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Howdy, all. So yeah, my hair is pretty gray. I know I am very lucky -- I’m in my early 50s, and I first started seeing more scalp in the mirror only about 5 years ago. I’ve always had what looked like lots of hair, but was in fact thin strands and not dense. It was just an illusion because it was so curly that people talked about it like I was Kenny G or something. I’ve got it long right now, and it's pulled back. I know age will win, and I don't want to have unreasonable expectations for a man in his 50s. But even if I’m destined to lose my hair, I just hope I can alter the progression some so that doesn’t look so weird on the way out.
Everybody says not male pattern baldness. Not sure I buy it, because something is happening and I'm getting on up there in age. I am really frustrated that I can't get a clear diagnosis. But if I can come up with a working regimen, I don't care what it's called. Happy to hear your thoughts on diagnosis or treatment.
Thinning became very clear about a year ago. Then just last week, I noticed that what had been a dismaying sort of round patch of missing hair, like a bite out of my hairline on my forehead – had spread. It seemed quite sudden compared to the progression before then. People expect men to go bald in the usual pattern, not whatever this pattern is. The front middle of my hair is thinning much more dramatically than the rest, and I have little/no recession at the temples. I have diffuse thinning all over the top. It's always been thin all over, but it's getting way worse.
When this first got noticeable four or five years ago, I went to a dermatologist. Telogen effluvium, she said. Not male pattern baldness. Gave me ketaconazole shampoo, said wait six months. It didn’t seem better after six months, but it didn’t get worse, either. It very slowly progressed after that. I went to a hair specialist and got examined by a nurse there. She also said I didn’t have male pattern baldness, but did have some diffuse thinning in a pattern more reminiscent of female pattern baldness. I then saw the doctor, who basically wasn’t interested, because I wasn’t a good candidate for an expensive transplant. He suggested that I buy an expensive LLLT helmet.
Eventually I ended up with an OMG laser helmet. I have been terribly inconsistent with using it over the last two years. My life has been insanely full of stress -- like overwhelming, relentless, once-in-a-lifetime level stress. A year ago, when things were really bad, I saw that the thinning had become more noticeable. But I’m really only now getting serious about this and using the helmet religiously. I also just started a multivitamin with zinc, because I've been a vegetarian for 10 years, and I figure zinc is a likely culprit. That's my only regimen right now, and I need to do more, stat.
I just don’t know what this is, so I don’t know how best to treat it. Frankly, I think it is male pattern baldness, just not in the usual pattern. Your thoughts appreciated.
First pic is about 8 years ago, for contrast -- there's a thin bit, but it has been that way at least a decade without any other noticeable loss or thinning.
Everybody says not male pattern baldness. Not sure I buy it, because something is happening and I'm getting on up there in age. I am really frustrated that I can't get a clear diagnosis. But if I can come up with a working regimen, I don't care what it's called. Happy to hear your thoughts on diagnosis or treatment.
Thinning became very clear about a year ago. Then just last week, I noticed that what had been a dismaying sort of round patch of missing hair, like a bite out of my hairline on my forehead – had spread. It seemed quite sudden compared to the progression before then. People expect men to go bald in the usual pattern, not whatever this pattern is. The front middle of my hair is thinning much more dramatically than the rest, and I have little/no recession at the temples. I have diffuse thinning all over the top. It's always been thin all over, but it's getting way worse.
When this first got noticeable four or five years ago, I went to a dermatologist. Telogen effluvium, she said. Not male pattern baldness. Gave me ketaconazole shampoo, said wait six months. It didn’t seem better after six months, but it didn’t get worse, either. It very slowly progressed after that. I went to a hair specialist and got examined by a nurse there. She also said I didn’t have male pattern baldness, but did have some diffuse thinning in a pattern more reminiscent of female pattern baldness. I then saw the doctor, who basically wasn’t interested, because I wasn’t a good candidate for an expensive transplant. He suggested that I buy an expensive LLLT helmet.
Eventually I ended up with an OMG laser helmet. I have been terribly inconsistent with using it over the last two years. My life has been insanely full of stress -- like overwhelming, relentless, once-in-a-lifetime level stress. A year ago, when things were really bad, I saw that the thinning had become more noticeable. But I’m really only now getting serious about this and using the helmet religiously. I also just started a multivitamin with zinc, because I've been a vegetarian for 10 years, and I figure zinc is a likely culprit. That's my only regimen right now, and I need to do more, stat.
I just don’t know what this is, so I don’t know how best to treat it. Frankly, I think it is male pattern baldness, just not in the usual pattern. Your thoughts appreciated.
First pic is about 8 years ago, for contrast -- there's a thin bit, but it has been that way at least a decade without any other noticeable loss or thinning.
I mean, I know medically it means something different, but that's pretty amusing!