What is your family situation relating to hairloss?

[dl1979]

Hi i'm 24, I just want to know what is everyone's family situation concerning their hairloss. For me my dad did not start losing hair until he was in his 40's and my mom appears to have female pattern baldness. My mom's two sisters also seem to have female pattern baldness. However both of my grand fathers are not bald and my mom's two brothers both have full head's of hair. One of my mon's older sister has a 30 yr old son who isn't bald. My dad's brother also has a full head of hair. None of my dad's sisters have any indication of female pattern baldness.
I'm sitting at norwood 2 now, and was a norwood 1 only about 5 months ago. My question is: are there any of you out there who do not appear to have hair loss in your family history, but are still going bald? Even though my mom appears to have female pattern baldness, it could also just be the fact that she had little hair to begin with, but i don't think so. Right now it looks like i'm getting my father's hair pattern except 20 yrs earlier than schedule.

thanks to everyone for their responses.

derek

 

[The Gardener]

Hi Derek, welcome to the board,

The simple theories on how hairloss was inherited (from your grandfather on your mother's side, etc) have all been blown out the window by recent research. It is far more complicated than that, and NOT a sex-linked inherited gene.

To give you an idea of how it works, here is a little science fair project that basically models the way that hairloss patterns are inherited:

Take a head shot pix of all of your male relatives, all of them, from your father to your uncles, your grandfathers, great grandfathers, etc., going back several generations on ALL sides of your bloodlines, and lay them out on a table. Then, blindfold yourself and have someone else mix the pictures up on the table. Now, take your finger and randomly slam it down on the table. Whatever picture your finger lands on, that is the hairloss pattern you will have. Get the picture, so to speak?

 

[dl1979]

thanks gardener

Hi Gardener, thanks for taking the time for writing your response, however
I can't really do your science project because i don't have enough pictures for a sample size. Another thing is that, I have many aunts and not that many uncles, so I have to look at mostly women's heads. I told my dad and mom, about this already but they think i'm being scared since they say there isn't much hairloss in the family. However, I know that i am not imagining things and I wish I could get some answers. I've seen a picture of my dad when he was my age, and he had a wonderful full head of hair so i know something is up with my hair. Its frustrating because I just want some answers that is all.

derek

PS- I've already tried proscar and I don't really like it because of the side effects, and i just don't like the idea of taking drugs.

 

[The Gardener]

I hear you, Derek.

Some words of advice. First of all, if you are going through a period of hairloss, don't assume that the rate that you are losing your hair right now will continue until you have a horseshoe head. I was an NW2 at 25, thought the sky was falling. I went from a 'normal' hairline to a receeded temples/widows peak look very quickly. The good news was that my hairloss stopped, and I kept the same widows peak hairline until age 34 and after a year or so of first realizing that it stopped, and then getting used to it, by age 26 I realized that despite the receeded hairline I was still getting chicks!.. so I didnt worry about it as much.

Back to the story, at age 34, my center-forehead hair started to thin. Looking in the mirror I could see that if I let this go I would be looking like Phil Collins in a year or so, so I nipped it in the bud, started treatment, and caught it... saved my hairline!

My main point here is that hairloss does not occur all at once, but in stages. Initial shedding, or some recession, is not uncommon and in the big picture might not really hurt your looks much. Some women actually like it. Despite what some people on this website say, I do NOT think that the goal is to have a perfect hairline, but it is more important to have an age-appropriate hairline. And on top of it all, your own personal confidence will make you far more attractive than any effect your hairline will have. I have seen balding guys with confidence score big time at clubs again and again, and unconfident guys with not perfect but pretty f*****g near perfect hairlines sulk around a nightclub and get nothing. You get what I am saying? It is just something to think about. Sometimes the best cure for early male pattern baldness is not medicine, but a committment to hit the gym and build some muscle, and confidence, and just keep your I am who I am and I dont give a f*** attitude.

Now, if you do reach a point where you think that your hairline is not age appropriate and want to start treatment, there are non-internal treatments that do work very well. I also think that a lot of the flack that Propecia gets is unwarranted... it is a very effective chemical and most people have no side effects at all. Propecia, Rogaine, this stuff works. Perhaps you have to make a judgement and contemplate this all for a while?

No matter what you do, there is one element of the "Big 3" hairloss treatments that you can and should start immediately. Next time you are at the grocery store, go pick yourself up some Nizoral shampoo. It is marketed as an anti-dandruff shampoo but its chemical properties help negate the immune response that exacerbates pattern baldness, and the active ingredient in it has also shown to have some ability to fight DHT, the chemical that causes pattern baldness. It is not like Propecia or Minoxidil of course, but it might be just one thing you can easily do now to add a little stability to your scalp. Use it 3-4 times a week, and use your normal shampoos on the other days. When you do use it, apply it and lather it in and let it set for 4-5 minutes (perhaps as you wash the other parts of your body) to let the chemical sit in a bit.

Hope this helps
Gardener

 

[Axon]

Grandfather Norwood 7 at 23.

Father Norwood 7 at 21

Uncle (father's brother) NW7 at 24

Me - Norwood 1.5 V at 24

 

[BadHairDecade]

The only person I can think of with hair loss in my family is my grandmother. Apparantly I'm starting a new "look" for my future generations.....poor kids. Great now I got that on my conscious.

 

[Bob_Marley]

Moms dad= only frontal recession till he died.

Dads dad = minor hairloss for an old guy

Moms brother = about 50 with little hairloss.

Dads 4 brothers = No f*cking hairloss at all- this pisses me off the most and must piss off my dad to the max

MY DAD = Gotta love him for his humour and success. But he is a certified NW6. Looks like I'm going the same way. He gave me 6'4" slim frame, good looks and smarts which I can't complain about, but his and my hair are'nt exactly desireable.

Other than that no baldness in family at all, except for one cousin who got it from his father.

 

[dl1979]

thanks for replies everyone

Hi everyone, thanks for the replies, I know it sucks, but at least some of us here can relate to hairloss with minimum hairloss in the family. Gardener u said that your norwood 2 didn't get anymore worse for almost 10 yrs? I sure hope that is the case for me, however it doesn't look like it at all. My hair line is thinning as well as going back, the only way I can comb my hair now is forward, because if i comb it back you can see the major thinning. Bob_Marley and Bad Hair Decade I hear you, I know the feeling, you feel so ripped off. And Axon is must suck even more knowing that your hair destiny is almost certain.

 

[Axon]

Well, so far I'm well in the lead. Maybe I'll be the guy to break the streak - my cousin, my uncle's son, is 34 and has perfect hair. It could happen.

 

[Cassin]

Both Grandparents died with a full head of hair. One even had a lot of color left in it. All uncles except one have a full head of hair. Must have sucked for the bald one seeing his older brothers with hair. My dad, all gone and hanging out in toupee land.