Sir, I am a male at 48 years old and still have a fine head of hair. i wash it everyday and eat healthy and take regular exercise. is it possible that i have not inherited the baldness gene? and there is a good chance that i will keep for hair for life?
If you do not have any signs of balding at 48 years old, you have a way better-than-average chance of not inheriting genetic male pattern baldness. Most people with genetic hair loss see the impact well before the age of 40.
I can’t, of course, guarantee that you’re 100% safe from any hair loss — but it’s not common to develop it at your age.
So a few years back i had a scalp problem that involved flaking and i got into the habit of picking the flakes which also led to hair loss because of it. The hair never grew back but when i decided to shave my hair due to having patchy looking hairloss i noticed that in fact the hairs had grown back (well kind of). It was the exact same colour as the other hairs and not the blonde vellus looking hair i would have expected when damaged hair was growing back. But they were much thinner looking than the surrounding normal hairs and they also never grew past 1/2 a millimetre in length.
From what i have read once a hair follicle has been damaged it takes a long time for it too repair and that is why the hair is thinner and not growing like normal hairs ….. But these hairs have been like this for well over a year and have shown no signs of growing back any thicker and longer? but at the same time haven’t disappeared and left the areas bald.
So what is going on? are they gonna grew back or is the damage done and if so why are they still growing to half a millimetre
thanks
The normal hair cycle is somewhere between 2-4 years, so if your hair can recover, it might take that long to see it in its next hair cycle. Also, it is possible that the damage produced by picking has irreparably damaged these hair follicles (traction alopecia), so what you are seeing are miniaturized hair as a step towards total loss of these follicles.
Hair transplants can work very nicely in these areas if you do not have a massive hair loss, as the grafts would be transplanted from the back of the scalp and not subject to the old damage you caused from the picking. Have you seen a doctor for an examination?
My eyebrows are very thin and light, but my hair is black so I feel that I would like to darken by eyebrows. Would SMP be able to do this?
Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP) may work well to fill out the eyebrows, provided that there is enough hair in the eyebrows and the hair on your eyebrows is dark. If you darken the skin underneath the eyebrow with SMP and the eyebrow hair is lighter in color than the pigment used below, it will be problematic as the dots will show through it (I am assuming that you want a fuller, darker eyebrow).
You can dye the eyebrow a darker color and see if it is full enough. If there is not enough hair in the eyebrow, an eyebrow transplant is the best solution, not a tattoo. Most of the eyebrow transplants I have done usually put in enough hair to fill it up. We often fix defects in the eyebrow or complete the entire eyebrow if there are missing parts.
See these links below to find out just how important eyebrows are to one’s overall appearance:
I’ve started to drink green tea for its many benefits, but now i’m finding out in a lab study, it raised DHT levels in mice by 194%. The report is here.
Please set the record straight. Can green tea cause my hairloss to get worse? I drink about 1 cup a night.
I’ve been asked about this at least a couple times before (here, here), but I frankly do not know the answer in humans. The mouse story is told in the reference.
Male pattern baldness (MPB) is related to genetics, not green tea. I doubt that it would cause your hair loss to increase. Enjoy your tea.
I’m age 26, Male. I was diagnosed with MPB through a scalp biopsy. My hair loss is not evident to anyone who is looking at my head. I believe I have only lost a bit of density on the top. My hair loss started about 6-7 months ago. I first noticed a loss of density and then an increase in hair fall during normal activities. I was proscribed finasteride and am taking it.
My hair is relatively long (approx 3 inchs in length). Many of the hairs that I find while combing and shampooing appear to me to be thinner and are definitely less pigmented at one end than at the other. The “older†top inch of the hair is jet black while traveling down the shaft you will find it becomes brown in color at the “bulb†end. It also appears to be slightly thinner at the bulb end. I can tell this with the naked eye but comparing both ends of the individual hair on a white piece of paper.
Can miniaturization take place in one hair cycle or do hairs become less pigmented and smaller in shaft diameter as they enter the telogen phase?
In general, androgenic alopecia / male pattern baldness (MPB) is not diagnosed from a scalp biopsy. A scalp biopsy is usually only used to diagnose and confirm scarring types of alopecia (not MPB). MPB is diagnosed by looking for a pattern in one’s hair loss… which explains why it’s called male “pattern” baldness.
Individual hairs are never followed by tagging them so I really can’t answer your question. I believe that a single hair cycle can be miniaturized at a follicular unit level or die off at that level after telogen occurs. Pigment often is reduced in miniaturized hairs, but not as they enter the telogen phase if they were good, solid terminal hairs prior to that cycle.
I would stick with the finasteride, as per your doctor’s recommendation. I’ve seen many, many cases of this drug working very well for treating early hair loss at the top of the head, like you’ve described.
