Am I Losing My Hair or Am I Going Crazy?
This 28 year old man came to see me, because his family said he was crazy when he mentioned that he thought he was losing his hair. He came in convinced that he is following his father’s pattern and feels that the hair in the front, top, and crown have all lost volume over the years. This is a great challenge and using the HairCheck tool showed that he has lost 40% of his hair in the front, and 47% of his hair in the crown when compared with his permanent zone at the back of his head.
Armed with this information, he was happy that he isn’t going crazy, but I don’t know that any patient has left my office truly “happy” after being told they’re losing hair. I actually thought when I first saw him that he would have no balding present at all. My eyes told me what everyone in his family told him — that he had no hair loss problem. The measurements proved otherwise. His hair is coarse (black with light skin), but because of his hair character he would have to lose over 60-70% of his hair bulk to see the impact of the loss that I measured above.
Click photo to enlarge.
Even at 40 percent loss, he still has the appearance of thick hair. This is proof that you can lose a good bit of hair without a problem. If you can halt the loss and keep a good hairline, then that is all that I would want!
As you’ve noted before hair loss and the pattern is pretty unique. What’s the frequency of a many losing 40-50% of his hair bulk in the front/crown as you’ve seen with this patient and that level of balding slowing down or stopping? I know I’ve seen plenty of men who’s hair loss seems to freeze at a certain transparency/recession. Is losing bulk in this manner (or more pronounced) and then it halting at all common?
Is there any point pursuing treatment at this point? Or would you monitor the bulk every 6 months or so to see it progressing before you start any treatment? Is it possible that the thinning will slow down and effectively stop at this point? I have a similar problem – appearance of thick hair but I am convinced I am losing bulk. Everyone says I’m crazy including the doctor.
I had the same exact problem. Several dermatologists told me I was dellusional. The horrible part? The 90% of all my loss occured to me in three weeks, it is not a joke. Then, it stayed frozen 9 years, and like four months ago, happened again, in like 2 weeks. I’m talking draing-clogging, massive, hair loss. My scalp is now visible. In my opinion, it’s a combination of DPA/DUPA (I now see finally miniaturization)which acts on irreversible waves/onsets. I have started duta 0.5mg, minoxidil 5% and nizoral 3x/week. No changes so far.