Confessions of a 24-year old sufferer slowly moving towards a transplant
"It's 2008. I'm 19,5 years old and riding my bike back home from a party while noticing that I could feel the cool summerbreeze
hit my scalp at my temples. It didn't mean anything to me at the time but I know today that that was when it all began."
I'm a 24 year old male from northern Europe. I have been suffering from male pattern baldness since the age of 19. This is the first time
I've ever spoken/written anything about what I have been going through every day for 5 years. Parents, girlfriends,
friends, colleagues, classmates, you name it - I haven't mentioned it to any of them. I've carried this burden all by my self.
Male pattern baldness has taken me for an emotional rollercoaster like no other, and to keep my head up while constantly
seeing my appearance fade away day by day has been hard, to say the least. Some would probably consider me lucky because
I've been able to hide it. And yes, treatments did buy me some time. I still have enough hair to pull of a NW1 or 2 look with
products and a touch of toppik. But I know where it is heading and it is eating me up from within. Tonight, while having dinner
with my parents, my mom commented on how my friend (who has lost lots of hair) looked so much better with hair than without,
and it just got to me. She has no idea that I'll probably be a NW4 by the age of 30 if I leave it untreated and don't have a transplant.
Right then and there I just felt like throwing up. I feel like I need to share my story with someone and I'm sure lots of you guys can relate
to what I've been dealing with. This is my hair loss story. I will upload photos this week when I get my phone back (broken).
My dad gradually lost his hair in his twenties. Judging from the photos I've seen he was probably a NW3 at the
mere age of 25. When he reached his thirties the progression stopped at NW4 and that's where he's at today
(60 years old). That's it. Apart from my dad there is no hair loss history in my family what so ever, not even his
own father. On my moms side, maternal uncles and so forth, they all have their hair well into their 40s and 50s.
Hair loss was not something I thought about when in my teens. I have some kind of mix between my mom and dads
hair charasteristics and I've always been happy with how it looks. I'm 5 ft 10, blue-green eyes and had dirty blonde hair
while growing up. I'm happy with what I've been given so to speak. Getting girls has never been a problem for me,
quite the opposite. So far so good, right? But hey, this is where male pattern baldness decided to step into my life and make things
a lot more complicated.
It's 2008. I'm 19,5 years old and riding my bike back home from a party while noticing that I could feel the cool summerbreeze
hit my scalp at my temples. It didn't mean anything to me at the time but I know today that that was when it all begun. 6 months
later while styling my hair for a concert I kind of felt that my hair at the temples werent as thick as they used to be, making it
harder to get the look I've always had (randomly slicked back, think Bale in American Psycho but blonde). This worried me.
I started taking pictures in the mirror and from different angles (I think most of you have done this), and yes, my hair looked
different. My entire hairline had lost some pigment and were lighter in weight. I panicked.
Fast forward 6 months and I'm 20,5 years old. I had gone online, done my research, and ordered finasteride. I remember
keeping it hidden in my closet for about 3 months after it had arrived, too afraid to start using it. I then found the courage to
pop my first pill. Nothing happened. And by nothing, I mean nothing like in no more thinning of the hairline. I had also experienced
some kind of soreness in my scalp that also completely stopped. I was dissappointed. I thought finasteride would get my old hair
quality and my low, distinct hairline back. I didn't know at the time that a complete stop in hair loss actually is a success.
When I had been on finasteride for 8 months without side effects and regrowth I bought Rogaine at a local pharmacy, I remember
telling the pretty girl behind the counter it was for my dad. I applied it for the first time in my parents car out in the pharmacy parking lot.
It felt great. I knew I was doing everything I could now. Minoxidil turned out to be a success. After 3 months I noticed small
black hair roots sprouting all along my hairline, and they eventually turned into (almost) normal hairs. I (almost) had my old hairline back.
