question on boyfriends hairloss.

[nocturnalgirl72]

I have posted on here before and you all have been so helpful.

He is 37, and has been getting a receding hairline for the past couple years. Just started losing his hair about 3 years ago. No history of it in his family, his 9 brothers, and father all have a full head of hair.

It was recommened by you all that he go on propecia again which he has. He has been on it for a month and will continue to take it for the next year at least and not quit. I just purchased some 2% Nizoral shampoo for him, which was also recommended by a few posters. I should receive that for him in a few days.

My next question is 5% minoxidil. I was going to buy some off of ebay but there are always disclaimers saying it is for the crown vertex, not receding. Will it hurt to put it on the receding and has anyone had it work on the receding? He does not appear to be losing his hair anywhere else.

I have encouraged him to post on here but with his long job hours and interviewing for a better job, he just does not make it on here.

Thank you.

Kim

 

[The Gardener]

What is his Norwood? Which number below shows the recession pattern most closely resembling your bf's?

 

[nocturnalgirl72]

I would say probably II on the top row.

 

[The Gardener]

I'd hold off on the minoxidil and just stick with nizoral and finasteride.

Hopefully that will stabilize things. That way if thinge take a turn for the worse you will still have an additional weapon in your back pocket.

minoxidil is a pain in the *** to use every day. If he can get by without it, it makes life a LOT easier.

 

[nocturnalgirl72]

Gardener, thank you. So you recommend holding off on the minoxidil? When should we re-analyze the need for it again?

Also, are the directions that come with the the nizoral pretty accurate? I understand he should let it soak for 5 minutes, but how often should he use it? What does it do exactly, besides control dandruff? Does it help with hairloss at all?

Curious Gardener, how your regime has worked out for you? Have you seen any improvement at all? Where are/were you on the Norwood?

Kim

 

[socks]

I 100% agree with The Gardener. Hold off on Minoxidil unless he progresses to a NW3 or if his hair thins moderately from where it is today over the next 8 - 12 months.

Minoxidil only gives moderate regrowth in 48% or less of men so I wouldnt hold too high expectations for minoxidil anyhow... As The Gardener said, it is a pain in the ***, it is messy, and it is a life long commitment to maintain the results (if any).


With Nizoral, I would suggest the following:

First tell your bf to wash with a mild shampoo to get all the dirt and oil off his hair/scalp. Then rinse. Then apply the Nizoral rubbing it in thoroughly. Let it on the scalp/hair for 5 - 15mins. Then rinse.

Nizoral only needs to be used every 2nd or 3rd day.


Good luck!

 

[Cassin]

Gardener, thank you. So you recommend holding off on the minoxidil? When should we re-analyze the need for it again?

I agree with The Gardener 100%. The fellow always gives out top advice, I just wanted to chime in.

Since your boyfriend is 37, and is just dealing with a receding hairline, I would not touch Minoxidil until his loss picks up (if ever!) He should be fine on Propecia. It is effective stuff and you should give it a chance to do it's thing. Being 37, all men will get some sort of recedd hairline. It's just maturity. He may not even be going bald. It's possible his hairloss will stop considering his brothers and the age at which he started to recede.

Also, are the directions that come with the the nizoral pretty accurate? I understand he should let it soak for 5 minutes, but how often should he use it? What does it do exactly, besides control dandruff? Does it help with hairloss at all?

It is effective, it cannot make claims it helps with hairloss since it is not FDA approved for it. He should use it once or twice a week.

 

[Greg1]

Kim, Hi and welcome to the forum. A form of treatment that is working for me and has helped me to keep my hair and have better quality and healthier hair is called LLLT. Low Level Laser Treatment. There's a growing group of consumer products which use this as the primary form of treatment. I've been using the HairMax LaserComb and the results are something to write home about. I wish that I had heard about this form of treatment before my hairloss had gotten so bad. It sounds like your boyfriend may have diffuse thinning. That I've heard, this treatment option works well for how you're describing your boyfriend as.

