melky1's story - (21 years old and temple recession)

[melky1]

hey all,

really great to finally join up here. i've been browsing for awhile and have found a lot of support here, even as an outsider, if you can believe that.

anyways, i've always had a big forehead and have felt self concious about my temples since probably age 13 (i'm 21 now). my mom and sis have big foreheads too, and from pics i can see my mom's dad probably had triangular alopecia. pretty much every male on my dad's side is REAL bald, they were all cue-balls by the age of 20.

as the years have gone on these corners have just gotten higher and higher. never noticed any crown problems. i always grew my hair long and curly so i'd have a nice mop for some camo and it was no biggie. the problem is over the course of the last few months my frontal region's been thinning out and things are starting to look ratty and combed over. some days are good, some days i look a bit like dracula.

i started up on finasteride about 8 months ago. i knew it wasn't really meant to be effective on the front but i figured it couldn't hurt and i might as well nip any future de-crownage in the bud. i never experienced any shed, unless that's what the recent thinning in the front is (though i doubt that), but i'm going to stick to it because it can't hurt and it's really no problemo. i was also on shen min for about 6 months, but i discontinued that a few weeks ago. somehow i started thinking it was doing me more harm than good- it smells like butt, and i figured a regular multivitamin would be just as helpful in keeping my hair strong. i've still got about $50 worth of that crap laying around and i just don't want to take it anymore.

just two days ago i added rogaine foam into the mix in an attempt to add to some frontal coverage. i bought one bottle just to test the water and i'm really pleasantly surprised at the ease of use and the way it makes my hair look. so i'm gonna keep up with that for awhile and see what happens. i realize that as a 21 year old who doesn't always know where he's going to end up from night to night, i'm gonna miss an application here and there, and i also know it's not supposed to work on the front. but based on what i've seen on this site, it looks like it's more than possible, so it's worth a shot.

anyway, i figure i'll update every few weeks to let you know how it's going, i'll try and get some pictures up here as well. Man, it feels nice just to get this down, sorry if it's a bore but i'd love any feedback you may have! cheers everybody, good luck.

 

[melky1]

hey dudes,

sorry no pics yet.

i've been on the foam for a little over a week now. my hair's pretty long now and i've gone from trying to sneak it onto my scalp using my fingers to simply parting the hair and squeezing the foam directly onto the areas i intend to. then when i'm done with that i push my hair back and put a bit on the naked bits right along the hairline. i'm sure i'm using a fair bit more than a capful, but who cares.

of course no real noticeable results yet. however- my face has been getting quite greasy recently, a few pimples have sprouted up too. anyone experienced this? it also feels like i've got a little zit on the scalp of my frontal hairline. it's kinda sore. from what i can remember from puberty, where there's pimples there's new hairs a-brewin'. but i suppose i won't get my hopes up yet.

i've also started drinking emerald balance superfood. i find it pretty tasty and it's good for you.

later guys!

 

[astral week]

welcome welcome.
first piece of advice (i'm being hypocritical here, but it's summer and i'm bored a lot): don't spend too much time on this forum or else you'll probably get kind of cynical if you're just beginning your wonderful journey down the Norwood road. Once you start a regimen, you don't really need to check the forum all the time.
Finasteride was a good move; it wasn't officially tested on the front but it definitely helps. You do know that minoxidil has to used indefinitely, right? Don't start it unless you're in it for the long haul. Also, most people recommend you give finasteride a year to see how that works for you before starting minoxidil.
I'm not aware of minoxidil causing pimples, that usually is more of a finasteride thing, but i never had much acne so i never paid attention to that.
It sounds like you're not freaking out or anything, which is always refreshing here, cause i know i sure was freaking out when it hit me.
good luck, and post progress every month or so

 

[melky1]

thanks for the kind words. yeah, somehow i don't think i'll become a diehard poster here, but i think it's great that those who need to post all the time can do that.

in terms of freaking out- yeah, i am a young man and thinning hair is definitely less than ideal. but my confidence has never been "rooted" in my hair, or any other aspect of my physicality. we are men- we write books, we make music, we beat people up, we build bridges out of steel and brawn. i have never personally bought into comparing myself to other dudes, whether they're my peers or "stars" in tabloid papers. now i'm not trying to put down any guy who is having emotional issues regarding hair loss, and i'm not trying to be a chauvanist- (in fact the people i REALLY feel for are the ladies who are losing their hair. that must be truly devastating- not that women can't do all those things i've listed above, but because if anyone's being compared to one another constantly, by both sexes... jeesh) but the point is- we are men and men lose their hair a lot of the time. and i would strive to be great regardless of having a massive afro or a shiny shiny cue-ball. if anything, a little chrome-domium would inspire me to soar to even GREATER heights.

anyway, that is my tony robbins rant. i hope it was a nice piece of feel-goodery for all of you and i hope everybody's doing well. talk to ya later.

 

[RaginDemon]

I use finasteride to maintain and apply foam for regrow.

I think they work well so far.

 

[melky1]

anyone using foam start shedding around the two month mark?

 

[RaginDemon]

anyone using foam start shedding around the two month mark?

4 weeks for me

 

[melky1]

i've been using foam around the temples. nothing too noticable yet. some very light hair where i've been applying. also one or two dark ones that've popped out of nowhere and just sort of hang around solo.

it does appear that my on top, where i don't apply much rogaine, has thinned. in the last week or so i've noticed a shed of a bunch of thin, miniaturized hairs.

maybe this is due to the finasteride, but i've been on finasteride for around ten months now.

could this shed be due to the rogaine?

i'm also wondering, does minoxidil have a systemic effect? in other words, could hair in the middle of your head be effected by rogaine that's been applied to the hairline?

any info would be very much appreciated.

take care guys.

 

[RaginDemon]

i've been using foam around the temples. nothing too noticable yet. some very light hair where i've been applying. also one or two dark ones that've popped out of nowhere and just sort of hang around solo.

it does appear that my on top, where i don't apply much rogaine, has thinned. in the last week or so i've noticed a shed of a bunch of thin, miniaturized hairs.

maybe this is due to the finasteride, but i've been on finasteride for around ten months now.

could this shed be due to the rogaine?

i'm also wondering, does minoxidil have a systemic effect? in other words, could hair in the middle of your head be effected by rogaine that's been applied to the hairline?

any info would be very much appreciated.

take care guys.

nobody can tell you what caused the shed unfortunately... be patient with minoxidil however... it takes a lonnnnnnng time for those little hair to grow into thicker more terminal looking hair.

 

[melky1]

hi guys,

so i started the foam along the hairline and temples three months ago. been on finasteride since last october. my crown is fine.

i have noticed some new fuzz along the hairline. however the entire frontal region has really seemed to thin out. as i noticed this i started applying foam on the top/front as well. i feel like this has started a sort of vicious cycle... the rogaine i used on the hairline caused a shed and the rogaine i used on the shed is causing even more shed. that's just my theory i suppose. i've been losing a lot of what seem like miniaturized hair. but man, lately something's doing a real number on the front of my hair. it really is thinner than ever.

i just want to make sure- minoxidil will only shed the hairs that were already predisposed to fall out one day anyway right? a little fuzz along the hairline to combat recession isn't worth it if i start losing scalp coverage.

anyway, here's to all these lost hairs coming back stronger & thicker. comments/tips?

take care boys

 

[RaginDemon]

minoxidil is not supposed to make u shed your non male pattern baldness affected hair.