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Hello All,
New User here, and basically as I approach my later 20's, I am seeking out a community to better document and understand my journey, which many men go through: balding.
I have thin, fine hair; so even at the age of 12, girls have made fun of me for balding.I took light of this, however, Since I was about 18 or 19, I noticed my hair line somewhat thinning at the temples, or perhaps for a while I was thinking maybe it was all in my head. For years since then, I have been constantly monitoring my hair growth, thickness and doing research to try and prevent what many men would deem an unfavorable ending to the glorious fable that once was their youthful mane.
A little genetics background: my mom's dad was completely bald on top, but her brothers maintained quite a bit of hair with little receding. My dad's father had a full head of hair even at the age of 73 when he died, but my own father and his brothers are all bald bastards basically. To put it simply, my genetics pool seem to be a luck of the draw at this point.
Then comes the research; men today have more toys to play around with to combat balding than ever before. When I first started to deal with this, I knew one thing and that was doing this as naturally as possible, because if I could not have it naturally then I did not care and would shave it all to accept my fate. My first trials were around the age of 23, where I read that all I needed to do was stop using bad shampoos that had tons of chemicals in it. I used ewg.org/skindeep to find which shampoo was the best, and found that dr bronners was the healthiest I could find at a local store. The second step was to put olive oil in my hair religiously every night, massaging it in for a few minutes and then using a boar bristle brush 100 strokes from the healthy areas of your head to the parts that are prone to be unhealthy. I would brush from the base of my scull on my neck toward the top of my forehead. After this, I would leave it in over night or just for 30 minutes, but was doing it on an almost nightly basis. My hair seemed to be fine. I would grow it out and it looked like I did when I was 17 for the most part. Maybe there was still slow or slight receding, but it seemed minimal.
A few years later, at age of 25, I began to read about DHT and foods that block it. I started trying to take supplements that block it as well. I can list this in more detail if someone asks, but they are easily researched online. Anyways, I never did this religiously, but I would be regular about it with probably about once every three days taking a variety of supplements to combat DHT. It is around this time that I somewhat stopped doing olive oil as much. I was maybe doing it a few times a year or maybe once a month at this point.
A year later at the age of 26, again, fearing the inevitable, I felt that my hair was just not as thick as I would like it. Maybe I am a hypochondriac, but I did some research to see if there was a natural shampoo better than my doctor bronners. I found Biota. The bottle says to use it for 6 months RELIGIOUSLY, every day to have results, but when the bottle says 97% had improvement and that it is herbal based AND it checks out with ewg.org I figured that it was probably ok to try it out. For the most part it seemed to be working, other than maybe occasional dry scalp and dandruff (which I feel was mostly caused by over drinking and not staying hydrated, I have cut out since and have not had an issue since), the product did not have any side effects. The first six months I used both the shampoo and leave in serum every day, but the last 6 months I have been using it 3-4 days a week with maybe once a week using the leave in serum. The supplements that I have been taking for DHT blocking has been inconsistent as well, and is just not consistent enough in the last year to say any good average.
Anyways, I am here now on this website to better document my situation and perhaps give insight to those that are looking for better alternatives than prescription medication. I have felt like my efforts to minimize hair loss have been effective, and perhaps if I was more strict about these routines, my hair would be much thicker. I am now 27 going on 28 in a few months. There are many people my age, including my own friends, who are dealing with hair loss more serious than mine, but I feel like my research and efforts have helped stave off the threat of losing more so I hope maybe I can help others avoid expensive treatments and choose a more natural method. I politely will respect anyone who is going through this process as well, and I hope the best for you in this journey.
I am only posting recent pictures of my head right now, but could maybe provide younger pictures if asked/can find them.
Comments are welcome, criticism is welcome.
New User here, and basically as I approach my later 20's, I am seeking out a community to better document and understand my journey, which many men go through: balding.
I have thin, fine hair; so even at the age of 12, girls have made fun of me for balding.I took light of this, however, Since I was about 18 or 19, I noticed my hair line somewhat thinning at the temples, or perhaps for a while I was thinking maybe it was all in my head. For years since then, I have been constantly monitoring my hair growth, thickness and doing research to try and prevent what many men would deem an unfavorable ending to the glorious fable that once was their youthful mane.
A little genetics background: my mom's dad was completely bald on top, but her brothers maintained quite a bit of hair with little receding. My dad's father had a full head of hair even at the age of 73 when he died, but my own father and his brothers are all bald bastards basically. To put it simply, my genetics pool seem to be a luck of the draw at this point.
Then comes the research; men today have more toys to play around with to combat balding than ever before. When I first started to deal with this, I knew one thing and that was doing this as naturally as possible, because if I could not have it naturally then I did not care and would shave it all to accept my fate. My first trials were around the age of 23, where I read that all I needed to do was stop using bad shampoos that had tons of chemicals in it. I used ewg.org/skindeep to find which shampoo was the best, and found that dr bronners was the healthiest I could find at a local store. The second step was to put olive oil in my hair religiously every night, massaging it in for a few minutes and then using a boar bristle brush 100 strokes from the healthy areas of your head to the parts that are prone to be unhealthy. I would brush from the base of my scull on my neck toward the top of my forehead. After this, I would leave it in over night or just for 30 minutes, but was doing it on an almost nightly basis. My hair seemed to be fine. I would grow it out and it looked like I did when I was 17 for the most part. Maybe there was still slow or slight receding, but it seemed minimal.
A few years later, at age of 25, I began to read about DHT and foods that block it. I started trying to take supplements that block it as well. I can list this in more detail if someone asks, but they are easily researched online. Anyways, I never did this religiously, but I would be regular about it with probably about once every three days taking a variety of supplements to combat DHT. It is around this time that I somewhat stopped doing olive oil as much. I was maybe doing it a few times a year or maybe once a month at this point.
A year later at the age of 26, again, fearing the inevitable, I felt that my hair was just not as thick as I would like it. Maybe I am a hypochondriac, but I did some research to see if there was a natural shampoo better than my doctor bronners. I found Biota. The bottle says to use it for 6 months RELIGIOUSLY, every day to have results, but when the bottle says 97% had improvement and that it is herbal based AND it checks out with ewg.org I figured that it was probably ok to try it out. For the most part it seemed to be working, other than maybe occasional dry scalp and dandruff (which I feel was mostly caused by over drinking and not staying hydrated, I have cut out since and have not had an issue since), the product did not have any side effects. The first six months I used both the shampoo and leave in serum every day, but the last 6 months I have been using it 3-4 days a week with maybe once a week using the leave in serum. The supplements that I have been taking for DHT blocking has been inconsistent as well, and is just not consistent enough in the last year to say any good average.
Anyways, I am here now on this website to better document my situation and perhaps give insight to those that are looking for better alternatives than prescription medication. I have felt like my efforts to minimize hair loss have been effective, and perhaps if I was more strict about these routines, my hair would be much thicker. I am now 27 going on 28 in a few months. There are many people my age, including my own friends, who are dealing with hair loss more serious than mine, but I feel like my research and efforts have helped stave off the threat of losing more so I hope maybe I can help others avoid expensive treatments and choose a more natural method. I politely will respect anyone who is going through this process as well, and I hope the best for you in this journey.
I am only posting recent pictures of my head right now, but could maybe provide younger pictures if asked/can find them.
Comments are welcome, criticism is welcome.
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