Does 'catching It Early' Refer To How Long You've Been Balding, Or How Much Hair You Still Have?

[hanginginthewire]

I've been diffusely thinning for more than 15 years (most of that time unbeknownst to me) but I still have an illusion of coverage. I see a lot of miniaturization in my diffused pattern but the hairs are definitely still visible. Obviously it's best to hop on propecia ASAP but I'm just wondering if having hair to save is the more important factor?

 

[Dontwannabeabetabob]

From what I've read if you've got some sort of hair on your head that isn't completely miniaturized there's a possibility of those hairs thickening, completely bald areas a different story obviously.

Is the diffusion pretty much your entire head or more localized in some areas?

 

[ManinBlack]

I think it refers to how much hair you still have, but timeline can be a factor too. I made the mistake of thinking I was just getting a mature hairline and didn't start treatment until recently. I would advise anybody who has a family history of balding and who is creeping past a Norwood 1 to get on treatment ASAP.

 

[hanginginthewire]

I'm diffuse in a NW6 pattern, AND I have some retograde. f*** my life. Diffusion is a sneaky f*****g bastard and once it does its sh*t and you realize it you are fucked. My hairline is like 2 to 2.5 but this diffusion looks like garbage. I literally don't know what to do with it.

The fact that young men aren't educated about hair loss as part of health class / sex ed 101 is a SCANDAL to me. Criminal. The only thing we were told about hormonal changes to our bodies was to wash our face more to avoid acne, and I kid you not they gave us some Sea Breeze. Young guys should know the names propecia and minoxidil better than their teachers' names and be able to draw out the chemical formula for finasteride ffs. It's important. Replace postmodern intersectional feminism and "rape culture" with intergalatic red pills and incel culture lol.

 

[ManinBlack]

I'm diffuse in a NW6 pattern, AND I have some retograde. f*** my life. Diffusion is a sneaky f*****g bastard and once it does its sh*t and you realize it you are fucked. My hairline is like 2 to 2.5 but this diffusion looks like garbage. I literally don't know what to do with it.

The fact that young men aren't educated about hair loss as part of health class / sex ed 101 is a SCANDAL to me. Criminal. The only thing we were told about hormonal changes to our bodies was to wash our face more to avoid acne, and I kid you not they gave us some Sea Breeze. Young guys should know the names propecia and minoxidil better than their teachers' names and be able to draw out the chemical formula for finasteride ffs. It's important. Replace postmodern intersectional feminism and "rape culture" with intergalatic red pills and incel culture lol.

Yeah I am diffusing in a NW6 pattern as well and I have a NW3 Jude Law "island of hair" type hairline, although not quite detached yet. I had long hair for a long time so the diffusion was hid and I didn't realize how bad it was until I cut my hair short. I should have taken notice when my naturally curly hair started slowly becoming straight and losing volume and becoming comb-overy. I also deluded myself for far too long by telling myself it was just a mature hairline and that I had a naturally high forehead. Well I know better now at least and I am not too far gone. I am saving up for a hair transplant as I type this.

 

[hanginginthewire]

Yeah I am diffusing in a NW6 pattern as well and I have a NW3 Jude Law "island of hair" type hairline, although not quite detached yet. I had long hair for a long time so the diffusion was hid and I didn't realize how bad it was until I cut my hair short. I should have taken notice when my naturally curly hair started slowly becoming straight and losing volume and becoming comb-overy. I also deluded myself for far too long by telling myself it was just a mature hairline and that I had a naturally high forehead. Well I know better now at least and I am not too far gone. I am saving up for a hair transplant as I type this.

What's the long term strategy for transplant if you are diffusing in a NW6 pattern though? I feel like my NW6 fate means I'm not a candidate for transplant. If you google Norwood 6 transplant I think the first thing that comes up is multiple forum members saying no one can get feasible coverage with a 6 or 7 pattern. And yet I stumble across threads and videos from guys who look bald as f*** to me but who got a reasonable outcome with a transplant(s). We have a poster on this site who says essentially "do the math" and that the donor of a 5, 6, or 7 is never going to work with the area that needs to be covered. Sorry if I'm ranting and raving but the confusion this generates is so very frustrating to me. If a few transplants (I understand the concept of 'chasing the loss') could give me (as a diffusing NW6) a decent illusion of full coverage (for life?) I would book the transplant today. The impression that I get is that advanced NWs are screwed as far as that goes though. There's just not enough hair. Not to mention the issue of shock loss for us diffusers - which ALSO confuses me, because some may it sound like shock loss is a very real, dangerous possibility and others make it sound like no big deal or that it grows back. Navigating this would drive anyone crazy. Hair loss makes me feel the protaganist in a Kafka short story. Waking nightmare.

