Blondes can lose 80% of their hair without detecting it readily. The best way to determine how much hair you are actually losing is to get a HAIRCHECK test and then you will know exactly where you stand. You may be losing more hair than you are seeing. For finasteride, only 2-4% of people get sexual side effects, so starting at the regular dose is okay. If you only take half the dose, it will be 80% as effective with some people reporting less sexual side effects.
I’m Between a Norwood 4 and 5 at Just 22 Years Old!
Hello!
I’m a male that recently turned 22. I’ve been suffering from hair loss for about 4-5 years and started with minoxidil at the age of 19½. The last 9-10 months have been like hell (my hair loss accelerated quickly and the depression started). I had decent coverage all over the scalp last summer but that’s not the case anymore. The hair is thin all over the scalp and I’m soon going to have a baldspot on the back of my head.
I’m somewhere between NW4 and NW5 on the norwood scale. I’ve got alot of tiny almost transparent hair on my scalp.
I want to keep the hair I still got on my head but also reverse it if possible. What do you recommend? Shall I try propecia or even dutasteride?
You probably should have started Propecia (finasteride 1mg) when the hair loss process began, instead of minoxidil. Young men can reverse hair loss on finasteride, but without trying it, you will not know. At the least, the process can be slowed or stopped with finasteride.
You need a good doctor to manage your situation, because after all, it is your hair and your future hair loss we are talking about.
I’m Already Taking Propecia, So Doctors Can’t Determine My True Norwood Pattern
Hello dr.rassman.
I am in my early 30’s and receding and losing hair in the front area of my scalp. I recently went to get a hair consultation done and they said I could end up a norwood 4 but they do not know because I am on propecia and there is no really way of telling what norwood pattern I will eventually end up at and when. Currently, I am a norwood 2.If there is no way of knowing what my pattern will be and when my hair will stabilize or if it will at all, isn’t it pointless to go for a procedure before I fully stabilize because if I don’t, my native hairs will fall out and the transplant will look bad. For all I know, it can take 20 years before I stabilize and reach my pattern!
It really doesn’t have to be that complicated.
Most men show signs of thinning in a specific pattern by the time they are in the mid 20’s to 30’s. Taking Propecia would not affect it too much if you pay close attention and have good miniaturization measurements and bulk measurements.
Remember, Propecia does NOT completely stop hair loss. It slows it down. You will see a pattern if not in the first exam, but over the course of several months with interval measurements.
I’m a Woman and I’m Losing My Hair. Can You Help Me?
Female hair loss is complex. We have performed Scalp Micropigmentation (https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/smp-for-women/) on many women with great success. See here for of my writings on female hair loss: https://baldingblog.com/?s=female+hair+loss+blood+tests.
2019-12-26 04:00:152019-10-31 10:18:59I’m a Woman and I’m Losing My Hair. Can You Help Me?
I’m a very beautiful women very conscious about my thinning hair
I have treated many women like you, many very beautiful women, with https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/gallery/#!https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/960x0_95_3_r_FFFFFF_4251600e191dc5a9ee42d06a479000a5.jpg This is a reasonable approach to make your hair look full.
2019-10-24 02:51:412019-10-24 11:53:02I’m a very beautiful women very conscious about my thinning hair
I’m a Teen Worried About Hair Loss — What Should I Do?
sir,
i have seen your ht results. truly fantastic. congrats.now my problem is my dad’s bald but none of his brothers (4) are bald. i have had a big forehead and recession in temples from childhood which is hereditary even for my uncles. so i dont know whether i will have hairloss in future? i am 19 years old (nw 2) now. what shall i do?
also i dont know when to start propecia or rogaine. to add further, i heard propecia decreases cancer risk but if a person still gets it, then he will get a very dangerous form of cancer. is it true? plus will propecia cause male breast cancer? i dont know what to do but i want to keep my hair at least up to 55 or so. but i am scared about these info’s here about the side effects? could u please guide me. it would be so nice of you if you mail me answering to my queries and tell me what i shall do to keep my hair on.
At the age of 19 and a Class 2 Norwood scale balding, you are not a candidate for surgery. If you are really balding, then you will have the appearance of miniaturization in the hair on your head. In that case, the drug finasteride is the best way to stop the balding problem in men who are balding in the earliest stage. Get a good doctor to review your personal situation and please do not have a surgery under any circumstances.
I’ve been getting a lot of similar emails from teens that want to take medication before they need to, or want me to tell them if they’re going bald based on 2 sentences they email to me. I’m going to make this as easy as possible for everyone to digest, and there’s no better way than an itemized list…
- You have a family history of hair loss, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you will experience loss to the same degree or at all. It can skip generations.
- Some refer to the corners of the hairline as the temples. Corner recession could be the maturing of the hairline. Recession of the actual temples will usually not see benefit from medication and surgery will likely be required to restore them.
- I can’t tell you when you should start on Propecia (finasteride), as it is a prescription medication and therefore must be prescribed by your physician. Generally speaking, you shouldn’t take medication as a preventive medication against hair loss anyway. Everyone is different, and some men will need the medication at 18 years old, while others will need it at 35. It depends on when you’re experiencing miniaturization and to what degree. A 25 year old man already showing thinning in the Norwood Class 7 pattern will not benefit from Propecia unless it is caught early and still it may not do much more than stop the loss from occurring.
- Propecia side effects are real, but they are also quite rare. Internet reports are unverified and overblown (some people will post the same basic negative messages over and over under different usernames across different sites). The major health concerns that you brought up (prostate and breast cancer) are worth considering, but more information needs to be collected. Studies into these types of issues might have been minimal, but the FDA lists the medication as safe and effective, and I’ve seen the effectiveness first hand (and have posted many photo results on this site).
