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Suggestions for male friend with thinning hair?

20 years ago

I have a 24 year-old male friend whose hair seems to be thinning at the crown (?) of his head (the top middle portion of his head). Does anyone have any suggestions for him on what he could do to stop this from worsening any further?

Has anyone with hair loss in this area had any luck with products like Rogaine? We were reading the Rogaine box briefly at Costco and it mentioned something about only working on certain areas of balding.

Help...

Comments (15)

lazy_gardens
20 years ago
What is his family history of balding, especially maternal uncles and great uncles? Familial "PATTERN BALDNESS" is hereditary, and it's related to testesterone production.

Rogaine might help him, but he's in for a lifetime of using it, or he can adjust his attitude towards balding ... remind him that eunuchs DO NOT go bald.
PeaBee4
20 years ago
Rogaine also has some not so nice side effects. There is some evidence that it causes some erectile disfunction. Not too many men want to risk that just to grow hair.

I think (not sure) that any hair that can be regrown is not "normal" looking hair. It's more like a thin fuzz which will not match the rest of his head. (I might be wrong on that) It doesn't work for everyone.

Tell him that it doesn't matter. Some of the sexiest men walking this planet are bald.

What he has already lost may be all he will ever lose. It's his personality that is his important feature, not the hairs on his head.

Are his father/brothers also thin on top? Then it's most likely an inherited trait and he will be fighting a losing battle.

If it has started suddenly, then a visit to his doctor or a dermatologist might be in order. There are medical conditions that can cause baldness.

PB
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From wiki Much research has gone into the genetic component of male pattern baldness, or androgenetic alopecia (AGA). Research indicates that susceptibility to premature male pattern baldness is largely the cause of sex-influenced inheritance (because males can pass on the trait to their sons which would be impossible if it were x-linked). Other genes that are not sex linked are also involved.... ...Recent research confirmed the X-linked androgen receptor as the most important gene, with a gene on chromosome 20 being the second most important determinant gene (snpedia). This research suggests that heredity of AGA is X-linked; however, research has also shown that a person with a balding father has a significantly greater chance of experiencing hair loss. Men whose fathers had experienced hair loss were 2.5 times more likely to experience hair loss themselves, regardless of the mother's side of the family, which may suggest Y-linked heredity plays a role Here is a link that might be useful: wiki/ Baldness Genetics
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Janice, like many others I waited so long to try Rogaine. But I did try it on June 27th. Just a small amount in one spot to see if I had any reactions (the burning and itching) that some people had experienced. All I felt was just a SLIGHT burning. I gathered up my courage and used a full dropper for my evening dose and have been using Rogaine (the 5% extra strength MEN'S forumula) ever since that day. It's been about 14 weeks since I started it, and I *do* see a difference in my hair. Like you, I was scared to see more shedding than I had been going through before I began the treatment. Before using Rogaine I was shedding hair allll day long. I'm looking at my journal now.... hmmm.... okay in the middle of July (about 2-3 weeks after starting the Rogaine I reached a peak shedding incident when I counted 76 hairs that fell out onto the bathroom vanity after I had washed and just fluffed my hair very gently with my fingers. THAT was scary, but I decided to keep up the routine with the Rogaine. It took a lot of faith to do that, but then about a week later only 36 fell out after a shampoo. On Aug. 23 there were only SIXTEEN hairs that fell out. Now I have about that many shedding hairs, sometimes much less. I figured an AVERAGE is just that... some days I am going to have more and some days less, but I would say on average it is less than 16 a day, sometimes I see only 5 or 6 fall out! Wheeeeeeeee!!!! I am thrilled with what the Rogaine has done for me. I have little hairs, about an inch or two long over much of the crown of my head now. The other day I even got a compliment on my hair. Not only does it look thicker, it feels thicker, too. Just a couple more things... I had been under a very big amount of stress the last few years. I first noticed the hair loss after having surgery and having to wait for the biopsy results, negative, thank God, but the hair thinning sent me to the dermatologist, who diagnosed me as having telogen effluvium (TE). I waited and watched some regrowth, but then I had to deal with marital problems. Every time I made some progress, something seemed to set me back. I begain seeing a marriage counselor (by myself...husband refuses to go). Just talking to her reduced my stress levels enormously. i highly recommend this option to others who feel that stress is contributing to your hair loss. This has been long, but I hope it has given you some guidance in making your decision as to use Rogaine or not. I know that there were times that I was really frightened by the initial shedding, but I just kept using that great stuff twice a day. :-) take care... daisy
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I'm in my 70s with normal loss of hair volume. Last year I decided not to go through the whole routine of wash, blow dry, curl, some color etc. Go natural now without any of this and only wash my hair twice a week, a recommendation to retain natural oils . I do have natural waves and fine hair at just above my shoulders. Sometimes use a gel for fulness, always use hair spray, but not at the level once was. Of course my hair style will always be the same now. Looking back at 55+ yrs of every day and all the chemicals, it is a wonder there is any hair left. At my age there isn't a feeling of need to go through that again. Plus I see little difference in what was, than what style is now. Always disliked my curly hair and did everything possible to straighten it. If I ever needed a wig, I would do it. A fun adventure for something different. The market gets better every day and who knows what is on the horizon for hair styling, plus options for new growth.
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NYT recently had an article on hair loss and how minoxidil at very low doses taken orally seems to work well: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/18/health/minoxidil-hair-loss-pills.html?searchResultPosition=5 "But there is a cheap treatment, he and other dermatologists say, costing pennies a day, that restores hair in many patients. It is minoxidil, an old and well-known hair-loss treatment drug used in a very different way. Rather than being applied directly to the scalp, it is being prescribed in very low-dose pills. Although a growing group of dermatologists is offering low-dose minoxidil pills, the treatment remains relatively unknown to most patients and many doctors. It has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for this purpose and so is prescribed off-label — a common practice in dermatology.... Dr. Rodney Sinclair, a professor of dermatology at the University of Melbourne in Australia, had a patient with female pattern baldness. The hair on top of her head had thinned, and she hated the way it looked. Unlike what happened with most of his patients, Rogaine worked for her, but she developed an allergic rash on her scalp from the drug. Yet if she stopped taking it, her hair would thin again. “So I was stuck,” Dr. Sinclair said. “The patient was very motivated, and the one thing we knew was that if a patient has an allergy to a topically applied medicine, one way to desensitize is to give very low doses orally.” To do that, Dr. Sinclair tried cutting minoxidil pills into quarters. To his surprise, the low dose made her hair grow but did not affect her blood pressure, the original purpose of the higher-dose drug. He subsequently lowered the dose more and more until he got down to effective doses of one-fortieth of a pill and began routinely prescribing the drug. That first patient still takes it."
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downsouth
20 years ago
A lot of women think bald men are sexy, but it's this ego thing with men who lose their hair. We had a younger man in our office who had hair on the sides but none on the top (he was 36). He starting shaving his entire head and all the women at the office would go by and rub his head. They couldn't resist it and he loved it!

