The Answer To Every "am I Balding?" Thread

[1212]

Go to the dermatologist or someone who specializes in hair loss.

No one here is qualified enough to tell you whether you are balding or not. You're wasting your time (and potentially hair) by thinking that anybody here can diagnose your type of hair loss and prescribe you the correct treatment to get your hair back.

Everyone on this forum learned what they know about hair loss the same way anybody can, through google searches. Go to an expert who knows what they're talking about instead if you want the best chance of keeping your hair. Do not waste your time and hair.

 

[OldnBald]

That seems like a reasonable post, and I'm some cases it is.

But some, like myself, have been studying hair loss, treatments, n especially what it looks like for many years. So as a first inquiry, it can be a good indicator. And cost you nothing, n hardly any time.

But like anything else, it depends on who you ask, in this case who responds.

 

[1212]

That seems like a reasonable post, and I'm some cases it is.

But some, like myself, have been studying hair loss, treatments, n especially what it looks like for many years. So as a first inquiry, it can be a good indicator. And cost you nothing, n hardly any time.

But like anything else, it depends on who you ask, in this case who responds.

This is a good place to come for support if anything, not medical advice. Hair loss is a medical issue, the treatments involved and their side effects are medical treatments and issues. Nobody here is qualified to diagnose nor prescribe anything. I've spent enough time on here to realize the vast majority know as much or less than me about hair loss, which is nowhere near enough to diagnose anyone's hair loss or tell any stranger on the internet what to take.

This thread is mostly directed at people under 21 who are less informed that this is not where you want to go if you want to keep your hair. You go to a professional in the field - Not a bunch of strangers on the internet who have no certifiable expertise.

 

[1212]

I’ve been to three dermatologist. It sucks saying this but they don’t know sh*t about hair loss. All they know what to say is “yea I see miniaturized hairs or receding hairline” get on finasteride or min.” Thats literally it.
There are people on the forum that are far more knowledge than most derms when it comes to hair loss.

finasteride and minoxidil are all that can be done for hair loss at this point in time, or hair transplants. The people on here aren’t more knowledgeable, they only act as if they’re more knowledgeable. You don’t even know who’s on the other side of the screen and you want to take medical advice from them? It makes zero sense. It’s not reliable or trustworthy information the vast-majority of the time and if it’s not clinically-proven and backed by studies, it’s simply anecdotal.

If you want professional, reliable advice, go to a professional. Simple as that

 

[Michael1986]

I think that these forums contain some extremely valuable information, but it is always important to be aware that there are a large variety of opinions on here, and that a lot of what is said on here is not correct. Therefore, it is important to keep an open mind regarding the accuracy of everything you read on here. I agree that in the case where a young man is trying to determine whether or not he has hair loss in the first place, it is best to get a professional diagnosis from a dermatologist rather than take the word of members of these forums based upon the appearance of a few hairline photos. Or at least, it is wise to see a dermatologist in addition to getting the opinion of members of these forums.

 

[1212]

I think that these forums contain some extremely valuable information, but it is always important to be aware that there are a large variety of opinions on here, and that a lot of what is said on here is not correct. Therefore, it is important to keep an open mind regarding the accuracy of everything you read on here. I agree that in the case where a young man is trying to determine whether or not he has hair loss in the first place, it is best to get a professional diagnosis from a dermatologist rather than take the word of members of these forums based upon the appearance of a few hairline photos. Or at least, it is wise to see a dermatologist in addition to getting the opinion of members of these forums.

I made this thread because when I was younger, I posted on here asking if I had hair loss and most said “no, just a cowlick” or “you’re fine, you’re only (insert age), you’re not balding”.

Only 1 or 2 said keep an eye on it. I felt assured that I wasn’t balding and left for a period of time. Fast forward to now and I may not even be a good candidate for surgery due to the extent at my age, aggressiveness, and donor capacity of my hair. My hair may be screwed just from listening to members on here when I was a teenager. Maybe it would be anyway, or if I had gotten properly diagnosed for my hair loss as a kid I could have found a way to manage. At this point, it’s a sunk cost.

Besides that, I’ve been using this forum for the last year or so and I can tell you that nobody’s opinion on here is as valuable as a hair loss specialist or dermatologist. People may have a limited amount of knowledge on here but they’re still amateurs in the grand scheme of hair loss and they don’t see cases every single day for a living. Posters may know some foreign, unproven technique that a dermatologist may not be aware of, but the dermatologist isn’t aware of it because it just doesn’t work or is not clinically-proven.

Nobody on this whole forum has “the secret” to curing hair loss. There’s nothing they can tell you that will save your hair that isn’t a conventional method that should be prescribed by an actual physician.

 

[Michael1986]

I made this thread because when I was younger, I posted on here asking if I had hair loss and most said “no, just a cowlick” or “you’re fine, you’re only (insert age), you’re not balding”.

