Where Am I On The Norwood Scale? Is It Too Bad For A 23 Year Old?

[mrx]

[EDIT] So After being on Minoxidil for nearly three months and finasteride for 2 months, these are my results. Can anyone tell me if there was some improvement or not? I can't really say as the lightings are quite different and so does the size of my hair.

 

[Michael1986]

You're approaching Norwood 4. Time to get on finasteride or preferably dutasteride as soon as possible, if you're not on it already.

 

[mrx]

You're approaching Norwood 4. Time to get on finasteride or preferably dutasteride as soon as possible, if you're not on it already.

My doctor prescribed me 10% minoxidil along with some vitamins tablets. Those pictures were taken just after I applied minoxidil, made my hair really sticky.

 

[Michael1986]

My doctor prescribed me 10% minoxidil along with some vitamins tablets. Those pictures were taken just after I applied minoxidil, made my hair really sticky.

Your hair loss is advanced. Minoxidil and vitamins are not going to be enough unfortunately. You will need to use finasteride if you wish to treat your hair loss properly. Dutasteride would be an even better choice in your case. I recommend you look into getting a prescription for either finasteride or dutasteride.

 

[mrx]

Your hair loss is advanced. Minoxidil and vitamins are not going to be enough unfortunately. You will need to use finasteride if you wish to treat your hair loss properly. Dutasteride would be an even better choice in your case. I recommend you look into getting a prescription for either finasteride or dutasteride.

Is it enough to maintain whatever I have left, and get some density probably? For 3-4 years I want to maintain this before getting a transplant.

 

[OldnBald]

Go to a derm, get on finasteride. Take minoxidil as well. Start yesterday. Is it bad for 23? It's bad for 33. Don't .f***. around.

 

[Who Farted]

That is an alarming amount of loss for 23. I’m sorry you have been hit so hard so young. With this amount of loss, you need to stop your recession as soon as possible.

minoxidil won’t do a damn thing at this point unless you are on an anti androgen. minoxidil doesn’t stop progression of the balding process. Your hair might look marginally better, but you will continue to lose ground. If you’re not a responder or you don’t use it twice a day, it could easily accelerate the balding process and leave you looking far worse than when you started.

The best course of action here is to use dutasteride/finasteride until your recession is stabilized, then use minoxidil to improve its quality.

 

[karatekid]

Im really curious as to why you ask if its bad for 23, cant you look around you and tell? You dont have friends at your age?

 

[Michael1986]

Is it enough to maintain whatever I have left, and get some density probably? For 3-4 years I want to maintain this before getting a transplant.

No, minoxidil will not be enough to maintain your hair. You will need to get on finasteride or preferably dutasteride if you intend to treat your hair loss properly. You would also need to continue using finasteride/dutasteride after the transplant too so that your transplant can last. The unfortunate reality is that anyone with male pattern baldness does need to use finasteride/dutasteride permanently in order to stop their hair from falling out. Hopefully a better and safer alternative to finasteride will eventually come out, but until then, finasteride/dutasteride is all we have that has been proven to work well.

 

[Inigo1202]

Finasteride ASAP. Without an antiandrogen you'll be full bald at 25. No joke.

 

[Jifgilfos]

get on finasteride asap

 

[Scoobysnack]

while you're at it, study hard and try to land in a high paying career. Start saving for a FUT transplant. Until then follow everyone's advice above me. Finasteride specifically. Read some of the threads in here about scalp massages.