Curious If You Guys See A (negative) Difference In Hair Quality

[CrownBalding]

Okay I’ve been on finasteride for 4.5 months, and my hair has thinned out A sh*t TON while being on it. Long hair covers the thinning, but as I thin more, my longer hair looks worse and worse. My hair has become more wavy and has more and more dents throughout it, now that I’ve been thinning. First photo is close to baseline, about 4-5 months ago, and second is now. First was taken randomly throughout the day while second was taken after combing. Hair length is about the same.

Thoughts?

 

[hairnohair]

Looks slightly thicker but might be the combing and the slightly different angle. Also the scalp looks better, on the first pic it looks a very unhealthy red. Good luck man.

 

[Derelict]

Easier to see your balding in those pics, nothing you can do but give finasteride roughly a year. If that doesn't work switching to dutasteride and minoxidil with derma stamping and rolling.

 

[CrownBalding]

Easier to see your balding in those pics, nothing you can do but give finasteride roughly a year. If that doesn't work switching to dutasteride and minoxidil with derma stamping and rolling.

f*** I wish I took pics like that at baseline... If I can go back in time I would’ve taken pics of me pulling up my hair cause I really don’t know what it looked like. All I know is I wasn’t aware I was diffusing so it must’ve not been even close to that bad.

Thoughts on the first two pics in the OP though?

 

[hairnohair]

Thanks bro, honestly though my hair has thinned a lot since starting. My family (the most supportive people) have even admitted to it. These are recent pictures. In that baseline pic I couldn’t even see scalp after a shower when looking in the mirror.

I tried to get the angle extractly the same but the lighting might be a bit brighter in the recent photo.

Edit: don’t you notice my hair seems longer and less full though when it’s the same length? Especially when looking at my fringe.

Yeah, the frontal thinning is quite bad. But it looks like your head is badly inflamed, are you sure it is male pattern baldness? I got this red when I buzzed my hair down in August, it was itching and I could literally just pluck every single hair out without resistance. Put some aloe vera on it for a couple days and it got better, shedding went back to the usual number. All the redness makes it look even worse than it actually is and might contribute to the hair loss.

 

[CrownBalding]

Yeah, the frontal thinning is quite bad. But it looks like your head is badly inflamed, are you sure it is male pattern baldness? I got this red when I buzzed my hair down in August, it was itching and I could literally just pluck every single hair out without resistance. Put some aloe vera on it for a couple days and it got better, shedding went back to the usual number. All the redness makes it look even worse than it actually is and might contribute to the hair loss.

Alright I’ll try some Aloe Vera. I do have some recession and miniaturization so it must be male pattern baldness. But maybe the inflamation has something to do with it?

You recommend aloe vera? Anything else I can do?

How the f*** can I figure out why I’m so inflamed? I literally had a very dense head of hair only 6 months ago then this happened... male pattern baldness doesn’t even run strong in my family.

 

[Percy88]

Sorry to change the subject slightly, but what is 'miniaturisation'?

 

[hairnohair]

Anything that can soothe inflammation should work in theory. Cetirizine usually helps me when I'm having trouble with allergies, not sure if it halts hair loss as people say but it surely stops me from ripping my face off during the spring. I suggest you try aloe first though. I'm pretty sure inflammation has something to do with male pattern baldness, especially diffuse thinning.

 

[CrownBalding]

Sorry to change the subject slightly, but what is 'miniaturisation'?

It’s when your hair sheds and comes back thinner and sheds quicker next time until the follicle dies. It’s the process of balding. You’ll know you have miniaturization when you shed hairs that look shorter/thinner than the rest of your head.

Can we get back on topic now? I shampoo with a sulfate containing shampoo daily (I need to shampoo daily or my hair gets very greasy), maybe that had an effect on my inflamation?

I just took these pics now. The inflamation is real, although I did dermaroll earlier today...

 

[CrownBalding]

Anything that can soothe inflammation should work in theory. Cetirizine usually helps me when I'm having trouble with allergies, not sure if it halts hair loss as people say but it surely stops me from ripping my face off during the spring. I suggest you try aloe first though. I'm pretty sure inflammation has something to do with male pattern baldness, especially diffuse thinning.

Shouldn’t finasteride reduce inflamation though? Thanks for the suggestions, recently I’ve started thinking about combating this through reducing inflamation because finasteride doesn’t seem to be doing anything.

 

[hairnohair]

I'm starting to think that the top of the head is just the weakest part of our hair, so it's the first to go but the causes of male pattern baldness are different for everyone. Finasteride seems to really work wonders for some people, but I've seen a lot of other people who swear that it made their condition worse, same with Minoxidil and every other treatment. This is what happens when researchers smear stuff on our heads and count the extra hair instead of looking for the cause of hair loss and addressing it directly.
You might be interested in reading this, this is something I've noticed myself.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11511857
I've been massaging my scalp in various ways to stimulate blood flow, experimented with different oils, and I noticed that some hairs start as vellus and then turn terminal after some months of growth, which is weird.