 

[viperfish]

I 100% agree with The Gardener. Hold off on Minoxidil unless he progresses to a NW3 or if his hair thins moderately from where it is today over the next 8 - 12 months.

Minoxidil only gives moderate regrowth in 48% or less of men so I wouldnt hold too high expectations for minoxidil anyhow... As The Gardener said, it is a pain in the ***, it is messy, and it is a life long commitment to maintain the results (if any).


With Nizoral, I would suggest the following:

First tell your bf to wash with a mild shampoo to get all the dirt and oil off his hair/scalp. Then rinse. Then apply the Nizoral rubbing it in thoroughly. Let it on the scalp/hair for 5 - 15mins. Then rinse.

Nizoral only needs to be used every 2nd or 3rd day.


Good luck!

Socks 48% of the men. Last I knew it was right around 30%. Am I missing something here??? :?

 

[PartTimeNinja]

It sounds like your boyfriend may have diffuse thinning.

Greg1 where do read this??? Everywhere in this thread Kim is stating that her boyfriend has a receeding hairline. She's asking if minoxidil will work on the receeding hairline and not the crown and vertex.

 

[The Gardener]

Kim, I am a Norwood 2 or 3. I was okay with that until that little protrusion of hair in the center forehead started to thin out, and I was afraid I might be progressing into a Norwood IV A.

My treatments have restored me back to a solid 2 or 3. That center hair patch is thick, and very stylable, and the hairs there grow much longer than they used to.

I do have a little 'regrowth', the upper corners of my temples have been reduced a good half inch or so, and the rounding off of those corners on the high temples just makes my hairline a lot more complete looking even though I am receeded. It just looks more symmetrical.

As for your bf, minoxidil is not as good at treating small temple recessions. This is just my opinion based on my personal experience and from listening to others here. The further back on the head the hair is, the better that it tends to respond to minoxidil. Thus, if his recession ever starts approaching Norwood 3, or if he ever develops any sort of 'bald spot', or if despite the finasteride his hairline starts to go through a rapid and traumatic degradation, THEN go for the minoxidil. Then, he'd be adding in the minoxidil at the precise time his hair would respond best to it. However, I think there is a good chance that he may never need minoxidil, and I definitely think it is not something that should be jumped into quickly.

Instead of adding in minoxidil, another potential addition would be a copper peptide spray. There are three that are popular amongst the crowd here:

Folligen
American Crew
Tricomin

Copper Peptides are cheap to add in as a bottle of the stuff usually lasts a few months. They are good for the hair, and for the scalp and skin too.

 

[socks]

I 100% agree with The Gardener. Hold off on Minoxidil unless he progresses to a NW3 or if his hair thins moderately from where it is today over the next 8 - 12 months.

Minoxidil only gives moderate regrowth in 48% or less of men so I wouldnt hold too high expectations for minoxidil anyhow... As The Gardener said, it is a pain in the ***, it is messy, and it is a life long commitment to maintain the results (if any).


With Nizoral, I would suggest the following:

First tell your bf to wash with a mild shampoo to get all the dirt and oil off his hair/scalp. Then rinse. Then apply the Nizoral rubbing it in thoroughly. Let it on the scalp/hair for 5 - 15mins. Then rinse.

Nizoral only needs to be used every 2nd or 3rd day.


Good luck!

Socks 48% of the men. Last I knew it was right around 30%. Am I missing something here??? :?

I thought it was under 48% myself but I remember having a discussion on HLH where a poster provided a link to a study (might have been the official minoxidil study) that showed 48% of men had moderate regrowth using minoxidil.

I personally think that number is a little high but, then again, "their" definition of "moderate" is probably a little more generous then most of us here :wink:


If you got a link that states minoxidil has a 30% "ish" regrowth rate feel free to post it here!

