Hi everybody! First off I'd just like to say that from the brief time I've been browsing, it really seems like there are a lot of knowledgeable people, and it's very impressive how everybody helps eachother along. Anyways, my story:

I'm a 21 year old with a large family history loosing ones hair.
Over the July 4th holiday I had a family reunion, and noticed all the males on my Dad's side are bald or loosing their hair. No big deal, they all look great so I thought nothing of it. Then one of them said something to the affect that I look just like my father, and it looks like I'm starting to loose my hair like him. I smiled and laughed, took nothing of it. Being a very self conscious 21 year old (I've always prided myself on my looks) I checked out my hair a lot the next couple days. It looked like I did have some recession above my temples, developing a nice widow peak but it looks good when I spike my hair, so no real worries, I was freaking out for a day or two putting undo stress upon myself, but then I got over it.

Then, last Friday, the 13th, I was getting ready for work (Where I spike my hair everyday) and noticed that in one area in particular (My front left hairline) Was looking thin. That freaked me out. I got very worried, and since then I've been doing tons of research, see what I should do and what steps I can take, which I'll get to in a moment. But my hair so far seems to just be thinning in the front left, and receding a bit my the temples. My crown is fine.

So now for the first question - is it just psychological? Being with a lot of guys who're going through mild to severe hair loss could have just freaked me out, and I maybe noticing stuff that doesn't matter. Also when I was stressing so much about loosing my hair, the stress could have caused me to loose my hair.

I think its not psychological though. When I wash my hair I notice lots of hairs on my hands, this didn't use to happen, but at the same time I wasn't looking for them. Spiking my hair with a molding creme every day probably isn't the best for it, so maybe the loss is due to that pressure/stress I'm putting on my hair?

But I look in deeper, and see that shorter hairs are falling out, hair that's much shorter than my length. Which makes me think that its hair that has already shed a bit due to DHT, so now its thinner and shorter, and comes out quicker. So now I'm thinking its MPB, and it's time for me to do something about it! (Also my Dad started loosing his hair at this time... for what that helps)

So, after less than a week of research, here's what I picked up.

A volumeizing shampoo - Not the best thing to get, just some Lo'Real for men. I wanted to pick up a Biotin Shampoo but my walgreens didn't have any, any suggestions?

Biotin Pills - If they'll make my nails stronger, hey, why not hair? Can't hurt, so picked those up

Saw Palmetto pills - Heard they were good as well, right?

Flax seed oil pills - Thought I read those were good too, in any event probably not bad for me so whats one more pill?

Finally, Rogaine 5% foam - I want to nip this in the bud, so if I can start using this everday 2x a day hopefully it'll work. My father was in the initial study for rogaine, and he said it did WONDERS for him, made it thicker/fuller. Once he hit 40 there was some more loss, he tried propecia but it didn't agree with his body so he doesn't use that.

I still want to pick up jojoba oil and a biotin shampoo. Putting on jojoba at night is supposed to be good for the hair septum, (sp?) and I'm willing to do anything so why not.

So am I off to a good regimen? Pills 2x a day, Rogaine 2x a day, less styling of hair (No more for everyday, too much stress for it, only when I go out)

The biggest problem I've been having is dealing with it emotionally. I was sort of in the denial stage, but passed that within a week so now I'm into acceptance and fighting... but I don't want to loose it. I end up thinking about my hair for a while before bed, and I'd rather not loose sleep. Any advice? A big concern of mine is that I just met a nice girl who thinks I'm really attractive, and if at all possible I'd like to keep that going. The good thing is I'm interning in a different city at the moment so I won't see her much for another month, so if/when my rogaine shedding phase starts (it didn't for my father, he said he just noticed fuller thicker hair, but either way, whats 4-6 months to wait?) I can concentrate on myself, not what others think.

Really, its just good to put into writing what I've been thinking, any comments/advice is appreciated so in advance, thank you very much!

Your doing the right stuff buddy!!!!!

Try the minox for 6 months to a year-- if you notice continual shedding, then go for propecia at that time.

You may just be overanalyzing your situation, or, you me starting to bald a bit-- either way at 21, you need to take a balanced approach and give the regimen some time to work----

While your doing this, continue to read the forum and gain knowledge.

Take Care,
J

YoungRunner,

Welcome to our community.

Unfortunately, in the beginning, one can't really tell whether or not your problem is physical or psychological.

In my experience, what I hoped was psychological turned out to be physical.

It's good that you are starting to research this early.

Out of all you are taking, Rogaine 5% is the most imperative as none of the others do anything to fight hair loss. As B Spot pointed out - you might want to consider adding finasteride - the only pill proven to fight hair loss. But, taking vitamins and other things to increase overall health, and using fewer hair products that will clog the pores is a good idea anyway.

Try not to stress too much - see if your regime helps.

Falc

Thanks for the tips! That's really what I'm trying to focus on right now, not stressing, and it's nice to know that I'm doing something about it, it makes me feel better in the morning!

One more quick question though, my hairloss/thinning is mainly on the front of my head, Rogaine says that it works on the vertex only, but I'm trying it mostly on the front. Is that okay? If it works that's awesome, if it doesn't, well hey it takes the psych stress off.
But is it bad for it? Because then I won't use it... but until then I figure why not!

Thanks

Hey Young'in

Well, if your hair is coming out in the shower and people are making comments, it may be plain ole Male pattern baldness.. I remember someone made a comment to me before I really started losing my hair ( about my crown which you can't see yourself).. I laughed it off but then a year later it all started falling.. A good way to tell is to look at old pics of your hairline and compare. If it is receding, chances are the crown may be getting thinner too. Spiking your hair will not cause hairloss.

