarantees. The earlier one starts with minoxidil, the better in my view.

 

[Notdifferent]

I think your hair looks great. You might be ok for life, you might be not, these people are just guessing and can't tell you anything definite. Your best bet is just not to obsess over it but take pictures every couple of months if you're really worried.

Starting minoxidil with a full head of hair like this and no signs of balding is crazy cause once you're on it, you'd have to stay on it very long term, the only reason to start it now is if you have absolutely crippling obsession and you feel it would help you get some peace of mind but even then it's just based on a guess that you might bald, so it doesn't make any sense. People like Janey will recommend you stuff like that because they're already taking like 100 medications per day and nothing is too far for them, even turning yourself into a woman for hair but I think most people would rather avoid taking meds for life it if they can.

 

[Norwoody]

Let me put it this way. The only reason I'd be hesitant to start treatment is because of your age. If you were one of the 25 year olds on here I'd say start treatment right away. It's hard to know what age is "safe" because we don't really know the risks of taking 5ARIs at given ages, and everyone matures differently than the next person. TBH if I was in your situation and I was 18 again I would just say screw it and jump on. I can say that because I've taken the drugs and know how my body responds, and now I also know how important time is. That said, if you choose to wait I don't think you will aggressively lose a lot more hair. But again, the validity of such predictions are unknown.

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

Had finasteride not kept me in the game so to speak, I doubt that extensive restoration would come easily.

There is an inertial factor to baldness in both sexes and the rule of thumb is that all terminal hair is recoverable/improvable/maintainable but once follicles go dormant on an XY scalp, then that's it. It's similar to MtF's who screw up breast growth by taking enormous amounts of estrogen and once done, that's it. I think that Woody's comments are pretty much dead on in terms of being the best overall advice.

 

[amigocrocker]

Thanks for the advices everyone!! Yeah, being able to predict what is going to happen with my hair is pretty impossible and really only time will tell.
I'm going to think about this minoxidil advice and see if it is worth it, thank you for the recommendation guys!!
But at the present moment, do you guys think my hair/hairline is ok? density wise, thickness wise, norwood scale..etc

 

[JaneyElizabeth]

Thanks for the advices everyone!! Yeah, being able to predict what is going to happen with my hair is pretty impossible and really only time will tell.
I'm going to think about this minoxidil advice and see if it is worth it, thank you for the recommendation guys!!
But at the present moment, do you guys think my hair is ok?

We do think that it is okay. I swear to Goddess....

Janey

 

[Notdifferent]

Thanks for the advices everyone!! Yeah, being able to predict what is going to happen with my hair is pretty impossible and really only time will tell.
I'm going to think about this minoxidil advice and see if it is worth it, thank you for the recommendation guys!!
But at the present moment, do you guys think my hair/hairline is ok? density wise, thickness wise, norwood scale..etc

It is overall looking great and please remember this forum is an alternate reality where everyone is obsessed with hair, most people in real life wouldn't notice if you're a NW1 or NW2.5 or whatever.