Gene_Fighter
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Hey y'all, this post is basically a presentation of my thoughts on the treatment options available for those of us with frontal balding and hairline recession. For years now I've been casually researching/pondering any effective treatment solutions for a receding hairline, and the conclusion I've reached is this:
If you're a receder smitten with true male pattern baldness, you're simply f'd.
Now, obviously, there are many different platitudes of hairloss, and when I say "a receder smitten with true male pattern baldness", I mean a receder that is actually suffering from male pattern baldness and will inevitably become totally bald at a premature age--I don't mean someone that has a natural nw2 hairline or has receded to a nw2 by the age of 30. That type of hairloss can really be better described as natural aging, as it does not result in baldness at a premature age, and therefore should not be considered male pattern baldness. Because such people have only very mild hairloss to begin with, they can expect great results from almost any treatment option they use.
Here's what I've learned about the most standard options available and why I believe they are ineffective at combating hairloss for receders with true male pattern baldness:
Finasteride : Just check out the website for Propecia, one of the first things they state on the homepage is that "There is not sufficient evidence that PROPECIA works for receding hairlines at the temples." It shouldn't be any surprise to learn that Finasteride won't have any effect on the hairline region for those with true male pattern baldness. Just look at the comparison pictures they post on their site of identical genetic twins with male pattern baldness, one using finasteride and the other without. They both have identical hairlines with recession, but the twin on finasteride has slightly more hair on the vertex region (the “crown†at the back of the head).
Now, I've read many of the success stories on here from users who say they have stopped recession or regrown some of their hairline on finasteride. I'm not saying that finasteride doesn't work at all on the hairline--I'm just saying that if you're a receder with true male pattern baldness, it won't work for you. Every hairline success story I've read involving finasteride was from a user that was not a receder to begin with, was doubling their treatment with minoxidil, or was suffering from only very mild recession, better described as natural aging.
Final finasteride conclusion: Will almost certainly thicken up or maintain the hair on the top of your head, but won't do a thing for your hairline if you're a receder with true male pattern baldness.
Minoxidil: Unlike Finasteride, I have noticed from my observations of others that Minoxidil does seem to have some effect of regrowing hair on the hairline in certain individuals--although it is stated right on the packaging of certain minoxidil products like Rogaine Foam that it is not to be used for those suffering from frontal baldness. However, despite this, minoxidil does seem to be the most realistic option available on the market for fighting frontal hairloss--but this should not be overstated, as "the most realistic option" still doesn't say much. Once a hair follicle shrinks completely and is gone, no amount of minoxidil in the world can bring it back; I've noticed that only in cases where there are still many miniaturized hairs populating the hairline is any regrowth or thickening possible. Otherwise, you can't expect any results on hairs that aren't there.
Final minoxidil conclusion: Use it if there are still small hairs left or if you're willing to make that sacrifice, but don't expect miracles.
Hair Loss Transplants: HairLossTalk.com is such an unrealistic option on so many levels that I'm not going to spend much time on this. If you are experiencing recession high on the hairline a HairLossTalk.com can work for you, but if you're losing hair from just above the sideburns back, only the best surgeon in the world could effectively transplant hairs there without it looking just awful. Extremely expensive, requires life-long grafting, not effective just above sideburns, modest results.
Final HairLossTalk.com conclusion: Do it if you're independently wealthy and your hairloss pattern is acceptable for a good transplant.
Anything else not FDA approved: If have you have any form of male pattern baldness, don't even bother. If not, and you don't expect much, then go ahead.
Now, I realize that I sound like an arrogant *** and probably the biggest negative Nancy in the world--but that's really not my intent. I never expected this would become a giant essay, but I wanted to list all of the effective options available for a receder with true male pattern baldness, for my own benefit as well as for the benefit of others. I've been searching for some time for an effective treatment against hairline recession, and I suppose I just had to realistically evaluate all of the options like this to fully accept that there are none, and also to honestly and realistically present the information for others out there who are also receders.
But I'm sure some of you have different opinions about this perspective. One argument I can imagine some using would be this: Well if you have any form of TRUE male pattern baldness, you're f'd in any case! But I don't believe that to be true. If you're a general diffuser or balding at the vertex you can typically expect much better results than if you're a receder with true male pattern baldness.
