male pattern baldness OR SOMETHING ELSE? *PICS*

[truking10]

I know most of u have seen these already i just love some feedback , more the better. Do you guys think i need treatment?
http://img253.echo.cx/my.php?image=10009976na.jpg
http://img253.echo.cx/my.php?image=10009999tl.jpg
http://img253.echo.cx/my.php?image=10010018fu.jpg
http://img148.echo.cx/my.php?image=10010075lc.jpg
http://img253.echo.cx/my.php?image=10010020zv.jpg
http://img253.echo.cx/my.php?image=10010009ka.jpg
http://img155.echo.cx/my.php?image=10010082st.jpg

 

[Melbs]

Id say yes for sure. Its interesting how i have no thinning at my crown (back) so to me your hair looks quite fine... you have 100% growth in your temples which i am very jealous of. I cant relate to the crown area dissapearing... but i suppose it would be a concern to you nonetheless.... just a different feeling of loss...

Either way, id get on the treatments soon if i were you. I think you were mentioning something about Telogen Effluvium in another post... dont think so, looks like your following the typical male pattern baldness path to me. minoxidil sucks hard on the temple area if you ask me, but for your case id consider the minoxidil and the Proscar if your not taking it already, it supposed to be better on the crown.

My minoxidil application is now restricted to 5mm in from my hairline and NO more, as it rapes the quality of my hair and i lost a good deal of it too...

Get on Proscar at least dude...

 

[Greg1]

truking10, I seriously think that it's a classic case of Telogen Effluvium...thinning ego :freaked2: Seriously dude, you don't have a problem with male pattern baldness.

 

[smudge]

i have pretty much the exact same pattern of thinning. it's male pattern baldness.

 

[Greg1]

smudge, this is definitely a case where male pattern baldness is in the eye of the beholder

 

[truking10]

Hey Greg, Yathe hair specialist said Telogen Effluvium. Now i went and saw a hair transplant consoltant and he did some microscope video thing and i was able to see the diffrence between the hair in the very back (donor area) and the top of my head. The Back was healthy but the top was sort of weak and thinner. I dont know what that means but maybe you have an idea? Would propecia hurt i read about these guys who say theve lost more hair since being on propecia

 

[arya]

Dude, yea, this looks like a Telogen Effluvium to me. Propecia not suppose to hurt but u never know. So, first make sure what it is.

Guys, look how he is thinning on the side. How it could be male pattern baldness?

 

[norain]

my hair is thinning exactly the same, on the sides too. Id say its mild male pattern baldness.

 

[truking10]

so should i get another opinion ...which would be my 5th
1st derm said- "you are thinning alittle, try propecia"
2nd derm hair specailist@ UCLA said- You have Telogen Effluvium you dont need any treatment"
3rd derm said - " i dont think you need any treatment your hair looks fine to me"
hair transplant consltant said- "You do have alittle thinning going on up top, try propecia"

SO FRUSTRATING

 

[Cornholio]

Now i went and saw a hair transplant consoltant and he did some microscope video thing and i was able to see the diffrence between the hair in the very back (donor area) and the top of my head. The Back was healthy but the top was sort of weak and thinner. I dont know what that means but maybe you have an idea? Would propecia hurt...a

male pattern baldness works thru miniturization of hair in the target areas (temples, crown) progressing to hair loss gradually... If you have seen miniaturization in these areas (under microscope) which first show "norwood" signs (temples, crown) you have seen the early signs of male pattern baldness. There is no way to know how fast or how far it will progress for you untreated, but you at least know that you are at risk. Your choice is to start treatment now (if you believe that you have thinning and believe that current treatments are safe and effective) or to wait until hair loss progresses to the point where it is undeniable. The only reason to wait is if you believe that treatment isnt safe or effective, or if you do not yet believe you have male pattern baldness (though the microscope says you do).... But, remember, regrowth is harder than maintenence.

