I began noticing some recession of the frontal hairline at age 20.  The pace of loss was fairly slow: by my late 30s I was still "only" a NW4.  At that time I started using Minox (12.5%) and other topicals (e.g., azelaic acid), and had a nice initial response, with plenty of regrowth in the crown and a little frontal regrowth; however, after about two years the Minox response peaked out, and over the past 5 years I've gradually lost all those initial gains, progressing to a NW4-5.

At age 46, after years of research, I finally decided to take the plunge on a hair transplant procedure with Dr. Hasson (July 28, 2009), who moved 5,500 grafts to reconstruct my frontal hairline and fill in the top and crown.

It's taken a toll on my self-confidence in social settings, and has reduced me to wearing a hat much of the time I'm in public.

Minox 12.5% + azelaic acid (Xandrox formulation) was quite useful for the first couple of years, but the effect eventually diminished and then reversed.

I tried Propecia, but couldn't tolerate the side effects. 

So far . . . but I'm only 17 days out right now!

It's given me a great sense of hope . . .

Do your research on hair transplantation, look at hundreds of detailed, high-def photos and videos of patient results, and choose whom you consider to be the very best surgeon in the world for your procedure.  For me, it came down to either Dr. Hasson or Dr. Wong - and I prefer Dr. Hasson's work overall.