Author: Dr. William Rassman

Your biggest enemy is the progressive thinning leading to a balding pattern that is not evident at this point in time. The degree of thinning that you are experiencing would suggest that you should see a doctor who most likely will get Bulk Measurements of your hair to determine the degree of the thinning that you are presently having. If the diagnosis is early genetic hair loss (the most common cause of hair loss in young men), then the best treatment would be the drug finasteride which is highly effective in men of your age and may not only stop the hair loss but possibly reverse it. If you are developing a more advanced balding pattern the best test to get will determine the Bulk Measurements of your hair and this will show, over a one-year time frame, how effective the treatment will be. Once you know this information, then you and your doctor need to develop a MASTER PLAN which will define what you need to do over the years to come.

My father lost his hair in his early 20s, and nearly all the males in my family are bald or balding. This can’t be normal, I refuse to believe that other teenage boys who are not experiencing AGA go through something like this. What are your thoughts? And when you started shedding hair, did it actually progress to visible hairloss?

If all of the male members of your family have extensive hair loss, it is likely you will follow that course. The use of oral Minoxidil or Finasteride might slow down the course of the process, something that your father and grandfathers might not have tried when they experienced the balding process. I would strongly recommend that you get a HAIRCHECK test to establish a baseline so that you can follow the hair loss with a good measurement. You can repeat this test yearly to determine the effectiveness of the treatment you select. Find a doctor who has this instrument as I believe it is critical for you to know what is happening to you over time.

I’m only 18 and just wondering if my hair looks like it’s starting to recede or not. I know I have my dads hairline but my dad is bald and that does creep in my head sometimes as he started balding in his 20s. Both my grandfathers have most of their hair. And my uncles on my moms side all mostly have their hair and my dad has no brothers. When I style or just do my hair, it’s never noticeable and I always get compliments on my hair and its thickness. So does it look like it’s receding or could this just be a normal hairline? It also bothers me that the right side of my hairline has a little more hair.

With your family history and some early frontal hair loss, you should be concerned about progressive hair loss. Your biggest enemy is progressive thinning leading to a balding pattern that is not evident at this point in time. The degree of thinning that you are experiencing suggests that you should see a doctor who most likely perform a Bulk Measurement of your hair to determine the degree of the thinning that you are presently having.

If the diagnosis is early genetic hair loss, the most common cause of hair loss in young men, then the best treatment is the drug Finasteride. This medication is highly effective in men of your age and may not only stop the hair loss but possibly reverse it. If you are developing a more advanced balding pattern, the best test to get is the Bulk Measurement. This will show, over a one-year time frame, how effective the treatment will be. Once you know this information, then you and your doctor need to develop a MASTER PLAN which will define what you need to do in the years to come.

Check out my video. In it I talk about donor hair supply and bulk measurements.

Hey doctor I am a 18 years old male been losing hair for over a year. My hairline is going up and I believe I am thinning. My mother and brother started thinning at the same time. What can it be?

I really can’t tell you without examining you. There are many things that I look for which include miniaturization, a HAIRCHECK (see here: https://baldingblog.com/2017/01/10/value-haircheck-bulk-measurements-two-patients-seen-today/) and possibly some blood tests considering that the hair loss is in the family as well. It might be something in your water system, but I would first look to genetic balding as that is the most common form of hair loss in young men. Your recession might simply be the development of a mature hairline which happens about your age.

 

The pictures show a reversal of the finasteride with an almost perfect hairline that is obvious in the photos

You most likely have traction alopecia, the result of pulling on your hair when you were young. These pulled out hairs are connon in the AfroAmerican community and they exist on the sides of your temples and it can be addressed nicely with hair transplants

 

I’m 18 and I lost part of my frontal hairline. Am I too late to start taking Finasteride?

For an 18 year-old with early frontal hair loss, it is the right timing for the drug Finasteride. The drug works best in young men and may even reverse the hair loss provided that what you are seeing is not a maturing hairline. A maturing hairline will not be affected by Finasteride. Your doctor will tell you if this is a maturing hairline or not. See here for pictures of a mature hairline: https://baldingblog.com/2007/01/12/maturization-of-a-hairline-moving-from-juvenile-to-mature-with-photos/

With just the use of finasteride and minoxidil this man got almost complete reversal of his hair loss. He shaved his head to get the minoxidil to apply to the scalp more effectively

Unique story. I would have to see photos and even better examine you. The diagnosis does not seem right to me and that is why I would need to know a lot more about you to help. Assuming that this is acceleration of male patterned balding, one option is Scalp Micropigmentation which will make your head look like a full head of hair that you shaved. This can be done and if the hair loss can be reversed, there is no downside that I know of. Here is a photo of a young man who lost all of his hair from Alopecia Totalis (an autoimmune disease that killed off all of his hair:https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/bold-shaved-look/#!https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/scalp_micropigmentation-new_hair_institute-147-bold_shaved_look.jpg (his eyebrows are wigs)

William Rassman, M.D.

15 y/o son lost forty pounds and half his hair. Doctor said his weight loss “triggered” mpb. from tressless

African American took finasteride orally and minoxidil topically for 18 months with this nice reversal of thinning. Lighting in the after picture on the right could be better