8 ms·

This is great, but note that Alopecia Areata is different from male pattern baldness

LewisVerstappen 4y ago
Yeah, but there is Finasteride for male pattern baldness which has fantastic results and is incredibly cheap (I got a 3 month supply for $12). A 10 year study published by the Tokyo Medical Clinic of finasteride carried out in Japan found that more than 99 percent of men with male pattern baldness experienced no worsening of their hair loss during treatment [1] Tons of additional clinical evidence showing that Finasteride works. [1] - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337105943_Long-term_10-year_efficacy_of_finasteride_in_523_Japanese_men_with_androgenetic_alopecia https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337105943_Long-term...
- skrtskrt 4y ago
  The key being that it doesn't give any hair regrowth in the vast majority of people, so you have to get people taking it before they see much balding, which is an interesting challenge - why worry about something you can barely see or notice until it's already a problem? There are ad campaigns from male order providers such as Hims and Keeps around this, I wonder how effective they are. I take it, and it stopped the balding progression as far as I can tell, but I had to get an FUE hair transplant to get some lost hair back.
  - rjh29 4y ago
    I took it way too late and it didn't really help. I shaved after and I'm really happy with that decision.
  - meremortals 4y ago
    Same. Not much, if any, regrowth
  - mywittyname 4y ago
    There's surgery to replace the lost hair (with hair moved from somewhere else, granted). It's certainly much more expensive than catching it early and treating it with minox or whatever, but it's within the reach of many people (<$10k).
    - b112 4y ago
      I heard from a barber, that despite claims hairs from the back of the head are different follicles, and won't die off, this is all lies and marketing bs. So you need endless treatments, or else take testosterone blockers.
      - rjh29 4y ago
        And you continue to recede so you will need follow-up treatments for that. If you're too far gone it's just not practical. It's a meme at this point, but for most people shaving their head is the right option.
      - skrtskrt 4y ago
        Well 1. even back of head hair thins eventually in balding people, but generally many decades later than the front or crown. By the time you're losing that hair, you're probably a lot older and care much less 2. taking finasteride indefinitely is supposed to drastically slow or stop further thinning or loss. Of course as in point 1, you're probably going to lose that battle eventually, but again you'll be much much older when the damage gets serious than you would have been otherwise
    - nayaketo 4y ago
      What happens to the old area from where the hair is taken?
      - hiram112 4y ago
        It's taken in small strips from the back and sides of the scalp which, for whatever reasons, aren't prone to the mechanisms causing male pattern baldness on the top of the head and hairline. So theoretically those areas where the hair was mined will now be thinner, but they do it in a manner that you'll never notice the decrease in hair in those areas.
  - LewisVerstappen 4y ago
    > why worry about something you can barely see or notice until it's already a problem? So, you measure hair loss with the Norwood scale. You don't go from 100% hair to bald spots immediately. First, you'll see diffuse thinning where the thickness of your hair drops significantly. In the first stages of diffuse thinning, it won't be apparently to 99% of people that your hair is thinning but you'll immediately notice when you take a shower / apply shampoo (it's really obvious when your hair is wet). I'd say that's when most men realize they're losing their hair and that's when they should get on Finasteride.
    - nsxwolf 4y ago
      It may still be too late at that point. In my experience people who care about a man's hair (women, mostly) see hair loss as a binary thing - you either have a full head of hair, or you're balding. They don't see a guy in the earliest stages of hair loss and say "Oh, he's got a pretty decent Norwood score!", they say "he's bald". I've known two women that mentioned they'd rather date a man with a full head of hair who shaves his head than a balding man who shaves his head. I pressed it as far as asking "Well, what if they keep shaving it for life?" Same answer.
      - skrtskrt 4y ago
        It also depends on your head shape, I see a lot of men who are very good looking still with a fair amount visible recession, and they do quite well with their dating life. Personally I just felt like the relatively small amount of recession I had looked terrible on me because I already had a tall forehead to begin with, and I'm still in my 20s.
        cguess 4y ago
        To be honest: most women care way less than you think. Personality trumps hair 95% of the time. A good barber can make you look good even with thinning hair, fine someone you like, stick with them, and tip well.
        hoveringcto 4y ago
  - maerF0x0 4y ago
    iirc there's a largely genetic component to it, so one could simply proactively take it if they carry the genes. But the side effects can be unfortunate (depression, libido) . Seems like topical is better than oral.
