Male, 18 - Am I balding

[NickyA]

If my blood tests come back with good levels of everything I'm pretty sure I'll start taking finasteride.

In regards to the side effects, I really don't care about any of them except for gyno.

If you live in the UK and want extra peace of mind you may want to consider getting a high precision blood test done (High-Pressure Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC/MS-MS) like Derek from More Plates More Dates suggests at the start of this article, in case you're worried about being side-effect prone: https://moreplatesmoredates.com/post-finasteride-syndrome/

Start with minoxidil first for at least 6 months then add finasteride at whatever dose you're comfortable with.

I agree with this, starting treatment one med at a time is the best approach, since you could be in the group of people who don't get good results from Minoxidil. Or you could go the finasteride first route, which is more efficient for keeping hair but you'd have to wait 8 months to a year before trying Minoxidil, unless you want to start using both at the same time, which won't allow you to see if you're an average responder to Minoxidil at all.

Personally I wouldn't start Finasteride if I was 18 (I'd wait until I was 19 or 20 at least) but it's your choice. I was a NW1 at 18 who couldn't grow any decent facial hair at all back then so i might be biased hahahaha

 

[Nebula74]

I just wish they would hurry up and release Breezula, it would be perfect for me because it's obvious I don't have high DHT, but instead have hair which is very sensitive to it, but I heard COVID delayed the phase three trials to first quarter 2021 which sucks

 

[Micky_007]

Just phoned a trichologist and spoke to him, he seemed well read, apparently he was a pioneer in the development of the FUE.

He basically said Minodoxil was pretty much useless at treating hair loss without taking finasteride or dutasteride.

As for being an 18 year old who can't grow any decent facial hair, I can relate, but the prospect of balding before being able to grow facial hair is a depressing one lol

Your trichologist could be right to some degree, but I've seen several people who clearly had male pattern baldness that had positive results by only microneedling (no Minoxidil), then I've seen people who have had positive results with Microneedling + Minoxidil (with obvious male pattern baldness).

As Baby Yaga suggested it's best to start with one treatment at a time and not get too anxious to want to start as much as you can all at once. This way you can find out if Microneedling with Minoxidil truly works for you or not.

I agree with Baby Yaga that you should use Minoxidil for *at least* 6 months before deciding whether you need to use Finasteride (finasteride would only be necessary if Minoxidil + Microneedling doesn't work). Because you want to hold off on Finasteride for as long as possible.

Fortunately, one thing to look forward to in early 2021 is a product called "SULT1A1" which is a Minoxidil Boosting Product by the Canadian company Applied Biology.

Their looking to release their final results hopefully in January 2021.

People have already purchased and received their pre-orders in November this year.

Micro-needling + SULT1A1 + Minoxidil 5% would probably result in some impressive results.

 

[NickyA]

Just phoned a trichologist and spoke to him, he seemed well read, apparently he was a pioneer in the development of the FUE.

He basically said Minodoxil was pretty much useless at treating hair loss without taking finasteride or dutasteride.

As for being an 18 year old who can't grow any decent facial hair, I can relate, but the prospect of balding before being able to grow facial hair is a depressing one lol

Yeah, as I've said Minoxidil is just a bandaid and won't stave off the problem for more than 2-5 years unless you've mild hair loss to begin with. It also seems to work better on asians for some reason, from what I've read here they also tend to get better regrowth on finasteride too. It seems to work in synergy with finasteride though, since finasteride lowers DHT, protecting your follicles and may cause mild to medium regrowth, while Minoxidil regrows hair and has a mild protective effect.

I agree with you about the facial hair, even though I don' think you'll be noticeably worse in one or two years, provided you start some of the treatments we've been suggesting and don't have aggresive hair loss. Even Jason Statham would look like a baby without the stubble, and there isn't a whole lot of people who can pull off the Yul Brynner or Patrick Stewart look.

