19 Year Old Struggling With male pattern baldness, Need Advice/Opinions

[WillSmith]

Hello All! :wave:

I've been creeping these forums for the last few months and finally decided to register and post.

I'm a 19 year old African American fellow who wasn't bless when it came to hair and ears. My dad lost most (NW5) of his hair by 30 and my mom had prominent ears.

I've always had a high hairline, even when I was a kid [see pictures], so when my barbers told me I'd bald quick a few years ago, I ignored them.

As I got older, I noticed more and more that my hairline was receding, especially at the temples. Once I had gotten into college, a very good one might I add, I started to notice it more and more and always wore a hat or beanie to cover it. Sometimes, with a great haircut I'd be able to wear my hair out once in a while, but it didn't hide the male pattern baldness once it grew out or if I cut it really short. Ever since, my grades and self confidence, especially with women, has suffered. I like to think I'm a decent looking guy with hair since it takes away from my ears, but when the male pattern baldness is apparent or I shave it I feel like I look like a primate.

To be losing this much hair at 19 is unfair, but I know complaining won't help so I tried to stop or reverse it.
At 18, I experimented with Lipogaine and other forms of minoxidil, but the shedding scared me and often made it look worse so I quit after a month or so. I believe this probably made it worse. I stuck with the Regenepure shampoo since I heard good things about it and hasn't made anything worse.

Now, I believe I have 3 options:
1) Cut my loses and go bald. Maybe even get ear surgery so I don't look so ridiculous.
2) Accept male pattern baldness and just keep it low and receding.
3) Hair transplant for my temples. [How much do you'd think it cost?]
4) Big 3, and pray.

4 scares me because of the side affects, only reason I haven't started yet. Only thing worse than balding in college, is having chicks laugh at you bed.:hmmm:

So please, give me some advice and your opinion. Here are some pictures to help!

 

[PlayBoy2033]

it's not so bad ..... and you had a nice hairline when u was a child
try propecia if u want to keep your hair

 

[The Far Side]

I'm not 100% on this but my experience is that hair transplant people will want you to be taking propecia etc. before they would consider giving you a hair transplant, so I think its 4 before 3. Personally I don't think the shaved look with a beard is bad at all.

 

[GoldenMane]

With your head shaved, we currently can't assess your current status, however if it's anything like your 18 year old pics, then your hair cosmetically can look really good. I have a naturally high hairline too, always have, maybe even higher than yours, but it's all about the way you wear your hair. Do it right and it's no big issue.

I'd jump on finasteride asap, don't worry about all the side effects fear mongering, most guys don't get them, alot of reports are psychsomatic, and even if you do, they'll go away if you quit finasteride. There's a far greater chance that you'll be able to keep your hair for 10+ years than get any side effects.

Lastly, yeah, you pull off the bald look really well, good head shape, if I went bald, there's no way I could look that good.

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Oh, and shedding something you just have to ride out, quitting die to a shed is the worst thing you can do, try again and ride it out

 

[WillSmith]

Thanks, I appreciate all the advice/opinions guys! It's kinda reassuring to know I can pull off being bald, but it's still depressing to be bald and not even be able to buy alcohol yet. If I can keep my hair like this or better til I'm atleast 30, I'll be happy.

I'm pretty confused about propecia/finasteride, so what I should tell my doctor to get it prescribed?

Thanks again!

--Updated---

Oh and the present picture should give a good representation of my current hairline. The black stubble is where hair actually grows, and the lighter parts of my temple show how I brush/comb my hair forward to give the illusion of a fuller hairline.

 

[hellouser]

I wish I we're black... being bald would look GOOD. Only black guy in the world that doesn't look good bald is LeBron* James (asterisk added for flopping, collusion, shortened season ring and ray allen bail out).

 

[Ryukil]

Hey dude...I can't buy alcohol yet either. I will be able to in a few months.
It's always good to see other young guys with hair loss issues though...it makes me feel not so alone. I'm somewhere between a NW2 and a NW3 at the moment (I don't know if you've been on this site long enough to know about the Norwood scale...google it) and just got on Propecia about a month ago. I think I have started to shed a little bit, though I have no way of telling if I'll have a major shed of some kind. All I know is that, for Propecia, shedding is a good thing. The hairs that fall out will grow in thicker and stronger. I guess it's the same case for minoxodil, though I'm not sure since I haven't read about that enough. But yeah, sheds are just something you have to ride out.
Your hairline isn't too bad at all. If you really want to keep your hair, you need to get on finasteride or dutasteride (Avodart). They will block the DHT that is suffocating your hair follicles. In a 10 year study of the effects of finasteride, 86 % of men continued to benefit from it over the entire course of ten years. That's pretty amazing dude. So if you want to get through your twenties with hair, that's the way to go. Then, if it stops working beyond 30, you can always switch to dutasteride. Actually, I'm hoping that finasteride lasts me a while and some awesome new treatment comes out in the next ten years. But maybe that's wishful thinking.

And I can totally relate to my grades suffering because of hair loss. It's depressing and all you can think about. Girls still like me I think, but I'm too shy to talk to them anyway lol.

So I think here are some good options:
1) Get on finasteride to keep your hair, maybe get regrowth. I think since you are young and all of your hair loss is within the past five years you have a better chance of regrowth. You can supplement it with minoxidil to get better regrowth.
2) Do nothing and lose your hair. Honestly you look pretty good with a shaved head, so it's up to you. I think I would look decent with a shaved head too, but I understand not wanting to go that route at all. I sure as hell don't, I like having hair.

You're too young for a transplant, and someone above me said that they usually want you to try Propecia and all first. I don't know if that's true, but that would make sense I guess. Seriously though, check out the success story section of these forums. You'll see guys who had receding hairlines like you and I who got ALL of their hair back. It's really incredible how good the medical treatments can sometimes work. Seriously, thank God for finasteride, otherwise I'd be screwed.

Good luck to you man, try to hang in there. Send me a PM if you have any questions. Just know you're not the only young guy going through this.

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I wish I we're black... being bald would look GOOD. Only black guy in the world that doesn't look good bald is LeBron* James (asterisk added for flopping, collusion, shortened season ring and ray allen bail out).

lol.........

 

[WillSmith]

Appreciate all the help guys! Extremely happy that I posted here. I'll try to keep updating this tread and hopefully in a few months I'll have some real progress

 

[Benjamin36]

I'm pretty confused about propecia/finasteride, so what I should tell my doctor to get it prescribed?

When I went to see the doctor I just told him that I felt that I was thinning. He looked at my hair and conirmed that it was male pattern baldness and told me that I could either try propecia or rogaine. I told him I'd try propecia and he wrote a presription for me. It took 5 minutes.