26 years old male, long hair, thinning on the crown and huge parting in the middle

[TheJediAreHere]

First of all sorry for the awful pics and sorry if I do post it on wrong forum. So I do have a long hair, but still the parting looks way too wide and it looks like my hair got extremely thinned on the crown part.
Now I do wanna go and get a haircut, so would a shorter hair provide better view of my situation, or is it already noticeable and irreparable.

 

[Haaribol]

Your situation on top looks quite similar to my hair when i grow it out (diffuse vertex/ crown thinning). Are you on anything (finasteride, minoxidil?)? Doesn't look too bad yet.
If i were you i would get rid of the parting, cut your hair to 2 or 3 inches and comb it slightly back. It will definitely look decent then.

 

[TheJediAreHere]

Your situation on top looks quite similar to my hair when i grow it out (diffuse vertex/ crown thinning). Are you on anything (finasteride, minoxidil?)? Doesn't look too bad yet.
If i were you i would get rid of the parting, cut your hair to 2 or 3 inches and comb it slightly back. It will definitely look decent then.

No, at the moment I am not taking anything.
I've been asking people around me, including some dermatologists and hair stylists if they can tell me anything, actually luckily for me, at the moment all of them is seeing thinning, but they are like 85-90% sure that in my case it is simply due to me not cutting my hair for almost 4 years, plus it being tied almost always, which in turn damaged it quite a bit. But because of that they do think that the damage is reparable, and that cutting and thus regenerating it is going to fix, if not 100%, then at least 80% of it. But I wanted to hear some more opinions, so thanks for the feedback.

 

[Haaribol]

That makes sense! When i was 24/ 25 i had hair like you and, while being a solid NW1, experienced some thinning on top. Actually, i didn't notice it myself, but two girls i was dating at the time told me so (separately, i must add!). Then i saw it for myself, panicked and went to a dermatologist, who put me on finasteride straight away. I caught it very, very early - maybe too early: another factor (like the malaria medicin i was using the summer before) might have caused the thinning on top.
To cut a long story short: after starting finasteride my hair completely recovered to its previous thickness. For almost 15 years no one (including myself) could tell that i was losing hair. Only since two years i have started to lose ground again (same pattern, but worse thinning on top/ vertex, this time hairline thinning too). But i was approaching 40, so i wasn't completely shocked.
Cut your hair and wait and see if it recovers or not. In case it becomes increasingly worse, you are still in an excellent position to halt male pattern baldness's progression. You can always consider the big 3 (or only finasteride and nizoral, for starters).

 

[TheJediAreHere]

Quick update, got a haircut, apparently, according to my hair stylist (the guy who's been cutting my hair since I was young kid) my hair is just fine, almost in perfect condition, although a bit damaged due to it being constantly tied up. I mean it definitely got thinner then it was when I was like 16, but that was expected, but there are no visible indications of any form of gradual or any sort of hair loss that should concern me. My hair stylist also said that my hair should start regenerating in the next couple of weeks, but if I don't start seeing any positive changes after some time, to go and check with dermatologist. But once again he is 99% positive that my hair is just fine.

So, here are the few new pics

 

[I wont lose this]

better lighting please

 

[Selb]

Keeping your hair long doesn’t thin it out. I would say look at your family history and assess if you should start finasteride

 

[TheJediAreHere]

Keeping your hair long doesn’t thin it out. I would say look at your family history and assess if you should start finasteride

If that's the case I really shouldn't need to worry for the next at least 15 or so years.

From my mother's side none of my male relatives started experiencing hair loss at least not until the age of like 50+. (Except for one cousin who is younger than me and had been bald since the age of 20-21)

From my father's side pretty much the same story, well my father started losing hair rapidly, and is now bald on top with hair on the side and back, but that happened to him during late thirties, early forties.

 

[TheJediAreHere]

Also, here is my hairline, my hair from both sides and my hair from the back, if those can provide better insight about my situation.

 

[TheJediAreHere]

Another quick update. I was advised to, start taking B7 vitamins, and start using shampoos like Alpecin (both are good for strengthening hair), and wait for sometime (Few months even). If I don't start seeing any difference, or if it starts worsening to start using minoxidil 2% (lotion).

 

[MissingPixels]

It sounds like you want to tackle your hair loss but you are afraid of the Big Three. Based on where you're at now I don't think you're going to have 15 worry-free years. You probably know this deep down as you're on this forum and looking for things to try to stop it. My advice is not to wait. Start the minoxidil now in 5% strength.

My hair looked similar to yours when I was around your age (albeit without the defusing crown). I was able to press pause on my hair loss for 2 years with 5% minoxidil twice a day and periods of nizoral once a week. That pause was long enough for me to work up the courage to address the root cause with finasteride. If you do the same, you may be able to pause your hair loss as well and give yourself time to mentally gear up to hop on finasteride.

You're in a position where a good hairstyle hides your hair loss. You don't want to progress beyond this. Right now is your opportunity to preserve, don't pass it up.

 

[TheJediAreHere]

So, due to extreme heat and humidity here, I decided to cut my hair even shorter, and all I have to say is...what the actual hell? 3 people, 1 dermatologist and 2 professional hair stylists told me that THIS is actually completely fine, a normal amount of thinning for a 26 years old guy. They are assuring me that this is not male pattern baldness, nor does it look like diffuse thinning or even any sort of telogen efluvium to them, and that starting with minoxidil or finasteride as of now would just be "throwing money away". I think I'll go and check my blood to see if I have any like vitamin D deficiency, or any deficiency/medical problem that might be the cause of this, for that matter.

Keep in mind tho, dermatologist just "scanned" through my hair, didn't do anything like biopsy, or any actual test, just a simple look and asked me how much hair do I lose combing/brushing and after washing it and if I see hair on my pillow or on desk when I'm working, being on a computer.

I mean I am completely aware that this needs to be treated, be it with min/finasteride or with idk vitamins, shampoos, oils, lotions and other "remedies". Hopefully, soon I'll have final answer and will tell you. Until then, I'm signing out o7

 

[infamousrodi]

Definitely get a blood panel done, doesn’t look like typical male pattern baldness but it could also just be diffuse loss in women pattern.