Hello Everyone!
Im an 18 year old male, descendant from Eastern Europe. Before i start asking my questions and seeking reassurance, may i just add that this is possibly the most informative hair loss sight and forum i have seen. Its fantastic and serves a terrific purpose for people like myself.
Let me just begin by introdcing myself a little. As i said im 18 years old, and becoming extremely concerned about hairloss. My mum seems to think its just my age, whilst my dad jokes that i have a mental problem. Iv stressed about everything since the time i was 6, and this semems to be my newest worry!
For my whole life iv had thin hair. I have that hair, that may look thick, but once a photo is taken, you can see straight through to my scalp, particulary on the sides of my head near my crown. I recently wipped out the photo album and to my suprise, when i was 10 years old i ahve pictures where my scalpp is clearly visisble. However at school recently, a mate of mine made the comment; 'Wow your hair is so thin. You are going to go bald so young'. I guess thats the first question. Does having thin hair mean that im more prone to loosing my hair?
Obviosuly when a comment like that is made, it puts you into a panic attack. So i find myself constantly checking in the mirror to see my hair at all different angles. When i feel my hair, it feels slightly thinner around the crown and sort of down to the side of head, near my ear. IS your crown ment to be slightly thinner? IV always had a large crown, much so like the typical asian crown!
I constantly have my parents and siblings checking my hair, trying to persuade them to agree that my hair is thinning, but they refuse to give in. They keep searching and telling me that is is perfectly normal and its just my hair and its always been the same. Then on here i read that before hair loss is even visible, i will no inside myself that im loosing my hair. The problem is though, im always so negative and paranoid that im going to think my hair is falling out regardless.
Many reasons point to me not going bald for the following reasons:
1. Hereditery: My dad has receded over the years, but for a 50 year old he has no bolding at the back, nor has his hair gotten thinner. Both Grandparents have full heads of hair, as do all my uncles. Past that though, im really not to sure, eg- Great uncles, Great grandparents, etc.
2. Itching/Irratation: I have no itching, no flaking, no irratation, nor any oiliness. THe first Dr i saw was a naturopath and told me when her son started lossing his hair, he had an oily pillow which i dont suffer from. Today however, i did get a pimple on the back of my head, about 4cm below my crown which was odd i thought :S
3. Miniturization: I still dont understand this. I pulled out hairs from around my head and compared them. They were all the same however, and they were similar colour. I looked for them to get thinner at the bottom but the consistancty was all eqaul. One thing i did notice though, was that right near the root, they seemed to go like a really light colour. What should i look for in miniturization? When should i be able to see my hair miniturizing?
4. Hairline: As said earlier, my dads hairline is high. Im only 18 and my hair has receded too i beleive. Its definetly matured, but then again my hairline has always been so high, and according to mum, it hasn't changed one bit at all. My sister weirdly enough, has a norwood of lets say 2, yet my brother has the straightest hairline you will ever see :|
5. DHT/ Testosterone: Iv just had DHT tests done to test my levels and results will be back any day. From the look of htings though, im very low on it. I went through pubery late at around 16 and didn't have underarm hair till i was around 17. I still, after leaving my face unshaven for 3 weeks, will get a tinny puff on my side burns, and some randomly scattered hairs on my chin and above my lip. I have recently had a 4 or 5 random upper back hairs, but have next to no arm hair, nor a strand of chest hair. Ontop of that, my voice is deep but not like extremely masculine. I had testosteron levels taken in my last lot of tests for a heridetery disease (came back negative) and they came back as low normal, which is extremely odd for a male my age that should be raging in hormones.
6. Shedding: Should i notice hair falling out? I did some observations recently, by checking my pillow EVERY morning that i woke. I was lucky to have 3 hairs on my pillow. Ontop of that, when i scrub my hair, i get maybe 5 hairs max that come out.
The thing with male pattern baldness is that despite everything listed, i could still be bald by the time im 20. I just don't no what i should be looking out for when judging my hair loss. I saw a Dr recently, and it was as though i was teaching her, and she was just agreeing. What do you think from the above info the odds of me lossing my hair is (i no its so hard to judge). I personaly think im a diffuse thinner as well as experiencing some crownal thinning.
I no people will get mad at me for this post. Iv searched 289 pages on this forum and read all different topics and posts, as well as reading the entire baldingblog.com in recent weeks. But the thing is, EVERYONE says the regret not starting medication when they could hide their hairloss completely. Despite me maybee not even suffering from male pattern baldness, then question i ask is wether or not i should start Propecia. WIll it harm me if im not lossing my hair. Taking a tablet once a day for my life is a sacrafice i will take if it means having hair until im 50 or 60. WIll propecia be likely to work or not? Will it help me keep my crown? Is it safe for someone like me?
Please critique this post, it would be much appreciate it! Pull i appart and tell me if it relates to any of use. I just need your advice on this. I wonder sometimes if my parents keep telling me im being paranoid, if that maybe there saying that simply because to their knowlege there is no cure or preventative measures for male pattern baldness. People simply assume if its not in the family tree then it wont happen. That is so wrong!
On a final note, coul dmy recent thinning that iv noticed be down to stress. As i said, i stress about so so much. Im so paranoid about my looks and my work and everything. Recently, i had an EXTREMELY stressfull time at school, aiming to do well in my year 12 exams, which even involved a massive panic attack that occured 4month ago, where i punched a desk until my fists bled and my knuckle cracked :S
Anyway please just hit me with advice. Hope you enjoyed reading my essay and i respet you all!
Thankyou in advance!