 

[truking10]

then only reason im fearful of starting propecia is because i dont wanna take it for life. And ive also read alot of people on here saying there hair turned to sh*t after starting it .

 

[20sometingtoo]

I have the same pattern diffusion. Here's my suggestion:

No one outside of this forum will ever notice your hairloss. Your friends, grils, etc. They will never know.

Despite what you think, it looks fine. The rest of the world has a higher tollerance than we do, because we're all hypercritical to begin with.

If you start finasteride now you will have a shed and you'll be pissed. So, wait until you cant wait anymore and then start finasteride. You'll see a big improvement and you'll feel much better about yourself. If you start now the shed will dampen your spirits and you wont have much room to improve (your hair still looks great!).

I'd say wait another year or two.

 

[20sometingtoo]

And take some photos with the flash off. Everyone with short hair shows scalp with a high powered flash bulb aimed at their head.

 

[truking10]

thanks alot for the reply 20somethingtoo greatly apprecaited...and your right i ask my brother last night i said u dont notice it, he said notice what , my hair i said its thinner on top, he said to me your f*%king crazy !! haha ...thanks again

 

[JayB]

Trukling,

Just wanted to see how everything was going with you. I have the EXACT same pattern as you. To a T. I get really scared when I look in bright lighting with the mirror held above my head, cause like you i have my head shaved the exact same length. Its hard to describe what it looks like to someone, but from the top angle, it looks like someone glued on little circular patches of hair to the crown right? Head on in the mirror though, looks fuzzy and healthy...

I was diagnosed with Telogen Effluvium by 2 specialists and then another one said "its thinning alittle in the back, oh well nothing you can do..i wouldnt go on propecia just yet"..then a trichologist who said "somethings going on there, but im not quite sure if its male pattern baldness yet"

I decided to give minoxidil a try. In those areas of white that you could see between the "chunks" or so it looks, of hair. Im using 3% minoxidil immediately after my shower at night before i go to sleep. Maybe, if it is in fact Telogen Effluvium, this will jump start the hairs recovery. Ive been dealing with this hell for like a year now. But i have an ongoing medical disorder which gives me panic attacks so i have never really had a break from the stressful situations. Im still praying that if i could manage to get my stress under control for a substantial amount of time, my hair cycle will correct itself. Who knows how long that will take though.

How are things going with you?

 

[chew]

i have a similar thing going on...and the general doctor thought male pattern baldness and said I could try propecia. I have some of the same misgivings about it. And would like to know if propecia or minoxidil will cause a problem if there actually isn't one (like a dependence). in other words if it is just Telogen Effluvium, then will the other treatments create a need for themselves...or is this crazy. anyway, here is my story...i don't have any answers, but maybe my description will help you see if yours is similar in most of the ways. i'm also going to see a derm monday and will post again if i learn something useful.

here's my earlier post pasted here:

Basically over the course of the last year my hair has gone from exactly as it always was (each hair is very fine and pretty oily, but there was a whole lot of it) to thinning all over my head. It is likely not noticible to anyone unless I point it out...but then objective observers do definitely notice the thinner head of hair.

At first I figured that it was/is the beginning of male pattern baldness and that the days of good hair are gone...I am 30 now. So I saw the doctor and after a casual look by the GP was perscribed Propecia. And maybe this is right, but a couple of things have caused me to second guess the diagnosis. At least one of them is the hope that I will keep my hair...in other words, denial.

But the legitimate concern is this.
1. it is diffuse thinning with no particular pattern or recession evident at this point.
2. I decided to keep count of the hairs that fall out...and yes this is a depressing endevour (sp?)...but I am losing 250-350 hairs a day. As I said I have always had a lot of hairs on my head, and thus I have always shed quite a lot...but 250-300 seems excessive.
3. The hairs all have the white bulb on them, they are not broken off.
4. They all appear the same thickness.
5. While it seems more evident on top of the head, I think this is because of gravity. The hair on top falls down and exposes the scalp, while the hair on the sides just falls down and blocks the scalp. When it is wet and combed in directions the thin-ness appears similar on the sides and top.
6. And I have been stressed out for the last year. I wont bore you with details or make this long post longer...but suffice to say, I have been way more stressed than usual.

