Should I Be Concerned About My Hairline? (with Photos)
Dear Dr. Rassman,
I am a 25 year male. For the last 3-4 years I’ve been experiencing temple hair loss, as exhibited in the attached photos. As far as genetics are concerned, my father at 55 is a thinning NW3 since his mid-thirties (his father a NW7 though, and on granny’s side no hair loss) and my mother is solid NW2(father’s side NW3 – turned NW4 in his 80s, and granny’s brothers NW2s). Judging by these photos, should I be concerned about my hair loss at this moment? Feel free to post my photos.
Click the photos to enlarge:
The temple peaks may have receded (I have no earlier photos to compare to), and your hairline appears to be maturing at the corners. I don’t consider that balding and you probably have no cause for concern, but there’s only so much I can tell from photos. The corners might have gone a little beyond the maturing hairline, but the photos aren’t much help in this case.
If you do have concerns, you can consider measuring the bulk of hair in specific areas of your scalp and comparing it to other parts of your scalp. More importantly, following up one year after the measurement to see if there is a change. Just one bulk measurement in time will not give you much information, so following up is a must. You can also consider a miniaturization assessment to see if the hairs have different morphology (miniaturization) around certain areas on your scalp.
In any case, you don’t appear to be balding to me, but we can let the readers comment.
From the photos alone I think most people would say you have a very good head of hair and it’s a normal mature hairline – although I definitely think you should get it checked just for your peace of mind. A lot of people, myself included spent a lot of time worrying and researching hair loss and it does consume a lot of time – as soon as I saw a proper hair surgeon who measured my hair they could see I was likely headed for an NW3 (so not as severe as many men on here but still actual balding). Luckily I was young and started propecia and now my hairline is back to a full NW2 and has stayed that way. But even though I got a diagnosis of a receding hairline it felt much better than sitting at home, looking at the internet and worrying. So there’s a good chance a doctor will say you have no balding in which case you are fine! But worst case they find some balding pattern – you are young enough to get on medication and halt or reverse any damage and can probably live your whole life never seeing much if any effect of your genetics. So get it checked and good luck.