Teen Hairloss! Help me dispell a few things!

[klackt]

Hello,

I am glad I can be a part of this forum!

I need some help! I am 18 years old - and I think I have the MPB gene, my father - his father and all his brothers are bald! And on my mother's side too.

I've noticed a lot of hair shedding and thinning, I can see that the spacing of my temples is getting bigger.

I've done months of research on this and I have rumours or confusings that maybe you guys can help me with.

I have noticed though..


I have too much testosterone!!!



I have more hair on my chest, back, legs and all the way up my arms - than on my head! I'm really hairy and I hate it - and I have noticed that this may be because of too much testosterone thus my hairloss.

Is this true? How can I decrease my testosterone levels?

Some scientists postulate that the male pattern baldness is tied to increased testosterone levels during puberty. A high-fat, meat-based diet raises testosterone levels, and that may adversely affect hair follicles.

Should I cut down on the meat? Or is chicken OK (see below).


Drinking Green Tea

Is this worth drinking for hairloss? I know the good benefits for it - but does it actually help.

Meat diet is bad for you?

I read that a high meat diet can be bad for you, I eat meat - mostly chicken - every single day - I don't eat much dairy or sweets. But I love my meat alot (and my veggies too!) should I go to a strict veggie- healthy diet - or is eating meat OK?

Is there a diet that you guys can recommend?


Olive oil on the scalp

I'm constantly being told that putting olive oil on my head is a good way to prevent hairloss, it could be dandruff which causes it -- but as I have said before, it might be a testotserone thing.


Taking Propecia?

I know taking Propecia is different for every person. If I start now, at an early stage - will it help? Also I live in the UK. Would I have to see a doctor first? Apparently I filled out an online consultation and I don't have to!


Stress Stress Stress!

I stress very easily, and I do it alot - I'm also depressed most of the time - but my hairloss makes me even more depressed. My hair is every important to me, being involved in subcultures where hair plays an important role.

Excercise?

Apparently excersing alot can help - but doesn't it increase testosterone?!



Saw Palmetto

I've realised that Saw Palmetto is very cheap, and easy to get a hold of - should I buy that first? How many do I take? And how long will it be till I get results?

But the main thing I'd like to know, is what diet I can take - to reduce my hair loss - and how I can lower my testosterone levels.

Thanks in advance ;)

[Mark]

Hello,

I am glad I can be a part of this forum!

We're glad to have you! Enjoy your stay.

I need some help! I am 18 years old - and I think I have the MPB gene, my father - his father and all his brothers are bald! And on my mother's side too.

I've noticed a lot of hair shedding and thinning, I can see that the spacing of my temples is getting bigger.

I've done months of research on this and I have rumours or confusings that maybe you guys can help me with.

I have noticed though..


I have too much testosterone!!!



I have more hair on my chest, back, legs and all the way up my arms - than on my head! I'm really hairy and I hate it - and I have noticed that this may be because of too much testosterone thus my hairloss.

Is this true? How can I decrease my testosterone levels?

Some scientists postulate that the male pattern baldness is tied to increased testosterone levels during puberty. A high-fat, meat-based diet raises testosterone levels, and that may adversely affect hair follicles.

Should I cut down on the meat? Or is chicken OK (see below).


Drinking Green Tea

Is this worth drinking for hairloss? I know the good benefits for it - but does it actually help.

I think green tea is worth drinking. Celestial Seasonings has an awesome selection of green teas, and they make my favorite: "Lemon Zinger". I probably drink 4 cups of that stuff a day.

Now, is it going to help prevent your hair loss? Probably not. A search of the Balding Blog (http://www.baldingblog.com/index.php?s=%22green+tea) for "Green tea" yields a bunch of posts but no info that's scientifically relevant.

Meat diet is bad for you?

I read that a high meat diet can be bad for you, I eat meat - mostly chicken - every single day - I don't eat much dairy or sweets. But I love my meat alot (and my veggies too!) should I go to a strict veggie- healthy diet - or is eating meat OK?

Is there a diet that you guys can recommend?

Nearly any diet that exists in the world (outside of diets that are malnourishing due to poverty, etc) will provide you with enough nutrients to live on. This explains why diets the world over can be so strangely different, yet still produce a healthy population.

The problem that people run into is going into excess. We in the industrialized world seem sort of blessed and cursed by our ability to literally pick and choose what kind of diet we adhere to. Living in Los Angeles I can probably eat nearly any type of food in the world by driving 5 miles from my office. Korean, Japanese, American steakhouse, Italian, French, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Iranian, Israeli, are just a few of the restaurants I can think of off the top of my head.

With that kind of competition in front of us and with food being as cheap as it is here in the US (along with the insane amounts of heavily processed "foods" that we have), it's no surprise that we're all so confused about what to eat and what not to eat. It's also no surprise that so many of us are overweight.

The good news is that everything in moderation should be ok. Most people hear some rumor about some sort of magic food that will fix their problems and they go overboard with them.

