50% Miniaturization and Losing Hair When You’re Young

dr rassman
in your experience is it always evident that the earlier the balding process begins the more advanced the pattern will be? or can an individual simply be limited to losing only his crown at 20 years old then have the hairloss stabilize?

also when someone is diagnosed as having 50 % miniaturization does that refer to their entire scalp or a specific area (ie the crown is 50% miniturized)

It is possible that you could start losing hair early and have it stabilize. When Dr. Norwood did the original study for classifying hair loss, he did note that of those men who progressed to a Class 6, the hair loss started in their early 20s. But, your hair loss pattern is decided by your genetics. Or in other words, if you lose your crown hair at 20 years old it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to be a Norwood 7 by the time you’re 30.

But in your case with 50% miniaturization, I assume whoever did that test was talking about the entire scalp, not just the crown. I don’t know how the measurements were taken, though. If you have 50% miniaturization throughout the top of your head, you’re likely going to have a large balding area. I generally measure each area in the balding patterns so that I can predict where the patient might go as they lose their hair. From these numbers, i will re-look at the patient in a year and see if there were benefits from medication and assess what the value of the drug was in modifying the hair loss pattern and rate of appearance.