Justin's Miniaturization Test

[Justin]

Introduction

A few months ago it was pointed out to me that I had a bald spot on the crown area, so I started looking in the mirror and to me it seems like my crown area is thinning and the front of my head as well. I immediately freaked out, I am 26 and never thought this would occur, so I went to Google and here I am. As a result I have been reading this forum and becoming educated about MPB. Out of curiosity I went ahead and bought a Celestron microscope which has led me to my post.

Family History

My mother and grandmother have very thin hair. My mother's brother is in his 40s and his also thinning. My mother's father has a full head of hair. Everyone that I am aware of on my father's side has a full head of hair.

Using the Celestron Microscope

It wasn't the easiest but it is doable. Definitely would have been easier If I had some help but everyone was sleeping. I focused the scope on my pants but still notice some of my pictures are blurry I think this has to do with the pressure I applied and how steady my hand was when I pushed the button. I have alot of hair in the way which also made it difficult. I decided to wet it and make a part with a comb where the location was that I needed to take a picture of. I also used the program that came with the camera called AMCap. It saves the files to .bmp so you will have to convert them to .jpg to upload them to the forum albums. Hopefully these pictures are even useful they don't look nearly as good as the ones posted. But hey I'm a noob.

Pictures


A
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=12&pictureid=116

B
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=12&pictureid=117

C
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=12&pictureid=118

D
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=12&pictureid=119

E
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=12&pictureid=120

F
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=12&pictureid=121

G
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=12&pictureid=122

H
http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=12&pictureid=123

http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=12&pictureid=124

http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=12&pictureid=125

http://baldingforum.com/picture.php?albumid=12&pictureid=127

[Justin]

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_4bf9tmqvjjY/STa1OtwqR7I/AAAAAAAAo0w/5w6B-Zdp07M/s800/hair-mapping-diagram.jpg

[Justin]

Any commets? I went to the dermatologist and no miniturization test was done. He asked me if I was experiencing high levels of stress and said yes. He said my hair looks fine and healthy and I was probably losing some hair because of the stress and It will grow back. I dont beleive this.

Any thoughts or opinions?

[Mark]

Any commets? I went to the dermatologist and no miniturization test was done. He asked me if I was experiencing high levels of stress and said yes. He said my hair looks fine and healthy and I was probably losing some hair because of the stress and It will grow back. I dont beleive this.

Any thoughts or opinions?

Hi Justin,

Sorry I missed this thread, kinda got lost in the rest of them. I appreciate you going through the effort of listing all the pertinent info in your post.


Your hair looks like you're experiencing some miniaturization in frontal regions, but the obvious photo is the crown of your head. That's quite pronounced.

It's hard to say whether this is caused by stress or not, but it does fit into the same pattern of hair loss that we see in people who are experiencing Male Pattern Baldness.

Fortunately, Propecia/Finasteride has a pretty good record of being able to stop hair loss in the crown and even help regrow some hair in some people. I'd get on it ASAP as the sooner you start taking it, the sooner the hair loss will stop and you'll retain more of the hair that you have.

One last thing, you should also take a few photos from the donor area of your scalp where you don't lose any hair. That will give you a good baseline as to what "normal" should look like on the rest of your scalp.

[Justin]

Thanks for the reply Mark. I agree with what you said. Some people tell me aww its not that bad at all I cant even notice, and so on. But I would like to start on something now so it doesnt get worse.

However my dermatologist doesn't think it is bad enough to start propecia or any treatment he said.

What do you do in this case? See another doctor?

[Mark]

Thanks for the reply Mark. I agree with what you said. Some people tell me aww its not that bad at all I cant even notice, and so on. But I would like to start on something now so it doesnt get worse.

However my dermatologist doesn't think it is bad enough to start propecia or any treatment he said.

What do you do in this case? See another doctor?

I would. It seems pretty clear just looking at your miniaturization that you're losing hair in the crown area, and Propecia is clinically proven to be able to help stop hair loss and even re-grow hair in some instances, especially in the crown.

The sooner you can get on it, the sooner the likelihood that you'll stop losing hair. If you've looked at the pros and cons of using finasteride and you're ok with them, I'd suggest getting on it. If that means seeing another doctor, so be it. You need to find a doctor that cares about your situation and treats you with respect.

-Mark

[NerfArrowstorm]

1) It is obvious that you have some early amount of hairloss.
2) Trust me, if you WANT to get propecia, you should find a doctor that is willing to explain all of the risks in full, and will prescribe it if that is your ultimate decision.

I went through about 4 docs with an acne issue until I found one that was sensible and would work WITH me, not against me. Dr. Rassman seems like a similarly helpful type (even though I've never met him).

Good luck and post progress if you decide to go the Propecia route.