18 year old son is going bald

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DS is Yr 13. Just before his A levels started he mentioned that his friends were joking about his receding hairline. I looked at his forehead and they’re right. I tried to downplay it, DH laughed and said good luck mate, look at me. I have since given DS daily omega 3 capsules which, strangely, he likes.

But today he was on the sofa and I noticed that his hair has started to go at the crown as well. Poor lad, he’s only 18.

I know it’s genetics and there is baldness on both sides of the family, plus there’s the current stress of A Level exams, but short of a holiday to Turkey (joke. DH is first in the queue - not even sure if that’s a joke TBH) is there anything we can do? Diet? Lifestyle? Supplements? Special shampoo and conditioner l? Can we help pause it?

He has got such a lovely mop of hair. 😢

This is the drug that was being taken that caused suicidal thoughts (and sadly action). I would not suggest recommending it.

https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/hair-loss/men-hair-loss-causes

There can be other causes including stress - and also like PP I've heard about finasteride which can slow down loss.

DH had considerable hair loss in his teens - he grew it long and thin but looked better shaved short.

DS has 50/50 chance of baldness and currently has very thick hair (from me) - my Dad has luscious thick locks till he died and FIL only really thinning in his mid 70s - but MIL dad was bald and my maternal granddad was bald by 40s.

Not necessarily a great example as prince William has very aging style. He'd be better to shave it all off.

A friend had a boyfriend who was on one of the medications, he felt that he couldn’t stop taking it but it had completely killed his sex life for over a decade and was one of the reasons they broke up. Hopefully he can feel good about a buzzcut or shaved, if not then I would definitely want anyone I cared about to go for plugs over the medication options.

My husband started losing his hair when he was about 19. It didn’t stop me being interested in him! His mum dragged him round lots of hair loss clinics which he found excruciatingly embarrassing and didn’t get him anywhere, so I’d only go down that route if he’s keen. It’s really hard to go through (I think almost as much as mum as for the person who is losing their hair), but I think supporting him to accept it and feel confident is the best route. I do look at my sons and wonder what is in store for them.

Have a look for a million dollar facial technician in your area. They do a microneedling hair treatment that won't prevent or reverse hair loss but will thicken up the hair he has to make it less noticeable. I've seen some impressive results from it.

My DS is 20 and his hair is gojng the same way. In his case I don’t think it’s generic, his Dad, and both Grandads all have a full head of hair at 45 and 85. I can almost pinpoint the date he started losing his hair…he had Covid very badly (and I’m not one to blame everything on Covid) then a month later got Glandular Fever closely followed by Bells Palsy a few weeks later. Coincidence maybe but literally a month or so later it started thinning and now it’s really fine. His hair used to be thick and curly/wavy, now it’s fine and really thin. You can see his scalp all the way through.

You cannot thicken hair. A singular strand thins because the hole it grows from is closing (excessive androgens). Once it closes, it can only either stay the same or close further. Once it fully closes, it will never open.

There is anecdotal evidence (I specifically asked. Philip Kingsley trichologist about this) that high strength drugs, I mean the super cutting edge stuff, can cause hair re-growth, but it is so so limited…and is generally seen in women on their faces ie it’s a bad side effect and is because the hormones are imbalances from the hair drops that it’s like PCOS effects or something.

It will look amazing. A young face with grey hair is very sexy.

Husband was almost completely bald by mid 20s. He was shaving it off by then as when it thinned it was clumpy as it was curly. If your son goes down that route he must wear a hat and sunscreen, husband never did as he rarely spends time in the sun but has had several melanoma surgeries 30+ years later.

its not the UK Lash eyelash serum, it’s the same brand but for hair. It’s a bottle with a pipette.

My husband was the same. Has been using regaine his whole life and is no balder now than he was at 19 when he started it. (He’s 53). If he ever runs out it starts falling out very quickly. He combines it with caffeine shampoo. Not sure why. I think he said it works better that way.

I would look into the hair transplant if I’m honest! And it’s better to do it sooner rather than later so there’s more to work with.

If you want to give him an example of someone famous. Prince William started going bald not much older.

And Patrick Stewart started losing his hair in his early twenties.

There was a boy at my school who was losing his hair. But he was also a good actor and took leading roles in the annual school play, which was a big thing at my school. So he was known at school more as an actor than as the boy who was going bald. If DS has any particular talent, encourage him to develop it, so that's what people think of first when they think of him.

Minoxidil is available in many otc products. My DS is using it and the results have been great for him.

Propecia will deal with it

Get him to embrace it
there are loads of famous men who are bald and absolutely rock it

start by going with shorter cuts so he gets used to it gradually
and aim to off set the baldness by a beard or stubble so he’s not completely bald so stay growing a stubble / beard now

bald heads can look like a big giant thumb if no beard / stubble to offset it ( imo )

get a pitbull shaver - they are the best for bald heads
cost about 100 quid will last for ever and you need to oil the blades every few weeks

i bought my DH one when he decided to cut his last bit of hair off
he has had one for 2 years and never changed the blades he just oils it

bald heads look crap when not looked after properly so you have to maintain it to look cool 😂
so moisturizer it daily and use the shaver to shave it daily

if his head is pale use a tiny bit of palmers tanning coco butter to stop that grey veiny look that bald heads can get and it will look healthy

honestly my DH is bald and he rocks it with a beard / stubble and a tan

I'm kind of in this industry and I'd have him an appointment with a hair transplant specialist. The transplants are really good now. Not sure he could hide the fact he's had one and he'd need to do his research. There's one in Newcastle upon Tyne whose work I've seen and it's good as he's left the hairline natural (ie most mens hairlines recede slightly) so not straight across like Wayne Rooney had (his looked no better to me), and it didn't seem to cost the earth. I think it's very young to have to deal with the ribbing that boys dish out, but it can look great shaved with a bit of stubble and a beard. Also depends on head shape. In all honesty one of the most advantageous things I think I taught my kids growing up over these things is is to learn to laugh at themselves. Hard at times, but If you can do that, life is so much easier. Next stop should be GP as there are things they at they can prescribe, but they don't always work. Good luck 🤞

Its taken by millions of people and an approved prescription drug.

The person in the previous article bought a black market drug claiming to be it with no medical supervision or assesment.

I'm not sure if this will help but I'm suffered with terrible hair loss when I had my daughter 4 years ago so this time round with my second child I took biotin and started using shampoo with it in and my hair is a lot better. My son is now 1 and I haven't lost any hair.

My cousin started losing his hair at the same age, by 20 it was really noticeable. It really bothered him until he decided to just lean into it, shaved it all off and decided to grow a stinking great beard instead.

East Midlands but we can get to London easily.

DS doesn’t know about his crown yet as, obviously, he can’t see it. I don’t think it’s a mental health issue yet as his mop of locks cover his receding line on his forehead. I’ll see what happens over the summer and maybe suggest Vit D and iron. I could also get a GP’s check up for him this summer as he is off to uni a LONG way away from us so it would be good for him to know that he’s in tip top condition before “Fresher’s Flue.”

Same as mine. He shaved his off. He's 28 now and looks fab.
He also has a lovely gf.

Please encourage your son to see his GP. Same happened to my son during lockdown, obviously we couldn't get an appointment for such a thing back then.

Turns out it was alopecia following his dad's sudden death. Medication could have helped. Now he has to be so very very careful in the sun.