I just wish they would hurry up and release Breezula, it would be perfect for me because it's obvious I don't have high DHT, but instead have hair which is very sensitive to it, but I heard COVID delayed the phase three trials to first quarter 2021 which sucks

I know little about CB but I've read here that some people here have been buying and using it for a while, but it might be hard to get it from a trustworthy source. I believe there's an ongoing post on the forum about the purity of CB and that it's safer than RU, but not as effective. So I wouldn't put too much hope on it being a long term solution unless you combine it with something else.

 

[jamesbooker1975]

It's possible that your hairline is ever so slightly beginning to receed (extremely early stages). It's your best decision you'll ever make to not jump onto Finasteride. It has really terrible side effects that are often permanent. Also, Finasteride doesn't work really work for the hairline and may make things worse there.

I would say you're a NW1 or NW2 so nothing to worry about majorly for now. I can see some thinning around some parts of your scalp. Just try not to stress and be extremely patient for now.

The main thing is to be calm so you don't accelerate hairloss due to being stressed.

Also, if you masturbate, don't. Because it accelerates hairloss, especially if you do in fact have Male Patterned Balding. Since you have family who have male pattern baldness, it's highly likely that you are also susceptible to male pattern baldness which means you are sensitive to DHT. DHT is the hormone that causes hairloss.

Masturbating increases DHT, thereby increasing hairloss and possibly accelerates the receding of you hairline and thinning of your hair.

Jesus, what an ignorance.
YOu have no idea what is a NW1 or a Norwood 2 ! He is almost Norwood 0 .
Masturbation Don't cause hairloss !!! neither don't fap will not stop it.

"Finasteride doesn't work really work for the hairline and may make things worse there." Another BIG LOL !!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Micky_007]

Jesus, what an ignorance.
YOu have no idea what is a NW1 or a Norwood 2 ! He is almost Norwood 0 .
Masturbation Don't cause hairloss !!! neither don't fap will not stop it.

"Finasteride doesn't work really work for the hairline and may make things worse there." Another BIG LOL !!!!!!!!!!!

You do realize I'm the one that said that he doesn't look like he has any hairloss and if anything it's possibly a maturing hairline if anything? Of course I know what a NW0, 1 and 2 is. From the pictures it looks NW1, but due to the angle of the picture and the fact that I can't see how low his eyebrows are from his hairline I left room for error and said NW2 as the upper range. He either is a NW1 or 1.5 in my opinion however.

You should direct that comment to the person who actually said the OP's hairline looks bad for a 20 year old.
So LOL!!!!!! That is ignorance on your behalf.

Secondly I said Finasteride doesn't "really" work on the hairline, which is the case for many people. I did not say Finasteride does not work at all. There's so many people that have been on Finasteride but have had to have hair transplants or failed to stop their hairloss or who's hair got thinner. Even when Finasteride is used it's recommended to be used in Conjunction with Minoxidil because Finasteride provides very little regrowth and thickening even when it does. Hence a growth stimulant is required.

And I didn't say that stopping fapping would improve his hairloss either. I said, masturbation can accelerate hair loss or thinning if you are sensitive to DHT/ susceptible to male pattern baldness. There is a difference in these 2 statements. You should learn to read carefully. And I stand by what I said about masturbation.

 

[Nebula74]

Jesus, what an ignorance.
YOu have no idea what is a NW1 or a Norwood 2 ! He is almost Norwood 0 .
Masturbation Don't cause hairloss !!! neither don't fap will not stop it.

"Finasteride doesn't work really work for the hairline and may make things worse there." Another BIG LOL !!!!!!!!!!!

I definitely don't think that I'm anywhere near a Norwood 0 lol. The reason why I am suspicious about it is because, a "mature" hairline is supposed to develop at a uniform rate. A mature hairline is ART and happens at a uniform rate

For me, this is clearly not the case. On my left temple, hairs are a lot thinner and sparse, which is what is worrying me. From earlier photos, you can see my crown is thin.

