noah24's Story

[noah24]

Hello. This is my first post here, and I'm curious as to what you guys think about my situation.

Well, for starters, I'm 24 years old and I've started to notice some significant thinning.

When my hair is dried, it looks a lot better.

However, I've noticed these indents at the sides.

About the thinning:

There aren't any localized patches, so it appears diffusive. the sides of my scalp have also become a bit thinner too, I think. My hair has always been thin, but I've never seen so much scalp before now and I'm getting pretty scared, since I always liked my hair. My hairline has formed a dent on both sides of the crown, but it hasn't really gotten worse. It's been like that for a while. Recently, there's been some tingling on my scalp, but I think that's because it's being desensitized. It's pretty tender when I take a comb to it.

About my and my lifestyle:

I eat a lot, so I don't think I'm suffering from nutritional deficiency. Regular exercise...yada yada yada. No allergies to mention. My skin is pretty dry, and I get a lot of dandruff.There really isn't any evidence of balding in my family. My brother's hair isn't thinning (as far as he can tell and I haven't seen any balding in any of my immediate relatives, including grandparents.

Should I consult a dermatologist before moving on to minoxidil and finasteride/propecia? I don't currently have health insurance and was wondering if it was particularly expensive.

 

[TheGrayMan2001]

Your hairline looks really intact, so thats good for now...the indentions on Telogen Effluvium sides are 100% normal. Almost every male gets those regardless of if he recedes more or not, usually referred to as part of the "mature hairline".

I just ordered some Fincar from Inhouse, other people use other pharmacies around here. I'm kinda in the same boat, no insurance right now. I'm gonna stick to the finasteride for about a year and see how I respond, hopefully I won't need minoxidil because I really don't want to have to use topical stuff if I can avoid it.

My recommendation from being new around here: Order some kind of finasteride and get on it, see how you do on it, and wait it out....then add minoxidil later if it is needed.

 

[jimjams]

I would love to see the above wet look with an above dry look... i am amazed at how thin it looks wet to how THICK it looks dry.

 

[noah24]

I posted my problem on another message board and got an seemingly informed, interesting reply.

"They usually don't test for zinc in blood tests, serum zinc levels would require that you specifically ask for it, and the test sans insurance will be something retarded like 250$ including the rest of your bloodwork (usually just co-pay with insurance.)

Seeing a derm is a good idea, but be careful, they will often see the $$$ and either refer you to a buddy(hair restoration surgeon) for kickbacks or prescribe you with expensive topical ointment regardless of the actual cure. It will involve many return visits as checkups and may not solve the problem. Endocrinologists deal with hormonal imbalances but that is neither here nor there with regards to mineral deficiencies.

I would start the Zinc process today(if not driving to GNC and getting a current, not outdated, bottle of zinc monomethionate 15:1 copper gluconate, then order online.) The side effects for this size dose are nearly unheard of(Upper limit is 150mg-450mg daily), but as with all minerals it can effect the smell of your urine and taste(...) of your semen but probably wont."

I don't know if I'm zinc deficient. What's a good way to tell? I heard about the taste test and the serum test, but I'm not sure how reliable they are.

 

[noah24]

Also, I was wondering what the chances it could be telogen effluvium and not male pattern baldness?

 

[cuebald]

It's male pattern baldness if the top of your scalp is thinning and the sides of your head aren't.

It's Telogen Effluvium (or DUPA) if your entire head of hair is thinning/shedding without pattern (i.e. the "donor area" around the sides and back is thinning too)

I must say I can't see any evidence of male pattern baldness in these pictures.

I don't know how likely a Zinc deficiency is to cause Telogen Effluvium, but it almost certainly won't cause male pattern baldness.

In my experiences, people with bad dietary insufficiencies suffer many bad effects before they start to lose their hair.

 

[noah24]

I haven't checked the back of my hair, but the sides of my head have also seemed to thin out a bit.