Dr. Rassman,

I’m 30 and I know a mature hairline ideally matures around 30 and hairlines can be asymmetrical. My question is can one side of your hairline (top corner not the temples) remain juvenile while the other side is a norwood 3. Have you seen or dealt with cases like this? One side of my hairline is still juvenile while the other has crept up to a norwood 3.

Thanks

If you know that hairlines can be asymmetrical, then I think you just answered your question. The issue is whether you’re happy with that hairline or not. If you’re not OK with it, you can have surgery to correct it. Otherwise, you can accept the asymmetrical hairline. Or the other side of your hairline may even itself out over time.

Hello, I was just wondering something. If I blow dry or brush all my hair back, my hairline looks very straight, like a juvenile hairline. But as I’m actually in the motion of brushing it back, the brush pushes the corners and temples back, which looks like the hairline is moving back at the corners. Is this normal when you brush your hair back? As I say, when it’s all back and left alone, it looks very straight.

Well, I would think that is why most people wake up in the morning and use their comb, brush, and any products to style their hair to make it look its best. There are certain haircuts or hair styles that will make you look thinner.

Hey, can stress trigger or quicken the progress of a mature hairline?

I really don’t know the answer to this question, but I would think that the answer is probably “no”. I believe a apoptosis (cell death) is a genetically triggered event.

Dear Dr Rassman,

Probably like most males in their 20s, I’m concerned about my hairline recession. As you say, it seems as though most men will experience some form of recession in these years whether it be balding or not.

At the moment I think it is maturing only, but very unevenly. Now, I have read posts on your blog saying that one corner moving up quicker than the other is common. Well, that is indeed happening, but the middle doesn’t seem to be moving much at all.

I first noticed some recession when I was about 19/20. Up until that point, and for a fair while longer afterwards, my hairline was extremely low and straight and so fortunately caused me no concern at all. When I first observed some change at that age, it wasn’t so much recession as that the corners were a little less dense. The left side was also less dense than the right.

I remember at that time I had experienced some diffuse shedding (telogen effluvium) and was worried I was balding. I consulted a hair specialist who didn’t seem to be aware of the ‘mature hairline’ concept and said that any recession is balding, but said I didn’t appear to be balding.

Since then I’ve been keeping a close eye on my hairline. I’d say only in the past 6 months (and I’m 23 now) has there been more marked change. The left side seems to be thinning out more completely to establish what I think (or hope) is its NW2 mature shape. I’d say the recession will be about 1.3inch from the corners. However, the middle part is still basically juvenile. The right is perhaps a NW1.5 and still more dense than the left. Is this normal?

The problem is, the angle created by a ‘juvenile’ center and a mature corner makes it look weird, more like balding, even though I think the corners are still within mature parameters. Can I reasonably expect the middle to move up by a couple of centimeters to form a less sharp, more straight and rounded angle? The problem is, it seems as though a lot of men bald by receding up through the corners, while maintaining the middle. It’s possible this may be caused by styling, i.e. the left is maturing more rapidly as I tend to comb/style from that side (using products/dryers) so perhaps the miniaturizing hairs are falling out quicker.

There is balding in my family, as both my older brothers started balding early (but at different rates), and my father also started balding in his late 30s/early 40s. However I seem to have escaped the late teens balding pattern (which struck my brothers, and they never had a really strong teenage hairline like me), and my father actually seemed to maintain a juvenile/NW1.5 hairline and his balding pattern came mainly at the crown, not the corners. My progression thus far does not seem to fit any of these patterns.

Is this encouraging? Or is it simply a matter of not being able to tell if you’re balding until you actually ARE? My grandfather on my father’s side never lost his hair and had a full head of hair when he passed away in his 80s, and my uncle on that side also never experienced MPB (though appears to possibly be experiencing some thinning at 60, but at that age I’d say he doesn’t have standard MPB).

I think my father on my mother’s side experienced balding in the 40s, but I don’t know much about my family on that side.

To summarize, it’d be a lot easier if hairlines stayed put! For sure, a solid juvenile hairline can look odd on a grown man, but NW1.5 seems the perfect compromise. Any comments on this would be greatly appreciated !

Thank you

The central part of the hairline has a different genetic code in many people. When it is small, I call it a persistent forelock, but when it is large, it takes on a different appearance, though it still has the genetic code of a persistent forelock. What you are describing is such a phenomenon. The corners mature, while the central portion of the hairline remains at the juvenile level. I just wrote an article on this topic for publication in the Journal of Facial Plastic Surgery, which is due out sometime this month.

What I think you should do is determine if you have balding on the top and/or crown of your head by getting a hair bulk analysis with the HairCheck instrument I have discussed previously on this site (see here). I suspect that your corners will continue to rise, at least, until the mature hairline areas are reached — assuming you do not have genetic balding.

This is probably a stupid question but your blog popped up in Google when I search the subject and figured you probably would know the answer. Does every guy have those “triangle points” or whatever they are called kinda by the eyes? I have seen some guys with a full head of hair without them and some guys that are slick bald on top but have really full points. Even some guys with just one. I never really noticed this before until someone at work was “lined up” at the barber and had crazy designs put in his. I don’t have them nor do I think I ever did (I kinda have some on one side I guess).

I am not bald by no means even confirmed by my dermatologist. Id ask them this question but I don’t go back in there for months for my check up. Anyway I know its probably stupid but I was just curious as I dont think any of the guys in my family have them, but I see all kinds of combos throughout the day. Maybe its just genetic makeup like hair color or fine vs coarse hair. Thanks for your time.

Actually, this is a good question. There are two areas where people have peaks in their hairline. Both men and women get them, because these peaks (temple peaks on the sides and widow’s peaks in the center of the hairline) evolve from a concave juvenile hairline that is present in all children of all races. By children, I am talking about those boys and girls ages 5-7. As these children age, there are changes that happen as the hairline recedes either upward (in the center) or back (on the sides). In many men and women, the temple peaks are often left behind as the hair from the juvenile hairlines recede.

Take a look at Ronald Reagan as a young man here. What you will see is an eroded central hairline with the mid-portion slightly lower than the sides of his hairline. Please note the temple peaks. Now if you take a look at a later photo of President Reagan, you will see that these prominent temple peaks are mostly gone. There are some men who retain their temple peaks no matter how bald they become. I have patients with a Norwood class 7 hair loss pattern who retained their temple peaks even after they lost the majority of their scalp hair.

So to answer your question, temple peaks evolve in many men from the young 5 year old hairline and they may keep it their entire lives, or lose part of it or even all of it as you age. I just wrote a paper on this very subject, which will be published this week in the Journal of Facial Plastic Surgery.