I really hope that I just have a maturing hairline, and it will stabilise, but as everyone has said it's better to start treating earlier rather than pay the price for it later.
I have left my eyebrows visible in the photos

 

[jamesbooker1975]

I definitely don't think that I'm anywhere near a Norwood 0 lol. The reason why I am suspicious about it is because, a "mature" hairline is supposed to develop at a uniform rate. A mature hairline is ART and happens at a uniform rate

For me, this is clearly not the case. On my left temple, hairs are a lot thinner and sparse, which is what is worrying me. From earlier photos, you can see my crown is thin.

I really hope that I just have a maturing hairline, and it will stabilise, but as everyone has said it's better to start treating earlier rather than pay the price for it later.
I have left my eyebrows visible in the photos

If you want to be secure, the easily way to start is with Ketoconazole 2 % shampoo, leave it for 10 to 20 minutes before wash it and try to use it everyday . This is the easily, cheaper, side effects free , to start and prevent hair loss .
Or you can simple take a photo every, lets say 3 month, and check how things are going, if you see a difference, start a treatment . I suggest :
Ketoconazole shampoo 2 % every day
Minoxidil 5% + Tretinoin 0.025 % lotion , every night .
Good luck !

 

[Nebula74]

So I ordered Regaine, a dermaroller and nizoral on prime yesterday, arrived today.

However, my mom opened the Regaine package and freaked out when she saw Minodoxil and confiscated it and gave me a lecture about how dangerous the side effects are.

I managed to keep my dermaroller, which is good I guess, but not sure if there is even much of a pint of just derma rolling on its own.

As well as this, I've been looking at my hair under strong light, and it's evident that there is miniaturisation occuring on my left temple, much worse than what I thought it was.It is hard to get a picture under strong light, but the hair there appears long, wispy and sparse. I think I may even be showing some signs of diffuse thinning, which I think may be imagining, but I've had long hair most of my life, so I can't tell.

When I first noticed irritation in my temples about 6 months ago, I did take a pretty useless picture. But I think it's clear that despite the difference in length, my hair is quite a lot thinner now than then. It is also clear that on my left temple, an M shape is beginning to develop

I honestly don't think I will be able to start using min/finasteride till I move out for university, which will be 9 more months of recession, which I don't want to risk.

Honestly, I just wish I was 5 years older, the psychological stress of knowing that I'm losing my hair, and not being able to do anything about it is quite intense.

I know some people will say that my hair still looks like a NW1.5/2, and that it's not that bad, but for an 18 year old with a family history of balding, this is worrying.

I do get some relief from writing here at least, so I will continue to do so, at least until I can meet with my GP and get a diagnosis for androgenetic alopecia, which will prove that I should at least start taking Minodoxil to my parents.

Honestly, just the thought that I may have lost my hair within the next five years depresses me greatly and ruins what little self confidence.

I hope maybe, my recession slows at the least so there is still time for me to treat it without interference from my parents.

I have important exams coming up in two weeks, but to be honest, I can't take my mind off this and find the motivation to revise.

Honestly, I don't want to sound self pitying by writing this, but I have found that writing this has allowed me to channel my thoughts effectively.

I just wish my genes could've started expressing themselves in five years, and not now, when I still lack control over my life, and I don't have to worry about finasteride f*****g up my sexual development.

I just don't know what to do to be honest, I feel like I'm just going to sit by and watch my hair slowly fall away, along with my self confidence.

My mum told me that if I'm balding to just embrace it anyway - there's bigger things in life than hair. I feel maybe that might be true at 30, or even 25, but at 18 everyone is so superficial, a bald person would not be respected.

I know my writing makes my situation sounds a lot worse than it is, but to be honest, I'm just writing how I feel

 

[NickyA]

I have important exams coming up in two weeks, but to be honest, I can't take my mind off this and find the motivation to revise.

I understand you completely, I still can't believe how I managed to pass all my tests these last two months. Realizing that I'll have to start fighting this stupid condition at 23, without a clear prospect on how I'll look like in 5-10 years has been a huge hit for me. I was reading these forums and watching videos on hair loss for 5-6 hours and studying 3-4 hours, when it should have been the opposite. I cannot imagine going through it at 18... I wish you the best. Worst case scenario, you could tell your mum that hair loss has been impacting you negatively and that you cannot focus on your responsibilites properly now (This could convince her that hair is important to you).

