Should I tell my brother?

[Guest]

My brother is 26, 7years older than me and has been thinning for the last few years. I remember finding a bottle of regaine in his room about a year ago but I think he discontinued using it after a few months because he saw no regrowth. I'm not particularly close to my brother but he's my brother after all. I rarely talk to him to be completely honest, and when we do it’s usually about football and even then the conversation is pushed and always awkward. How should I approach the topic of hair loss and the big3 Nizoral, finasteride and regaine, should I just blurt it out? My brother has suffered from depression in the past and me drawing attention to his hair loss may affect him and cause him to become more self-conscious and even worse depressed again.


Thanks
Kenny

 

[Green Soap]

Leave a note:

Big three:
Nizoral ($3- 5 a month)
finasteride ($7 a month - Proscar)
minoxidil ($10 a month)

HairLossTalk.com.com

and put it on his door.

 

[Guest]

Kenny the answers right there in your question.

football = Euro 2004 = Current Holders France

which leads you on nicley to what many consider to be the best football player in the world, one monsieur Zinedine Zidane.

Obviously I don't know the relationship between you and your brother, but there has gotta be some way you could get round to ZZ's Top, always remember the old magicians trick of missdirection, don't jump straight in with:

"hey I see the french have been kicked out..poor old Zidane..bald as a coot you know...just like you"....long awkward pause..."another guinness?"

You will obviously have to let the conversation take it's natural course and jump in with big three way, way into the conversation.

"sh*t look at this guy, I bet he wished the big three were up and going when his head started to ressemble the football more than the grass"

good luck, he will probably thank you in ten years time.

 

[TortoiseAndHair]

Kenny the answers right there in your question.

football = Euro 2004 = Current Holders France

which leads you on nicley to what many consider to be the best football player in the world, one monsieur Zinedine Zidane.

In the US, Footbal != Euro 2004 8)

I'm in a similar boat. My brother looks pretty bad now, but I heard he was using propecia and rogaine at one point, so I'm sure he's aware of the situation.

I remember one time when I was in my teens, my mom bought some Clearisil and left it in front of my door. I was so pissed off. If I wanted Clearisil, I would have gotten in my car, driven to the store and bougth it. Also, I didn't like the way she passive-aggressively approached the problem. If she had something to say, I would have preferred she approach me directly.

Anyway, he knows he's got a problem, and a quick search on google for "hair loss" should turn up this site, so I would just let him deal with his own problems.

 

[Cassin]

. I remember finding a bottle of regaine in his room about a year ago .............

What were you searching for in his room?

/hic

 

[jx]

Leave a note:

Big three:
Nizoral ($3- 5 a month)
finasteride ($7 a month - Proscar)
minoxidil ($10 a month)

HairLossTalk.com.com

and put it on his door.

where do you get all that so cheap? my nizoral cost $15, finasteride is $59, and i forget how much for the minoxidil.

 

[JesusFreak]

I have enough of a problem worrying about my hair loss much less worrying about someone else worrying about their own. Then i dont need the worry about them monitoring my hair loss and my success every time i see them.

Sometimes we assume that hair loss should be as important to other poeple as it is to us, when it isn't. I have a friend who started balding the same time i did...he used to rib me about treating my hair loss. Well, 15 years later he is completely bald on top and I still have all my hair.

I wouldnt go into your hair loss, just tell him you were reading about all the new treatments and thinking about looking into it yourself. Email him the link to this website and drop it. If his hair is important enough for him to do somthing about it he will take the ball and run. I'm sure you care about your brother but, you can't solve his problems for him.

Remember, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

 

[Guest]

remember you can lead a horse to water, but a pencil has to be lead

 

[Guest]

What were you searching for in his room?

I was in his house one day and just stumbled across it.

The thing is though, my brother can barely turn a pc on let alone connect to the net and search. Lets be honest if it wasn't for the internet alot of us would still be on regaine thinking its the only treatment available, and those of us who heard of propecia would probably dismiss it because of its price.