  - bennysomething 4y ago
    I've been on finastride for about 12 years. I'm never sure if it's working or not. Scared to stop! How well did the hair transplant work?
    - skrtskrt 4y ago
      Never stop! Hair transplant worked really well. Natural-looking hairline, which is the most important part. You'll see a lot of before and afters where the hairline looks like a Lego block hair piece was snapped into place - choose your doctor carefully here. You'd only notice if you're looking really closely, where you'll see that the hairs are quite a bit thicker, as they were transferred from the back of my head where everyone's hairs are thick, but I have especially thick hair in general.
      - bennysomething 4y ago
        Thanks for this
    - 01100011 4y ago
      One thing I think worth mentioning is that you should anticipate having to get multiple transplants if you expect to have much future hair loss. I just saw a guy a few weeks ago who had gone mostly bald on top but had an obvious row of hair across his hairline. It looked like he had gotten a transplant early on and then didn't continue as his hairloss progressed.
- agent008t 4y ago
  Given the potential serious, life-changing adverse effects that persist even after stopping use - no thanks. Just cut your hair short / shave your head.
  - nsxwolf 4y ago
    What ever happened to toupees? Young men seem to not even consider them as an option, even though the quality is better now than ever.
    - failrate 4y ago
      You never notice the good toupees.
  - rjh29 4y ago
    Maybe in the 70s/80s it was weird to be bald, but there are so many bald people now, it's like whatever. If you think I'm ugly or you're not into it fine, but there are plenty of women who are.
    - the_only_law 4y ago
      I think it depends, bigger and stockier guys seem to pull it off pretty well. I don't think I could pull it off though, at least right now. I have a taller, lankier statue and I worry I'd look like a skinhead. I've seen some smaller guys pull it off as well, but they're usually shorter. Most guys that go clean shaven with my kinda build end up looking goofy. On the flip side, long hair on bigger guys always looks odd to me.
      - rjh29 4y ago
        Clean shaven and bald is definitely a difficult mix, probably a reason most people try to grow a beard. The hipster bald glasses beard look is cliched but preferable to your hair being half missing!
      - Grazester 4y ago
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- lolwutf 4y ago
  Leaving this here for other men who might stumble on this: Oral finasteride drives your DHT way down. However, driving DHT down is essentially the binary goal of stopping hair loss. And that's all fine and good, but having 'just enough' DHT is important for good health. (Psychology, sexual function, etc) If you're on finasteride, do yourself a favor and consult with a TRT ('low T') doctor, have your DHT level tested, and consider modulating your finasteride dosage according to its effect on your DHT level. A good balance is worth working towards. Don't blindly take finasteride without keeping an eye on its effects to your DHT.
- threads2 4y ago
  Be strong brothers. Turn to baldness. "I'm proud of myself, for the way I accepted my baldness." - Larry David, the president of bald people. https://youtu.be/Le4tih0tfbs?t=194 https://youtu.be/Le4tih0tfbs?t=194
- pstuart 4y ago
  Finasteride seems like a miracle drug (cheap and effective) but unfortunately is not without risk for some users: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22789024/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22789024/
- bamboozled 4y ago
  What about just accepting who you are and realizing that baldness is potentially even a blessing, less maintenance and if you're athletic, I think it's a good look, lots of women have complimented me on it since shaving my head and embracing it.
  - LewisVerstappen 4y ago
    Umm yeah fuck that. I'd much rather pay $4 a month and keep my hair haha.
    - koide 4y ago
      Is it more important than keeping your sexual function, though? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22789024/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22789024/
      - LewisVerstappen 4y ago
        Sexual side effects are rare and I haven't experienced any. I also get regular blood work done so I can keep track of my metrics and my doctor will let me know if anything goes awry. So yeah, not really concerned and will definitely keep taking Finasteride.
        koide 4y ago
        The point is that in all this thread, including in your previous comment, people are talking about it as if it had no possible side effects. So, great for you that you track your metrics and consult your doctor, but next time you stand behind a potentially devastating medicine, mention the downside and the care you take as well.
  - redox99 4y ago
    Some people simply look better with hair than without. If you have no side effects, and it's dirt cheap, why not just take a pill a day and be done with it?