I think I may even be showing some signs of diffuse thinning, which I think may be imagining, but I've had long hair most of my life, so I can't tell.

You could shave your head (I'm talking down to a zero or razor cut). It'll grow back eventually, and you should be able to notice if you're a diffuser because hair won't grow evenly and it will look thinner at the top and/or frontal scalp, especially when it's wet or under harsh lighting. Plus, if you end up looking like crap that'll scare your mum into taking you seriously hahaha. It'd be facing the problem head on, and it'd allow you to see a possible, future version of yourself. I'm planning to go this route in a week.

I do get some relief from writing here at least, so I will continue to do so, at least until I can meet with my GP and get a diagnosis for androgenetic alopecia, which will prove that I should at least start taking Minodoxil to my parents.

I hope that your GP takes you seriously. I lucked out with a good GP who surprised me by knowing a lot about hair loss (He even knew about topical finasteride and dutasteride hahaha) which I didn't expect would happen even though I knew he was a very capable guy, because he's a Norwood 2.5 at 63 years old. Your GP will prolly end up telling you to go to a dermatologist or trichologist though (That's what mine did) because they are the ones who are most knowledgeable on baldness. Hopefully you'll come outta this with a Minoxidil prescription (Even though it's sold over the counter in the UK) that'll convince your parents to be more respectful towards you.

If it's any relief I doubt you'll be noticeably balding by the time you're 20 or 21, unless you have aggresive hair loss (I'm talking lots of hairs on your pillow, bathtub/shower daily, losing 80+ hairs per day, etc). You could take good pictures of your hairline monthly too, that could convince your parents if it starts looking worse. I started losing my baby hairs at the temples and hairline by the time I was 19-20 and thought it could be a maturing hairline or the acne soap I was using, and ditched it since my acne was mild to begin with. Lost a good amount of hair (10-20) while shampooing or using styling wax here and then but didn't think too much about it, just combed a bit upwards and to the right to cover one of my temples a bit, and I looked good with my hair styled up. I used to think I was so smart back then, playing my slight coverup game. Now at 23 I've finally decided to start a serious treatment for peace of mind and to tackle the problem head on, like a man. I don't want to be here 5 years later wishing I had started sooner like many users here.

 

[Nebula74]

I understand you completely, I still can't believe how I managed to pass all my tests these last two months. Realizing that I'll have to start fighting this stupid condition at 23, without a clear prospect on how I'll look like in 5-10 years has been a huge hit for me. I was reading these forums and watching videos on hair loss for 5-6 hours and studying 3-4 hours, when it should have been the opposite. I cannot imagine going through it at 18... I wish you the best. Worst case scenario, you could tell your mum that hair loss has been impacting you negatively and that you cannot focus on your responsibilites properly now (This could convince her that hair is important to you).



You could shave your head (I'm talking down to a zero or razor cut). It'll grow back eventually, and you should be able to notice if you're a diffuser because hair won't grow evenly and it will look thinner at the top and/or frontal scalp, especially when it's wet or under harsh lighting. Plus, if you end up looking like crap that'll scare your mum into taking you seriously hahaha. It'd be facing the problem head on, and it'd allow you to see a possible, future version of yourself. I'm planning to go this route in a week.



I hope that your GP takes you seriously. I lucked out with a good GP who surprised me by knowing a lot about hair loss (He even knew about topical finasteride and dutasteride hahaha) which I didn't expect would happen even though I knew he was a very capable guy, because he's a Norwood 2.5 at 63 years old. Your GP will prolly end up telling you to go to a dermatologist or trichologist though (That's what mine did) because they are the ones who are most knowledgeable on baldness. Hopefully you'll come outta this with a Minoxidil prescription (Even though it's sold over the counter in the UK) that'll convince your parents to be more respectful towards you.