- Get a good, caring doctor who has an interest in hair loss. Most often they build their expertise in the surgery of hair transplants, but there are many good doctors who care enough about their patients that they will not be trigger happy and rush you into a surgery before you are ready. Check the physician search at ISHRS to get started.
2010-01-08 15:03:382010-01-08 11:15:51I’m a Teen Worried About Hair Loss — What Should I Do?
I’m a scratcher and worried about a hair transplant
I will use hair fibers when I go out, and if I take a quick shower before going to bed, there would still be some fiber that I didn’t get out. I wake up and notice black fibers under my nails which means I’m actively scratching my head during sleep. I am planning on doing my surgery in a few months and I’m worried about scratching while I’m sleeping. What can be done to stop this? Other than tying up my hands I can’t think of anything else
Discipline! Realize that if you scratch your grafts out, you will lose a lot of money and possibly introduce infection. I have seen this just twice in 16000 surgeries. Both men were told to wear mittens.
2020-07-17 03:48:282020-07-16 08:10:22I’m a scratcher and worried about a hair transplant
I’m a Norwood 2 with Family History of Hair Loss, But I Want My Hairline Thicker
In the norwood scale, I beleive that I am a 2. Frontal hair line receding. I’ve done some research about hair loss, and It’s said that there’s nothing I can do to bring back my hair. Now, I can still see some thin short hairs on my hairline where its receding I was told that If I take an “ext therapy” (ext is based on shampoo,conditioners with midoxil and midoxidil pills)I will see some results. since the hairs are thin and not dead, they say that I will get results.If I can just make these little hairs thicker, I will be ok.I just dont know who to believe. And I would hate to spend $3k. Can anything make my hairline thicker? I am currently taking propecia for 3 months. I am 27yrs with history of hairloss in family. I am also considering an fue transplant, since I keep my hair really short, it’s said that that is my best option, since I am in a scale of 2, I dont really want surgery.
Without seeing you right up close and mapping out your hair for miniaturization, I really can not render an opinion. I have seem many men who are afraid of their family balding pattern, fearful that it may hit them. Some, obsess over it and want to jump into the hair transplant process way too early for me. Why are you so motivated to fill the doctor’s wallet? I make my living doing hair transplants, so I don’t make money when I turn down a patient for surgery, and yet I turn down people for surgery all of the time because it is moral to do so. Any hair transplant surgery in a typical Norwood Class 2 patient is not only unethical from the doctors perspective, but also bad for the patient both short and long term. Starting a hair transplant guarantees a long term plan with more transplants if and when the balding occurs.
What is your total hair donor supply? That is a critical question for anyone undergoing a hair transplant so that a reasonable Master Plan can be created to keep the patient looking normal for their entire life. Having some degree of balding is normal, but becoming a freak because you may have jumped the gun and used up your donor hair (especially if the donor supply is low) is the wrong thing for young men.
I would suggest that you find an ethical, competent doctor who will treat you like you were one of his sons. I am glad that you ended the post with “I don’t really want surgery,” but many doctors who chase your money will try to talk you out of that position and scare the hell out of you with visions of balding that may not even be in your future. Just be careful.
2009-07-21 15:32:232009-07-21 12:28:27I’m a Norwood 2 with Family History of Hair Loss, But I Want My Hairline Thicker
I’m a Medical Student Taking Propecia — Can I Just Prescribe It to Myself?
Dr. Rassman-
This question can be answered by you or any other M.D. working on the site, I do not mind. I am a 25 year old 4th year medical student who has been on propecia for 4 years and have had great results with no side effects. Stopped my hair loss completely at a Norwood 2 and have maintained since starting.My problem is that the Dr. that prescribes to me, a prominent hair guy in New Jersey, has recently been unavailable for reasons that I can not figure out. I recently had to get an family doc that I did not know from my school to write me a temporary 90 day script, but with my future move to residency and the time constraints on a surgical resident (which I will be), makes me worry I will be left in the lurch if this keeps happening.
My question is basically this: can I write myself scripts for propecia every 90 days when I get my prescription pad this July? Is their anything ethically/legally wrong that will prevent me from doing this?
All the best
I understand that dealing with doctors can be difficult, but in your generation of medical students I am sure you are ingrained in the medical ethics of medicine.
In addition, the American Medical Association suggests, “Physicians should generally not treat themselves or members of their immediate family“.
So as harmless it may seem, you should not be prescribing medications to yourself. If you are so motivated, I suppose you can ask a colleague or another physician if they would mind (or feel comfortable) prescribing you the medication.
2012-01-16 14:05:332012-01-15 11:00:19I’m a Medical Student Taking Propecia — Can I Just Prescribe It to Myself?
I’m a Late Bloomer — Is It OK to Take Propecia?
I started thinning in one temple at 18 and was prescribed rogaine and biotin supplements. At 20 the entire top started thinning (especially in the frontal hairline area) and I am now nearing 21 and considering propecia, however, I am hesitant to start at such a young age for a couple reasons. I am a late bloomer with no facial hair and am constantly told that I look much younger than I am. I have two questions: 1) Will propecia effect my body’s development including facial hair? and 2) Is it more likely that something other than MPB could be affecting my hair because my body is so early in its development? I enjoy your blog and would appreciate any help you can give me. Thank you
It is possible (but not probable) that Propecia will slow down body hair growth. That has not been my experience. I really don’t know the answer to your perceptions of being a “late bloomer”. Some men don’t grow facial hair well at all, but at 20 years old your body is not early in development. I can’t say for sure what you’re experiencing without an exam, but from your brief one-line description, it sounds like MPB (frontal hair loss, top thinning). Propecia is a prescription drug, so discuss your concerns with your doctor.