 

[ManinBlack]

Yeah I wish I could tell you, but I don't really know all that much about hair transplants myself or if they are viable for diffuse thinners. I imagine that the hairloss would have to be stabilized before you could attempt it in order to minimize risk of shock loss. You might be able to get some coverage with a NW5-7 if you used a ton of grafts and opted for a very high conservative hairline. I have also heard of some people using beard grafts or even chest hair to add more to the transplant, but I imagine you would have to have a Santa Claus beard and be very hirsute in order for that to work.

But honestly shock loss does sound like a big risk to me. It would be very upsetting to get multiple hair transplants only to end up the same or worse as when you started. Honestly it might be better just to wait until you become slick bald and then try to get a conservative hair restoration.

 

[shadowcast]

Why spend time on this forum trying to get someone to predict your future for you? You said it, just hop on propecia immediately. I've been diffusely thinning for about 10 years and after reading every positive\negative finasteride story on here, I realize that you just have to try the drug for yourself. I started on it 4 months ago and have seen minor regrowth\increase in hair quality (the "my hair just sits better" thing that people describe in the early stages of the drug), and no side effects to speak of. Considering my baseline is pretty awful (very thin coverage + bald spot + receded hairline), I'm hopeful.

 

[shadowcast]

I should also add that in addition to my "normal" minor regrowth, one single 100% thick\strong\dark terminal hair has sprouted at the absolute front of where my hairline would start if I had 0 baldness, in other words in an area where I haven't had any sort of hair (not even vellus) since I was maybe 16 or something (pre maturing hairline). I'm 32 now. The implications of that are crazy.

 

[hanginginthewire]

Why spend time on this forum trying to get someone to predict your future for you? You said it, just hop on propecia immediately. I've been diffusely thinning for about 10 years and after reading every positive\negative finasteride story on here, I realize that you just have to try the drug for yourself. I started on it 4 months ago and have seen minor regrowth\increase in hair quality (the "my hair just sits better" thing that people describe in the early stages of the drug), and no side effects to speak of. Considering my baseline is pretty awful (very thin coverage + bald spot + receded hairline), I'm hopeful.

Oh I already take propecia. My question was just pondering the fact that on the one hand my hair has been being attacked by DHT for well over a decade, while on the other hand there's still a lot of it and if propecia halted the loss or better yet thickened things up I'd be okay. I've been taking propecia w/out a missed dosage since August of 2016. Don't feel or see any difference on it, With the possible exception that my temple points seem a bit better.

Anyway I guess I interrogate people and ask my hypotheticals because of the frustration I feel with the lack of coherence surrounding hair loss treatment. I agree with you that people just have to try it for themselves, but I feel very angry that a)it doesn't seem to be doing anything for me and b)the scientific and medical community seem to be a-ok with this attitude of "meh, maybe it will work for you in 6 months, maybe a year, maybe never, maybe your dick will stop working, maybe not, maybe it will halt your loss, maybe you'll have reflex hypoandro, maybe this, maybe that." It's just nuts. And this is the "gold standard" treatment for hair loss, the one people point you to when you express your distress at the prospect of being bald. And trust me I'm not a scare monger about side effects. In fact, when I see dudes on here agonizing over possible sides and delaying treatment, I feel like screaming "JUST f*****g take it!!!" lol.


Anyway, I forget where this rant was going. I'm just annoyed by the attitude (not from you, just in general) that propecia is some kind of salve or that taking it will allow you to make other decisions about treating this disease (transplants, etc.) Maybe it works good for some but for others it's a glorified sugar pill and it isn't maintaining sh*t. And like I was saying, if catching it early is the key to it's success, then the education system, Boy scouts of America, Boy's Club, bat mitzvah / confirmation religious ceremonies and certainly the medical community should be educating the public. It should be a part of routine care for young men or young men should be educated about the warning signs. Most of us go to the doctor in f*****g 2017 to complain of hair loss and they're like "hurrrr durrr vitamins blah blah oh yeah I probably should have written you a script for pro-pee-sha ten years ago sorry about that maybe it will still work lol sorry I fucked up your life tee hee hee." /rant

 

[shadowcast]

Sorry to hear propecia isn't working for you, I don't even really know if finasteride is going to "work" for me yet (in the sense of getting that rare significant regrowth - let's face it, that's what all finasteride users hope for). Have you tried minoxidil? There are a few threads in the success stories sections of people that are on finasteride for > 6 months with minimal results, and then add minoxidil and regrow crazy amounts of hair. My plan is to evaluate at between 6-9 months and potentially add minoxidil.