If it's any relief I doubt you'll be noticeably balding by the time you're 20 or 21, unless you have aggresive hair loss (I'm talking lots of hairs on your pillow, bathtub/shower daily, losing 80+ hairs per day, etc). You could take good pictures of your hairline monthly too, that could convince your parents if it starts looking worse. I started losing my baby hairs at the temples and hairline by the time I was 19-20 and thought it could be a maturing hairline or the acne soap I was using, and ditched it since my acne was mild to begin with. Lost a good amount of hair (10-20) while shampooing or using styling wax here and then but didn't think too much about it, just combed a bit upwards and to the right to cover one of my temples a bit, and I looked good with my hair styled up. I used to think I was so smart back then, playing my slight coverup game. Now at 23 I've finally decided to start a serious treatment for peace of mind and to tackle the problem head on, like a man. I don't want to be here 5 years later wishing I had started sooner like many users here.

Hey, thanks for continuing to reply, it feels good to feel like someone is listening and understanding where I'm coming from.

I just spoke with my GP today and it was basically a waste of five minutes. She's a woman, so I knew she wasn't gonna be able to empathise with at all, she said she's gonna refer me to a dermatologist within the next 4 months lol.

Luckily I'm also meeting a trichologist in a week, so maybe there's more hope there lol.

As for my parents, they're not helping at all, my mum said talk to the GP and not her, which didn't help at all lol. She said I may as well just save up for a hair transplant in Turkey in 10 years which was very comforting lol.

 

[Micky_007]

Hey, thanks for continuing to reply, it feels good to feel like someone is listening and understanding where I'm coming from.

I just spoke with my GP today and it was basically a waste of five minutes. She's a woman, so I knew she wasn't gonna be able to empathise with at all, she said she's gonna refer me to a dermatologist within the next 4 months lol.

Luckily I'm also meeting a trichologist in a week, so maybe there's more hope there lol.

As for my parents, they're not helping at all, my mum said talk to the GP and not her, which didn't help at all lol. She said I may as well just save up for a hair transplant in Turkey in 10 years which was very comforting lol.

LOL your mum sounds quite knowledgeable about the hair loss treatments, which is quite cool. Some parents don't know anything

 

[Micky_007]

So I ordered Regaine, a dermaroller and nizoral on prime yesterday, arrived today.

However, my mom opened the Regaine package and freaked out when she saw Minodoxil and confiscated it and gave me a lecture about how dangerous the side effects are.

I managed to keep my dermaroller, which is good I guess, but not sure if there is even much of a pint of just derma rolling on its own.

As well as this, I've been looking at my hair under strong light, and it's evident that there is miniaturisation occuring on my left temple, much worse than what I thought it was.It is hard to get a picture under strong light, but the hair there appears long, wispy and sparse. I think I may even be showing some signs of diffuse thinning, which I think may be imagining, but I've had long hair most of my life, so I can't tell.

When I first noticed irritation in my temples about 6 months ago, I did take a pretty useless picture. But I think it's clear that despite the difference in length, my hair is quite a lot thinner now than then. It is also clear that on my left temple, an M shape is beginning to develop

I honestly don't think I will be able to start using min/finasteride till I move out for university, which will be 9 more months of recession, which I don't want to risk.

Honestly, I just wish I was 5 years older, the psychological stress of knowing that I'm losing my hair, and not being able to do anything about it is quite intense.

I know some people will say that my hair still looks like a NW1.5/2, and that it's not that bad, but for an 18 year old with a family history of balding, this is worrying.

I do get some relief from writing here at least, so I will continue to do so, at least until I can meet with my GP and get a diagnosis for androgenetic alopecia, which will prove that I should at least start taking Minodoxil to my parents.

Honestly, just the thought that I may have lost my hair within the next five years depresses me greatly and ruins what little self confidence.

I hope maybe, my recession slows at the least so there is still time for me to treat it without interference from my parents.

I have important exams coming up in two weeks, but to be honest, I can't take my mind off this and find the motivation to revise.

Honestly, I don't want to sound self pitying by writing this, but I have found that writing this has allowed me to channel my thoughts effectively.

