Hi, I am a 21 year old guy (soon turning 22), who's just now kinda realised that he's going to become bald.
Some bakground info: I have been balding I'd say since I was 17 but only really started noticing by age 20 at which I was effectively a NW1 but diffusing. I went to a Doctor and she told me it might be stress but could also be pattern baldness but that she thought the latter was probably the case. I told her that this is impossible since everyone on my mom's side has hair (My grandpa died age 80 as a fullhead and his brother is 94 with Ronald Reagan hair. My mother's uncles on both sides died fullheads and those that are alive in their 80's have a full head of hair) and that you inherit baldness from your mom's side. She said it was false and that you can inherit from your dad too which obviously was the case for me. Now my dad has probably the worst set of hair genes I have ever seen, and showed visible recession at the age of 15 (He is a Norwood 6 today at age 65), and his situation is the exact opposite of my mother's side. His dad (my grandpa) was a NW7, all his brothers are balding ranging from Norwood 3-7. All his uncles were bald too on both his mother's side and dad's side. Now initially when I was given this diagnosis I was kinda sad but then I heard about Acell+PRP and traveled all the way to New York, spent 5 THOUSAND dollars, which for a student is a massive amount (which I had saved up to buy my first car), and now 13 months later my hair is worse than ever. I'd say I am a Norwood 2 with diffuse thinning (which is what bugs me the most), and the treatment did ZERO for me. Dr. Prasad might as well have injected water into my scalp and it would have had the exact same effect. To this I want to add that this is MY experience with this treatment and I don't want to say that everyone has the same experience but for me it did absolutely nothing - I have continued to bald and I'm seriously considering just shaving it all off. People I think can kinda tell I am starting to go bald but I haven't developed a bald spot just yet. Before you mention finasteride, I tried it for a month and got sides (Pain in testicles, weaker erections and watery semen) so I discontinued and yeah as far as I can tell everything went back to normal (I stopped 16 months ago) - so no permanent sides (which I think is highly unlikely unless there are other concurring medical issues you may suffer from such as diabetes which in conjunction PERHAPS could trigger permanent ED). Now I am a at a point were I feel hopeless, without any options and this is kinda the first time I have felt like this about my hair. I usually avoid mirrors and everyday is a very bad hair day. Other than my hair loss I also (on a sidenote) suffer from being circumcised - in my case it wasn't perhaps done as good as it should have but my dick works fine (obviously not like a normal penis but it works) and and I am fertile so even though I struggle I deal with it. I have also heard about a company called Foregen which says that in perhaps 7-8 years we will be able to fully regenerate foreskins and that gives me a great sense of hope.
To some more positive facts haha, I am a nice guy who's pursuing a medical degree which I am very happy with and I have good social skills and happy with my social life. I am by no means a model but decent looking although my looks are fading with the introduction of my hair loss... I have a date coming up next week with a 19 year old girl but I can't help but to think about what she'll think about my hair - I haven't told her I am balding but she has seen pictures of me. So hopefully that works out well haha. Otherwise it's alright. I don't know if you guys feel the same way but girls isn't really the big factor here. For me it's my identity, who I am, the ability to be happy with the way I look - that is what is at stake and what is making me sad. Honestly haha I have so much school work that I rarely go out or talk to girls. This is my first date in 3 years time.
Now basically this was a rant but I am also wondering if you guy's can give me any hope with regards to getting my hair back one day. By age 40 I don't think hair loss would be something I care about but at least the prospect of having hair in my 30's would make me happy. So give it to me straight do you think that we will have a "cure" by 2024?
Also one other thing which is worrying me is that I am losing my eyebrow hairs- usually up to 5 hairs for each eyebrow every day (sometimes more). Is this normal for a man suffering from male pattern baldness? The thing is though that I have very thick eyebrows and the hairs that are growing back are equally thick so no real thinning is occurring like on my head. What's up with that?
Also I am losing A LOT of chest hair every single day and here I can kinda sense that my hair is getting thinner with every month. It's like male pattern baldness is affecting my chest too. Can that also happen? I thought initially it could be a thyroid thing cause my mum has thyroid issues and so does her mom. My mother's aunt also has thyroid issues. But when I checked 2 years ago my thyroid values turned out normal - nothing wrong. So what's up here?
Last but not least I also remembered that I seem to be thinning on the sides of my head close to my ears. Can male pattern baldness affect the sides of the head too? My back area (the so called permanent zone) is very thick, and there is no thinning there.