[Ryan] Shazier overcame childhood taunts while growing up in South Florida, and he continues to have the last laugh over those who teased him when Alopecia, a condition in which the immune system attacks hair follicles, robbed him of his hair.
“I was probably the only little kid walking around with a bald head,†Shazier said. “It was tough because kids are mean. I just embraced it. I feel like if you didn’t like me for who I am, it’s a problem with you. I feel like it’s my signature now. I love having Alopecia. Having a bald head actually saves me a lot of money.â€
Even though Ryan Shazier says that alopecia areata is his signature look, many people with this condition still desire the look of a closely clipped scalp that can be achieved with Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP). See one such patient here.
I am 24 years old and over the past year I have seen a huge change in my hair. When my hair is wet and when I wake up in the morning I can see parts of my scalp. I have always had a high hair line and I have noticed on the website a lot of talk surrounding your highest wrinkle and a mature hairline, however, my hairline has always been a good bit above this even during primary school. My highest wrinkle lies at the freckle on my forehead.
What has been worrying me is that when my hair is wet I can see my scalp on both the top and sides of scalp.. My hair has always been medium length, but now that I have cut the sides shorter I can even see my scalp through the side of my hair when it is wet and I style it in certain ways. There is no MPB on either side of my family at all, my father has thinning hair, but he is in his 50’s.
I appreciate any help, my GP will not refer me to a dermatologist as I am male.
I have attached photos of my hair when dry and wet.
Click the photos to enlarge:
First, I have no idea what being male has to do with being referred to a dermatologist. Dermatology is for men and women. Maybe you’re thinking of a gynecologist.
What does this mean?
It’s not unusual to see the scalp when your hair is wet, and it will particularly stand out for those with high contrast between skin and hair color, like yourself. That said, based on the few photos you sent it does appear that you’re thinning at the hairline. The photos aren’t very clear so I can’t really provide much info about whether it is a maturing hairline or something more advanced.
How to do a Hair Check Test
I would like to see you get a HAIRCHECK test which can actually measure the degree of hair loss that you think you have. From that measurement, treatments can be planned and followed yearly with repeat HAIRCHECK tests to see if you are gaining or losing ground.
You can find a doctor that specializes in hair loss by using the doctor search at the ISHRS.org site (they are transplant surgeons, but you shouldn’t rush into surgery — these doctors just know hair loss).
If I do not actually have mpb and was just thinning naturally to a certain point (I was always more of a diffuse thinner) is taking minoxidil doing more harm than good? I know it says on the medication do not use unless you have mpb, but then as I am aware, hairs that are healthy are not affected by the minox, so why does it matter if you use it?
surely any hair that regrows will be lost upon ceasing the medication, yet would I not just end up with my original thin hair situation when it no longer works (or perhaps a little below baseline)?
It shouldn’t ruin healthy hair, but it could cause an initial shedding that some people have reported.
But really… if you don’t know what you have or you don’t have a clear diagnosis, I don’t think it is a smart practice to treat yourself with medication. Get a doctor’s diagnosis first before you try to treat a specific condition that you may not even have!
I am an 18 year old male with thick dark hair and suffer from moderate hair loss with temple thinning. I have noticed not every hair on my head has the same diameter: they can vary quite dramatically with thick very dark strands and lighter thinner ones. Is this normal ?
Thank you very much for your answer
Yes, it’s normal. We all have varying diameters of hair as different hairs are in different phases of the hair growth cycle (anagen, catagen, and telogen).
If one area is much smaller in diameter (miniaturized) and it occurs in a specific pattern, we call it male pattern baldness.
Tags: hair cycle, hair thickness, hairloss, hair loss
A longtime swimming buff, lawyer Robert Prignoli typically hits the pool for two hours at a time, four days a week.
But a swim earlier this year in “toxic pool water†at the LA Fitness in Travis cost him more than some wrinkled skin, Prignoli alleges in a $5 million lawsuit.
“Poisoned†by a â€hazardous and toxic stew†of chemicals, Prignoli suffered “severe†hair loss, skin rashes, eye irritation, headaches and loss of taste and smell, for a time, contends his civil complaint.
I haven’t seen any studies that show high levels of chlorine in pool water cause hair loss, though there have been a couple previous cases (here, here) where that has been the suspected culprit.
Tags: chlorine, swimming pool, hairloss, hair loss, toxic
Hi,
I was born with a permanent bald spot that will not regrow hair. I’m sorry that the photo is not high quality, it is near the back of my head to the side.
Click the photo to enlarge:
Was there a question for me? I don’t know why you have this bald spot, whether it was indeed from birth or perhaps a trauma to the scalp in your childhood that you don’t remember. But if there’s no hair that you remember growing there, I would agree that it is more than likely permanent.
If you can live with it, let it be. If you want to address it, please give my office a call at 800-NEW-HAIR. We can fix it with a limited hair transplant or Scalp MicroPigmentation (SMP). As it is a smaller spot, SMP would likely work well to eliminate the contrast between skin and hair color (plus the results would be immediate, as it is not a surgical procedure).
