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Well to my dismay I am now a member of this community at 23. The idea of balding hadn’t even entered my mind until my mom mentioned my hairline receding a few weeks ago. Now i see it. Her dad was bald at like 30 so i guess it makes sense. Now i go around staring at dudes’ hairlines and guessing what their NW levels are.

My question is: what kind of timelines have people experienced? Does this ever start and then stop for a decade or is it all downhill from here? Do some people only recede a little or is everyone who experiences any MPB destined to become larry david? Id like to keep my hair at least thru my 20s so do i just need to get on finasteride immediately? Or wait and see a few months?

Balding is progressive in men as shown in this link: https://baldingblog.com/need-master-plan-think-hair-transplants-photos/.

Hi,

I just wanted to know if there were any solid statistics on what percentage of men are norwood II, III etc. in middle age?

Thanks

There are two studies that I know of that were published on the subject. Drs. O’Tar Norwood and James Hamilton both did studies and each came up with different numbers.

Although there’s no general agreement on the statistics for the frequency of balding, it’s believed that advanced balding (defined as a Norwood Class 5, 6, or 7 pattern) occurs in about 35% of balding men. Balding itself is present in approximately half of all men over the age of 45. For those that fall into the 35% of Class 5, 6, or 7 pattern balding, this doesn’t mean that there’s a complete absence of hair in the balding area, as some hair may remain. Norwood Class 2 and 3 patterns appear in about 42% of middle aged men, however, I do not look at Class 2 patterns as much more than men with a mature male hairline.

Update: I removed the statistical breakdown from Dr. Hamilton’s study that I initially posted, because they’re unclear and they are widely different than other published statistics.

Web MD wrote a detailed article about shampoos, their ingredients, and how these ingredients help or harm your hair. I summarized today’s article as relevant to my readership and added some comments that I thought may shed more insights into the content. The most important takeaway here is to be careful about claims as to what any particular shampoo will do for you. If you look at the ingredients on the shampoo label, you will see the items discussed below. Educate yourself, especially if you have particular hair problems. Everyone reading this should know that the hair grown from the head is not alive once it appears from the scalp; it is dead tissue like your fingernails. We want to do things for hair to make it look and feel better, fuller, and more vibrant, but we certainly can’t give it life.

1. Carrying agents: Shampoos contain water, which dissolves ingredients within the shampoo. Water, when used in a commercial shampoo product, should be safe.
   • Some manufacturers add alcohol, propanol, ethanol, isopropyl, and propyl alcohol, all of which can make your hair dry or brittle
2. Thickeners are chemicals like glycol distearate that drive water into the substance of the hair shafts. The additional water absorbed within the shaft causes the hair shafts to increase their diameter or thickness. When you want a thickening agent, look at the ingredients listed below, and then you will know you are buying the right product. Common hair thickeners include Stearic acid, Gelatin, Xanthan gum, Carnauba wax, Stearyl alcohol, and Cetyl alcohol, which usually seals the water in the hair shafts.
   • People with thinning hair: I am always asked what I can do about this problem as surgery is rarely a solution for men and women with diffuse thinning, regardless of cause. The answer is here, in the use thickening agents described in this section. The commercial manufacturers have known about this for years and have produced products that address thickening the hair shafts using appropriate additives as discussed here.
3. Surfactants are ingredients that make shampoos act like detergents. They increase suds production, and the better the surfactant, the better it cleans the hair, dirt, wax and debris from your hair. It can also address the wax buildup, which many people call clogged pores. The lather tends to make your hair dry because it washes off the protective oils that the body produces to protect your hair.
4. Surfactants to look for include Ammonium lauryl sulfate, Sodium laureth sulfate, Ammonium laureth sulfate, Sodium trideceth sulfate
5. Emollients balance the effects of surfactants, helping keep moisture in your hair and protecting it against brittleness. These lubricants make your hair silky and are necessary to counterbalance the surfactants discussed above. Emollients include aloe vera, vegetable oils, mineral oils, and silicone. They allow your hair to hold onto the water it acquires when you shampoo your hair. Because they are lubricants, they make your hair shiny. Dimethicone is the most common emollient.
6. Preservatives stop mold from growing in your shampoo. The most common preservatives are sodium benzoate and potassium sorbate.
   • Another group of preservatives are called Parabens, which include Methylparaben, Isopropylparaben, Ethylparaben, Isobutylparaben, Butylparaben, Propylparaben
   • This second group has been associated with claims that they can produce cancer.
7. Some people want only natural ingredients. These shampoos include essential oils like peppermint, lemon, and lavender, certified-organic ingredients like aloe, Coconut oil, Organic hemp, Organic honey, Chamomile, Olive, and Plant oils like geranium or jojoba oil. These products have many of the characteristics outlined above.
8. WebMD suggested that people avoid the following ingredients for the risks outlined:

1. 1. Sulfates: they increase skin sensitivity and strip hair of their natural oils, causing dryness
   2. Parabens: they increase the risk of skin cancer
   3. Phthalates: they are dangerous to the environment and cause hormonal disruptions
   4. Formaldehyde: is carcinogenic and easily absorbed by the skin
   5. Dimethicone: it prevents moisture from entering the hair and clogs pores over time
   6. Retinyl palmitate: causes itching, scaling, and peeling
   7. Alcohol: makes your hair dry and brittle
   8. Toluene: can hamper the immune system and cause congenital problems
   9. Imidazolidinyl: irritates the skin and eyes

[If you have any questions, you can reach me at williamrassman33@gmail.com]

 

I have a fraternal twin who at 21 hasn’t started thinning yet while I have some minor loss.

We have had quite a few identical twins. I wrote about such a case here: https://baldingblog.com/transplanting-identical-twins/ Fraternal twins are not the same as they may have inherited different balding patterns.

I am 44 years old so this is an important question for me, “How important is Propecia post-FUT?”

Finasteride is less important because shock loss is less of a problem following hair transplants in a 40+ individual; however, the value of finasteride also includes slowing progression of the hair loss process. Your call. Many times, I go forward with a hair transplant on a 40+ man without finasteride on board.

Dear Dr.
I recently went through a stressful patch and now I’ve lost a quite disastrous amount of hair in a very short time frame. If this hair loss is related to stress how long will it take to recover after the stressful period is over?

Thanks!

Stress related hair loss may generally take up to one year to grow back for women, but for men it may reflect an acceleration of the genetic pattern that they are destined for.