18 Year Old with Hair Loss or Mature Hairline? (With Photos)

Dear Doc,

I’m an 18 year old male and worried that my hairline’s begun to recede. I don’t have any particular family history of balding. Both of my grandfathers had most of their hair, and so does my mother’s brother. Only my father is balding (he is 50 and has lost lots of his hair on the top of his head).

I’ve noticed that when I run my hands through my hair I occasionally lose one or two. Also, when my hair is wet, I tend to lose a few if I run my hand through my hair. I don’t see more than two or three on my pillow when I wake up.

I’ve always had a high hairline with temples higher than the rest of my hairline, but I think its starting to move back slowly.

I also have little red spots near the receding areas of my hairline, almost like acne (I have very little acne on the rest of my face). Looking at my pictures, would you say this is just a mature hairline or the start of the balding process? Also, sorry for the long e-mail, but I’ve tried to list everything I can. I’d appreciate some advice on what I can do, as my hair is still very much part of my identity, and I don’t want to spend the next couple of years worrying and counting hairs.

Many thanks.

While I thank you for permission to post these, I usually require a frontal view with the eyebrows lifted high so that the creases on the forehead show. You supplied two side views with the eyebrows lifted and a poor quality photo that requires me to guess. I’ll take a stab at it anyway. Click the photos to enlarge.

It does look like you are developing a mature hairline. There is also a sign of some thinning that goes further back than just the leading edge, suggestive of miniaturization behind a maturing hairline.

You need to get your scalp mapped out for miniaturization, and see if there is thinning behind the leading edge and how far back it goes. This )is suggestive of early male pattern balding at a level where a drug like Propecia (Finasteride) can stop it. I would try to find a doctor who has a HAIRCHECK instrument which will tell you if you are losing hair elsewhere on your heat that you don’t see (https://baldingblog.com/haircheck-test-how-it-is-done-video/.  See a doctor who cares about you and what may be early balding. If you have balding, you must know that it is a progressive process and the quicker that you address it by a professional, the better chance is that you will retain hair for all of the important years yet to come.