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. 😢

My youngest brother ( now 57) started going bald at 6th form. So did my youngest son. They both owned it and shaved their heads. They both have beards too. I like the bald but with a beard look. It removes the 'egg' look of no head hair and no facial hair. My exhusband was terrified of losing his hair. His solution was to make his remaining hair taller and taller to hide the central bald patch. He was tall so he could get away with it ( sort of) until he bent down. Nothing will prevent it. Friends son inherited some money and went to Turkey for a transplant but he was mid thirties. They don't work very well if you are young because the hair you still have will also most likely fall out so you'll have a weird hair do and have to have it done again ( Wagne Rooney)

I would encourage him to go to the docs in case there is an underlying cause of it being so premature. There may be medications he can try. Bless him!

God yes that awful fluffy bit on top of William’s head is so ageing and unattractive. He’d look so much younger and modern with a shaved head.

Request a thorough blood test. Various underlying health conditions can cause hair loss. Low iron, hypothyroidism, etc. Rule all of those out first. Even if his levels are all optimal it won't hurt to boost his vitamins anyway.

If he takes iron supplements, also take alongside vitamin c to aid the absorption.

Trip to turkey maybe necessary

My hubbie went bald at 16, he shaves his head and it had the advantage of making him look much more mature in his 20s and kind of timeless in 30s and 40s, nobody can guess his age and it gave him more gravitas in his career. Show him Jason Stathom and his wife - being bald isn't so bad!
I'd try a solid multivitamin, fish oil and they recommend caffeine shampoo. There's a company called Champo, they make a pita hair serum that apparently is clinically proven to reduce hair loss- I liked the impact on my baby hairs but male pattern baldness is probably a different issue. Rather than try and cure it, I'd try and help him embrace it and learn to love it....

This was interesting (but the hair massager costs an arm and a few legs 😱)

My DP is in an industry where this will affect his employability. It sucks, but he took interventions. The first was that he went for a hair transplant in Turkey. It cost about 5k, but he needed 10000 grafts.
He started hormone therapy from Manual. Costs about £100 a month and it’s had side effects. His sex drive is through the roof.
And he’s also started applying Minoxidil regularly.

Hes gone from thin hair clinging on for dear life, to a thick healthy head of dark brown hair at 47.

There is no easy cure. You have to spend money, sadly. Male pattern baldness is a thing, just like menopause for women. Only with men, there’s no timeline for when it might hit.

Loads of deficiencies cause hair thinning, such as low iron/ferritin, hypothyroidism etc. It's worth asking for a few blood tests from the GP incase it's an easy fix. (If it is a deficiency, OTC supplements won't be strong enough.)

Regaine is proven to work. But the hair follicle has to still be alive to restimulate growth. You can spend a fortune on it and it’ll do fuck all….because the follicle is dead.
If there’s something there that needs a bit of CPR, Regaine is your resuss team, it’s that simple.

My brother started losing his hair at 18. Our dad and uncles and such all had the same thing happen by early 20s.
The best thing maybe to encourage him to embrace it and shave it off.
My dh although a lot older now has receding hair line that's very noticeable so he just shaves it and it suits most men.
Not a razor shave . He has as short as it can go .
All of them have just opted for beards instead .

This. This is what I say to my DH every week. I hope your DH continues to he’s to be fine x

I’ve heard of champo.

Happened to DBro at a similar age, and he also had beautiful long hair beforehand.

He embraced it and shaved his head. I’m sure given the option he’d prefer to have kept his hair, but he didn’t really have much choice so made the best of it.

There are options nowadays. Look up Hims.

I got some CBD oil for anxiety and noticed after a couple of months that my hair loss stopped (it’s been very bad since I lost my husband suddenly several years ago). I googled it and apparently it’s used for alopecia so might be worth a try. Let me know if you want more details.

He should definitely use clippers. No. 3 or 4 all over. I suspect this will make him suddenly very popular with ladies.

Yea please - will you DM me?

A very difficult thing for someone so young to go through. Realistically the 3 options are

1. deal with it, grow a fringe use hair fibres at the back etc to hide what he can
2. Embrace and shave it off
3. save for a transplant

The Turkey trip needn't be a joke. My Husband had a hair transplant a couple years ago. Not in Turkey though, in the UK. Although he would have been happy to go to Turkey after doing his research. Since he's had it his confidence has been so much better, he's never looked back. Absolutely recommend them to any man self conscious about balding.

Have a watch of Regal Gentleman on YouTube. He's done a few series on baldness, have a watch, it's really good. He really helps men who are going bald.

i take minoxidil capsules which work

Matthew Mcconehey (can’t spell his name) said he was going bald in his 20’s and started to use Regenix and it grew back! Worth a try

He’s too young for this approach. He needs to start on minoxidil now. I think there might be a few other medications that are recommended as well now. My youngest brother has been on them since 19 and it has helped tremendously. Don’t bother with the NHS, use one of those websites that lets you pay to do a consult.