Time passed. A year passed. Not a single day went by without me looking at my fathers bald head. He does not have the head-shape for a
shaven head so he keeps it longer at the sides. I've always felt like looking into my future, knowing that I will eventually end up looking
like him, hair-wise. And it hurts every time. Sometimes, I blame him. I've never mentioned it, but there has been times when I've been angry
with him for no obvious reason to the outside world just because of the fact that he's passed these genes on to me (can someone relate?).
After successfully treating my hairloss for 4 years with finasteride and min, the results had gradually gotten worse and worse (age 23).
Still, no one could notice I had a kind of receded hairline, but I could clearly see it. I opted for a shorter haircut which made everything
look a lot better.
Fast forward a year and here we are. I'm older, wiser, and a lot better equipped to deal with it. Or atleast more used to the thought
of losing my hair. But it sucks. Every day I have to find ways to hide my receding hairline, and it has gotten harder since the frontal
part of my hairline now has started to thin. My hair color and my skin is almost the same color (sand-coloured, almost) and that helps
a lot. Yes, I've had buzzcuts through the years and it looks alright, but it's not me. I feel like a lot of my personality that I've been building up
depends on my hair. I don't want to be the "bald guy". Ever.
What now? I've saved up for a hair transplant. I've researched over 20 doctors but have not yet decided on who to go with or when exactly
to do this. One thing I do have going for me, genetically speaking, and that is the fact that my dads donor hair looks pretty damn great. His crown
is almost intact, it's the frontal part that is completely gone. The second thing is that my skin color matches my hair color. The third thing is that
I've been responding good with finasteride and min for over 5 years. The fourth thing is that I don't care all that much if I thin out a bit in the crown, its the framing of the
face I want. A conservative framing. 1500-2000 grafts to begin with. I know I will have to go for more procedures in the future.
On the other hand, I can still hide it OK. I don't know. I just feel like I have been held back by this **** for so long now that I want to do something about it. It feels
great to have shared this with all of you and hopefully some of you can relate. Feel free to ask any questions if you have any.
I will upload quality photos this week when I get my phone back from the repair-store.
All the best,
Nightcall
"It's 2008. I'm 19,5 years old and riding my bike back home from a party while noticing that I could feel the cool summerbreeze
hit my scalp at my temples. It didn't mean anything to me at the time but I know today that that was when it all began."
I'm a 24 year old male from northern Europe. I have been suffering from male pattern baldness since the age of 19. This is the first time
I've ever spoken/written anything about what I have been going through every day for 5 years. Parents, girlfriends,
friends, colleagues, classmates, you name it - I haven't mentioned it to any of them. I've carried this burden all by my self.
Male pattern baldness has taken me for an emotional rollercoaster like no other, and to keep my head up while constantly
seeing my appearance fade away day by day has been hard, to say the least. Some would probably consider me lucky because
I've been able to hide it. And yes, treatments did buy me some time. I still have enough hair to pull of a NW1 or 2 look with
products and a touch of toppik. But I know where it is heading and it is eating me up from within. Tonight, while having dinner
with my parents, my mom commented on how my friend (who has lost lots of hair) looked so much better with hair than without,
and it just got to me. She has no idea that I'll probably be a NW4 by the age of 30 if I leave it untreated and don't have a transplant.
Right then and there I just felt like throwing up. I feel like I need to share my story with someone and I'm sure lots of you guys can relate
to what I've been dealing with. This is my hair loss story. I will upload photos this week when I get my phone back (broken).
My dad gradually lost his hair in his twenties. Judging from the photos I've seen he was probably a NW3 at the
mere age of 25. When he reached his thirties the progression stopped at NW4 and that's where he's at today
(60 years old). That's it. Apart from my dad there is no hair loss history in my family what so ever, not even his
own father. On my moms side, maternal uncles and so forth, they all have their hair well into their 40s and 50s.
Hair loss was not something I thought about when in my teens. I have some kind of mix between my mom and dads
hair charasteristics and I've always been happy with how it looks. I'm 5 ft 10, blue-green eyes and had dirty blonde hair
while growing up. I'm happy with what I've been given so to speak. Getting girls has never been a problem for me,
quite the opposite. So far so good, right? But hey, this is where male pattern baldness decided to step into my life and make things
a lot more complicated.
