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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3352 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for March 8, 2023

The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:

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I'm losing my hair. Given my family history I've expected it, but it's still had a larger effect on my confidence than I thought it would. What are my options? It's hard to know how much to trust all of the supposed treatments.

I lost my hair over my 20's, gradually trimming shorter, then buzzing, then safety razor. I didn't go the chemical maintenance route due to an early bad experience with the diagnosing dermatologist who wanted to milk me for regular consultations in order to get my prescription renewed.

Now bald, I am almost certain that if I had hair replacement I would be more attractive. I don't say this out of insecurity, I say it from observation. I get more looks from women when I'm wearing a cap or hat that frames my face.

I have an ex-bald friend that actually went the surgical option over in Turkey in his early 30's. He says that he does better with women after the operation. I trust him when he says it wasn't an increase in confidence that helped him.

My advice is to take advice from bald men, or men that have had hair replacement on this issue. Others will often give you 'it doesn't matter, its not a big deal' type of feedback. Buzzing it down is absolutely the best advice if you decide not to maintain it through finasteride or getting hair replacement though.

Buzz it down and grow a beard.

I would just get over it. It really just doesn't matter 99% of the time. If you want to spend money and time on treatments that will at best slow it down, then by all means do so, but I would recommend really examining why it matter so much to you.

I would start with just finasteride, the sooner the better. It prevents the conversion of testosterone to DHT in your blood. The hairs on your head miniturize and eventually die in response to high levels of DHT. Once the follicles are too far gone, you can't bring them back. There are potential side effects, but they are almost always reversible if you stop taking it.

The reason to avoid other treatments like Minoxidil at first is to see if the finasteride is working. You may not need anything else if you respond well enough. On the other hand, if your hair continues to get worse on just finasteride it might take stronger anti-DHT medication such as dutasteride.

People who only use Minoxidil usually see a temporary improvement in hair thickness, but because it doesn't address the root cause of thinning they keep losing hair. Think of it as a multiplier for the number of living follicles left on your head.

Edit: Getting finasteride is very easy these days through online pharmacies, although you can probably get it cheaper if you go to an actual doctor. But you might have bad luck getting a doctor to prescribe it. Many don't think baldness is a serious problem so they think any chance of side effects is a reason to not prescribe.

People who only use Minoxidil usually see a temporary improvement in hair thickness, but because it doesn't address the root cause of thinning they keep losing hair. Think of it as a multiplier for the number of living follicles left on your head.

I've been taking it daily for three years now, and I haven't noticed a slowdown (on the bright side, I didn't experience any side effects). I'll look into dutasteride, thanks.

The stuff that actually works is minoxidil, finasteride, and scalp needling (don't use a derma roller, use a needling pen like this ). All of these only stave off the shedding, you have to continue treatment indefinitely if you want to keep your hair. I'd suggest starting with some combination of minoxidil+needling until the point where you feel confident enough to just go bald.

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