Embarking on a journey to fight male pattern baldness

[mpbman]

hello, guys.....i'm 22 and have been lurking here for about six months now....i have always had a broader than average forehead ,even as a kid.....however, over the past four years or so, my hairline has started creeping backwards very slowly....after spending much of that time in denial, i had a happy realization that i am balding and something needs to be done......

i am in college right now but i think that in about three years i shall be able to save enough money to get the best possible hair transplant surgery.....my existing hairline and the back and sides of my head are quite dense, so from what i infer from the tons of posts i have read, it makes me a good candidate for hair transplant........


Now, i know that a vast majority of the guys here swear by finasteride, but i shall not take that risk.....i mean, i shall be able to deal with any other unexpected side effect, but not any decrease in libido.....i have read about guys who have committed suicide after experiencing impotency induced by hormonal changes and i am too paranoid to gamble on it

so my regimen will 5% minoxidil solution twice daily and nizoral shampoo twice a week....here are some recent pics

here's a pic of my usual hairstyle.....ofcourse you guys can guess that i am not a big fan of gusts of wind

i can see vellus hair almost all over the forehead when i observe it under strong light.....so i guess minoxidil might bring about a change after a year of regular use..... please give your opinions everyone .....and a request to the propecia fanclub....please don't gang up against a newbie

 

[mothernature]

you almost have a perfect NW2 mature hairline. Try minoxidil/nizoral shampoo for now, propecia if it goes NW2+

 

[Agahi]

If you get a hair transplant, the doctor will want you to start finasteride, as the non transplanted hairs will still thin and eventually leave a bald area past where the hair transplant hairs are. Knowing that, I'd say you may as well start the finasteride now as it is best for maintaining hair and not regrowing (though it can when combined with MIN)

On sides, don't let people fool you on either side of that argument. You can very well get sides, but the chances of the sides lasting after you discontinue use are very very slim. The reason you hear about the sides so much is that scorned people typically end up being the loudest.

If you are super afraid still, start with .5mg/day instead of the standard 1.00mg/day or 1.25mg/day most people that get sides, do not get sides with the reduced dosage, and still see results.

Your hairline looks pretty good IMO, would be best to maintain it, than hope to fix it later.

 

[gh05]

Minoxidil didn't work for me and I'm sceptical that it made things worse (use with caution maybe on a part of your hair to test first) - hope you have better luck with it.

Nobody really knows how minoxidil works so i disagree when people say that it can't make things worse - not even hair transplant doctors know, see here http://www.baldingblog.com/2011/10/05/r ... confusion/

 

[Agahi]

I think that MIN works based on increased blood flow or some such.

Being that we don't even know exactly what causes male pattern baldness at all, the same argument of not knowing why MIN works, works for any treatment, even natural ones ect.

 

[gh05]

I think that MIN works based on increased blood flow or some such.

Being that we don't even know exactly what causes male pattern baldness at all, the same argument of not knowing why MIN works, works for any treatment, even natural ones ect.

I thought we were pretty confident by now that it was caused by DHT killing over sensitive follicles?

 

[Agahi]

Ive seen pretty solid arguments for dht attacking the fat cells or some such, which tell hair to grow. Not sure exactly, but some Yale findings on the matter in another topic..any way my point is we don't know for sure.

 

[mpbman]

thanks for the help guys..........i think that for now, i will take mothernature's advice and try minoxidil+ nizoral for 6 months......its been only a week since i have started....i shall post my pictures every month and let others determine whether or not i am making any progress, since i tend to take a very pessimistic view of things......in fact i was convinced i was a norwood 3-4 until someone pointed out that i was a Norwood 2