I have no experience with alopecia areata then, sorry. Not 100% confident minoxidil will help "spot balding", but there might be testimonies of successful treatment of such here on the forums, it's been around for years. Without sounding like a dick, try the search function.
Add alopecia areata to the title of the thread if you can.
Once you get past your 20s if your hair loss is getting more aggressive you could try finasteride. At your age it will probably do more harm to your body than good to your hair because you are still probably growing.