Questions from an 18 year old. Reddit was no help

[Gwazi]

Hello. I just turned 18 yesterday and I plan on going to the dermatologist before the end of March. My hairline is showing pretty early signs of recession in the temples. And my dad is bald so I know that its likely to happen to me too if I dont try to prevent. I am planning on starting finasteride whether the dermatologist prescribes it or not. All I want to do is maintain my current hairline for a long time, I do not need any regrowth. I would maybe consider a hair transplant in the future to fill in the temples, but I dont have to worry about that now. and Im OK with my current hairline. Im just scared of losing more.

So my questions start here. First off, I am planning on starting oral finasteride as soon as I visit a dermatologist. I am not too concerned about side effects. But my first question would be, what if somehow I wasnt going to actually lose hair for a long time. If I started taking finasteride now, could the DHT start growing resistant to finasteride and stronger and actually start or speed up my hair loss more than it would have without finasteride?

Also, I got a set of derma rollers recently for when I started this journey of fighting hairloss. I have a .5 mm, 1 mm, and 1.5 mm derma roller. Which one should I start out with and how often?



Thirdly, is it worth it to start using topical Minoxidil if I dont use it every day? I would probably only use it on days that I take a shower, which is usually every other day or once every 3 days depending on how busy I am. My hair is hard to style it how I want it and I dont feel like messing up my hair every day just to put stupid minoxidil in. (However I am willing to do whatever it takes to keep my hair)



Lastly, honestly my main concern is fighting hairloss but ending up making DHT stronger or more resistant (or however it works) and speeding up my hairloss. Is that really possible? Is it worth it to go full in with the big 3 right away? Or should I just start with 1 thing at a time such as oral finasteride, and if finasteride stops working eventually, start other things?



Thank you for any help I get

 

[DoctorHouse]

Hello. I just turned 18 yesterday and I plan on going to the dermatologist before the end of March. My hairline is showing pretty early signs of recession in the temples. And my dad is bald so I know that its likely to happen to me too if I dont try to prevent. I am planning on starting finasteride whether the dermatologist prescribes it or not. All I want to do is maintain my current hairline for a long time, I do not need any regrowth. I would maybe consider a hair transplant in the future to fill in the temples, but I dont have to worry about that now. and Im OK with my current hairline. Im just scared of losing more.

So my questions start here. First off, I am planning on starting oral finasteride as soon as I visit a dermatologist. I am not too concerned about side effects. But my first question would be, what if somehow I wasnt going to actually lose hair for a long time. If I started taking finasteride now, could the DHT start growing resistant to finasteride and stronger and actually start or speed up my hair loss more than it would have without finasteride?

Also, I got a set of derma rollers recently for when I started this journey of fighting hairloss. I have a .5 mm, 1 mm, and 1.5 mm derma roller. Which one should I start out with and how often?



Thirdly, is it worth it to start using topical Minoxidil if I dont use it every day? I would probably only use it on days that I take a shower, which is usually every other day or once every 3 days depending on how busy I am. My hair is hard to style it how I want it and I dont feel like messing up my hair every day just to put stupid minoxidil in. (However I am willing to do whatever it takes to keep my hair)



Lastly, honestly my main concern is fighting hairloss but ending up making DHT stronger or more resistant (or however it works) and speeding up my hairloss. Is that really possible? Is it worth it to go full in with the big 3 right away? Or should I just start with 1 thing at a time such as oral finasteride, and if finasteride stops working eventually, start other things?



Thank you for any help I get

Start with oral finasteride only to see if you respond well to it. If you use other things you will not know which is working better.

 

[Gwazi]

Start with oral finasteride only to see if you respond well to it. If you use other things you will not know which is working better.

Thank you!

 

[NickyA]

Agree wholeheartedly with House. It is best to start with a single med to make sure that they are working for you. There's around 30% to 45% of men that aren't topical minoxidil responders and need tretinoin or oral minoxidil for it to work.

Try getting blood work done before starting finasteride and seeing your Doctor because you are very young. The blood work will be very useful down the line if anything turns out bad later on. You can read more about that at moreplatesmoredates' website, here's a link to his article: https://moreplatesmoredates.com/pos...ests_you_should_get_before_taking_finasteride

Regarding your second question, topical minoxidi can be used once a day instead of twice a day because of its half life, although it may not end up being as effective as twice a day. Any less frequent than that, or using it randomly through the week can end up being detrimental for your hair. Keep in mind that once you've started using it you gotta stay on it for life and might end up in a worse spot than when you started if you ever quit, since hairs that weren't minoxidil dependent in the past can become so later on. Once you've quit, your minoxidil dependent hair will start falling out round the 2 to 5 month range.