I saw a couple commercials or maybe it was an infomericial or something for the laser-comb a few months ago but hadn't heard much about it since.
Interesting that people claim it actually works.

If it's not "I don't want all the drugs and possible side-effects" then it's "shooting lasers into my head seems kind of weird."

I guess all the stuff creeps me out to a certain degree but if you want to do something about your hair you have to bite the bullet somewhere.
Laser-comb I might give a try at some point.

OOT, need your help:

I noticed that I'm just beginning to have hair loss, particularly with my hairline receding around my temples. What exactly should I do to keep as much hair as possible? I'm 22.

And yes I read the thread, but all the medicines and stuff are a bit confusing. What's my play now that I've noticed the hairline receding before too much damage has been done?

edit: reading Propecia website... "There is not sufficient evidence that PROPECIA works for receding hairlines at the temples."

summary of thread: nobody knows for sure. Different products work differently for different people.
Read the thread again perhaps?
Go to one of the hair-growth type forums, one might have been mentioned in this thread.

You need to try something and if you think it works then you stick with it and if you think it doesn't work then you try something else. This is pretty much what most of the posts in this thread have been about.

Okay cool. One point I'm confused about is who should I be looking at in my family tree to determine what type of hair loss/when I will have it? Someone said 'your mother's father', but then it was replied that it was "categorically false". Who should I be looking at, then?

OMG **** "Drugs like adderrall and wellbutrin can jump start hair loss" **** I WAS TAKING WELLBUTRIN FOR A YEAR

bigbb33, imo just stick to FDA approved hair loss treatments since they have to go through scientific trials before they are approved. Then take microbob's advice and try one for a while and track your results, then either repeat/try a new one/combo them together for best results. gl.

bump

I'm late 20s, have almost all my hair but it's definitely been creeping back noticeably on the top corners for the last few years.

I'm bumping this thread because it inspired me to get a prescription to generic finasteride (propecia.) It's not covered by insurance, but even paying out of pocket it's only ~$65 for a 3 month supply. I've been taking it for a month or so.

The only downside is that the generic finasteride has to be split with a razor blade before use, and the pills are tiny so it's tricky to split them evenly. Also taking a drug every single day can be tough to remember, no wonder chicks aren't perfect with BC pills.

If I can keep my current head of hair for $250 a year, it's well worth it. Hope this pays off, although there's no way of telling until years later, really

I've been lazy on the rogaine and I'm pretty sure I've been losing my hair faster than ever over just the last 2-3 years.
This isn't good.

Maybe I should give the propecia a shot too.
Or even that laser-comb thing.

Still really tempted to get some big, obnoxious, frizzy afro wig just to look awesome. It could make me look taller too.

Any of you guys where hats a lot? I notice my line going back around 23... I stopped wearing caps ever since.... It really hasnt gone back to much further...

It is not a coincidence so many ball players are bald... Not to mention my younger has way less hair then me... And he used to where caps all the time...

My 2 cents...

I was looking at the laser comb. But it expensive and there is only one study that says it works. People on some message boards laugh.

I use rogaine. Sometimes I forget, but I haven't noticed any hair loss.

Seem transplant is the only real way to go though.

Standard answer is Rogaine + Propecia/Finasteride. Using both together can do a very good job of helping keep the hair you already have (don't do much for regrowth tho). Both together works better than just one or the other.

As for cost, generic minoxidil is super cheap at Costco, and 5mg Finasteride tabs split into 5 pieces is much cheaper than 1mg Propecia pills.

Propecia works at the temples also, even though it has been tested primarily on the crown. Rogaine seems to work much better on the crown than the front/temples.

Short answer: Use both and you'll probably keep your hair longer, or at least substantially slow the rate of loss.

Is there some other purpose for the 5mg pills.
Why do they sell them in that dosage if people are just going to divide them up 5 ways?

For a guy rapidly going super-baldo I know very little about this stuff.

Maybe the 5mg pills are for you Bob

As an update- I got the generic Costco brand monoxodil, 2 months in, and it appears to be a bit thicker. So far so good.