 

[david60176]

My brother started freaking out about his hair loss but he is not one to be assertive about finding solutions or researching. Being the good brother that I am, I gave him a link to buy some proscar and it does seem to be helping him some. I told him about nizoral but he still hasn't gone out and bought some. He is such a lazy ***. I don't think he is at the point for needing minoxidil. Anyways, I like Teetering's answer the best. A short and simple note, that's what should have done instead of talking to him.

 

[Cassin]

Tough call man....

My sister brought it up to me years ago and it made me very tense and defensive. But deep down I was glad someone was helping me and mad at myself for gettting so defensive. I ignored it and wasted a few years.

The initial conversation will be bad, but in the long run he will be thankful right? Obviously from reading these forums you can assume a decent amount of his depression comes from male pattern baldness. Were I you I would figure out a way to tell him about it. This stuff is so cheap, how about you give him a months supply of stuff? 1 bottle of generic minoxidil 5%, Nizoral, some cut finasteride should run you $30 or so. It would be worth it to help him out.

So many people never really give it a shot.

 

[djApolloCreed]

I wonder about this often. I feel like the measures I've taken to fight hairloss are definitely helping my situation. I was VERY depressed before I got my meds and they kicked in. One of my friends is an obvious diffuse thinner- has been noticibly for about a year, so bad he has to cut his hair as short as possible and its still see-thru. He definitely seems depressed over it. Just hasn't been himself. I'm not sure everyone is aware that meds like finasteride A) exist
B) can be very affordable
C) really do work for most people
If he's in the funk I was in then he really needs help... or eventually accept total baldness I guess (not that far away).
I have another friend who's very concerned with appearance, although he gives himself his own haircuts, so no one has told him about his baldspot in the back and slight thinning all throughout... he actually just made a comment the other day about he would never go bald because of his father, or some other genetic reason. I'd hate to be the one to burst his bubble, but its just going to get worse.

I'm guessing others don't know that there are successful proven treatments so they don't point it out. Its seems obvious in both cases though that these guys care or will care. I know not everyone does. At the same time I don't really feel like compelling my friends into checking out my hair and progress and asking me questions since I really try to keep hairloss totally out of my public life (aside from this forum). Seems like more than a little note or a link would be in order to make the situation and possibilities totally understood... but I don't wanna be a balding big brother. Its pretty weird.

 

[The Gardener]

That's a very situational call. I don't have enough context into your relationship with your brother to help. Are you two close?

 

[hair mchair]

You should let him know. My brother and cousin noticed my hairloss long before I did, mostly because they used to cut my hair. Yet they didn't say anything to me because they were afraid it would upset me. However, if they had said something to me, I would've started treating it years earlier and would probably have a lot more hair today. Hence, I'd be happier.

If your brother had a bottle of Rogaine in his room, he obviously cares about his hairloss. You'd really be helping him out by giving him all the facts. It might be a little awkward, but it'll be worth it.

I wouldn't worry too much about upsetting him. He obviously knows he's losing his hair, and he wants to do something about it. I think he'll be a lot more depressed if he does nothing and winds up bald in a few years. Plus, since you're in the same situation as him, maybe it'll help if he has someone to talk to about his hairloss problem.

 

[Whammy]

i'm sorta in the same situation as David. My brother is just kinda lazy I think. A lot of fighting Hair loss is how hard you're willing to fight it. Face it, some people couldn't deal with applying minoxidil twice a day and deal with the side effects, and remembering the nizoral and all that stuff. Talking about it with my brother actually wasn't that hard. Because it's been the topic of conversations lately mainly him griping about it in sort of a comical manner, and I really feel bad for him because he's always been a very good looking guy, and I wonder how he will look when he's bald and women stop giving him the same looks. I told him I was starting proscar and he should look into it but i don't think he has. I emailed him info on the big 3..but oh well.

I'm pretty open about talking with my hair loss. I mentioned it to my Dad and he did the usual ur crazy bullshit ur not going bald. He has a full head of hair @ 58, he doesn't understand. I told my friends about it, they were just like oh ok. I think a friend/brother or whatever should be told about the treatments. They won't get mad at you that's for sure, and they'll be thankful down the road. I'd be pretty depressed right now if not for the treatments i'm taking and the feeling that I can still save my beautiful hair.