Anyway, ditch all of the pills as there is no research indicating it helps and it certainly won't regrow hair. Stick to the BIG 3

- Minoxidil ( can work on area's besides the crown)
- Propecia
- Nizoral or Revita shampoo( has ketoconazole which has shown signs of being anti -DHT)

That's it. Short & sweet and it works!!

YoungRunner,

You can use rogaine in the front as well. Though it does only claim to regrow hair in the vertex, I have heard some reliable people claim it worked for them in the front as well.

Falc

Thanks so much for the replies, you guys have been so helpful!

I've been trying to pick up Revita the past couple days, but no one seems to have it. Walgreens has an online order though, so I figure I'll order that to have it when I move in 3 weeks. In the mean time I picked up Nizoral - felt pretty good using it today. Also on the natural side, I picked up tea tree oil to put a couple drops in before bed... no harm right?

So far my confidence has gone way up! I'm not sure if it's mental or not, but my hair seems thicker already, which I'm very pleased with! I like the biotin pills I'm taking, once again probably just psychological but hair feels thicker, and as a byproduct my nails do too...

Anyways, I had one quick question. Is it bad to run your hands through your hair? Sometimes I get the temptation to do so, but I'm not sure if thats bad or not. Could I get an answer on that? Also whenever I do, I tend to get some hairs if I squeeze my fingers together, which makes me a little worried but I'm taking steps now to prevent it so hah! And as a side question to that one, is it normal to see some hairs when you run your hands through? I'm not talking alot, just like 5. I know you're supposed to loose 100 a day, but I get worried at little bits, especially when I shampoo and condition I seem to loose 20

Well, once again thank you very much, you've been very helpful so far!

Youngrunr

It is good you attack the problem early, you may want to take pics now to document if the rogaine and other supplements help or just to see if in a year or so you stabilize.

Also, if running your fingers thru your hair were enough to make you bald, I would estimate 99 percent of us would be slick.

I used to worry that wind and sun was causing my baldness! Not so

I've taken some pictures over the past couple weeks, and I'd like to post them and get some feedback from you guys if possible! Only thing is... how do you post pictures?

Hey Youngrunner,

I'm assuming you've used a digital camera and now have the pics stored on your computer? To post your pictures, use the "Add Attachment" feature below the text box. Browse your computer for the pics and then upload them (provided they have been converted into a standard picture format, which they probably are already if they're on your computer).

Ah thanks for the help! I've a couple of pictures so this'll take a couple posts. First I have an overhead picture, with my hair dry. I'm not worried about my crown area, but I'll see what you guys think.

iPhone_007.jpg (369 Kb, 28 downloads) Dry Overhead

Here is a close up of my Worrisome spot. At the time this was taken I just used Rogaine so my hair was parted, but it looks a little thin to me.

iPhone_018.jpg (455 Kb, 28 downloads) Close up

And here's the worrisome spot agian, only this time when my hair is normal. It doesn't look like it's bad, but if I feel its thin I'm sure going to take preventive measures. So what do you guys think? Did I convince myself I had a problem, or does one exist and I'm doing the right thing?

iPhone_065.jpg (198 Kb, 22 downloads) can't think of one

And one more for the road. This one is similar to the first one I posted, only less part action. Still a bit pushed to the side to see the scalp, but not a lot.

Also, Right now this is a little long for my hair, as I said earlier I like to spike it and at this length it gets a little limp. Think it would be noticeable if I got my hair cut? I can post more pictures later with my hair spiked, I just don't do it often anymore because I don't want to harm my hair.

iPhone_006.jpg (354 Kb, 19 downloads) Close up no part

And one more for the road, and a question.
This one is similar to the first one I posted, just the hair is less parted away, more of a normal look, but still parted

iPhone_006.jpg (84 Kb, 18 downloads)

Sup dude,

I'm 21 as well and your hair looks quite similar to mine ~12 months ago; which (without you actually seeing my current follicular state) is a testament to how quickly a SNAFU can occur and how fast and quick the downfall can be! As others have said, start using Nizoral/Revita, and above all else use the Rogaine %5 religiously...I would also say to get on Propecia asafu**ingp...in but 6 months time it seemingly put a halt to my hair loss, and I've felt little to no "side effects".

Its great that you found this place when you have, and that your going to be attacking the problem so early on. I *really* regret not starting the propecia, etc.when I first started to realize my thinning hair.

In any event, sounds like you will be putting yourself in the best possible spot to attack hair loss as it comes -- which is all you can really do.

YoungRunner,

Though some of the pictures are blurry, I tend to agree that the front is a little bit thin. Mind you, you STILL have an awesome head of hair, but I understand your concern.

Consider all there is to consider now with the medications (finasteride, minoxodil - which you are already using, and Nizoral - or maybe Revita).

By the way, regarding running your fingers through your hair - that in itself is neither good nor bad. The bottom line is, if your hair is genetically susceptible to DHT, you are going to lose it period. Running your fingers through your hair might provoke the hair to shed a day earlier or so, otherwise it may have fallen out on the pillow. But shedding doesn't cause hair loss. DHT does. The hairs that are genetically predisposed to DHT that sheds will grow back but smaller and finer. In other words, wearing a hat, or running fingers through hair won't cause hair loss.

Falc

Thanks very much Falc, I was worrying about that. Makes sense though, DHT makes it shed so I shouldn't worry about "pulling my hair out." Also, thank you for the hair compliment But for now Minoxodil 2x a day and Nizoral as well, my Dad had some bad reactions with Propecia/Finasteride so I may try to stay away from that.

Spiked my hair today btw no worries as well! Now that I'm doing something about it I feel so much better!