Pictures - Am I loosing my hair!? please help

[mark16v]

Hi I'm 25, I think I am starting to thin, I'm unsure. My parting line seems weaker than it used to be, my temples arn't bad at all, a bit on the fluffy side is hard to tell! Please refrain from laughing it's just if I am, i'm clearly at an early stage (I can appreciate that).

When I look at the mirror forward facing, and look up into my hair line I can see individual strands of hair, especially when there is a light on above me! doesn't look as thick as it used to be, I think - I wish I could check out my hair five / ten years ago to see the differences as I'm not sure if my hair did used to be thicker, but i've always had an odd hair line.

If I could get some opinions on starting propecia i'd really appreciate it, i'm worried about shedding - but maybe I will be ok?? if I am balding i'm not at a late stage maybe I can catch it now. But when I stop propecia will newly grown hair fall out quickly, will I have to keep taking the medication still?

As you can see in the pictures (sorry hair needs a wash!) but my centre parting isn't strong, small hairs can be found when I part my hair and look inside, are these the hairs that used to be thick but are dying / giving a thinning effect, or do lots of people generally have shorter hairs on their heads?

Help! some opinions / advice would be greatly appreciated.
Mark.


http://www.requena.co.uk/hair loss/1.jpg

http://www.requena.co.uk/hair loss/2.jpg

http://www.requena.co.uk/hair loss/3.jpg

shorter hairs?
http://www.requena.co.uk/hair loss/4.jpg

a very recent picture - clearly I have a lot of hair it's just my center parting that doesn't seem quite right, and when I look up - I can see a field of hairs that just doesn't look, that thick?
http://www.requena.co.uk/hair loss/5.jpg

a picture from 4.5 years ago - bigger hair as I used to blowdry but you can see I.. actually have a similar hair line?
http://www.requena.co.uk/hair loss/6.jpg

for the record, I used to blow dry as if I didn't I'd get to work looking like a mess, did this for 5/6 years every day, hair would get hot - now stopped! and my diet - is pretty bad. I have a regular breakfast and a proper dinner each night, don't eat properly during the day. My grandfathers were both bald.

 

[Lizzad]

Blow drying dosen't make men bald. Looks like you might be slightly diffusing at the front, that's how i started a long while ago. But then again, only you know if it's always looked like that. Not to worry yet. If you want to play safe i'd recommend:

Finasteride : 1mg/d
Nizoral 2% Shampoo : 3 x a week.

Diet isn't very important, however avoid suagar and carbs if you want as they affect insulin levels which in turn affect androgen levels, which cuase hairloss when follicles are sensitive.

 

[mark16v]

you don't think I need to worry yet?

i'm aware blow drying doesn't make men bald, but I think I used to blow dry with it way to close to my head, sometimes I even smelt my hair in the heat - but that's all stopped now. on a day to day basis i'm sure that will do some kind of damage.

do you think that if I go for the 1mg a day, I will shed a lot at the front / top? it'd be great to see this thicken up a bit but am worried that the shedding will mess up my style and I might have to go for a short cut.

?

thanks for any help. if anyone else has an opinion would be great. looking at the picture from 4/5 years ago my hair did look similar, again I don't have many close pics to be able to tell.

 

[Vega]

i think the bad news is that in my experience, and most of my friends who are bald or balding - the minute you think your going bald, you probably are.

i went through a long period of denial, thinking it was my hair styling routine, or anything but male pattern baldness. That fucked some of my chances of saving what i had. Dont make that mistake - start treatment now.
like lizzad, i started by slight diffusing at the front, which looks like the case with you also. However it looks like you have lost only a tiny little bit of hair and you have caught it very very early which is very good news and much in your benefit. It could be as long as another 10 years before you reach an unacceptable stage of baldness. Keep fit, use minoxidil 5% ALL OVER the top your head, not just on the balding bits - and finesteride as well.

One way you might check your hair, is look at the thickness of the hairs around the crown and the temples. does it seem weaker, more fly-away and wispy?

