The 'am I Balding?' Threads--things To Consider

Retinoid

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I have noticed ever since joining that a large portion of threads are guys, usually young, coming on here asking if they are balding. The majority of pictures are them taking pictures pulling their hair back, usually pretty tightly, and taking a close up. Then you have replies saying, yep you are balding, get on Finasteride.

The problem is almost anyone pulling their hair back and taking a picture will look 'receded'. I attached a few pics of younger women who just have their hair back and are not even pushing it back and taking a close up, and most guys on here would say they are receding because their hair line is not fully full.

The reason why I bring this up is because 1) The guys asking if they are balding are not adding enough information to their threads. 2) The guys answering do not know what they are talking about. Both combined is just causing unnecessary misery. The simple fact is, we do not know if someone is BALDING or nothing has changed from 5yrs ago or they are simply receding some and it will stop soon--when the process is new or in the very early stages. This should be said on EVERY thread unless it is clear they are really balding.

Some questions to include, which I will use are:

When did you notice you were thinning/receding?
Do you have family history and ages they started balding if so?
Do you have earlier pictures of your hair to compare?
Have you ever been worried you were receding in the past?
How long have you thought you were thinning/receding and has there been a measurable change?
Please take at least 3 photos in different lighting, all with dry hair, and if in the front gently pulled back or up in a pony tail--not pulled back hard.
 

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Unlucky93

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I have noticed ever since joining that a large portion of threads are guys, usually young, coming on here asking if they are balding. The majority of pictures are them taking pictures pulling their hair back, usually pretty tightly, and taking a close up. Then you have replies saying, yep you are balding, get on Finasteride.

The problem is almost anyone pulling their hair back and taking a picture will look 'receded'. I attached a few pics of younger women who just have their hair back and are not even pushing it back and taking a close up, and most guys on here would say they are receding because their hair line is not fully full.

The reason why I bring this up is because 1) The guys asking if they are balding are not adding enough information to their threads. 2) The guys answering do not know what they are talking about. Both combined is just causing unnecessary misery. The simple fact is, we do not know if someone is BALDING or nothing has changed from 5yrs ago or they are simply receding some and it will stop soon--when the process is new or in the very early stages. This should be said on EVERY thread unless it is clear they are really balding.

Some questions to include, which I will use are:

When did you notice you were thinning/receding?
Do you have family history and ages they started balding if so?
Do you have earlier pictures of your hair to compare?
Have you ever been worried you were receding in the past?
How long have you thought you were thinning/receding and has there been a measurable change?
Please take at least 3 photos in different lighting, all with dry hair, and if in the front gently pulled back or up in a pony tail--not pulled back hard.
I get what you're trying to say, but you could have chosen better photos. No one with a brain cell would think the first 3 are balding... but yea, if you pull your hair back and tilt your head forward, you're going to have a 'U' shape hairline with flyaways. Most woman and even kids have this.

A thing that I've noticed since being interested in my hairloss is surprisingly a lot of kids have shitty hairlines. Then during puberty the skull grows making it look worse. We also naturally become more self conscious during this period so we could falsely believe our actual hairline has changed - that's why a lot of 15/16yr olds are convinced they're balding.
 
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Red October

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I would agree that it's dangerous to just prescribe finasteride and min for all and sundry. Some of the posts make me laugh when I see guys with perfect hair say their life is over. While those of us with a heck of a lot less hair look in the mirror and convince ourselves we look ok!
 

german89

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you simply cant compare womens hair with mens hair.
my sister has a round hairline and at the front many "miniaturized" hairs that dont grow as long as the rest of her hair. she also loses many hairs while showering. but she has 0 hair loss. no receeding, no thinning
 

joeblack2017

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It always makes me lol every time I see a thread titled "Am I balding?", "Is this male pattern baldness?", "Is this hair loss?", I mean cmon guys, you know it in yourself if you are experiencing hair fall, noticeable recession, or if thinning, I mean you can just look at your past pictures.

What makes me lol more is when I see these threads and they attach head pictures with luscious thick hair, normal hairlines, fresh from shower wet hair that obviously and apparently nothing's wrong with it. Guys you have normal hair. You are not balding! Lol. It's like they are trolling or something and I don't think they are serious at all
 

abcdefg

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male pattern baldness is a very tricky unique issue though. It happens very slowly, and we know so little about it. Its very easy to get paranoid or even think you see early signs of it when its not even really happening.
I worried about male pattern baldness in my younger years like 19 when I didnt have male pattern baldness at all. Here I am much older, and I definitely do have it now. You never get a card promising you in a year or 10 that you wont start going bald no matter how magnificent your hair right now. Even minimal or no family history doesnt promise that.
 
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