Only 1 or 2 said keep an eye on it. I felt assured that I wasn’t balding and left for a period of time. Fast forward to now and I may not even be a good candidate for surgery due to the extent at my age, aggressiveness, and donor capacity of my hair. My hair may be screwed just from listening to members on here when I was a teenager. Maybe it would be anyway, or if I had gotten properly diagnosed for my hair loss as a kid I could have found a way to manage. At this point, it’s a sunk cost.

Besides that, I’ve been using this forum for the last year or so and I can tell you that nobody’s opinion on here is as valuable as a hair loss specialist or dermatologist. People may have a limited amount of knowledge on here but they’re still amateurs in the grand scheme of hair loss and they don’t see cases every single day for a living. Posters may know some foreign, unproven technique that a dermatologist may not be aware of, but the dermatologist isn’t aware of it because it just doesn’t work or is not clinically-proven.

Nobody on this whole forum has “the secret” to curing hair loss. There’s nothing they can tell you that will save your hair that isn’t a conventional method that should be prescribed by an actual physician.

Sorry to hear you had this experience, and I agree with you that it is much better to get an official diagnosis from a dermatologist rather than getting a "diagnosis" from people using these forums. One major drawback of any sort of online medical or health-based forum is that there is the possibility of being given poor or even dangerous advice. One example of this on hairlosstalk is this current trend of new hair loss sufferers being encouraged to take extremely powerful feminising hormone treatments like Bicalutamide, which are normally only taken by women or by male-to-female transsexuals. There are positives as well as negatives of forums such as hairlosstalk, so I guess you have to balance out the positives versus the negatives to decide whether the existence of such forums is generally a good thing. I would say that overall, it appears that more people have benefited from this forum (myself included) than those who have not. It is important though that everyone on this forum is aware of the need to be open-minded about everything that is posted on here, and to be aware that a lot of what is posted on here is very much speculation, personal opinion, or blatantly incorrect.

 

[1212]

Sorry to hear you had this experience, and I agree with you that it is much better to get an official diagnosis from a dermatologist rather than getting a "diagnosis" from people using these forums. One major drawback of any sort of online medical or health-based forum is that there is the possibility of being given poor or even dangerous advice. One example of this on hairlosstalk is this current trend of new hair loss sufferers being encouraged to take extremely powerful feminising hormone treatments like Bicalutamide, which are normally only taken by women or by male-to-female transsexuals. There are positives as well as negatives of forums such as hairlosstalk, so I guess you have to balance out the positives versus the negatives to decide whether the existence of such forums is generally a good thing. I would say that overall, it appears that more people have benefited from this forum (myself included) than those who have not. It is important though that everyone on this forum is aware of the need to be open-minded about everything that is posted on here, and to be aware that a lot of what is posted on here is very much speculation, personal opinion, or blatantly incorrect.

Ya I think people taking tranny drugs to get there hair back need to take a hard look at their priorities.

As for the rest of the information available on this forum and other hairloss forums, I really think you could just narrow it down to informational guides on the conventional methods such as minoxidil., finasteride, dutatsteride, and then have a section where new studies/potential treatments are mentioned. Almost everything else is either pointless or outright misinformation that can lead to people wasting time, money, resources, and opportunities to correctly treat hair loss.

 

[StevenGerrard]

with me it was the opposite I knew I was balding but refused to address the issue due to multiple "finasteride ruined my life" topics/threads/pages/etc.. scattered all over the internet.

yes there are side effects but what is the alternative? going bald and looking diseased for the rest of my life?

I don't even know if this crap is going to work, as of right now I'm only experiencing the negatives (albeit tolerable) and none of the positives

however if it does work, I'm gonna be pissed because had I taken action sooner I could have salvaged my hairline and temple points

 

[1212]

with me it was the opposite I knew I was balding but refused to address the issue due to multiple "finasteride ruined my life" topics/threads/pages/etc.. scattered all over the internet.

yes there are side effects but what is the alternative? going bald and looking diseased for the rest of my life?

I don't even know if this crap is going to work, as of right now I'm only experiencing the negatives (albeit tolerable) and none of the positives

however if it does work, I'm gonna be pissed because had I taken action sooner I could have salvaged my hairline and temple points

A lot of fear-mongering of the side effects on here scares people away from treatments. Then in one of your threads you made about side effects, half of the people were saying it's all in your head

finasteride may work for you but give you bad sides in the long-run. It's up to you to assess what works for you and if it's worth the side effects. Ideally, you'd want to decide this with the help of someone who specializes in hair loss treatment. Otherwise, you're just gambling with your hair or the long-term side effects of the hair loss drugs you're taking

 

[doflamingo]

the answer is always f*** YEAH you are, hustle some minoxidil up in there b**ch