Context: I’m currently 20, I’m turning 21 pretty soon. All the men on my dad’s side is pretty much bald (although I feel like it didn’t get too bad for my dad until mid 20s). Family on my mom’s side is full of hair / mom complains she has too much hair. My slightly younger brother is also full of hair / isnt receding at all.
Basically I feel like I’m aggressively balding (mainly temples) despite my very young age & starting min/fin pretty early on. Im probably at a NW3 (even my barber said “wow how are your temples this high up at this age”). Ive tried daily oral fin & topical min (more info below), but I’m really losing hope. Personally, I think it has gotten worse, but you can judge. There isn’t too much stress in my life currently & I’ve been getting a decent amount of sleep per night. I exercise/gym arnd 4x a week & try to eat (somewhat) healthy. Since I’m still 20, I think I’m too young to get a HT (seems like recommended age is 25?) & I also dont want a system/wig. 20s are supposed to be the peak of life/dating. I feel like its already pretty bad, so I’m even more worried about what it will be like in the coming years. I know temple regrowth is difficult. I’m 100% not shaving my hair, I know I won’t look good bald (I’m currently hiding it with a perm + fringe, tho wind cooks me). I’m so scared, I need advice on what to do / what to try.
Routine:
I started off around Fall of 2023 with only kirkland minoxidil 5% topical foam (off & on). In feb 2024, I started taking it more seriously & using Him’s Topical 0.3% finasteride, 6% minoxidil spray daily. In summer of 2024, I tried red light helmet, but gave it up after like 2 months. In Jan 2025, I started adding rosemary oil + dermarolling (but only weekly). Finally, in mid-May 2025, I started oral fin & tret & reintroduced the kirkland min foam.
Current routine (following closely since May 2025):
- Oral fin 1.25mg daily
- Him’s Topical 0.3% finasteride 6% minoxidil spray daily night
- Kirkland minoxidil 5% topical foam daily morning
- Tretinoin 0.025% daily night
- Rosemary oil spray weekly (wasnt too fan of smell, I just put it on whenever)
- Dermarolling weekly