 

[markymark123]

I hate to detract from the orignal poster's question but if I may intrude, Gardener, how long did the rounding off, 1/2 inch reductions on teh temples take. 6 months? 1 year? I only ask because i am 19 and wish to do the same thing. Ive been on minoxidil for a few weeks and where i wish to regrow some hair, there is some very very thin hairs that I think are on their last cycle before they just disappear for good. I hope I can have some improvement and I know I need to be patient, but I'm just looking for some kind of timeframe. I keep telling myself I should have a decent chance at regrowth because the area has only been balding for a year, do you think that is true?

 

[The Gardener]

Well, in order for me to give you a good description that you can visually digest, let me lay out a little lingo first.

I only have frontal recession, nothing in back. Basically, my temples, the sides of my head, are bald. But, I have a center patch of hair that extends from my full, thick hair on top to just above the center of my eyes.

Soooo.. after 4 months I noticed 'sprouts' in my bald temples. At about month 5 I noticed very noticeable thickening of my center patch, which was glorious. By the year mark, the 'sprout patch' on my temples didn't progress very much, they pretty much just stayed sprouts. HOWEVER, I did notice that the sprouts closest to my existing hairline were starting to grow long. My hairline was improving, slowly, on a hair-by-hair basis. But, that initial sprout patch that had me thinking I would have all my bald temple hair regrown by summer really didn't do much.

After about a year, these matured sprouts started to gain some mass and thickness, especially the matured sprouts in those upper temple corners. Well, at month 9 I noticed them getting substantial, but only after a year did my hairstylist actually comment that my hairline in those upper corner areas was improving.

As for your chances, they are much better than mine. My temples have been bald for a decade, so I don't forsee the sprouts doing much there. But, I have absolutely prevented my center forehead hair from receeding further, have regrowth along the perimeter of it, and substantial thickening. Instead of the wispy unstylable hairs there, I have very good cosmetic quality hair there.

 

[markymark123]

If you dont mind me asking more questions, what were you using when some of your temples slowly came back. I notice you arent on proscar or propecia. I'm guessin you attribute the growth solely to minoxidil, oh and spironolactone. I dont know much about spironolactone. Do you think it would be worth adding in my situation (note that I am on propecia and have been for over a year)? Thanks in advance.

 

[Full Head of Hair]

Suprise suprise, I have the exact same question as the other guys in this thread. I'm a norwood 1.5, should I give minoxidil, xandrox, or spironolactone a try?

 

[viperfish]

I 100% agree with The Gardener. Hold off on Minoxidil unless he progresses to a NW3 or if his hair thins moderately from where it is today over the next 8 - 12 months.

Minoxidil only gives moderate regrowth in 48% or less of men so I wouldnt hold too high expectations for minoxidil anyhow... As The Gardener said, it is a pain in the ***, it is messy, and it is a life long commitment to maintain the results (if any).


With Nizoral, I would suggest the following:

First tell your bf to wash with a mild shampoo to get all the dirt and oil off his hair/scalp. Then rinse. Then apply the Nizoral rubbing it in thoroughly. Let it on the scalp/hair for 5 - 15mins. Then rinse.

Nizoral only needs to be used every 2nd or 3rd day.


Good luck!

Socks 48% of the men. Last I knew it was right around 30%. Am I missing something here??? :?

I thought it was under 48% myself but I remember having a discussion on HLH where a poster provided a link to a study (might have been the official minoxidil study) that showed 48% of men had moderate regrowth using minoxidil.

I personally think that number is a little high but, then again, "their" definition of "moderate" is probably a little more generous then most of us here :wink:


If you got a link that states minoxidil has a 30% "ish" regrowth rate feel free to post it here!

You know it might have been the recent study conducted on the hairline that showed 48% regrowth. The FDA study showed 30%.

 

[viperfish]

Suprise suprise, I have the exact same question as the other guys in this thread. I'm a norwood 1.5, should I give minoxidil, xandrox, or spironolactone a try?

I would go with propecia first if not then I would go for eucapil. I would stay away from the minoxidil for right now seeing as your only a norwood 1.5. I would also recommend nizoral shampoo if you can tolerate it.