C'mon, fight me! I'm ready for you!
Hmm, this is good stuff. Consider yourselves lucky to be blessed with my glorious wisdom.
If you're a receder smitten with true male pattern baldness, you're simply f'd.
Now, obviously, there are many different platitudes of hairloss, and when I say "a receder smitten with true male pattern baldness", I mean a receder that is actually suffering from male pattern baldness and will inevitably become totally bald at a premature age--I don't mean someone that has a natural nw2 hairline or has receded to a nw2 by the age of 30. That type of hairloss can really be better described as natural aging, as it does not result in baldness at a premature age, and therefore should not be considered male pattern baldness. Because such people have only very mild hairloss to begin with, they can expect great results from almost any treatment option they use.
Here's what I've learned about the most standard options available and why I believe they are ineffective at combating hairloss for receders with true male pattern baldness:
Finasteride : Just check out the website for Propecia, one of the first things they state on the homepage is that "There is not sufficient evidence that PROPECIA works for receding hairlines at the temples." It shouldn't be any surprise to learn that Finasteride won't have any effect on the hairline region for those with true male pattern baldness. Just look at the comparison pictures they post on their site of identical genetic twins with male pattern baldness, one using finasteride and the other without. They both have identical hairlines with recession, but the twin on finasteride has slightly more hair on the vertex region (the “crown†at the back of the head).
Now, I've read many of the success stories on here from users who say they have stopped recession or regrown some of their hairline on finasteride. I'm not saying that finasteride doesn't work at all on the hairline--I'm just saying that if you're a receder with true male pattern baldness, it won't work for you. Every hairline success story I've read involving finasteride was from a user that was not a receder to begin with, was doubling their treatment with minoxidil, or was suffering from only very mild recession, better described as natural aging.
Final finasteride conclusion: Will almost certainly thicken up or maintain the hair on the top of your head, but won't do a thing for your hairline if you're a receder with true male pattern baldness.
Minoxidil: Unlike Finasteride, I have noticed from my observations of others that Minoxidil does seem to have some effect of regrowing hair on the hairline in certain individuals--although it is stated right on the packaging of certain minoxidil products like Rogaine Foam that it is not to be used for those suffering from frontal baldness. However, despite this, minoxidil does seem to be the most realistic option available on the market for fighting frontal hairloss--but this should not be overstated, as "the most realistic option" still doesn't say much. Once a hair follicle shrinks completely and is gone, no amount of minoxidil in the world can bring it back; I've noticed that only in cases where there are still many miniaturized hairs populating the hairline is any regrowth or thickening possible. Otherwise, you can't expect any results on hairs that aren't there.
Final minoxidil conclusion: Use it if there are still small hairs left or if you're willing to make that sacrifice, but don't expect miracles.
Hair Loss Transplants: HairLossTalk.com is such an unrealistic option on so many levels that I'm not going to spend much time on this. If you are experiencing recession high on the hairline a HairLossTalk.com can work for you, but if you're losing hair from just above the sideburns back, only the best surgeon in the world could effectively transplant hairs there without it looking just awful. Extremely expensive, requires life-long grafting, not effective just above sideburns, modest results.
Final HairLossTalk.com conclusion: Do it if you're independently wealthy and your hairloss pattern is acceptable for a good transplant.
Anything else not FDA approved: If have you have any form of male pattern baldness, don't even bother. If not, and you don't expect much, then go ahead.
Now, I realize that I sound like an arrogant *** and probably the biggest negative Nancy in the world--but that's really not my intent. I never expected this would become a giant essay, but I wanted to list all of the effective options available for a receder with true male pattern baldness, for my own benefit as well as for the benefit of others. I've been searching for some time for an effective treatment against hairline recession, and I suppose I just had to realistically evaluate all of the options like this to fully accept that there are none, and also to honestly and realistically present the information for others out there who are also receders.
But I'm sure some of you have different opinions about this perspective. One argument I can imagine some using would be this: Well if you have any form of TRUE male pattern baldness, you're f'd in any case! But I don't believe that to be true. If you're a general diffuser or balding at the vertex you can typically expect much better results than if you're a receder with true male pattern baldness.
C'mon, fight me! I'm ready for you!
Hmm, this is good stuff. Consider yourselves lucky to be blessed with my glorious wisdom.