 

[CrownBalding]

I'm starting to think that the top of the head is just the weakest part of our hair, so it's the first to go but the causes of male pattern baldness are different for everyone. Finasteride seems to really work wonders for some people, but I've seen a lot of other people who swear that it made their condition worse, same with Minoxidil and every other treatment. This is what happens when researchers smear stuff on our heads and count the extra hair instead of looking for the cause of hair loss and addressing it directly.
You might be interested in reading this, this is something I've noticed myself.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11511857
I've been massaging my scalp in various ways to stimulate blood flow, experimented with different oils, and I noticed that some hairs start as vellus and then turn terminal after some months of growth, which is weird.

I read the brief summary but I have to be a member to read the whole paper. I’ve been doing scalp massages and dermarolling as well. But my scalp still itches and is still red. I know this probably plays a major factor in my hair loss considering it’s been so quick. I’m going to smear some aloe Vera on my scalp today. And try some castor oil as well. Maybe eliminate the sulfate containing shampoo too. Other than that I’m not sure what I can do.

Any other suggestions? Centrizine is for seasonal allergies, which I’ve gotten since I was young, but they’ve calmed down in the past few years. So I doubt that seasonal allergies play a role in my inflamation.

 

[hairnohair]

I haven't tried dermarolling yet, I keep forgetting to buy a dermaroller. Are you sure you're giving your scalp enough time to recover between dermarolling/massage sessions? I've ordered some castor oil on amazon, I will try it both orally (1 or 2mls) and on my beard and scalp daily. My allergies got better since I got a cat, repeated exposure probably helped me build up some tolerance but pollen still knocks me out sometimes. Try ditching the sulfate shampoo, and avoid washing your hair with hot water. It feels good for the first hour, then it starts itching like crazy.

 

[CrownBalding]

Honestly my scalp was inflamed when I first noticed my hair loss 5 months ago, it just hasn’t gotten better. I don’t think massaging and dermarolling shortly after or vice versa has an effect. Maybe I have a new allergy that I’m not aware of? Today my scalp is particularly itchy but I can’t think of any cause... I do shower with hot water so maybe that doesn’t help. My next step is aloe Vera and castor oil. If my inflamation/shedding settles I may add in minoxidil.

 

[CrownBalding]

Oh sh*t, does anyone have any input on my original post too btw? Went off on a tangent here.

 

[hairnohair]

5/6 years ago I used to have massive itching, crazy amounts of dandruff and hair loss but my hair never thinned out. I was a NW2 but I've been that way since I was a kid. Things got worse strarting from 2017, now it's all thin and it looks kinda blonde on top despite me having brown hair. Most of my hair is still there but it's miniaturized, especially on the temples, I'm almost fully NW3 with no crown thinning. Massage caused a lot of vellus hair to sprout, it's like the first time in my whole life that I can see my NW0 hairline but it's all vellus.

Off-topic aside, I think you're better off if you stay away from Min until your inflammation calms down. Definitely get rid of the hot water, it's bad for your skin, especially the scalp. I've left the water dial on cold since July and my skin never felt better. Scalp has it's bad days but it's surely better than it was before.

 

[CrownBalding]

5/6 years ago I used to have massive itching, crazy amounts of dandruff and hair loss but my hair never thinned out. I was a NW2 but I've been that way since I was a kid. Things got worse strarting from 2017, now it's all thin and it looks kinda blonde on top despite me having brown hair. Most of my hair is still there but it's miniaturized, especially on the temples, I'm almost fully NW3 with no crown thinning. Massage caused a lot of vellus hair to sprout, it's like the first time in my whole life that I can see my NW0 hairline but it's all vellus.

Off-topic aside, I think you're better off if you stay away from Min until your inflammation calms down. Definitely get rid of the hot water, it's bad for your skin, especially the scalp. I've left the water dial on cold since July and my skin never felt better. Scalp has it's bad days but it's surely better than it was before.

My temples aren’t too bad. It’s just the thinning that’s killing me.

In that original post you really don’t see a huge differences though in terms of my hair getting worse?

 

[hairnohair]

My temples aren’t too bad. It’s just the thinning that’s killing me.

In that original post you really don’t see a huge differences though in terms of my hair getting worse?

Already told you man, the crown looks more or less the same, if not slightly thicker in the second pic.
Your temples are ok, and the thinning doesn't really look noticeable from the front. Try cooling your scalp down (ice packs or something like that). Some people say that diffuse thinning might be related to thyroid disfunction, I haven't really looked into that so I can't tell you much about it.

 

[CrownBalding]

Already told you man, the crown looks more or less the same, if not slightly thicker in the second pic.
Your temples are ok, and the thinning doesn't really look noticeable from the front. Try cooling your scalp down (ice packs or something like that). Some people say that diffuse thinning might be related to thyroid disfunction, I haven't really looked into that so I can't tell you much about it.

I got my thyroid tested and everything was good (unfortunately). I actually just tested my dht and test levels yesterday so I’m waiting kn the results.

 

[hairnohair]

I got my thyroid tested and everything was good (unfortunately). I actually just tested my dht and test levels yesterday so I’m waiting kn the results.

Testosterone seems to be lacking in balding men, despite the typical DHT-Hair loss link. It probably goes deeper than that. I wanted to get tested for nutrient deficiencies and stuff like that but I think I'll do it next year because I've taken antibiotics for a full month in June, I'm pretty sure all my levels are still fucked from that.