A vegetarian diet is one of the healthiest and most nutritious diets in the world, but anything in moderation should be fine. There's no real link to eating meat and hair loss. There's a good post about it here. (http://www.baldingblog.com/2008/08/01/diet-and-hair-loss-i-need-real-information/)


Olive oil on the scalp

I'm constantly being told that putting olive oil on my head is a good way to prevent hairloss, it could be dandruff which causes it -- but as I have said before, it might be a testotserone thing.

This is another big myth that we hear on the Balding Blog (and the forums as well). Here's a good search that will give you a bunch of other silly remedies that don't work. (http://www.baldingblog.com/index.php?s=olive+oil)


Taking Propecia?

I know taking Propecia is different for every person. If I start now, at an early stage - will it help? Also I live in the UK. Would I have to see a doctor first? Apparently I filled out an online consultation and I don't have to!

I'm in the U.S., so I don't know the specifics of UK law. It's certainly better to start Finasteride earlier than later, it's much better at keeping the hair you already have than growing it back after you've lost it. But you must figure out whether you're actually losing your hair due to MPB first, otherwise it's just going to be a waste of money for you. Hopefully you can find a decent doctor who can give you a diagnosis and a prescription if that's necessary. You can also check your own scalp for miniaturization by picking up a microscope and doing it yourself. There's instructions at the top of the page.


Stress Stress Stress!

I stress very easily, and I do it alot - I'm also depressed most of the time - but my hairloss makes me even more depressed. My hair is every important to me, being involved in subcultures where hair plays an important role.

Yes, stress can cause hair loss. Fortunately stress induced hair loss is rarely permanent.

You really need to find some way to reduce your stress levels. One thing that I see constantly on forums like this are guys who want some magic pill or some single answer that's going to solve all their problems. Unfortunately life is almost never that black and white. What works for one person may not work for another. They inevitably get into this spiral of trying every new thing they can think of, taking everything to excess, trying different "solutions" all at the same time so they can't even tell what's working and what doesn't.

It's completely unsurprising to me that there is so much stress related hair loss. And I totally get it. I'd go a little nutty too if I had this problem that wouldn't go away and was promised all these cures that never work. It's unfortunate, but that's what we're trying to do with the blog and these forums. Put out the good info that we know works.

My advice? Take it easy.

Excercise?

Apparently excersing alot can help - but doesn't it increase testosterone?!

It can, but if you're taking Finasteride of some sort it shouldn't really matter. If you're not, then it just means you might lose your hair faster than if you remained sedentary.



Saw Palmetto

I've realised that Saw Palmetto is very cheap, and easy to get a hold of - should I buy that first? How many do I take? And how long will it be till I get results?

But the main thing I'd like to know, is what diet I can take - to reduce my hair loss - and how I can lower my testosterone levels.

Thanks in advance ;)

Dr Rassman has spoken a bit about Saw Palmetto on the blog. (http://www.baldingblog.com/2009/01/28/how-did-people-come-up-with-the-idea-that-saw-palmetto-reduced-dht/) Unfortunately it's never been tested out in any clinical trials so it's really just a guess that it might work. As far as dosing, I couldn't help you there either.

I'd say if you're serious about getting your hair loss under control, I'd say just go with what works in most people. Finasteride.

Do that, and don't stress out so much about it. If you want to see results, take a picture once a week using the same lighting and pose every time and you'll see if it's working or not.

Hope this advice helps.

-Mark

[Ernie Primeau]

The one thing that all AGA sufferers have in common is a lot of body and face hair. I have yet to see a man with no body or face hair lose scalp hair.
When I realized this, I strated to remove my body and face hair from the follicles, in 6 weeks I noticed some hair about an inch long growing on top of my previously bald as a cue ball head, and short thin hair all over my scalp.
I showed this to other people who tried it, all who followed my directions saw results in 6 to 10 weeks. Ernie

[Mark]

The one thing that all AGA sufferers have in common is a lot of body and face hair. I have yet to see a man with no body or face hair lose scalp hair.
When I realized this, I strated to remove my body and face hair from the follicles, in 6 weeks I noticed some hair about an inch long growing on top of my previously bald as a cue ball head, and short thin hair all over my scalp.
I showed this to other people who tried it, all who followed my directions saw results in 6 to 10 weeks. Ernie

You're joking right? Do you have a bet with a buddy to see how many guys you can get to start plucking out their facial hair or something?

Because that makes absolutely no sense.

Ernie, sometimes when I read your posts I start to worry that Ashton Kutcher is going to walk into my office telling me I've been punk'd.

-Mark

[Ernie Primeau]

Mark,
Not at all. My findings make a lot more sense than some silly theory that dht would only affect some follicles, on some people, some of the time, but always in the same pattern. Can you explain why that would happen. Ernie

[Mark]

Mark,
Not at all. My findings make a lot more sense than some silly theory that dht would only affect some follicles, on some people, some of the time, but always in the same pattern. Can you explain why that would happen. Ernie

Hi Ernie,

I just don't understand the way your idea works.

