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Much info has come across here lately regarding MPB and the medications avialable. Do these also work at a receding hairline at the temples? Are there different treatments? At 53, my hairline has receding about 1 1/2 inches at each temple area. Please advise.
Big George
Hi George,
I had no idea you had any MPB, your recent update didn't show any, certainly none in the crown, and I could not detect any at your temples, but you would obviously know. (Do you have any family members with MPB?) I have minor recession at the temples, but I have some loss in the crown which is the reason I have just started Propecia. My understanding is that propecia is most effective for the crown area, not so much for the temples. However, Rogaine (which I may consider but have not as yet) may give some help in the temple area (Jeffrey may have some more insight into this). I also know that some recession at the temples is normal for most men as they grow older, and this is not MPB. Wishing you all the best.
David
Hi, Big George.
I have included a picture that might help to answer your question to some degree. My hairline began receding around the 10th grade in school. This is one of the reasons that I never grew my hair out, because I figured that I would be bald by 30, much like my father was and I couldn't stand to see my hair go. Well, around the age of 39 I began using Rogaine and then Propecia. The edges around my receding hairline have become fuzzy at best. The hair is not really good quality and it doesn't seem to grow very long there, however, I have noticed that over about a 3 year period the hair continues become longer, which makes me wonder if DHT reduction may actually reverse hair-loss much in the same way that the hair-loss began. (very slowly)
Anyway, in the picture I have drawn a red line. All the hair in the front of the line has been grown from scratch and with Rogaine, not Propecia, or Avodart. I should mention that the hair behind the red line has become much thicker than it was before treatment. The hairline that you see in the picture was very well defined before treatment. Notice the peak of my hair in the front. Well, that is what my hairline use to look line near the red line and now it is fuzzy. Rogaine and Propecia can in many cases work wonders for the crown, if MPB is not too advanced. I have seen your picture and I tend to doubt that you have any hair-loss issues. You may have a mature hairline, but that is very natural and is very different from MPB. Well, I hope this is of some help to you.
Hi Jeffrey,
Sorry for interrupting your reply to Big George but have you been able to grow your front hair longer with the medications, i.e. how far does your front hair come past your chin if combed straight down? My current length in front is around 11-12 inches, 3-4 inches past chin after 2 3/4 years from 3-4 inches (only 8 inches growth in this time), but not really increasing, and bangs are thin (I can see my face through bangs if combed straight down). When I last had long hair in the late 90's I easily grew my bangs to nipple length, and my face could easily be totally concealed by the thickness of the bangs. (I am concerned if I lose any length in front I would be unable to tail properly) I was wondering if your bangs have actually become "thicker" with the medications, so that if combed down over your face, you are able to conceal your face. (you mentioned increase in thickness behind the red line in your picture) Thanks for any answers.
David
Well, I think it comes down past my first chin! Ha!
BTW, you're not interrupting anything. I'm just goofing around. Work is slow and I got sent home early. Only one short run this week, so, I'm just having a few beers and listening to Pearl Jam, Pink Floyd, ELO, etc... I didn't get a chance to wash my hair this morning. I'll wash it in a bit and take a pic. I don't really know if my hair hangs down all that far in the front. If my hair gets in my eyes it will make me sneeze, especially in the Spring when I have allergies pretty bad. I'll post a pic in a bit.
Well, here it is. My hair does not offer much coverage in the front, however, I think the way my hair is in the pic does wonders for my face:)
Thanks Jeffrey, very informative. Your front hair is similar to mine but straighter, I think your dry length bangs may be very slightly longer, also I think your overall hair length is longer than mine (How long have you been growing it?) . (My measured lengths in the post above were with dry wavy hair, when my hair is wet it is more like 5 inches past chin, which may be slightly longer than yours, I never know whether to use dry or wet lengths, as my hair is wavy and definitely longer when wet) I guess the main question was if you think your bangs have thickened with the medications? You also indicated Rogaine gives "low quality hair". I'm not exactly sure what that means, does that mean it's more like peach fuzz? Thanks for any info, I'm trying to assess the usefulness of Rogaine to see if I can thicken my front area.
David
If you are trying to thicken the frontal hairline then I would just stick with Popecia. I don't think at this time that there is anything other than a really good transplant that will significantly thicken the frontal hairline. I have no idea why.
By low quality I mean that the hair that Rogaine produces is much like axillary hair (underarm hair). That really isn't so bad on the crown, because, it works quite well to conceal the scalp and all the hair tends to blend together. My receding hairline never really bothered me very much. It was the crown that caught my attention. For the most part my receding hairline doesn't show all that much. I suppose it is due to the way I comb my hair. I'll post another pic that will show the way that I usually wear my hair when I go out. Keep in mind that most of the time I wear a cap and use Rogaine, but when I go out I do not use Rogaine. When I'm in the truck no one is going to see my hair anyway. BTW, many guys have said the same thing regarding the type of hair that Rogaine produces. Actually, Rogaine will help to thicken the hair behind the frontal hairline, but it will not bring it out any further, at least not to any great extent. I should have been more clear on that. Sorry.