Spoke with a derm, looking for a second opinion (21y/o)

[Norcaljake]

Hello all,

I cut my hair short about a year ago and have noticed the difference between then and now. I noticed about 6 months ago that when I style my hair in the front that it appears more diffused. I have always had a rather high hairline and pretty fine hair. My mothers father is a Norwood 7, however this is the only case of male pattern baldness in my family.

Worried about the possibility of hair loss, I went and saw a dermatologist right away. Her words were, "Your temples aren't terribly receded and you show signs of new growth." I probably should of asked more questions but that was the end of that.

I cant tell if I am simply paranoid and obsessing or if I do show signs of hairloss. I am aware that no one can truly tell the difference between a "Maturing Hairline" and male pattern baldness, because no one really knows if that maturing hairline is going to keep on going, however I would like to know if I am too young to worry about finasteride or minoxidil. (Im allergic as &*^# to Nizoral).

I know on average people lose between 50-150 hairs a day but it seems as if lately I find my hair everywhere. When I wash it or run my hands through my hair I always end up with one or two. Once again I do not know if I am just obsessing but I have indeed noticed that my hair has been a little thinner in the front the last 6 months.

I currently have an appointment with another dermatologist on the 16th of June for a second opinion but any advice would be much appreciated as my anxiety has been terrible!

Thank you!

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Ps. I am wondering if seeing another Derm will help as I do not feel many people want to prescribe propecia for a 21y/o.

I also have a very thick crown as of now.

 

[zzzzz]

lawl that isn't new growth its new growth in reverse (new miniaturization). I had a doctor too he was gonna let me lose all my hair before he would prescribe me finasteride. I ended up getting my meds online witout script

 

[Dark Link]

I had a doctor too he was gonna let me lose all my hair before he would prescribe me finasteride.

I've never understood why some doctors will and some won't prescribe finasteride. I've had some doctors warn me that for many men they don't tolerate it well. But the sides are still rare. Are you making changes to your body? Yes, but that is the point. You are changing to keep your hair. Most men won't notice a thing. If your body can't handle lowering some of your hormones then just quit. As far as getting your doctor to prescribe you something you can always visit a 2nd or 3rd doctor. Or tell them that you will order online if you they don't prescribe you it. They might rather you have something from the pharmacy than something online. I credit notcoolanymore with this strategy.

 

[Raz]

Seems like miniaturization to me as well. Actually, that's how male pattern baldness started for me. Ended up becoming a Norwood III Vertex in around 6 months from the onset of the balding. First went the temples/fringe hair, then the thickness on the crown was starting to disappear, followed by a very thin (but not completely bald) spot in the cowlick area in the vertex. Not saying your pattern will be anything like this, but the way your hairline looks is like mine before the balding got really noticeable. Been on finasteride for 9 months myself now (and started Minoxidil 8 days ago), regaining some hair little by little.

I would monitor the situation and potentially start on Finasteride. It might be this is just a case of mature hairline or whatever, but to be honest, I regret not taking action when my hair looked like yours does. And I did indeed lose it fast in the matter of the next 6 months. (The aggressiveness has since seemed to come to a halt though).

 

[Norcaljake]

Seems like miniaturization to me as well. Actually, that's how male pattern baldness started for me. Ended up becoming a Norwood III Vertex in around 6 months from the onset of the balding. First went the temples/fringe hair, then the thickness on the crown was starting to disappear, followed by a very thin (but not completely bald) spot in the cowlick area in the vertex. Not saying your pattern will be anything like this, but the way your hairline looks is like mine before the balding got really noticeable. Been on finasteride for 9 months myself now (and started Minoxidil 8 days ago), regaining some hair little by little.

I would monitor the situation and potentially start on Finasteride. It might be this is just a case of mature hairline or whatever, but to be honest, I regret not taking action when my hair looked like yours does. And I did indeed lose it fast in the matter of the next 6 months. (The aggressiveness has since seemed to come to a halt though).

Thanks so much for the helpful advice, this has been taking a huge toll on my self esteem and anxiety lately. Im hoping to start on finasteride asap. Part of me wants to hope that this may just be my hairline slowing maturing but i have noticed that my hair in the front has been a little thinner than it used to be. I don not know if Im being paranoid or not but i feel like I can see more of my scalp through my hair in the front. Did your hair loss really progress that fast in 6 months?

 

[Raz]

Did your hair loss really progress that fast in 6 months?

Yes, it did. Keep in mind that this was just my situation and it being like it was for me doesn't mean the same will happen to you. So I do not intend to be scaremongering, just being realistic.

If you're still interested in knowing, it was roughly like this: notice slightly thinner fringe hair, temple hair and lesser coverage of all the NW1 areas in July. Shrug it off as losing some hair due to dyeing my hair - still looked like a NW1, albeit a bit thin. Late-August, notice how the temples and their coverage had gotten way thinner and worse, when observing how my hair looks from the sides (with a bathroom mirror). Styling my hair was still ok, seemed to have gotten temple recession and was probably a NW1.5 at that point, with some thinning all over the place. Still shrug it off as I saw some "new growth" in the temples and I still attributed the previous loss to my hair dyeing. This is exactly the same thing as your Derm told you, pretty much. It was not new growth, it was miniaturization. Anyway, I was a NW2 with recessed temples and a thin fringe hair by late-September. From there on it got worse little by little, with me having a hard time styling my hair like I did before (had one of those boy-ish semi-flamboyant hair types) by October/November. I then cut my hair in December and noticed I was thinning at the back of my vertex and the cowlick area, also having a hard time growing hair like I did before, so I had to keep it short due to the thinness. By March of the next year and having a birthday, I was already a full on NW3 with some diffuse thinning. What a great 20th birthday that was!

