Advice for 24 year old (plus some questions)

[24yearoldmale]

Hi there guys. First let me say how impressed I am with the site, and the help it seems to have given people, I hope it can do the same for me. I have read over the site and just want to confirm what I am saying is right before I go ahead….

I just took the pictures above, as you can see its receding more on my right side, and there is some thinning on the crown so that you can see some skin. From the top view you can see that my front hair line is not very straight and the old horse shoe coming though lol.
I know this is nothing major at the moment, but from what I have read it is all about starting early, so better I do it now while not a major problem, to stop it becoming one, right?

I am thinking of using the big 3.
1) Finasteride (Drug, pill)
2) Minoxidil (Topical, liquid)
3) Ketoconazol (Shampoo)

Possibly just the first two... At this stage do you think this is right for me? Any other recommendations, given my age and state of hair…?

Questions:
- Is the Rogaine foam that much better that it’s worth paying extra for it?
- Is generic Minoxidl just as good as normal Rogaine?
- Is it ok to carry on using hair styling products while doing the above? I currently use Shockwaves gum/clay.

I am very grateful for any advice and help
Thanks

 

[24yearoldmale]

Rogain foam is woth paying for- since you only have to treat the frontal area you could benefit from it. It dries very quick and enables you to have a 'flake free' day. The liquid takes hours to dry and would be noticable in public.

Thanks i will try the foam then, are you saying i should only use it on the front and not my crown? It is thinning a bit on the crown to...

Use want you want still since you do not have very noticable hairloss.

But does it have a bad effect? Or is it ok to carry on using products like this? I know my loss is not very noticeable now, but i don't want to do anything that encourages more hairloss...?

Rogain/minoxidil- remember it is a life time committment- I dont think you need to use it yet unless you want to try and get back your straight hairline.

I would defo like to try and get back straight hairline, so i will give it a go. I understand you have to keep using it. But are you also saying that once i go on it, if i was to come off that it will be worse then never having gone on it in the first place? If you know what i mean.

Thanks for your reply man.
Anyone else got any thoughts / views on this?

 

[Lucky_UK]

Hi 24yearold....

I would at least start taking propecia, your hairloss looked similar to mine @ your age, I found rogaine irritated me but I would at least give it a go if I was you.

You have the right idea by starting with the big 3, give it a go but dont expect results overnight, start the regime and take photos every month for at least 12 months, this way you will be able to see any progress.

Best of luck!

 

[Nathaniel]

I think its a very good idea to start doing finasteride and nizoral shampoo. Keep a close watch and eventually add minoxidil. I would start the first 3-6 months on finasteride and nizoral. Then add minoxidil. Don't waste much time, just jump on the regimen, thats the best advice I can give you.

 

[MSFB]

use everything you possibly can as soon as you can for as long as you can.

what the point in leaving out minoxidil? it would definitely help.

 

[Sean68]

your original idea was fine. use the foam and maybe some copper peptides would help, i always recommend nano or prox-n as theyre the best ive tried. drink some green tea every day and...come back in six months.

 

[RaginDemon]

good thing you catch it early, your hair loss is still at the initial stage. finasteride and minoxidil will most likely help.

 

[24yearoldmale]

Thanks for feedback so far guys.
Few more questions though...

- I am in UK. Can someone from UK please advise me on best place/s to buy the big 3 and what prices I should be paying? (Minoxidil, price for both foam and liquid)

- There seems to be so many thingings! My head hurts from reading lol. Would you say the big 3 are defo the best for me, or is there something else I should use at this stage?

- "Itch" currently not using any products, but have a sort of itching sensation on my crown (were it is thinning a little) is that itch a sign of the thinning? i.e. a bad thing?

 

[Lucky_UK]

For the big three, in the UK I would reccomend...

Proscar off Dr Ashcroft, cost is approx £110 for 15 months supply
Nizoral from Boots
Rogaine Foam from minoxidil.com (in the US but they are cosha and they post here)

if you can't find Dr Ashcroft's details here PM me or one of the other guys who use him may well post his details here.


Hope this helps

Lucky

 

[MSFB]

i would get rogaine off ebay, cheaper there.

 

[Johnny24601]

re:

Those who would say "throw the kitchen sink at your hairloss, it can't hurt" are clearly not informed about battling hairloss. The reality is that different products are more effective for each individual and no one really knows why. When you throw the kitchen sink at the issue, you have no idea what product is working and which one could be just a waste of time. However, any decent treatment begins with an internal which can fight the interaction between DHT and your follicles, so finasteride is a must (but comes with a small degree of risk so educate yourself first). nizoral is just a shampoo used to clean your pores and maintain healthy hair 9with some small potential to fight DHT), so adding that is no big deal but most (including me) thinks its a good idea because it is cheap and only needs to be used once or twice a week. I would suggest using finasteride for 9-12 months, evaluating your results and then deciding whether you want to add a topical. Make sure to take photos and be VERY PATIENT as it takes time for your hair follicles to adjust to treatment. Good luck.