Balding At 16-17 (looking For Support/advice/help) My Story

[Drew Killmer]

(Long story coming, but would appreciate the read) Hey guys. I don't really know where to begin.... I am only 17 years old. I first noticed a hair problem at the beginning of December when i went to my hairdresser and she noticed something funny about the right side of my hair.. she thought it was some type of breakage. She didn't suspect anything and i didn't either. But for the first time it got me looking closely at my actual hair strands, hairline, etc instead of just the final product that i see when i look dead straight in the mirror. So when i looked, i saw that i was receding in both temples, but more on the right. Of course i had a major freakout and was so concerned. Since then its been a wild ride. I've asked everyone what they thought, been to hairdressers, dermatologists and different companies searching for solutions and answers. I read online about telogen effluvium and prayed for awhile that it was causing all of this. And for awhile i believed it as i have had major events happen in the past months.. dad issues, a bad breakup which i took very hard. But a scalp test and blood test confirmed the worst of my fears. So for the past couple months i have been stressing non stop about a problem i cant really control (beside medication) I am using rogaine and have been since i noticed the hairloss. Since i started on that i have only receded more and more. Faster than i thought i would've. and looking back at old pics i can see i am receding a little bit. But in the past couple months it has been rapid. And even back then when i was receding.. i still had thick hair. Although looking back i remember always saying to my hairdresser "The back of my hair always is so thick wtf this is so weird it gets thick so fast" But anyways this has had such a pyschological effect on me and has caused problems in my family, friends and with my girlfriend. It has caused me to have less self confidence and be angry, sad and moody. I always thought i was this very good looking guy and that i would have the prime of my physical appearence coming up but it turns out i have already passed it, and am only on the decline. I think i would look fine bald, but the process scares me, and hitting it so young causes me great pain. I know im not the worst case.. but i see alot of people on here who are mid 20s and complaining because they are so young.. and i get that its the same pain. But i would do anything to have 8 more years of full hair before expereincing this problem. But we're all in the same boat and would just appreciate your guys support/help/advice.

Some of biggest questions and concerns i would like your opinion on:
-Should i jump on propecia at 18.. scared of side effects and hormonal effects on me since i am so young
- went to hans wiemann and talked about PRP procedure... has shown great results and have talked to people who have had this done and worked.. thinking it might be my best option. working alot to get the money to pay for it.
- My family history consists of: no one on dad's side/ and one uncle on moms side who started this problem at late 18 years old :/
-The thing is my moms dad had a receding hairline when he was my age and in 20s but did not have any thinning... can and will post pics of him at my age and me right now. Wondering if i will be like him or be like my uncle who started balding in teens and was bald by early 20s.
-any other advice for me in terms of getting through it or other medication/methods i can do to keep it.

Thank you guys for all your help and good luck to all of you in your journeys!

 

[kj6723]

I feel for you bro. Getting on propecia at 18 is kind of a grey area....your body likely has a few more years of growing, but at the same time the longer you wait, the less chance you have of saving those follicles. It's a shitty situation to be in. Have you discussed it with a dermatologist?

What's your timeline for rogaine? As in, how long have you been on it, and how long after starting until you noticed you were continuing to lose more hair? Many people go through shedding phases when they start it followed by regrowth of more healthy hair

You should post some pics. Might help us better evaluate your situation

 

[GoldenMane]

If it was me I'd get on propecia.

 

[Drew Killmer]

I feel for you bro. Getting on propecia at 18 is kind of a grey area....your body likely has a few more years of growing, but at the same time the longer you wait, the less chance you have of saving those follicles. It's a shitty situation to be in. Have you discussed it with a dermatologist?

What's your timeline for rogaine? As in, how long have you been on it, and how long after starting until you noticed you were continuing to lose more hair? Many people go through shedding phases when they start it followed by regrowth of more healthy hair

You should post some pics. Might help us better evaluate your situation

Here's where i am at now. Not the worst but. Been on rogaine since mid december. I shed a little bit in the weeks after and now that hairfall is regular. Dont know if i have regrown or lost anything but i do know for sure since then my hairline has crept back little by little. Here is also a pic of my grandpa.

 

[kj6723]

Here's where i am at now. Not the worst but. Been on rogaine since mid december. I shed a little bit in the weeks after and now that hairfall is regular. Dont know if i have regrown or lost anything but i do know for sure since then my hairline has crept back little by little. Here is also a pic of my grandpa.

Ok, def looks to be some male pattern baldness recession. Not quite to the point where it's destroying your aesthetics yet, but your age makes it a concern

Minoxidil can take time to show its effectiveness, and 2-3 months isn't really enough to assess this. Since you've already started it, I would give it a minimum of 6 months before you give up on it

If things pretty much stay as they are, I would probably wait until 20-22 years old to hop on finasteride. Unless things really start to accelerate, and your hair loss is really affecting your quality of life, then maybe you could justify getting on it sooner, but I don't think you're at that point yet. I wouldn't yet risk being stuck with the body of a man child for life

Also, as far as PRP goes, I don't know much about it. If you're going to set aside money for something hair related, you'd probably be better off starting a transplant savings for if sh*t really hits the fan down the line

So for now, I recommend sticking to minoxidil and nizoral. And take a few deep breaths. You're nowhere near the point of no return yet

 

[Kris89]

If you were any other age I'd be saying to get immediately on finasteride. However, as you're only 18 I'm going to say to carefully observe. I mean, take monthly photos and keep a solid eye on it. If it's advancing rapidly and you cannot afford to wait the 2 or so years, then I'd probably take the plunge anyway (personally). But it's something you'll need to consider very carefully.

In the mean time you can start a fund for PRP or a transplant. Again, my personal opinion, is that a transplant would be the way to go. Let's say you got by two years with only temporal loss. You could then take finasteride for 6-12 months until your loss was controlled and then have the temples filled in via transplant. If you managed to put 20-30 bucks a week until then you'd be able to afford to get the temples done (well depending on where you reside I suppose).