22. Is this a receding hairline or actual balding ? (with pictures)

[WatchOut]

Hi everyone,

First things first, I noticed my hairline going further back for the last 2-3 years. I am 22.

This is what my family hair history looks like :

- My father is a Norwood 6 (52 years old)
- My uncles on my fathers side are NW2 and NW3 in their mid/late forties
- My uncles on my mothers side are all NW2.5, well into their forties/fiftes
- Both my grandfathers are NW3-3.5 with little to no vertex thinning, in the beginning of their 80s.

One of my temples is receding more than the other, too.

Here are pictures of my "worst" side. I combed the hair before taking the pictures :



Should I start taking propecia or finasteride ? My facial features wouldn't do well with the bald look...

 

[idunnolol]

Photos are artsy and blurry. No blading to be seen from this.

 

[bilboswaggins]

^^^
you need proper close ups lifting your hairline for us to see if there is thinning, minituarisation but from that pic your hair looks fine

 

[WatchOut]

I took some more pics while lifting my hairline. There is some minituarisation, but as you can see in the last pick I do have very thick hair on top. Being 22, I'd like to keep at least some hair until my mid 40s/50s...

 

[WatchOut]

Here is a picture from 5 years ago (I was 17). I had a short Caesar cut back then.

 

[archdemon123]

It does appear to be some miniturization in the temples (same boat as I am), you have a wicked widow's peak though, looks quite nice. It's a little bit early to tell, but genetically you are in a bad spot, look into prevention treatments.
Nice hairstyle btw, suits you well.

 

[WatchOut]

In fact, I wouldn't mind being a stable NW2-2.5, so I thought my family history was rather good.

Thanks for the kind words and advice !