Tags: bald spot, hairloss, hair loss, hair transplant, smp
Just writing to get a professional opinion. I was prescribed a topical steroid, specifically mometasone ointment 0.1% for skin on my fingers that’s swollen/opened up from a skin infection I had. My question is: do you think that application of this could cause hair loss? Perhaps I am being irrational but with no medical background I don’t know what to think. Doing some of my own research, I cannot seem to find a link between the two, but I am just wondering what you think?
Thanks.
I recall a woman that consulted me for a scar on her knee. I told her that I’m a doctor who treats men and women dealing with hair loss, but I think she just came to my office because the consult was free. She didn’t like my honesty, so she posted a bad review online. To this day her irrationality baffles me.
In a similar way, I don’t understand why you would think a topical steroid applied to an infection on your finger would affect hair loss on your scalp. There is no connection here. Most hair loss in men is genetic and should be addressed with medications like finasteride (Propecia) or minoxidil (Rogaine). I don’t know anything about your hair loss pattern, age, medical history, family history, etc. If your hair loss continues to be a concern, you should see a doctor about possible treatments.
If the ointment’s potential side effects are a concern, you should follow up with the doctor who prescribed it to you, though perhaps you have already answered your own question when you wrote “I am being irrational…”
Tags: steroid, ointment, mometasone, hairloss, hair loss
I am a 22 year old male with no family history of MPB. About 2 months ago I saw a dermatologist that diagnosed me with MPB and wrote be a script for Propecia. His exam wasn’t as thorough as I would have liked (No Pull test or tests for minimization). So I decided to seek a second opinion from another dermatologist in town. She preformed a multitude of tests and determined that under my circumstances I most likely had Alopecia Areata, and then proceeded to give me a cortisone injection. Now I understand that Alopecia is an autoimmune disorder but my question to you is:
1) Can a blood test be used to accurately determine whether I have Alopecia?
2) Would the cortisone injection have a negative effect on my hair loss if I do in fact have MPB?
3) Can I still take propecia, while receiving the cortisone treatment?
4) If I was misdiagnosed, what would be the appropriate measures to take to find out the real cause of my hair loss?
Thanks
Aside from a good history and physical exam, one way to diagnose alopecia areata is a biopsy of the scalp. More importantly, I would need to know more of how you present and what your hair loss looks like.
Blood tests cannot diagnose alopecia areata (AA) or androgenic alopecia (also known as male pattern baldness/MPB). Note the word “alopecia” is just a scientific term for hair loss and is not a diagnosis.
Cortisone injections do not work for treating MPB or AA in all cases. I realize some doctors use cortisone injections for AA, but it is not a cure and doesn’t work to treat everyone with this condition.
Propecia is for treating MPB and you should not be taking it if you don’t have MPB.
You need to seek out a doctor who can explain these things to you in person, and give you a diagnosis and a treatment plan with your options laid out.
Taking Propecia (finasteride) without a confirmed diagnosis is not a good approach to your problem. I have written many times about having a microscopic exam of the hairs in different areas of the scalp (miniaturization study) and having your hair bulk analyzed. This system can determine if your hair on one part of your scalp has less fullness than another part of the scalp. In young men, this is the best way to make the diagnosis of male pattern baldness.
I’m not sure if my crown is thinning or not…. but its a strange shape…around 2inches circle in diameter with a bit of hair in the middle. The hair around it is quite dense, especially when wet, although when dry because it parts in all different directions it looks thinner.
Is this a normal crown pattern (to have hair in the middle and a circular thinner area around it)? I’ve had it for at least the last 5 years and i dont think its changed. But i also do have a slightly thinned hairline…maybe nw2-3.
I have seen this type of “donuting” in men who have had transplants in the crown years ago, and then had to face balding around the transplanted hair. The progression of their hair loss causes the crown to continue thinning, besides the permanently transplanted hair in the middle.
I do not recall seeing it in a natural balding pattern, though.
Do all people follow the same pattern of hair loss, meaning they start from the temples and progress in a specific way as Norwood classification describes or there are unique variation for each person? People from the Balkans as Greeks, Bulgarians, Romanians are considered Caucasian or for them there are different hair loss patterns as Norwood describes?
Thank you in advance
Every male, from anywhere in the world, can have a balding pattern that has been defined by Norwood. The Norwood patterns are not showing a progression of balding that one goes through, but they show the end stage of a process as Dr. Norwood described it.
For example, to develop a Norwood class 6 pattern, you will not start with a 2, then go to a 3, then a 4, and then a 5 pattern. Most men with a Norwood class 6 pattern start losing their hair with thinning in that pattern that precedes the end stage of the balding (the hair begins to thin all over in that pattern).