Neuromet's Story - (28 / Pics)

[neuromet]

I'm 28 and am in my first month of Propecia. I was not thinking about hair loss until recently, so I had never paid attention to signs of hair loss in other men.

Now I'm looking at other men my age and it seems that about half have a bigger bald spot than me, and half have a smaller spot. I am not sure if my bald spot is the start of a process of balding, or if it is about the normal size. Perhaps I don't need to be taking Propecia?

I would appreciate your opinion. You can find pictures of my crown on March 27 here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37699130@N ... 61/detail/

If I showed you pictures today there would be much less hair. I noticed two weeks ago that I had less hair in the crown after I got a haircut. However, now I am thinking that it wasn't the hair cut, but rather shedding due to the Propecia.

Thanks a lot for your opinion on the photos. Am I balding or not?

 

[BodyDysmorphic]

your crown as you know is miniaturizing

how is your hairline?

finasteride is a good start

finasteride plus minoxidil maybe a better shot in your case

IMO i think you should consider the big 3 for maintenance and most likely regrowth
for that crown

just a suggestion mate

cheers

 

[Jokerman]

Hey,

In my opinion I would stick with the propecia and shampoo with Nizoral 3 times a week. Nizoral is essential as it will get rid of the inflammation and encourage regrowth. Judging by the pics, it does look like you have a little bit of inflammation.

I'd give it a year before considering minoxidil. You still have excellent coverage and the propecia may regrow your crown by itself. At the very least you'll most likely maintain what you have now.

If after a year your looking for more regrowth I'd start on minoxidil at that time. Personally speaking, I think you're crown still looks good and I wouldn't be bothered by it if it only maintained, although propecia would stand a good chance of adding regrowth by itself. From what I've read minoxidil can be a lot of hassle, so I think it's better used for higher norwood levels where propecia just isn't enough or for people who are really bothered by a little bit of thinning.

 

[neuromet]

Thank you for your opinions, BodyDysmorphic and Jokerman. It's great to get an honest opinion from people who know what they are talking about.

BodyDysmorphic, I added one picture to the photo set you saw, the last photo, 1470. That shows my crown in natural light. The others are with a flash. I think in the natural light the coverage of the crown looks better. I think I agree with Jokerman that regrowth does not have to be a main priority right now.

As requested, here is my hairline: http://www.flickr.com/photos/37699130@N ... 218276035/

I have less of a clue if my hairline is really bad or not. There has been receding at the sides, but I think this occurs to most everyone, no?

I do also think, Jokerman, that minoxidil is a hastle, especially because it is a permanent treatment. I'd prefer to see if Propecia can give me regrowth or even maintain what I have.

However, since minoxidil stimulates hair growth and Propecia is good at maintaining hair, would I have to be on minoxidil for the rest of my life to maintain its results? Or once the "minoxidil hair" grows in, Propecia can keep it there for me? That would make the idea of minoxidil MUCH more attractive to me.

Thanks to both for the advice on Nizoral. Actually, I had never heard of it before. I'm educating myself now.

All others feel free to jump in. I love this forum of good people helping each other out!

 

[ClayShaw]

Could be a cowlick, could be the beginnings of a bald spot. Tough to tell.

 

[BodyDysmorphic]

ok your hairline is fine
just looks "mature" IMO
which is good

i do agree with joker
it does look like a bit of inflammation on the crown
does it itch?
nizoral 2% should help you out with that

minoxidil is a hassle but if you REALLY want hair you will do it

if you are content with your hair now i would just use finasteride and nizoral

finasteride may fill in that crown alone "i've seen it happen"

to answer your question
minoxidil is a lifelong commitment
the hair you grow/maintain with minoxidil will go "miniaturize" when you stop using it

finasteride can not keep hair grown from minoxidil
and minoxidil can not keep the hair grown/maintained from finasteride

the drugs work in different ways
but work synergistically together in harmony

cheers mate

 

[BodyDysmorphic]

Could be a cowlick, could be the beginnings of a bald spot. Tough to tell.

clay not to criticizes you

but his crown is miniaturizing

their is a cowlick, yes
but their is also miniaturization and thinning
around the cowlick
:smack:

cheers man

 

[neuromet]

Well, this is exactly the internal discussion I've been having with myself for the past month: cowlick or bald spot?