Thank you for reading!
Some bakground info: I have been balding I'd say since I was 17 but only really started noticing by age 20 at which I was effectively a NW1 but diffusing. I went to a Doctor and she told me it might be stress but could also be pattern baldness but that she thought the latter was probably the case. I told her that this is impossible since everyone on my mom's side has hair (My grandpa died age 80 as a fullhead and his brother is 94 with Ronald Reagan hair. My mother's uncles on both sides died fullheads and those that are alive in their 80's have a full head of hair) and that you inherit baldness from your mom's side. She said it was false and that you can inherit from your dad too which obviously was the case for me. Now my dad has probably the worst set of hair genes I have ever seen, and showed visible recession at the age of 15 (He is a Norwood 6 today at age 65), and his situation is the exact opposite of my mother's side. His dad (my grandpa) was a NW7, all his brothers are balding ranging from Norwood 3-7. All his uncles were bald too on both his mother's side and dad's side. Now initially when I was given this diagnosis I was kinda sad but then I heard about Acell+PRP and traveled all the way to New York, spent 5 THOUSAND dollars, which for a student is a massive amount (which I had saved up to buy my first car), and now 13 months later my hair is worse than ever. I'd say I am a Norwood 2 with diffuse thinning (which is what bugs me the most), and the treatment did ZERO for me. Dr. Prasad might as well have injected water into my scalp and it would have had the exact same effect. To this I want to add that this is MY experience with this treatment and I don't want to say that everyone has the same experience but for me it did absolutely nothing - I have continued to bald and I'm seriously considering just shaving it all off. People I think can kinda tell I am starting to go bald but I haven't developed a bald spot just yet. Before you mention finasteride, I tried it for a month and got sides (Pain in testicles, weaker erections and watery semen) so I discontinued and yeah as far as I can tell everything went back to normal (I stopped 16 months ago) - so no permanent sides (which I think is highly unlikely unless there are other concurring medical issues you may suffer from such as diabetes which in conjunction PERHAPS could trigger permanent ED). Now I am a at a point were I feel hopeless, without any options and this is kinda the first time I have felt like this about my hair. I usually avoid mirrors and everyday is a very bad hair day. Other than my hair loss I also (on a sidenote) suffer from being circumcised - in my case it wasn't perhaps done as good as it should have but my dick works fine (obviously not like a normal penis but it works) and and I am fertile so even though I struggle I deal with it. I have also heard about a company called Foregen which says that in perhaps 7-8 years we will be able to fully regenerate foreskins and that gives me a great sense of hope.
To some more positive facts haha, I am a nice guy who's pursuing a medical degree which I am very happy with and I have good social skills and happy with my social life. I am by no means a model but decent looking although my looks are fading with the introduction of my hair loss... I have a date coming up next week with a 19 year old girl but I can't help but to think about what she'll think about my hair - I haven't told her I am balding but she has seen pictures of me. So hopefully that works out well haha. Otherwise it's alright. I don't know if you guys feel the same way but girls isn't really the big factor here. For me it's my identity, who I am, the ability to be happy with the way I look - that is what is at stake and what is making me sad. Honestly haha I have so much school work that I rarely go out or talk to girls. This is my first date in 3 years time.
Now basically this was a rant but I am also wondering if you guy's can give me any hope with regards to getting my hair back one day. By age 40 I don't think hair loss would be something I care about but at least the prospect of having hair in my 30's would make me happy. So give it to me straight do you think that we will have a "cure" by 2024?
Also one other thing which is worrying me is that I am losing my eyebrow hairs- usually up to 5 hairs for each eyebrow every day (sometimes more). Is this normal for a man suffering from male pattern baldness? The thing is though that I have very thick eyebrows and the hairs that are growing back are equally thick so no real thinning is occurring like on my head. What's up with that?
Also I am losing A LOT of chest hair every single day and here I can kinda sense that my hair is getting thinner with every month. It's like male pattern baldness is affecting my chest too. Can that also happen? I thought initially it could be a thyroid thing cause my mum has thyroid issues and so does her mom. My mother's aunt also has thyroid issues. But when I checked 2 years ago my thyroid values turned out normal - nothing wrong. So what's up here?
Last but not least I also remembered that I seem to be thinning on the sides of my head close to my ears. Can male pattern baldness affect the sides of the head too? My back area (the so called permanent zone) is very thick, and there is no thinning there.
Thank you for reading!
