I didn’t post this in the other thread mainly because I have a weird bald spot that I’m hoping someone will help me identify.

A few years ago I went to a hair salon to get my hair curled and somehow the hairdresser burned off some some strands of my hair (one in the front and one in the middle). I only noticed it weeks later when the one in the front was just standing out up in the air (it looked weird lol). Around the same time I realized I had a weird bald spot in my scalp. Until this day I’m not sure if it was caused by the blow dryer/curling iron the hairdresser used or if it happened naturally. I still have this bald spot. And I’m saying “the hairdresser used” because I don’t curl or flat iron or blow dryer my hair at all. That was a rare thing and I did it for an event. So now I don’t know if this is part of the alopecia or if somehow the hair root was burned and that’s why it’s not growing back. Does anyone recognize what this is?

Also I feel like my hairline is receding but I do notice some baby hairs growing at the same time. The middle part of my hair is significantly thinning over the past couple of years. Is this androgenic alopecia? And is the bald spot related to this? Should I start treatment and do I have keep doing it for the rest of my life (cue panic mode).

I attached pictures from different distances. Please excuse the dandruff and the frizz (trust me, I’m trying to get ride of it). Thank you so much for your help!

If this is new, you should see a dermatologist who will perform dermoscopy on your to find out if you have any disease in this area. You might have had a partial burn to the scalp that could cause it, but the loss is uniform

This finding at your age suggests that you may have significantly more balding as you get older.  See a doctor and build a Master Plan with that doctor that accounts for the short and long term changes that you are undergoing.  Your frontal hairline needs to be examined closely by an expert.

My best alternative for my hair loss is to get a Hair Transplant. However I have read various news from the internet and I came down to these conclusions:

1. It is permanent however you would need to get another hair transplant in the future if you want more density.

2. My hair transplant doctor says you do not need to take any medications, treatments. For my case, and that is exactly what I want to do but alot of internet topics suggested to take minoxidil, rogain, finasteraide, proprecia, prp to keep the existing hair for the rest of your life if you do not want to lose anymore hair.

3. I wear toppik and have 1 picture of my current hair.

4. I would consider a hair transplant if all I had to do was 1, and no medications were required. Is it possible or are you in a endless cycle of multiple transplants and a lifetime supply of treatments.

You discussed endless cycles but at 20, the reality is that repeated hair transplants every year until your balding becomes stable is a awful endless cycle, see here: https://newhair.com/baldingblog/22-year-old-received-a-hair-transplant-of-2800-grafts-from-reddit/

This spider is also called the Brown Recluse Spider. It often hides in boxes that you store away the the basement. This bite can cause you to lose an arm or leg. The picture shows what the bite looked like and what the spider looks like. My wife saw the spider land on me one day (she has a photographic memory and acute vision) and tried to tell me before I wiped it off of my arm.  Too late, the spider bit me and in a day my arm swelled but I did not get the necrosis shown on the picture on the left so I did not need surgical excision of the bite venom. This is a dangerous bite, but other than swelling and a fever, I did OK but it caused pain for about 3 days and it took a week for the swelling to go away.  Some people have been known to die or lose an arm or leg from such a spider bit. This happened to me in Los Angeles, California but the spider is wide spread in the United States. The patient in the photo shows that a surgeon removed the area of the bite because the skin died (necrosis) and this surgery was needed.

So I’ve been to dermatologist and started using fin and minoxidil. He used some camera to see whether I have hair follicles on my temples and it turns out that I have a lot (basically I could go back by 0.5-1 norwood if I grew them out). From what I understood my dermatologist seemed to suggest that there is hope in regrowing this hair. But I’m not sure whether I understood his words correctly. It’s said a lot that fin is going to let you “preserve what you already have at the moment”. And that minox works on scalp only. But I’ve been instructed to use fin, dermaroll once a day and use minox on both crown (which has very little loss) and temples. Does it mean I’m trying to regrow hair on my temples this way? Most articles mention that hair regrowth on the temples is unlikely as hair follicles are probably already dead (unless you lost your hair just recently). In my case I’ve lost hair on my temples quite within 4-5 years mark but most of the follicles seem to still be there. Does it mean I can expect regrowth?

A proper examination of the hair for balding is (1) the use of a video or hand microscope, (2) the use of a HAIRCHECK instrument which will measure the actual hair bulk in different parts of the scalp, and (3) see a good doctor who specializes in this field. With all of that done, you can be confident that you have done everything you need to do to make a proper diagnosis and commence treatment. Hair may or may not regrow with drugs like minoxidil and finasteride.

So Im 26 now. My hairline is good, and I have no visible balding, but I noticed (since im growing my hair long) that I would lose more strands of hair in the shower than norm. In fact my first dermotologist just looked at my hair and told me Im not balding. Decided to get a second opinion, went to a very qualified dermo, had a scalp biopsy, and it turned out to be aga, and she told me I was lucky to have discovered so early, due to the fact I have no visible balding, or recessed hairline. Basically, caught it before any visible damage was done. I was prescribed finasteride, as well as a 7% minoxidil liquid.

My question is, with how little hair loss I have, would I be fine to just take the finasteride daily and ignore the minoxidil? I find the application of minoxidil extremely annoying and uncomfortable, especially since I have shoulder length hair now. 

I would recommend that you get a HAIRCHECK test to find out if you are actually balding (losing hair). If you’re not losing hair by this test, starting on a drug for life based on a biopsy alone make no sense to me. See here: https://newhair.com/baldingblog/24-year-old-male-receding-hairline-no-change-hair-loss-past-year-haircheck-test/

I’ve heard it’s normal to lose over 100 hairs throughout the day, but every time I wash my hair and towel dry it’s seems I’m losing a ton of hair. I’ll shampoo and each time I run my hands through my soapy hair and look at them there’ll be close to or over 10 hairs and appears like it adds up to almost 100. No matter how many times I run my hands through my hair I’ll see a bunch of hairs. Then, if I towel dry with a white towel I’ll see even more hairs. Is it normal to lose this much hair just in the shower? I shower every day but wash my hair every two to three days.

The average hair loss per day for an average Caucasian male is 100,000 hairs, but I doubt that you would lose them all in the shower unless you are losing more than 100 hairs per day which would occur in a hair loss situation. When you rub hair that is miniaturizing, these hair easily come out with your fingers, your towel and almost anything you do to rough up your hair.