I was such an amateur when this came to my attention that I just relied on photos of my head. Two weeks on finasteride and I went to the barber and saw the back of my head in a reflection of a mirror in a mirror. I was shocked. It looked much worse to me than the pictures.

I don't know if it was the hair cut, shedding from finasteride, or just being able to see the back of my head live. If it were shedding from finasteride, the fact that so much hair came out would indicate to me that there were a lot of hairs in the telogon stage on the back of my head. Which probably means that I wasn't growing new hairs too fast even if I did have some coverage.

Also, I've noticed that the thinning looks much worse when my hair is wet. So here are two videos, one with wet hair and one with dry hair, at three weeks of finasteride.

I'd be interested if ClayShaw or anyone else would say that this is cowlick?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37699130@N ... 312496964/

Sorry for rambling on and on. I just don't want to be on finasteride if I can be off it, or lose my hair if I can be on it.

 

[amsch]

Hm, I'm pretty sure your hairline's receding, not just maturing. (if this really exists..). You should start treatments asap!

 

[Jokerman]

Like BD said, in my opinion that's DEFINITELY not a cowlick. Your temples are receding as well.

Two weeks seems a little early to notice increased thinning from propecia, although I guess it may be possible. Have you noticed an increase in shedding? Your hair will most likely get worse before it gets better, but two weeks does seem a little quick.

Your left temple is worse than your right temple, so I'd prepare for that right side to thin out and look like the left sometime during the course of your treatment. Whether it stands a chance of growing back on propecia is anyone's guess. minoxidil would be the way to go if you're looking for temple regrowth. At what time you decide to add it is your choice. Full results on propecia takes a year, sometimes more, so you could wait till then or jump on minoxidil sooner.

I've never used minoxidil so maybe someone with experience using it could give you some suggestions.

 

[neuromet]

Jokerman, my left temple is actually better than my right, although I can see how it might look otherwise in the picture. I think I'm going to take a string and measure from my right/left eye to the top of my right/left temple hairline so I have a baseline and can be sure.

Your left temple is worse than your right temple, so I'd prepare for that right side to thin out and look like the left sometime during the course of your treatment. Whether it stands a chance of growing back on propecia is anyone's guess.

If I'm on finasteride now, why would it thin out? Do you mean due to the usual thinning and shedding when hair is being replaced? If so, then shouldn't it at least grow back to the way it is now?

Regarding the increased thinning, I'm sure it wasn't from the two weeks of finasteride. It was the haircut I got. Now, three weeks after the haircut, my crown is back to the same coverage/thickness as before. In the future, I might not get my hair cut as short. Or maybe the barber can keep long hairs by the crown area. I don't think that would look weird and I don't think it would be that hard.

Thank you for the insightful comments!

 

[Jokerman]

I don't think I got a good read on your hairline pics. It looked like your left side has a widows peak while the right has more of a straight hairline with only a bit of recession. It sounds like my take on the pics was off.

The widows peak on one side and the straighter hairline on the other side is what my hair looked like when I started finasteride and in my experience the side that had the less thinning caught up with the other side and they evened out. While I'm now starting to have some very good regrowth on the crown, the side that was once better doesn't look like it's going to get back to where it was before (can't see any new hairs.) Both sides have evened out and it looks like it's going to say that way. The side that was worse never got any worse by the way. It stayed the same and the other caught up. It was never that bad to begin with. Similar to the shot of your left temple, although maybe a bit better than yours.

Your hair loss looked so close to mine I just figured you would probably have similar results with your crown improving while your hairline evened out and maintained.

There's a chance you may have a similar result, or you could out do me and have regrowth. Either way your hair is going to look a hell of a lot better than it would had you not done something about. Best thing to do is probably give it a year and evaluate then. If you're not getting any regrowth in the front consider adding minoxidil at that time.

The really good news is that my crown was worse than yours close to nine months ago when I started propecia and now I would say it's better than yours. For the first time in a couple years I can style it to conceal most of the thinning. It seems my hair has thickened up all over my head as well. The front has evened out and maintained and personally, I'm happy as sh*t with just that. I had bad inflammation and that has gone away as well thanks to nizoral/finasteride.

Hope that helps and makes sense. Best of luck!

 

[neuromet]

Thanks, man. Very, very helpful.