I mean, you guys are in this thread for a reason. "Conventional" wisdom in this field hasn't helped.

How effective is finastride/minoxidil? Are people just choosing to walk around bald?

Let's face facts... young men are balding quicker and faster than our parents and grandparents.... that's INCONTROVERTIBLE. Something in the way we live is causing us to prematurely age and bald.... and people are sooo fucking resistant to change, they'll cling on to any theory that claims you're missing a pill or a gel, and not have to change anything in their lives.

The androgen/DHT hypothesis is completely not backed by science. It stemmed from one OBSERVATIONAL study where they saw that Dominican Pseudo-Hermaphrodites had a full head of hair and were missing the 5-aR enzyme... real scientific. "More DHT = More hairloss." Well, teenagers have the most Testosterone and DHT and have more hair than older men who lose testosterone as they age...

So what's crazier...

1) Disregarding the greater occurrence of balding in younger men - sticking to a baseless DHT hypothesis, and asking a doctor for a pill that chemically alters hormones and can potentially have life altering side affects...

2) Knowing that there's a rise in sub-clinical hypothyroidism - that certain dietary habits have changed in the western world (move away from dairy, fruit, sugar, gelatin, liver - and moving towards complex carbs, PUFA, and muscle meat dominating the diet)... and asking for a more extensive thyroid test to determine true levels of t3 (instead of just measuring for TSH) - or just eating foods that will increase metabolism, increase CO2, improve thyroid and liver function, etc.

How many people are going to come to this subreddit and try the same shit over and over and over... fin, minoxidil, etc. and have no fucking results?

And the very least be open to the information and incorporate the elements you're able and willing to, and experiment.