Should I be worried?

[HeyThereNow]

I'm 21 and it seems as if hair-loss has started. Although my hair is fairly thick, I still struggle to cover my receding temples. Here is a link to a thread I posted on an inferior forum site over six months ago. http://www.menshairforum.com/talk/Thread-Receding-hairline-and-best-hairstyles-for-medium-wavy-hair

I think my hair has become a little bit worse since then and I'm a little bit worried. In the first group of pictures, I got a two on the sides and left my hair grow for exactly six weeks before taking the photos. I believe I read somewhere that forehead wrinkles influence the positioning of the hairline but I'm not the best at judging.

https://gyazo.com/20b48d773a67eebe5853912bbb6cc57e
https://gyazo.com/4482d32fa59f6a5eed5dd3e6f078ee03
https://gyazo.com/18caa4b4d6ea2967b52c6cd8e8a5291a
https://gyazo.com/c5f576e7c94721256a1c128a9f72f7c4
https://gyazo.com/5ed0adcb9ef44269d82ce514b1f451b5
https://gyazo.com/c380e7626b1a27d3ac3c7d5542a96fa0
https://gyazo.com/a5ecdabe5f7910afa3795289c6df0a86
https://gyazo.com/05c228fc9d11e3eb476f0630b3690fd2
https://gyazo.com/00301ebc7a33c9052763ae160e5f1459

The second batch are after a recent haircut.

https://gyazo.com/34b2cd63ccfec6565bec4847d5ce9794
https://gyazo.com/f534c115a9e83e875b5dc029e5d62eb1
https://gyazo.com/10ffc7893b12a191f2039917f92a0431
https://gyazo.com/dfb1818ed7a6caba171dfa559d1decc4

Is it time to accept that I have male pattern baldness and start medication? I reckon I'm a two on the Norwood scale.

 

[Sonicblu650]

Yeah you got a lil male pattern baldness happening. You Do have good thick hair though, So if you want to keep your hair, id make a dr appointment and talk to them about finasteride. Get your hormone levels checked before starting finasteride So you have a baseline. You ll probably respond well to finasteride since you didn't let it go to far. Good luck man!

 

[HeyThereNow]

Cheers Sonic! Finasteride is Propecia, correct? Is it expensive? Sadly I'm only a student so I may just have to accept my fate :/

I'm four months into a six month course of accutane (10mg). Could this have effected my hair density?

 

[mandatswack]

Not expensive if you can get your hands on generics.

 

[HeyThereNow]

Generics? What do you mean? I'm not very well informed on the topic sadly. Is it possible that my hairline is simply maturing or is it gone past that stage? Is it possible to get the hair back at my temples again?

 

[parisienne]

Hey Generics are unofficial brands of a given medecine, but with the same molecule.
You can get some on online pharmacies.

Temples hair are usually the hardest to regrow but it is possible if you act early.

 

[mandatswack]

Pretty much everyones hairline matures, but you never know where and when it will stop sadly. Generics are the same drug but just for much cheaper. I think the name is proscar where it comes as 5mg but you cut it into fourths. In the US you can get proscar for like 10 dollars. You likely can't regrow temple hair unless you are lucky or you recently lost the hair, OR go on an extremely aggressive regimen but Finasteride alone usually won't do it.

 

[HeyThereNow]

Ah I wasn't thinking straight.. Generic, of course! I was thinking it was a brand over in the US or something..

Thanks for the responses everyone btw I can't lie, I'm feeling pretty down about this but at least I've seen it coming for the last few months.

What do ye think? Is it time to hop on medication? My hormones could be messed up because of the Accutane.

I've noticed when I'm shampooing my hair that there's a lot on my hands after running them through my hair. I push my hair towards my left temple just in case it seems as though one temple was way worse than the other. When my hair is pulled back they're pretty much like for like.

 

[Iopu]

Your hair looks great. There is a bit of recession but it's not so bad. You've caught it on time before it gets any worse.
There's a couple of Irish based prescription services online that prescribe finasterade. If you google "prescriptions online Ireland" or so you'll find them. It's not that expensive. I paid €80 for a years supply.
Also if your going to be using minoxidil. There's a website called biovea.com that sells minoxidil called: anagen research foligain p5 for €40 for a six month supply. It's exactly the same as rogaine liquid they sell in pharmacies for €40 a month I've been using it nearly 2 years.

