This is great, but note that Alopecia Areata is different from male pattern baldness
A 10 year study published by the Tokyo Medical Clinic of finasteride carried out in Japan found that more than 99 percent of men with male pattern baldness experienced no worsening of their hair loss during treatment [1]
Tons of additional clinical evidence showing that Finasteride works.
[1] - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337105943_Long-term...
There are ad campaigns from male order providers such as Hims and Keeps around this, I wonder how effective they are.
I take it, and it stopped the balding progression as far as I can tell, but I had to get an FUE hair transplant to get some lost hair back.
So, you measure hair loss with the Norwood scale. You don't go from 100% hair to bald spots immediately.
First, you'll see diffuse thinning where the thickness of your hair drops significantly.
In the first stages of diffuse thinning, it won't be apparently to 99% of people that your hair is thinning but you'll immediately notice when you take a shower / apply shampoo (it's really obvious when your hair is wet).
I'd say that's when most men realize they're losing their hair and that's when they should get on Finasteride.
I've known two women that mentioned they'd rather date a man with a full head of hair who shaves his head than a balding man who shaves his head. I pressed it as far as asking "Well, what if they keep shaving it for life?" Same answer.
Personally I just felt like the relatively small amount of recession I had looked terrible on me because I already had a tall forehead to begin with, and I'm still in my 20s.
The only other people that might actually be able to tell it are my parents. Except for that, every other person to whom I mention I use finasteride and minoxidil says something of the sort: "wtf, you have a full, dense head of hair, why would you take anything?".
For some reason actors get a pass.
Keven Smith was tired of Bruce Willis talking about his weight. So, in a friendly guy's banter, he started calling him Cue Ball on a set.
Everyone said Bruce can make fun of us, but never mention his hair.
Whomever did Elon Musk's hair line did a good job.
Being able to spend a lot of time and money to look good does wonders to help take the sting out of whatever physical flaws one might have.
Not to mention most of them are generally attractive which also helps in a similar way.
How well did the hair transplant work?
Hair transplant worked really well. Natural-looking hairline, which is the most important part. You'll see a lot of before and afters where the hairline looks like a Lego block hair piece was snapped into place - choose your doctor carefully here.
You'd only notice if you're looking really closely, where you'll see that the hairs are quite a bit thicker, as they were transferred from the back of my head where everyone's hairs are thick, but I have especially thick hair in general.
So you need endless treatments, or else take testosterone blockers.
1. even back of head hair thins eventually in balding people, but generally many decades later than the front or crown. By the time you're losing that hair, you're probably a lot older and care much less
2. taking finasteride indefinitely is supposed to drastically slow or stop further thinning or loss. Of course as in point 1, you're probably going to lose that battle eventually, but again you'll be much much older when the damage gets serious than you would have been otherwise
It's a meme at this point, but for most people shaving their head is the right option.
And that's all fine and good, but having 'just enough' DHT is important for good health. (Psychology, sexual function, etc)
If you're on finasteride, do yourself a favor and consult with a TRT ('low T') doctor, have your DHT level tested, and consider modulating your finasteride dosage according to its effect on your DHT level.
A good balance is worth working towards. Don't blindly take finasteride without keeping an eye on its effects to your DHT.
I don't think I could pull it off though, at least right now. I have a taller, lankier statue and I worry I'd look like a skinhead.
I've seen some smaller guys pull it off as well, but they're usually shorter. Most guys that go clean shaven with my kinda build end up looking goofy.
On the flip side, long hair on bigger guys always looks odd to me.
"I'm proud of myself, for the way I accepted my baldness." - Larry David, the president of bald people.
So yeah, not really concerned and will definitely keep taking Finasteride.