I just wish my genes could've started expressing themselves in five years, and not now, when I still lack control over my life, and I don't have to worry about finasteride f*****g up my sexual development.

I just don't know what to do to be honest, I feel like I'm just going to sit by and watch my hair slowly fall away, along with my self confidence.

My mum told me that if I'm balding to just embrace it anyway - there's bigger things in life than hair. I feel maybe that might be true at 30, or even 25, but at 18 everyone is so superficial, a bald person would not be respected.

I know my writing makes my situation sounds a lot worse than it is, but to be honest, I'm just writing how I feel

Firstly, you need to be calm. All this stressing and closely inspecting of your hair isn't good for you. You're just overthinking everything right now.

For most people, hair loss happens over many years. And you're highly likely to be in that category. In a few years time your hair is probably gonna look very similar to what it is now and possibly may not even get any worse until many years later. So relax. Hairloss doesn't happen drastically overnight.

All is not over, many people Derma roll solely and get regrowth. You can also buy natural oils. That has no side effects and your mum surely won't confiscate. Also their relatively cheap. But you will need to make sure their high quality so you get all the nutrients.

You will need these Essential Oils:
1) Peppermint Oil (100% Pure)
2) Rosemary Oil (100% Pure)

You will need a Carrier Oil to mix your Essential Oils in:
1) Coconut Oil (100% Pure Extra Virgin/virgin/Organic)

Mix all three of these oils and keep them in a sealed container. In a cool dry place away from sunlight.

Derma roll at 1mm or 1.5mm once a week and apply the mixture of these oils onto your scalp every single day. Probably at night will be most convenient because they leave your hair looking oily. Put a towel on your pillow so that the oil doesn't soak into your pillow when you sleep.

Apply the oils atleast 30 to 45 minutes before you sleep so that they have time to absorb into your scalp and don't go straight to your pillow.

The dermaroller will give these oils far greater absorption.

Don't underestimate natural oils just because they don't have scientific studies like Finasteride and Minoxidil. Remember, these are natural substances so they don't have the financial backing of Big Pharma to conduct studies. Lack of studies doesn't mean lack of effectiveness. Hair oils have helped alot of people thicken their hair and is extremely underrated on the internet. Most people just lack consistency and effort. They don't use it everyday for at least 6 months before making judgment.

You need to use these oils everyday for 6 months straight, then make judgment. Also as Pegasus2 mentioned, use a 2% Ketoconazole Shampoo every day for at least 6 months. And during the day while you don't have any hair oils, you can apply Alpecin Caffeine Liquid twice a day to your scalp (morning and evening), it's a natural alternative to Minoxidil 5% and has the exact same results as Minoxidil when you get to the 6 months point if it is applied daily, twice a day. It's applied the exact same way as Minoxidil, you leave it in your scalp the whole day. Only wash it out at night so that you can apply the hair oils. The good thing is that Alpecin is natural so no side effects and your mum won't confiscate it.

This alone should be enough for your hair, and should keep your hair for many years + with some regrowth and thickening.

So you're in good hands with this.

Told you, all is not over

Also you need to focus on your upcoming tests or exams. You need to make sure you perform well at school because it will determine the type of job you get. If you get a good paying job, you can treat yourself to all the best hairloss treatments that will be coming out. And you will never have hairloss. So that's a great incentive to focus on your studies too.

 

[Nebula74]

For most people, hair loss happens over many years. And you're highly likely to be in that category. In a few years time your hair is probably gonna look very similar to what it is now and possibly may not even get any worse until many years later. So relax. Hairloss doesn't happen drastically overnight.

All is not over, many people Derma roll solely and get regrowth. You can also buy natural oils. That has no side effects and your mum surely won't confiscate. Also their relatively cheap. But you will need to make sure their high quality so you get all the nutrients.


The dermaroller will give these oils far greater absorption.