Finasteride was patented for prostate treatment in 5mg pills (Proscar). That patent expired in 2006, and now you can obtain generic 5mg pills.

Finasteride was re-patented for use as a baldness drug, but in 1mg pills--this is Propecia. If the generic pharmcos make 1mg pills, I think they are violating the patent. But docs can still prescribe you 5mg pills which you can chop up.

My brother wears a hat everyday and he has a full head of hair, and I do not. I don't think a hat has anything to do with it.

Smart move. Not too many people are blessed with your foresight.

One thing you should be aware of is the possibility of shedding. It probably won't happen, but if it does don't freak out. It is sometimes a part of the process, and your hair will come back thicker than before.

I'm sure someone has already suggested this but just shave it. I prefer the Schick quatro. I'm 30 now and starting doing it when I was about 23 because it started falling out. Now I wish it would stop growing back.

I am going with a much shorter cut but shaving it completely would ridiculous on me.
If shaving would look good I would do it in a heartbeat but everyone who knows me pretty much agrees that the shaved look wouldn't be me. I would look too Charlie Brownish.

If it's a reasonable option for you though then I definitely would recommend going that route.

My hair grows ridiculously fast and is very thick. I have no chance of going bald and yet I shave my head twice a week. When scalp transplants become the norm I will gladly sell one of you sad bald bastards my scalp for 500K.

Wear these on alternating days, imo.

Rempel, when I was in high school, i had an amazing head of hair and i used to actually get comments that i never would have to worry about losing my hair, because theres no way the dense forest on top of my head was going anywhere.

Sure enough post highschool i started to lose my hair, very unnoticeable at first (corners of hairline), but gradually kept creeping.

As of now im 20, my family can tell im losing my hair, but AFAIK, my coworkers cant tell (yet).

Microbob, after i noticed my hair was starting to go, i began shaving it shorter and shorter. My hair had always been 2-5 inches long, but one night i decided **** it, trimming it. I used clippers and believe i began with a 10mm clip, then moved to 8mm, 6mm, and now i trim my head to 3mm using clippers. I guess my next steps are 1.5mm, then shave it all off. The overall process (about 1 1/2 i believe) has gone pretty smooth, and because of the shortness it isnt very noticeable at all. At longer lengths, the frontal balding is plenty noticable.

But after reading this thread, and doing research on and off for months, im going to look into getting finasteride and seeing how it goes. My gf has warned against this because she is in the cosmetology field and learned about the negative side effects, but from what I have found, side effects such as man boobs and decreased sex drive are very rare.

I'm 28 and already sporting a few grey hairs, and no one on my mom's side of my family is bald, so I'm pretty sure I'm not going to have any issues. I have the opposite problem basically, I wish I didn't have hair.

I'm bumping this thread to see if anyone has any trip report on the laser-comb. As for me, I'm 26 and can clearly see my hair thinning and falling out. So I saw a doctor today and officially started taking propecia pills.

No personal experience with anything except Rogaine. I had no apparent result from it.

However over the last few years I have read ****loads of stuff on the subject. It looks like the best one can hope for is just stopping it in it's tracks. Regrowth is simply a bonus (usually peach fuzz). The younger you are the better your chances of getting some hair back.

Transplants or a rug (incredibly undetectable stuff done with both these days) are the only surefire ways of completely restoring a youthful mane. Other than that, Propecia or Dutasteride, 2% Nizoral, Minoxidil (Rogaine) and the Laser Comb would be the most aggressive approach.

We can search all day for results wrt laser combs and stuff, but if they offered truly miraculous results we would be hearing about it. That said, the listed products have passed various clinical trials, so a disciplined regimen could result in something anyway.

Nice bump. 6+ months of generic minoxidil seems to be working for me. I haven't been the most diligent in using it, but have kept a fairly regular treatment with it. No further thinning since then, and seems to be slightly thicker. Cheap stuff too, $20 worth lasts me 4 months.