Fabio.
Im an 18 year old male, descendant from Eastern Europe. Before i start asking my questions and seeking reassurance, may i just add that this is possibly the most informative hair loss sight and forum i have seen. Its fantastic and serves a terrific purpose for people like myself.
Let me just begin by introdcing myself a little. As i said im 18 years old, and becoming extremely concerned about hairloss. My mum seems to think its just my age, whilst my dad jokes that i have a mental problem. Iv stressed about everything since the time i was 6, and this semems to be my newest worry!
For my whole life iv had thin hair. I have that hair, that may look thick, but once a photo is taken, you can see straight through to my scalp, particulary on the sides of my head near my crown. I recently wipped out the photo album and to my suprise, when i was 10 years old i ahve pictures where my scalpp is clearly visisble. However at school recently, a mate of mine made the comment; 'Wow your hair is so thin. You are going to go bald so young'. I guess thats the first question. Does having thin hair mean that im more prone to loosing my hair?
Obviosuly when a comment like that is made, it puts you into a panic attack. So i find myself constantly checking in the mirror to see my hair at all different angles. When i feel my hair, it feels slightly thinner around the crown and sort of down to the side of head, near my ear. IS your crown ment to be slightly thinner? IV always had a large crown, much so like the typical asian crown!
I constantly have my parents and siblings checking my hair, trying to persuade them to agree that my hair is thinning, but they refuse to give in. They keep searching and telling me that is is perfectly normal and its just my hair and its always been the same. Then on here i read that before hair loss is even visible, i will no inside myself that im loosing my hair. The problem is though, im always so negative and paranoid that im going to think my hair is falling out regardless.
Many reasons point to me not going bald for the following reasons:
1. Hereditery: My dad has receded over the years, but for a 50 year old he has no bolding at the back, nor has his hair gotten thinner. Both Grandparents have full heads of hair, as do all my uncles. Past that though, im really not to sure, eg- Great uncles, Great grandparents, etc.
2. Itching/Irratation: I have no itching, no flaking, no irratation, nor any oiliness. THe first Dr i saw was a naturopath and told me when her son started lossing his hair, he had an oily pillow which i dont suffer from. Today however, i did get a pimple on the back of my head, about 4cm below my crown which was odd i thought :S
3. Miniturization: I still dont understand this. I pulled out hairs from around my head and compared them. They were all the same however, and they were similar colour. I looked for them to get thinner at the bottom but the consistancty was all eqaul. One thing i did notice though, was that right near the root, they seemed to go like a really light colour. What should i look for in miniturization? When should i be able to see my hair miniturizing?
4. Hairline: As said earlier, my dads hairline is high. Im only 18 and my hair has receded too i beleive. Its definetly matured, but then again my hairline has always been so high, and according to mum, it hasn't changed one bit at all. My sister weirdly enough, has a norwood of lets say 2, yet my brother has the straightest hairline you will ever see :|
5. DHT/ Testosterone: Iv just had DHT tests done to test my levels and results will be back any day. From the look of htings though, im very low on it. I went through pubery late at around 16 and didn't have underarm hair till i was around 17. I still, after leaving my face unshaven for 3 weeks, will get a tinny puff on my side burns, and some randomly scattered hairs on my chin and above my lip. I have recently had a 4 or 5 random upper back hairs, but have next to no arm hair, nor a strand of chest hair. Ontop of that, my voice is deep but not like extremely masculine. I had testosteron levels taken in my last lot of tests for a heridetery disease (came back negative) and they came back as low normal, which is extremely odd for a male my age that should be raging in hormones.
6. Shedding: Should i notice hair falling out? I did some observations recently, by checking my pillow EVERY morning that i woke. I was lucky to have 3 hairs on my pillow. Ontop of that, when i scrub my hair, i get maybe 5 hairs max that come out.
The thing with male pattern baldness is that despite everything listed, i could still be bald by the time im 20. I just don't no what i should be looking out for when judging my hair loss. I saw a Dr recently, and it was as though i was teaching her, and she was just agreeing. What do you think from the above info the odds of me lossing my hair is (i no its so hard to judge). I personaly think im a diffuse thinner as well as experiencing some crownal thinning.
I no people will get mad at me for this post. Iv searched 289 pages on this forum and read all different topics and posts, as well as reading the entire baldingblog.com in recent weeks. But the thing is, EVERYONE says the regret not starting medication when they could hide their hairloss completely. Despite me maybee not even suffering from male pattern baldness, then question i ask is wether or not i should start Propecia. WIll it harm me if im not lossing my hair. Taking a tablet once a day for my life is a sacrafice i will take if it means having hair until im 50 or 60. WIll propecia be likely to work or not? Will it help me keep my crown? Is it safe for someone like me?
Please critique this post, it would be much appreciate it! Pull i appart and tell me if it relates to any of use. I just need your advice on this. I wonder sometimes if my parents keep telling me im being paranoid, if that maybe there saying that simply because to their knowlege there is no cure or preventative measures for male pattern baldness. People simply assume if its not in the family tree then it wont happen. That is so wrong!
On a final note, coul dmy recent thinning that iv noticed be down to stress. As i said, i stress about so so much. Im so paranoid about my looks and my work and everything. Recently, i had an EXTREMELY stressfull time at school, aiming to do well in my year 12 exams, which even involved a massive panic attack that occured 4month ago, where i punched a desk until my fists bled and my knuckle cracked :S
Anyway please just hit me with advice. Hope you enjoyed reading my essay and i respet you all!
Thankyou in advance!
Fabio.