So the question is. Beyond the non-commital nobody knows for sure....what are people's thoughts on stress related hair loss. In fact here are the specific two questions I have for others on this board:

1. Did any of you experience a ton of hair shedding like this that turned out to just be the beginning of male pattern baldness?

2. Did any of you experience something like this that turned out to be stress related and thus not male pattern baldness?

...and finally a note: the shedding started before taking any propecia. which I have only tried for a couple weeks...and if it isn't male pattern baldness, I'd rather not put extra stuff in my body. Though stress stinks, I kinda hope that's what it is. My genes look 50/50 bald or full head of hair--the family is half and half.

 

[WithTheLidOff]

I'm not a big fan of the "its T.E" thing....people dont go bald becasue of a little stress. Even a lot of stress wouldn't make you lose hair fall out in that pattern. You'd have to be in like a major accident or a serious life changing crisis, not somehtign like studying for a test. I hate to be brutally honest, but that does look like the beggining of male pattern baldness. You look young so that is just the beggining. Whats your family history? However, I totally agree with 20something, NO ONE would notice it. I also think he makes an excellent point about starting finasteride when you need it (when it just becomes noticeable to other people.) Not because of the shed, but because of the bodies ability to react to the drug making it lose its efficiency. In the mean time, stick to green tea, nizoral and multivitamins. For what its worth, i started finasteride about 7 years after realizing i was losing my hair, right around the point where I was actually being called bald. I am no longer called bald because my hair has filled in nicely and i feel i should maintain that for a few years. I have not had any sheds over 12 months. So look to finasteride in the future. In the mean time..dont worry about it, your hair looks really good and take the comfort of knowing that you can and will do everything to stop it. Best of luck!

 

[Sir_LagaLot]

the sides dont match with the male pattern baldness theory. arent the sides in the safe zone and hes thinning diffusely in that area. the crown however is a different story. most people with t.e that i've seen thin towards the front

 

[Dice_Has_Hair]

It actually looks like a combination of male pattern baldness and Telogen Effluvium. That is weird thinning at the sides like that, but with the flash on and the hair really short, it's really hard to tell what it is. :?

 

[JayB]

I'm not a big fan of the "its T.E" thing....people dont go bald becasue of a little stress. Even a lot of stress wouldn't make you lose hair fall out in that pattern. You'd have to be in like a major accident or a serious life changing crisis, not somehtign like studying for a test. I hate to be brutally honest, but that does look like the beggining of male pattern baldness. You look young so that is just the beggining. Whats your family history? However, I totally agree with 20something, NO ONE would notice it. I also think he makes an excellent point about starting finasteride when you need it (when it just becomes noticeable to other people.) Not because of the shed, but because of the bodies ability to react to the drug making it lose its efficiency. In the mean time, stick to green tea, nizoral and multivitamins. For what its worth, i started finasteride about 7 years after realizing i was losing my hair, right around the point where I was actually being called bald. I am no longer called bald because my hair has filled in nicely and i feel i should maintain that for a few years. I have not had any sheds over 12 months. So look to finasteride in the future. In the mean time..dont worry about it, your hair looks really good and take the comfort of knowing that you can and will do everything to stop it. Best of luck!

Agreed. However you cant downplay some peoples stress in comparison to others. I had stress all throughout my life, i was able to handle it and move on, my hair was fine, it never fell out.
It began to fall out when I could no longer live like a normal person or handle stress and got panic attacks every night for almost a year. Im fucked up, i know and i hate it.
But to be brutally honest for people who never had a panic attack, its like going through a shock similiar to a car accident..your body shakes, no matter how hard you try to calm yourself down, you are in a state of shock. That my friend WILL have an effect on your hair and your whole body in general.