Dear Dr. Rassman,

I am a 17-year-old male that is experiencing moderate hairloss. I’ve had this problem since I was a pre-teen have gone throughout highschool with this embarrassing feature, as it has increasingly gotten more and more noticeable. The problem is I don’t know why or how this happen as the hair loss take on no typical male pattern hair loss pattern and is thin throughout my entire scalp. I’ve been to a doctor and a dermatologist and all they did was prescribe rogaine and propecia. I’ve tried rogaine for a series of months with no results and propecia’s outside of my budget. Can you please give any clue as to why this is happening to me at such a young age and how i can treat it. I have no medical conditions.

thankyou for your time.

There are many causes of thinning. These can include changes in your hair character itself, something that happens as a person matures. I have seen young men with a coarse hair character change to a finer hair. If this is your situation, then this is the new you. Of course, the first thing you must do is get a diagnosis. Genetic balding, the most common cause of hair loss in men, can easily be diagnosed with a process I call mapping our your hair for miniaturization (which most regular readers know that I mention quite a bit). Even without patterns of hair loss, miniaturization does occur in a variety of medical conditions. I never tell people to go at this blindly. Get your diagnosis first, then go from there figuring out how you might deal with the problem, that is, if there is really a problem there.

hi there.
im a 17 year old boy who is worried about receding. i have a full head of hair but it is a bit thin in the left hand side at the temple. i have been told it has always been like this. my mothers dad went bald before 30, my dads dad did not go bald. but my dad has receeded a bit on top. when my hair is dry u cannot see my scalp but when wet it parts alot and seems thin!!also i was told that my head may have got bigger which may make it seem like it has receded! am i worrying over nothing??

Growing boys with growing and maturing heads, do not thin out their hair. You should get your scalp mapped out for miniaturization to find out if you have early genetic hair loss.

Dear Dr. Rassman,

My 17 yr old son started experiencing hair loss when he was just 12 years old. He was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis when he was 10 yrs. His hair loss was rapid and the Doctors diagnosed it as male pattern baldness, since his father began balding when he was 20 yrs. He currently shaves his hair. I was wondering if he would be a candidate for hair transplant? Also, he has a small scar caused by a cut while rumping around with friends. Can hair be transplanted on the scar?

Thanking you in advance,

His Mom

The Ulcerative Colitis is stressful, so I am sure that it is pushing his genetic cards with regard to hair loss. If he is taking steroids for his condition, that will also accelerate the genetic cards. He should be evaluated for miniaturization, get a diagnosis in hand, and understand what is happening to him. He could probably be put on a medication such as finasteride to arrest or possibly reverse the hair loss, and then build a Master Plan for his future hair loss management (which may or may not include hair transplants). Yes, hair transplants work nicely to cover up a scar.

My son has dandruff issue. After using several dandruff shampoos like Nizoral, Tegrin, Selsun,etc., the dandruff has not subsided. His hair loss is extreme. Even small hair are falling out. At age of 18 he is more balder than his dad.

Your son should see a dermatologist for his ” extreme” condition. Genetic hair loss can be present in an 18 year old and he should have his scalp mapped out for miniaturization to establish the correct diagnosis. Dandruff usually does not cause hair loss. Without examining him I cannot advise you on why he is losing hair. He may (or may not) have male pattern hair loss, which is independent of dandruff. What you are calling dandruff could possibly be psoriasis. Get a professional to help here, in person.