Is this Telogen Effluvium?

[Thom]

I want to start off saying that I am indeed experiencing male pattern baldness but I think by a drastic diet change in addition to rigorous workouts for three months last year I may have made things worse.

This picture is from December and I haven't cut it since so it is pretty long now but I was looking at it and wondering if the parts where you see skin on the side of my head indicate Telogen Effluvium. Any opinions?

I'm just wondering because my hair loss was very slow and steady but after the 3 month diet change there was a big difference and I think this would explain it.

 

[Dedge89]

Hey man, I can only give advise based on my own experiences and I had that type of loss when my male pattern baldness started and I'm pretty sure I have'nt got Telogen Effluvium so it might just be thinning bro. However, this only happens to diffuse thinners, you don't look diffuse from your picture though? From what I can tell atleast...but in any case, it's either thinning in that area (which if you can imagine would eventually become the outline of the horse shoe) and you're developing a diffuse pattern or it really is Telogen Effluvium.

When you say extreme diet change and workouts to me that just sounds like a gym routine. Am I right? I went through the same thing about 6 months ago, went from eating SHITE to eating about 4000 calories a day of gym food and working out and I can't tell if its affected my hairloss or not tbh.

However I think Telogen Effluvium would be more down to an insufficient diet (like being starved) which would provide a huge bodily shock...

hope that helps :S

 

[Thom]

Thanks for the input man! Well the point in focus is not my hairline but the sides just above my ears. If you look closely there's narrow strips where you can see skin and I have seen this in photos of Telogen Effluvium. I don't think that part of the head thins out which is why they use that area as a donor area. I could be wrong though.

As to the diet, I did exactly opposite. I drank a lot last summer and gained a lot so I wanted to lose it quick. I went through 3 months of intense workout 6 days a week (cardio, as well as weightlifting) all while eating 500 to 800 calories a day. I know...it was a stupid thing to do but hey I lost it all haha. So in short it was a case of being starved, in addition to physical activity.

Btw, if that profile pic is you it doesn't look like you've lost much hair. I would never know you were balding if I saw you on the street.

 

[Dedge89]

No problem man! Erm If thats the case then maybe it was some form of Telogen Effluvium. I guess if you use minoxidil you can apply that to the area since its meant to work for recovering thinning from a Telogen Effluvium attack. Also take some zinc/biotin and see where you stand in 3 months?

and yeah its me, thanks man! though ive thinned abit on top and my hairs only like that now because minoxidil did me wonders. It was a state a few months ago (viewtopic.php?f=42&t=64676 my thread if you want to see what I mean!)

Peace!

 

[Thom]

I have been on minoxidil since December and I take biotin, zinc, fish oils, and iron every morning in addition to finasteride. My hair is pretty long now so I don't apply minoxidil to the front because I don't want my bangs to look nasty.

I read that Telogen Effluvium will make the top of the hair less dense than the sides and that is what happened to me last year. I used to have a spot in the back but after those three months the whole top of my head is a lot thinner and I don't think that would normally happen in just 3 months. Now that my hair is long it doesn't even look like I'm thinning but I notice a difference.

I can't believe you grew in your temples like that, that's pretty rare! You pull off the buzzed look good but I'll bet you could grow your hair out now if you wanted too.

Here's a link to how my hair has improved. The updated pics are page 5:

viewtopic.php?f=28&t=63906&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=30

I'm getting my hair down to my shoulders though like I used to have it. Hope I can pull it off like the good old days.

 

[Dedge89]

Hmmm. Well, my hair went from looking like this download/file.php?id=5878&t=1 to looking like the first picture in my Rogaine hairline thread in the space of 2-3 months so it's definately possible. Unless I suffered Telogen Effluvium aswell :S. Because the top of my head was definately thinner than my sides but I just assumed that was diffuse thinning?

Just checked the thread and tbh I wouldn't say your balding at all!! The crown is obviously a tiny bit weaker than the rest but really bro it's unseeable. Like someone else said in that thread if you used some Toppik on that area (and I don't imagine you'd need much) it would look completely full! Guess you're lucky you caught it early!!

Let's just hope what you're experiencing is a temporary case of loss like Telogen Effluvium or a temporary shed since it would be out of routine for your sides to start thinning like that when your top looks pretty much fine!

And yeah cheers man I'm trying to grow it now but my crown lags a tiny bit behind in growth/density so I just get tempted to keep buzzing it

 

[Thom]

Thanks! I'm considering the topic but right now no one seems to notice the thinning so I'm not too worried about it. I don't know if you saw page one but it was looking pretty bad back in December. My main problem is it's still a lot less dense on top then the old days but now that may hair is long it's working out pretty well. I didn't feel like myself without long hair...it's my look! haha

I'm surprised you got those results from minoxidil alone, most people have to use finasteride in addition to get that. You have the right type of facial structure to pull off the buzz though so if you like it you should definitely keep it. My problem is I have more of a pretty boy baby face so it doesn't work well without hair :/.

 

[Thom]

Here is another reason I think it was Telogen Effluvium. I saw this guy's picture who suffered from Telogen Effluvium and I noticed some similarities. Although his condition is a lot worse then mine it seems as though it looks thin in the same general areas.

I've added the two here for comparison. I don't know, perhaps it's all wishful thinking on my part but taking in 500 calories a day for three months had to have some effect on it.

 

[Thom]

I added another photo that I found and though it's small the pattern looks like the large photo of Telogen Effluvium next to it. Any definitive answers from someone who's experienced Telogen Effluvium?