Male Baldness Info

Does Rogaine foam or extra strength work best? Also I know that it causes you to lose healthy hair then regrow new stronger hair, but once you stop using it do you still lose the healthy hair that was there before? Im worried because im begining to go bald at the side of my hairline..and im stilll young 21…so i have a good head of hair but it is dissapearing on the sides…so i dont want to lose even more hair if i stop using it if it doesnt work… meaning if it causes some hair to be lost due to the initial stage… im really distressed over this and would really like anyones help, i thought i could escape male pattern baldness but i was wrong… please help

I’m 24 with some thinning hair around the front of my head, I don’t have a bald or thinning spot on the crown/top part of my head, that area is thick and alright, no problem, so i dont think its “male pattern baldness” as I only have the thinning in front. I always had very thick hair growing up, my dad is 64 with thick hair, his dad died at 84 with thick hair. My mom, before she died, always said good things about my hair and that her relatives had good hair as well, so i dont know whats going on here.
I’m gonna book an appointment with a dermatologist, but I was wondering can I use rogaine or prophecia (sp?)? Cuz I heard rogaine only works if you have thinning/balding on the “top” of your head, where as I only have it on the front, is that true?
Here’s a couple of pics of what I have:http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/3721/…http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/9185/ph…