The dermaroller I bought was fake so returning it lol

 

[Nebula74]

LOL your mum sounds quite knowledgeable about the hair loss treatments, which is quite cool. Some parents don't know anything

yeah she's a doctor, so she kind of knows about this stuff

 

[Micky_007]

The dermaroller I bought was fake so returning it lol

Try getting a reputable one, there's the Derminator 2, but if you're willing to spend a bit more money for a much more convenient and effective Microneedling device, I would suggest you visit the Dr Pen website. It's a pen typed dermaroller device. And apparently less painful.

The best type available now is the Dr Pen M8. I know someone who got it with 12 weeks of needles if you outright by the M8 Device, which According to the website it costs 55 USD.

Dr. Pen M8 Cartridges Tips 16 Pins X 10pcs | Dr. Pen Microneedling Pen丨Official Website丨Drpen.com

drpen.com

it shows here at least 55 usd is 10 pins so 10 weeks.

they gave him the 16 pins per cartilage . 36 pins may be even better.

Why choose to use a Derma "pen" instead of a normal Derma roller?

derma pen far more effective and accurate. derm rollers can leave bigger blocks and tears..less effective.

We only want to get effective pokes. His ultimate goal is accuracy and most results so he ended up buying an expensive derm pen.

go to 1:14 in the video

 

[NickyA]

I agree with Micky about doing your best to keep it together however you can for these two weeks and the upcoming exams. That is great advice. I've also read here that dermapens may be more effective than dermarollers, they are more expensive though, and take longer to use. Like he said, I don't believe you'll be noticeably bald by the time you're 20-21, unless you suffer from aggressive hair loss. I'm pretty pissed off by the way your mum spoke to you about a transplant, the way you wrote about it sounds like she was very patronizing and couldn't empathize much. Plus, some types of hair loss aren't even treatable by transplants, much less those cheap ones done in Turkey.

If you cannot go for anything else giving natural treatments a shot may be worth a try. I wouldn't put much hope on them though (The only great, effective natural treatment for stopping hair loss is the ground) or on Alopecin shampoo (It was banned in the UK due to false advertising because there aren't any real, unsponsored studies where it shows that it has any use for treating hair loss, there's been discussion on the forums about that some days ago in this section). Wish you the best dude.

 

[Micky_007]

Thanks Nicky, and yeah Alpecin has been banned from claiming they help to stop hair loss but that's mainly because they didn't conduct proper studies and is only in the UK.

However, independent studies have been done on the positive effects of Caffeine on male pattern baldness, so there is hope in Alpecin for some stabilization and possible thickening. It's not a miracle product and they never claimed to cure hairloss or tackle it at the root cause of the problem. Their approach is simply to treat the output. By supplying energy to the hair follicles which is what's required during the growth (anagen) phase. It's said that hair requires 10x more energy during the growth phase and DHT limits this energy supply. I do believe it will be of some benefit.

Also, it's really popular, it's already sold their 100 millionth Alpecin product in 2015, and I assume that number had grown substantially since then. If it were truly ineffective it wouldn't have gained status as Germany's best selling men's shampoo.

Plus it's already being sold in over 40 countries.

Hence, I say, lack of studies doesn't necessarily mean lack of effectiveness.

Alternatively, something really exciting to look forward to is a natural product called TH16 which is going to be released in January 2021 by the company Triple Hair.
They say it has outperformed Minoxidil 5%. What's more interesting is that its made of only natural substances. So definitely something that won't be confiscated from you and can be used as a substitute topical for Minoxidil 5% with no side effects.

New Company: Triple Hair - Follicle Thought

Follicle Thought is pleased to present an exclusive look at a newcomer in the hair loss treatment industry, Triple Hair of Canada. Triple Hair’s Story Triple Hair was founded by Dr. Houfar Sekhavat, an opthalmologist based in Moncton, Canada. It was Dr. Sekhavat’s own experience with androgenic...

www.folliclethought.com

 

[Nebula74]

My temple now is on the left Vs my temple a month ago on the right. I know the first ones a bit closer in but still, isnt this pretty rapid recession?

 

[Nebula74]

My temple now is on the left Vs my temple a month ago on the right. I know the first ones a bit closer in but still, isnt this pretty rapid recession?

I'm freaking out lol