Since You See Many Patients Taking Finasteride, Can You Know My Chances of Keeping My Hair?

Hi,
You must see lots of patients taking finasteride. My question is, how many of these patients have seen no progression of their hairloss during a long period of time?

I am a Norwood 2 at 21 years old and I have been taking finasteride since 6 months. It’s been a longtime since I have a receding hairline. However, it’s hard to know how many hairs I’ve lost because I’ve always had a haircut who hided quite well my receding hairline.

My father and the father of my father have lost a lot of their hairs but they are still far from being bald and their hairloss started in their early 40s. The father of my mother is not bald either but he’s quite close. But he lost lot of hairs during the last 20 years.

With your experience, do you think I have great chances to keep all my hair during at least 10 more years? Thanks!

At 21 years old, one can not generally predict if balding will happen unless there is physical evidence of balding present. Early balding to the naked eye is easy when it is there, but often the process does not start for a few years (at least for you). Most balding men show a balding pattern by age 26, but that is not a certainty.

The best way to follow your balding process, if you have it, is to come into our office with your hair at least 2 inches long and get us to measure your hair bulk throughout your scalp. Even if there is no visible balding pattern yet, everyone will show hair bulk reductions with this measurement tool if there is hair loss. We then may recommend the use of finasteride in an attempt to slow, stop, or reverse the hair loss. This hair bulk measurement is also terrific for following the progression of hair loss from not visible hair loss to patterned hair loss, over time.