Believe me, it is the body hair. It is using up some of the needed nutrients to grow hair before they can reach the scalp follicles. I and others are regrowing our scalp hair by removing our body and facehair from the follicles. Ernie

What are these nutrients? Why do they get "used up" by the body hair before the scalp hair?

And aside from all this, we see people in here constantly who are losing their hair but don't have very thick/dense body hair. I'm a perfect example. My facial hair is terrible and patchy and thin, my arms have very fine hair, and my body is not particularly hairy. Yet I'm seeing receding in my hairline and am on finasteride for it.

My co-worker who has had a transplant years ago and is on Finasteride as well has fine body hair as well.



Mainly I'm curious as to how you've come to the conclusions you've come to.

-Mark

[Ernie Primeau]

Mark,
Judging from your pic you have a nice head of hair, from what we can see anyway. If we knew exactly all the elements that it takes to grow hair, there would be no AGA. Some people can have little body hair and still lose scalp hair, it depends on how great a deficiency of 5 a-r a person has.
Also, if you recall, I mentioned that Finas grew hair in one area at the expense of hair in another area, and I thought it was because it would affect the weakest follicles. At your age, and I suspect, shorter period of time growing body hair, those would be the weakest. So, it is highly possible that finas is working for you, and any other young person.
However, if in a few years down the road, you see your body/face hair getting thicker, and scalp hair getting thinner, you will know what to do. Ernie

[Mark]

Mark,
Judging from your pic you have a nice head of hair, from what we can see anyway.

It's ok, it's gotten better since I've been on finasteride. I've always had fine hair. This photo is a poor representation of my hair simply because of the way the light is. It's coming in from the low right side so it's not illuminating the hair well, giving it a darker look which in turn makes it look thicker.

If we knew exactly all the elements that it takes to grow hair, there would be no AGA. Some people can have little body hair and still lose scalp hair, it depends on how great a deficiency of 5 a-r a person has.

Let me just try to reiterate what I am understanding your argument to be and let me know if I'm misunderstanding you.

I thought you were saying that all bald men always have thick and dense body hair, and the reason their scalp hair wouldn't grow very well was because the body hair was "using up" the chemicals and hormones the human body produces to grow hair. So by plucking out the hair on your body, the nutrients that would have gone to those follicles instead go to the scalp. Is this accurate?


Also, if you recall, I mentioned that Finas grew hair in one area at the expense of hair in another area, and I thought it was because it would affect the weakest follicles. At your age, and I suspect, shorter period of time growing body hair, those would be the weakest. So, it is highly possible that finas is working for you, and any other young person.
However, if in a few years down the road, you see your body/face hair getting thicker, and scalp hair getting thinner, you will know what to do. Ernie

Body hair tends to get thicker and more bushy in ALL men though, not just ones that have MPB. I mean, look at andy rooney. That guys' eyebrows are insanely bushy and wild. Think of all the older gentlemen who have wild and bush ear hair as well. That's just something that happens to a lot of men. I'm wondering where you're finding this correlation between the chemicals that fuel hair growth and body hair. I'm assuming you're a doctor of some sort? Have you done any trials or published any of your findings?

I'm genuinely interested in hearing the details of your theory.

-Mark

[Ernie Primeau]

[QUOTE=Mark;1501]It's ok, it's gotten better since I've been on finasteride. I've always had fine hair. This photo is a poor representation of my hair simply because of the way the light is. It's coming in from the low right side so it's not illuminating the hair well, giving it a darker look which in turn makes it look thicker.

Let me just try to reiterate what I am understanding your argument to be and let me know if I'm misunderstanding you.

I thought you were saying that all bald men always have thick and dense body hair, and the reason their scalp hair wouldn't grow very well was because the body hair was "using up" the chemicals and hormones the human body produces to grow hair. So by plucking out the hair on your body, the nutrients that would have gone to those follicles instead go to the scalp. Is this accurate?

Yes, that is accurate.

Body hair tends to get thicker and more bushy in ALL men though, not just ones that have MPB. I mean, look at andy rooney. That guys' eyebrows are insanely bushy and wild. Think of all the older gentlemen who have wild and bush ear hair as well. That's just something that happens to a lot of men. I'm wondering where you're finding this correlation between the chemicals that fuel hair growth and body hair. I'm assuming you're a doctor of some sort? Have you done any trials or published any of your findings

My eyebrows were very bushy, and I had long hairs growing on my nose and ears. I think it is because there is low circulation in the balding areas. So the nutrients get stuck in those areas and increase the growth of hair. I am not a Dr. so I had no pre-conceived ideas about hair loss. My only trials was with less than a dozen volunteers. They all had regrowth as long as they used my method. There is no way that I would ever get my method published. Google how long it took Dr Jonah Folkman to get his findings on angio-genises accepted. That has a very good chance of being a cure for AGA. I am here for any more questions or comments. Ernie