First of all I would like to thank all the contributors to this site which has been really informative and has helped me to understand baldness better. However, I am still unsure about my own balding. Firstly I am an 18 year old male and I have noticed that my hair has been thinning from the crown since I turned 17 or so. What perplexes me is that my hair line is quite consistent, the thinning is occurring in the crown area only.

So I have two questions. What Norwood pattern would this qualify as since the hair line is still consistent? And is it possible that perhaps this is unnatural balding? My barber suggested that my hair loss might be from excessive dandruff that has been present for quite a while but haven’t been able to quite cure despite my best efforts. I should also note that my father and paternal grand-father are both bald especially my father who at the age of 41 has very little hair left.

If you see a doctor, you can get a definitive diagnosis concerning if you are balding or not. Balding men will have miniaturization of hair and reduced bulk measurements, so the diagnosis is scientific as well as clinical. Crown balding with a strong hairline isn’t “unnatural”, and dandruff does not cause hair loss like your barber suggested.

The good news is that the drug Propecia (finasteride) works well in crown balding in young men, so if the diagnosis is made you will most likely reverse the hair loss process in the crown.

Almost bald at aged 19.

Not only have I had serious thinning on the crown and the temple receding, the sides and the back also seem to be affected. I am down to a shaver #1 and unless I can quickly change things I could be completely bald very soon. Is help available? My scalp has been visible for almost 2 years. Everyone knows I am going bald because my hair is that thin allover the place.

I will not be able to have a hair transplant even if I could afford it. Is there a chance I could respond well to Minoxidil or Propecia or Proscar with my hair being so short? I seriously do not think my hair has much life left in it.

Short not by choice. Short because my hair growth follicles are really small and thin allover my head.

If you’re thinning all over the scalp, including the sides and back of your head, a hair transplant probably wouldn’t be an option even if you wanted it. If the donor area is thinning, you are likely not a surgical candidate.

You need to see a doctor to find out what you’re dealing with. You might have some form of alopecia areata, which does not respond to minoxidil or finasteride. I wouldn’t know what kind of help is available just based on your email, but an examination with a good doctor will be able to determine what is causing your loss (genetics, disease, etc). You need to know what you have before you can look into options to treat it.

Hello Doc,

in a former post you said that you saw several young men with mpb, who just had some temple recession and that was it.

As this early but limited loss could look similar to a mature hairline and assumed that the miniaturization would not go further than its supposed leading edge (let’s say of a v-shaped hairline that sits 1 inch at the sides and 1/2 inch at the center above the highest wrinkle) how would you distinguish between maturing and balding then?

It can’t be the presence of miniaturization alone, since some doctors claim that if it drops sharply after the first 1 or 2cm, it is likely to be part of maturation. Is that correct?

Thank you

Have you read our post about the mature hairline? A good doctor will tell you the answer to your question. Tests for miniaturization and bulk measurements will tell you if you have genetic male patterned baldness. These are done in the doctor’s office.