Hi, apologies for hiding behind such a silly email address; as you can probably understand I'm a bit embarrased about this, so I'd prefer to keep my identity secret. It is a real address though if anyone wants to email me. Basically I'm a 20 year old man and I've not had much hair on the top of my head for a few years now; certainly it was noticable whilst I was in the 6th form at school. It's difficult for me to judge myself but I know it's noticable, and I think it's getting worse. My girlfriend says she doesn't care, but I still don't find it much fun being told I'm 30, or some cruel people making jibes. So does anyone have any experience they're prepared to share, publically or privately? If people want to mail me stuff and allow me to put it on the ng anonymously I'm happy to do so. So far my research has been NHS website, which doesn't say a lot, and http://www.stophairlossnow.co.uk which seems a reasonably balanced site. Unfortunately the main treatment that works looks like it'd cost £40 a month, I'm not sure I'm prepared to pay that for long enough to see if it works (let alone for most of my life if it does). Are there any clinics near Cambridge, and what are they like? I notice various places they say that it might be due to defficiancy of vitamin/mineral x or too much hormone y or similar - is there any where that'd give me a blood test to let me know what my levels are, to help narrow down stuff? Or doesn't it work like that? My grandad (mothers side) has been bald all my life; he's got a ring of hair round the back but none on the top. My dad's hair's not bad, and he's over 50. I never knew my other grandad but photos suggest he had a reasonable head of hair. I've got lots of quite long hair round the back and sides, it's just short on top, particulaly near the vertex - see diagram on http://www.stophairlossnow.co.uk/products/RogaineRegular.htm - so I'm wondering if a hair transplant is worth it; I'm not sure I could afford it, but it'd be worth considering. On that website it says it's unusual to treat people younger than 21. Many thanks

Hi, apologies for hiding behind such a silly email address; as you can probably understand I'm a bit embarrased about this, so I'd prefer to keep my identity secret. It is a real address though if anyone wants to email me. Basically I'm a 20 year old man and I've not had much hair on the top of my head for a few years now;  snip It's probably hereditary. If there was a cure, the Duke of Edinburgh would have used it! You'll just have to go bald gracefully, or waste your money and still go bald. It's tough, but that's life I'm afraid.

Hi, apologies for hiding behind such a silly email address; as you can probably understand I'm a bit embarrased about this, so I'd prefer to keep my identity secret. It is a real address though if anyone wants to email me. Basically I'm a 20 year old man and I've not had much hair on the top of my head for a few years now;  snip It's probably hereditary. If there was a cure, the Duke of Edinburgh would have used it! You'll just have to go bald gracefully, or waste your money and still go bald. It's tough, but that's life I'm afraid. Agreed, I have a young friend who started going bald around your age. His solution was to get the bic to it and shave it all off. Even a grade 1 or 2 wouldn't look so bad like Phil Mitchell. I feel for you as you are obviously not happy about your hair loss, but if you did something extreme so that your focus wasn't on your hair then you might be able to be feel grateful for your other better features. My grade 0 friend gets on great really, to me it is like a part of his personality and nobody thinks he is older than he really is anymore.... what really *does* look bad is half-arsed attempts to cover up - elton john anyone? - Ukryj cytowany tekst -- Poka? cytowany tekst -

Agreed, I have a young friend who started going bald around your age. His solution was to get the bic to it and shave it all off. Even a grade 1 or 2 wouldn't look so bad I've seen it before and it's true.  My uncle was almost entirely bald by 24, and keeping it really short kept him from looking lots older than he was (I was 15 by this point, so I do remember). If it's only a thin patch rather than being really bald yet you might not need to go quiete so drastic.  And a friend of mine who was thinning lots and beginning to look rather daft with shoulder length locks looks much less so now he's just changed to a short back and sides. Maybe you could try speaking to your doctor though and see if they have any advice?

to cover up - elton john anyone? Agreed.