It's 2008. I'm 19,5 years old and riding my bike back home from a party while noticing that I could feel the cool summerbreeze
hit my scalp at my temples. It didn't mean anything to me at the time but I know today that that was when it all begun. 6 months
later while styling my hair for a concert I kind of felt that my hair at the temples werent as thick as they used to be, making it
harder to get the look I've always had (randomly slicked back, think Bale in American Psycho but blonde). This worried me.
I started taking pictures in the mirror and from different angles (I think most of you have done this), and yes, my hair looked
different. My entire hairline had lost some pigment and were lighter in weight. I panicked.
Fast forward 6 months and I'm 20,5 years old. I had gone online, done my research, and ordered finasteride. I remember
keeping it hidden in my closet for about 3 months after it had arrived, too afraid to start using it. I then found the courage to
pop my first pill. Nothing happened. And by nothing, I mean nothing like in no more thinning of the hairline. I had also experienced
some kind of soreness in my scalp that also completely stopped. I was dissappointed. I thought finasteride would get my old hair
quality and my low, distinct hairline back. I didn't know at the time that a complete stop in hair loss actually is a success.
When I had been on finasteride for 8 months without side effects and regrowth I bought Rogaine at a local pharmacy, I remember
telling the pretty girl behind the counter it was for my dad. I applied it for the first time in my parents car out in the pharmacy parking lot.
It felt great. I knew I was doing everything I could now. Minoxidil turned out to be a success. After 3 months I noticed small
black hair roots sprouting all along my hairline, and they eventually turned into (almost) normal hairs. I (almost) had my old hairline back.
Time passed. A year passed. Not a single day went by without me looking at my fathers bald head. He does not have the head-shape for a
shaven head so he keeps it longer at the sides. I've always felt like looking into my future, knowing that I will eventually end up looking
like him, hair-wise. And it hurts every time. Sometimes, I blame him. I've never mentioned it, but there has been times when I've been angry
with him for no obvious reason to the outside world just because of the fact that he's passed these genes on to me (can someone relate?).
After successfully treating my hairloss for 4 years with finasteride and min, the results had gradually gotten worse and worse (age 23).
Still, no one could notice I had a kind of receded hairline, but I could clearly see it. I opted for a shorter haircut which made everything
look a lot better.
Fast forward a year and here we are. I'm older, wiser, and a lot better equipped to deal with it. Or atleast more used to the thought
of losing my hair. But it sucks. Every day I have to find ways to hide my receding hairline, and it has gotten harder since the frontal
part of my hairline now has started to thin. My hair color and my skin is almost the same color (sand-coloured, almost) and that helps
a lot. Yes, I've had buzzcuts through the years and it looks alright, but it's not me. I feel like a lot of my personality that I've been building up
depends on my hair. I don't want to be the "bald guy". Ever.
What now? I've saved up for a hair transplant. I've researched over 20 doctors but have not yet decided on who to go with or when exactly
to do this. One thing I do have going for me, genetically speaking, and that is the fact that my dads donor hair looks pretty damn great. His crown
is almost intact, it's the frontal part that is completely gone. The second thing is that my skin color matches my hair color. The third thing is that
I've been responding good with finasteride and min for over 5 years. The fourth thing is that I don't care all that much if I thin out a bit in the crown, its the framing of the
face I want. A conservative framing. 1500-2000 grafts to begin with. I know I will have to go for more procedures in the future.
On the other hand, I can still hide it OK. I don't know. I just feel like I have been held back by this **** for so long now that I want to do something about it. It feels
great to have shared this with all of you and hopefully some of you can relate. Feel free to ask any questions if you have any.
I will upload quality photos this week when I get my phone back from the repair-store.
All the best,
Nightcall
The minoxidil (liquid) do make my scalp a bit flaky sometimes when I apply too much, but other than that no side effects. 