- avan1 4y ago
  i wish when people talk about Finasteride they always mention it that you won't be able to donnor blood after that. (FDA says you need at least 30 days Finasteride free for doing that)

Yeah, but there is Finasteride for male pattern baldness which has fantastic results and is incredibly cheap (I got a 3 month supply for $12). A 10 year study published by the Tokyo Medical Clinic of finasteride carried out in Japan found that more than 99 percent of men with male pattern baldness experienced no worsening of their hair loss during treatment [1] Tons of additional clinical evidence showing that Finasteride works. [1] - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337105943_Long-term_10-year_efficacy_of_finasteride_in_523_Japanese_men_with_androgenetic_alopecia https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337105943_Long-term...

skrtskrt 4y ago
The key being that it doesn't give any hair regrowth in the vast majority of people, so you have to get people taking it before they see much balding, which is an interesting challenge - why worry about something you can barely see or notice until it's already a problem? There are ad campaigns from male order providers such as Hims and Keeps around this, I wonder how effective they are. I take it, and it stopped the balding progression as far as I can tell, but I had to get an FUE hair transplant to get some lost hair back.
- rjh29 4y ago
  I took it way too late and it didn't really help. I shaved after and I'm really happy with that decision.
- meremortals 4y ago
  Same. Not much, if any, regrowth
- mywittyname 4y ago
  There's surgery to replace the lost hair (with hair moved from somewhere else, granted). It's certainly much more expensive than catching it early and treating it with minox or whatever, but it's within the reach of many people (<$10k).
  - b112 4y ago
    I heard from a barber, that despite claims hairs from the back of the head are different follicles, and won't die off, this is all lies and marketing bs. So you need endless treatments, or else take testosterone blockers.
    - rjh29 4y ago
      And you continue to recede so you will need follow-up treatments for that. If you're too far gone it's just not practical. It's a meme at this point, but for most people shaving their head is the right option.
    - skrtskrt 4y ago
      Well 1. even back of head hair thins eventually in balding people, but generally many decades later than the front or crown. By the time you're losing that hair, you're probably a lot older and care much less 2. taking finasteride indefinitely is supposed to drastically slow or stop further thinning or loss. Of course as in point 1, you're probably going to lose that battle eventually, but again you'll be much much older when the damage gets serious than you would have been otherwise
  - nayaketo 4y ago
    What happens to the old area from where the hair is taken?
    - hiram112 4y ago
      It's taken in small strips from the back and sides of the scalp which, for whatever reasons, aren't prone to the mechanisms causing male pattern baldness on the top of the head and hairline. So theoretically those areas where the hair was mined will now be thinner, but they do it in a manner that you'll never notice the decrease in hair in those areas.
- LewisVerstappen 4y ago
  > why worry about something you can barely see or notice until it's already a problem? So, you measure hair loss with the Norwood scale. You don't go from 100% hair to bald spots immediately. First, you'll see diffuse thinning where the thickness of your hair drops significantly. In the first stages of diffuse thinning, it won't be apparently to 99% of people that your hair is thinning but you'll immediately notice when you take a shower / apply shampoo (it's really obvious when your hair is wet). I'd say that's when most men realize they're losing their hair and that's when they should get on Finasteride.
  - nsxwolf 4y ago
    It may still be too late at that point. In my experience people who care about a man's hair (women, mostly) see hair loss as a binary thing - you either have a full head of hair, or you're balding. They don't see a guy in the earliest stages of hair loss and say "Oh, he's got a pretty decent Norwood score!", they say "he's bald". I've known two women that mentioned they'd rather date a man with a full head of hair who shaves his head than a balding man who shaves his head. I pressed it as far as asking "Well, what if they keep shaving it for life?" Same answer.
    - skrtskrt 4y ago
      It also depends on your head shape, I see a lot of men who are very good looking still with a fair amount visible recession, and they do quite well with their dating life. Personally I just felt like the relatively small amount of recession I had looked terrible on me because I already had a tall forehead to begin with, and I'm still in my 20s.
      - cguess 4y ago
        To be honest: most women care way less than you think. Personality trumps hair 95% of the time. A good barber can make you look good even with thinning hair, fine someone you like, stick with them, and tip well.
      - hoveringcto 4y ago
- maerF0x0 4y ago
  iirc there's a largely genetic component to it, so one could simply proactively take it if they carry the genes. But the side effects can be unfortunate (depression, libido) . Seems like topical is better than oral.