My initially aggressive hairloss seemed to have come to a halt then, as it was in 2010 where I got to NW3 (where I gave up), but seeing as I stayed a diffuse thinning NW3~ for a few years, up to 2013, I then started fighting back. So basically, you can either be like I was, thinking "yeah, it's just a mature hairline" and let it be - which it might as well be - or then you can take action while you're still way ahead of your game. Despite the scaremongering, Finasteride is a safe drug for the majority of the people and even works at lowered dosages, so my suggestion would be starting out slowly with it, but keeping to it. Maybe you can maintain what you have with 0.5mg a day and even get those miniaturizated follicles back to full health before they decline further. I know the feels, dude - the anxity just gets worse with every passing day and more hair lost. So with the power of hindsight, well, you know the deal..

 

[Norcaljake]

Yes, it did. Keep in mind that this was just my situation and it being like it was for me doesn't mean the same will happen to you. So I do not intend to be scaremongering, just being realistic.

If you're still interested in knowing, it was roughly like this: notice slightly thinner fringe hair, temple hair and lesser coverage of all the NW1 areas in July. Shrug it off as losing some hair due to dyeing my hair - still looked like a NW1, albeit a bit thin. Late-August, notice how the temples and their coverage had gotten way thinner and worse, when observing how my hair looks from the sides (with a bathroom mirror). Styling my hair was still ok, seemed to have gotten temple recession and was probably a NW1.5 at that point, with some thinning all over the place. Still shrug it off as I saw some "new growth" in the temples and I still attributed the previous loss to my hair dyeing. This is exactly the same thing as your Derm told you, pretty much. It was not new growth, it was miniaturization. Anyway, I was a NW2 with recessed temples and a thin fringe hair by late-September. From there on it got worse little by little, with me having a hard time styling my hair like I did before (had one of those boy-ish semi-flamboyant hair types) by October/November. I then cut my hair in December and noticed I was thinning at the back of my vertex and the cowlick area, also having a hard time growing hair like I did before, so I had to keep it short due to the thinness. By March of the next year and having a birthday, I was already a full on NW3 with some diffuse thinning. What a great 20th birthday that was!

My initially aggressive hairloss seemed to have come to a halt then, as it was in 2010 where I got to NW3 (where I gave up), but seeing as I stayed a diffuse thinning NW3~ for a few years, up to 2013, I then started fighting back. So basically, you can either be like I was, thinking "yeah, it's just a mature hairline" and let it be - which it might as well be - or then you can take action while you're still way ahead of your game. Despite the scaremongering, Finasteride is a safe drug for the majority of the people and even works at lowered dosages, so my suggestion would be starting out slowly with it, but keeping to it. Maybe you can maintain what you have with 0.5mg a day and even get those miniaturizated follicles back to full health before they decline further. I know the feels, dude - the anxity just gets worse with every passing day and more hair lost. So with the power of hindsight, well, you know the deal..

Thank you so much for your advice man, I really appreciate it. I cannot believe that this can happen to people this young. I am still waiting for my appointment with the derm however my anxiety is still really bad.

Im okay with my slight temple recession and a few miniaturized hairs, but the problem is the thinning that I've noticed in the front of my hair. I feel like i can see the scalp so much easier than before. On top of that I literally just got out of the shower and probably noticed 20+ extremely thin hairs in my hands just from washing my hair. Talk about additional anxiety haha. I know average is 50-100 lost hairs a day, but this seems way more than usual. I still have very thick hair in the crown area though thankfully.

I could live with how my hair loss is now, but at 21 Im fairly confident it will progress if I don't try to hinder it. Im okay with how it looks now, It looks fine which is why I think the first derm kinda shrugged me off.


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I've never understood why some doctors will and some won't prescribe finasteride. I've had some doctors warn me that for many men they don't tolerate it well. But the sides are still rare. Are you making changes to your body? Yes, but that is the point. You are changing to keep your hair. Most men won't notice a thing. If your body can't handle lowering some of your hormones then just quit. As far as getting your doctor to prescribe you something you can always visit a 2nd or 3rd doctor. Or tell them that you will order online if you they don't prescribe you it. They might rather you have something from the pharmacy than something online. I credit notcoolanymore with this strategy.

I think I'm going to use this strategy if the derm acts the same the second time around.

Does anybosy think I should try to find a Hairloss Specialist instead of a derm?

 

[eenrak]

I think derms are fine. Only a few are stupid enough to attribute miniaturization to new growth... Especially when it follows the pattern of male pattern baldness! If you had miniaturized hair in the sides, there would be a good possibility that it was new growth, and you were thinning due to something else.. Do whatever is cheaper, they are mostly all willing to prescribe it.
Are you going for minoxidil too?