 

[Cue Bald]

it could just be a very matured hairline but it is at the highest point of what I would consider "mature" to be - any higher than that and 99% probable it is male pattern baldness
I would probably get on finasteride but my "official" advice would be wait 6 months, take some more photos and compare - the hairline is any higher then jump on finasteride

i know a guy who had a hairline like that about 8 years ago, we all said he would be bald in a few years but it never happened - he still has that "just started male pattern baldness" hairline 8 years later (ofc he could be on finasteride on the sly...)

 

[HeyThereNow]

Thanks Iopu for those websites, I've a feeling I'll be using them sooner rather than later From what I gather, finasteride is oral while Rograine is applied directly to the scalp. Which would be advisable? I'm not too sure about the differences between them.

I should probably finish my course of accutane and I'll take pictures every month to see. But even the slightest indication that my hair is thinning anymore and I'll definitely start medication. It's discouraging, but it seems that my hair has gotten thinner from pictures posted in the thread I linked and that their advise was misguided.

 

[FWIW]

You ARE balding, and quite badly, its not mature hairline at 21 yo. you will be reaching 2,5 Norwood already, act as soon as possible.

 

[HeyThereNow]

How do you know I'm badly balding? What pictures tell you that? Tbh, nobody else has noticed it in person and my family don't believe me when I say I'm balding.

 

[FWIW]

Well maybe not badly, but I guess its matter of opinion. Yea, nobody will tell you are balding,but they will when you are already bald. Once you reach nw3 its there, until then everybody will just tell you its just mature hairline.

 

[HeyThereNow]

Phew, you had me worried that I'd be a NW6 within the year! Of course, it's much easier to detect when you've done research and can tell the signs though. Mature hairline is technically male pattern baldness from what I've read so I guess I'm probably better off not taking chances and going for something

- - - Updated - - -

I've thought about it long and hard over the last 24 hours and I've looked back at old photos and such. It seems that I truly am balding. Are there any threads that list the positives and negatives of finasteride and mino? Would it be possible to change the thread title to: "Should I take Finasteride or Minoxidil?"

Of course, since I'm new to balding treatment and the likes I've a lot of questions.

Iopu, was this the Proscar site you mentioned? - https://www.webdoctor.ie/pages/hair-loss-finasteride

I think I'm going to stop taking accutane immediately and see how that goes. My acne is pretty much cleared up so it should be okay. Could either of the treatment options cause acne? Will the hormonal changes from accutane prevent doctors from prescribing me Finasteride? Should I purchase Nizoral shampoo?

 

[mrsparkle]

Get on the Finasteride now. You'll be glad you did in 12 months time.

Don't worry about people talking about side effects. The more you worry about it the more likely you'll get them.

I was like you, thick head of hair but a bit of receding at the temples. Obviously I was the only person who noticed!
Got prescription from GP. Probably because he could see how stressed/obsessed I was about it!

2 years later I've managed to keep all my hair and grow some back on the temples. Absolutely no side effects and loads more confidence.
So glad I didn't wait for it to get worse.

Just go for it!

 

[HeyThereNow]

Thanks for the response mrsparkle. Yeah I know the feeling, trying to convince people that my paranoia isn't in my head is no easy task!

I can relate completely to what you're saying. The last few days have been ridiculous, my hairline was literally the first thing I thought about this morning.

Did you go for Propecia or a generic alternative? I've experienced some side-effects from accutane but I'm going to check things out with my doctor first thing Monday morning. As well as balding, there's also a history of prostate problems in my family so I've gotta be wary of that.

 

[HeyThereNow]

Here's a picture of my hairline just before I turned nineteen: https://gyazo.com/3ec1ffc3cc9111728b8880e86190cedc while this one is from a few months after that: https://gyazo.com/12db6aee59a2aea42f9faba6ab750ddd

I've always had a high hairline but it's definitely receded since then. I'm surprised that you thought the vertex was bad, I thought it hadn't reached that stage yet. I'm going to the doctor first thing Monday morning. I'm probably going to get my hormones checked and talk to him about the accutane as well. Then I'm thinking I'll try finasteride and hope it doesn't decimate my libido