 

[mark16v]

yeah the hairs seem quite ... no bounce, slightly thin etc, it's hard to tell really I don't think I have lost much. my hair line has always been a bit odd with a small peak ( V ) of fine hairs at the very front

do I have to use this minoxidil stuff, treatment is quite expensive for me really but I am willing to do it now - do you think I will shed a lot though? maybe that will make things look unnaceptable?

if I take propecia will I need to take it for the rest of my life? can I take it untill my hair gets thicker, then worry about it again when it starts to get thinner?

i'm interested in taking it by itself, has anyone else done this and had results, putting minoxidil in my hair each day seems like a bit of a chore i'm wondering if I can avoid this, although maybe I can do this after I have showered and my hair is damp, I wash my hair everyday anyway. any advice / info more than welcome!

god knows how much this'll cost!

 

[Guest]

I would start off with Propecia daily and Nizoral every third day.

Give it twelve months, access your results then if needed add Minoxidil.

 

[mark16v]

ok, will look into that - thanks.

think I could get some decent results? hopefully the treatment will work with me - it's my understanding that it doesn't work with everyone!!

thanks again.

 

[Guest]

I think you could get decent results, I started off with Propecia and Nizoral six and a half years ago.

I have droped Nizoral a few times over that period due to scalp inflamation etc, I think I was leaving it on to long, I now leave it on for 3 minutes.

I have tried various shampoos and topicals during this time but have droped them in favour of Nizoral due to limited results and the hassel of putting them on.

When I started I was a slightly diffuse NW2 To date my hair has thickened up considerably, not to how it was before I experianced loss but close, my results peaked at around two years and have maintained the remaining four and a half.

Hope this helps.

 

[mark16v]

distressed - do u have a before and after picture out of chance?

sounds great.
hopefully I can sort it out in a year, it's really on noticeable to me at the front of my hairline, and my parting.

i'm REALLy worried about shedding though, but hopefully I have enough hair on my head, that it won't really matter. and if it does seem apparent, maybe I could get something to put on my parting / hair line to darken things up, as it's just that area I will hopefully be ok. if I shed too much it'll really get to me. If I shed so much that I have to shave my head it'd kill me!

final question - is it likely to work with me or does it results tend to vary?

thanks so much for the help everyone.

 

[Melbs]

Hey mate...

Firstly, i think your hair still looks OK... its great you've caught it at an early stage. I think you and i are in a similar boat... Im 25 and have been loosing hair for a good 4 years. Started on Proscar (finasteride) around three years ago and have definately maintained and perhaps regrown to a degree.

Minoxidil for me is also too annoying and stressful... i used it for 6 weeks, shed alot of hairs, and can attribute my feeling of helplessness and depression over those 6 weeks to the daily application and analysis of my hairline EVERY time i put the stuff on. Plus it made my hair limp and pretty much took me to a new low on how i felt about hairloss. Proscar however is easy to use... chuck in in your mouth... and hassle free... and it works. I have had no side effects and good maintenance. Have a look at this post if you like with some pics of my hair after the three years. On page 2 of the post i also added a pic from 4 years back so you can see what my hair was like when i started to get concerned with hairloss.

http://www.hairlosstalk.com/discussions ... hp?t=18451

Tell me what you think... but rest assured that your doing something about it now, as from your hairline i think you may see good regrowth... fingers crossed... and good luck!

 

[dustman2]

Mark, does the 16 in your name stand for your age?
If so, don't use propecia for a few years yet.

 

[mark16v]

no it doesn't i'm 25.

the 16 is from my car which was a 16v, I joined a car club they had an online forum, so I picked the same name.

anyway, thanks for all the help.

here's a question.

on my hairline, middle of my head, there is a round patch that is one inch long. the hair isn't super fine here, it's just 1 inch, the rest of my hair is long.

I think I may have damaged this hair with my hair dryer quite a while ago! yes, I was a girly hair dryer, there you go.

anyway, I cut this hair, that I thought to be damaged, it's grown back a bit but still, about an inch long.

is this hair loss? I find this really odd. surely if it was hairloss, the hair would be long and thin like the rest, it wouldn't be short and not grow much? worried this area will shed right out if I start propecia, but might have to buy some kind of cover up product and stick it on any patches that appear!

any ideas? is it normal to have different length hairs over your head, or, to ask a better question is it not neccesarily hair loss if you have some shorter, finer hairs on your head? mixed in with longer hair?