(hope this makes you feel a little better)
Nike
Original Author
19 years ago
His father was bald in the pictures that I've seen and his brother was thin up top at an early age as well. Apparently it does run in his family.

His hairstylist recently talked him into trying a product line called nioxin. Have any of you heard of it or have any experience with it? He spent like fifty dollars on the starter kit. Hopefully it won't have any of the side effects that Rogaine was heard to have... Hmm...
lazy_gardens
19 years ago
Nike -
I'm currently dating a guy who is balding on top. I don't care ... he's smart, funny, polite, and sexy.

Tell the friend that women are more concerned with the brain than the hairline.
Carina
19 years ago
My little brother uses Nioxin and swears it has helped; he started thinning in his late 20s.
I'm with lazygardens, personally. The amount or type of hair a man has (or doesn't have) has never made one single bit of difference to me, in terms of attractiveness! An ex-BIL used to wear toupes - really good ones, made with real hair & all that. But you could still tell. He showed up at a family function without it once and I thought he looked much sexier in his natural state!
nyc_michael
18 years ago
i really do not think this is a medical problem. similarly i do not think that grey hair is a medical problem or wrinkles due to wear and age. even though it's not a medical problem if the person thinks it is a cosmetic problem then it is exactly that and since i dont have any good information on it, i can't tell you what i think he should do.

another thing i would like to say is that i think it's ironic that people say "ooh i think bald is sexy or i dont mind what color hair". irony b/c these people often say "stop worrying about what other poeple think". both cliches bother me and i think the best way to live life is to truely not worry about what other people think unlesssss* they are someone very close to you. if you happen to be bald or thinning hair i would not and give it a second thought or even the time of day to post it on the inetnet. just my 0.02 dollars.

best of luck!
goldy
18 years ago
Try the Rogaine or the store brand it's all the same.I am a woman and I use it.I really think it works.My hair stop thinning and I don't see my skull.
beaglebuddy
18 years ago
Women are valued for their youthfull good looks and charm, men are valued for their power, experience and to some degree their wit and wisdom. I don't agree or disagree it's biology.
tree_oracle
18 years ago
Rogaine works by blocking an enzyme that converts testosterone to dihydrotestosterone. The latter biochemical is the one that contributes to hair loss. Rogaine has no effect on testosterone levels.

A few years ago, I met the woman who headed up the Rogaine program at Upjohn. Originally, the drug was being tested as an oral therapy for hypertension. However, she said the clinical volunteers began to look like werewolves after taking the drug for a short time. They were literally growing hair on every part of their body. Obviously, this is a side-effect that is not considered acceptable. Someone got the idea though to dose it in a topical formulation as a treatment for male-pattern baldness. Although it doesn't grow hair nearly as well when applied this way, it still works well enough that it sufficed as a treatment for hair loss.
ritaotay
18 years ago
Forty years ago I married a man with hair on his head that was so thick you could hardly get your fingers through it... People would call him Rag Top... Today he's almost bald on top... Does it make any difference... Nope, he's still a jerk...

When a man is balding from the front to the top it's because he's a thinker.... When he balds from the back it's because he's sexy... When the bald spots meet it's because he thinks he's sexy... LOL

Sorry I couldn't resist...

Rita
csedgewood
17 years ago
Tell him the sexiest man you ever saw was bald.
devorah
17 years ago
for all the women that think bald is sexy or at least not a turn-off - would you apply that to yourself? My hair is so thing now, it scarcely looks as if I have any - and I don't like it one damn bit.
lisa11310
17 years ago
There was a post a while ago form a guy that had lots of luck with a hair restoration product. I am sure you could find the thread if you back a page or two. My hubby is very bald and very sexy!
Lisa
d0ug
10 years ago
The mineral tin can cause male patter baldness. If you have a gluten problem it is hard to absorb tin.
Personal my hair has regrown and my white hair is returning to it's natural color

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