- bennysomething 4y ago
  I've been on finastride for about 12 years. I'm never sure if it's working or not. Scared to stop! How well did the hair transplant work?
  - skrtskrt 4y ago
    Never stop! Hair transplant worked really well. Natural-looking hairline, which is the most important part. You'll see a lot of before and afters where the hairline looks like a Lego block hair piece was snapped into place - choose your doctor carefully here. You'd only notice if you're looking really closely, where you'll see that the hairs are quite a bit thicker, as they were transferred from the back of my head where everyone's hairs are thick, but I have especially thick hair in general.
    - bennysomething 4y ago
      Thanks for this
  - 01100011 4y ago
    One thing I think worth mentioning is that you should anticipate having to get multiple transplants if you expect to have much future hair loss. I just saw a guy a few weeks ago who had gone mostly bald on top but had an obvious row of hair across his hairline. It looked like he had gotten a transplant early on and then didn't continue as his hairloss progressed.
agent008t 4y ago
Given the potential serious, life-changing adverse effects that persist even after stopping use - no thanks. Just cut your hair short / shave your head.
- nsxwolf 4y ago
  What ever happened to toupees? Young men seem to not even consider them as an option, even though the quality is better now than ever.
  - failrate 4y ago
    You never notice the good toupees.
- rjh29 4y ago
  Maybe in the 70s/80s it was weird to be bald, but there are so many bald people now, it's like whatever. If you think I'm ugly or you're not into it fine, but there are plenty of women who are.
  - the_only_law 4y ago
    I think it depends, bigger and stockier guys seem to pull it off pretty well. I don't think I could pull it off though, at least right now. I have a taller, lankier statue and I worry I'd look like a skinhead. I've seen some smaller guys pull it off as well, but they're usually shorter. Most guys that go clean shaven with my kinda build end up looking goofy. On the flip side, long hair on bigger guys always looks odd to me.
    - rjh29 4y ago
      Clean shaven and bald is definitely a difficult mix, probably a reason most people try to grow a beard. The hipster bald glasses beard look is cliched but preferable to your hair being half missing!
    - Grazester 4y ago
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
lolwutf 4y ago
Leaving this here for other men who might stumble on this: Oral finasteride drives your DHT way down. However, driving DHT down is essentially the binary goal of stopping hair loss. And that's all fine and good, but having 'just enough' DHT is important for good health. (Psychology, sexual function, etc) If you're on finasteride, do yourself a favor and consult with a TRT ('low T') doctor, have your DHT level tested, and consider modulating your finasteride dosage according to its effect on your DHT level. A good balance is worth working towards. Don't blindly take finasteride without keeping an eye on its effects to your DHT.
threads2 4y ago
Be strong brothers. Turn to baldness. "I'm proud of myself, for the way I accepted my baldness." - Larry David, the president of bald people. https://youtu.be/Le4tih0tfbs?t=194 https://youtu.be/Le4tih0tfbs?t=194
pstuart 4y ago
Finasteride seems like a miracle drug (cheap and effective) but unfortunately is not without risk for some users: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22789024/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22789024/
bamboozled 4y ago
What about just accepting who you are and realizing that baldness is potentially even a blessing, less maintenance and if you're athletic, I think it's a good look, lots of women have complimented me on it since shaving my head and embracing it.
- LewisVerstappen 4y ago
  Umm yeah fuck that. I'd much rather pay $4 a month and keep my hair haha.
  - koide 4y ago
    Is it more important than keeping your sexual function, though? https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22789024/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22789024/
    - LewisVerstappen 4y ago
      Sexual side effects are rare and I haven't experienced any. I also get regular blood work done so I can keep track of my metrics and my doctor will let me know if anything goes awry. So yeah, not really concerned and will definitely keep taking Finasteride.
      - koide 4y ago
        The point is that in all this thread, including in your previous comment, people are talking about it as if it had no possible side effects. So, great for you that you track your metrics and consult your doctor, but next time you stand behind a potentially devastating medicine, mention the downside and the care you take as well.
- redox99 4y ago
  Some people simply look better with hair than without. If you have no side effects, and it's dirt cheap, why not just take a pill a day and be done with it?
avan1 4y ago
i wish when people talk about Finasteride they always mention it that you won't be able to donnor blood after that. (FDA says you need at least 30 days Finasteride free for doing that)