You mentioned one time in a post that it is common for on side of a balding hairline to recede faster than the other. Is this also common in a hairline that is just maturing? The right side of my hairline seems to have been stable for a while now, but the left side is catching up.
Yes, it is very common to have one side recede faster than the other when forming mature hairline. But rest assured (as you are starting to notice)… the other side usually catches up.
Hi, I read your “Juvenile vs Mature Hairline” article I found it very informing. However, I am unable to wrinkle my forehead. Is there any other way to check if I’m getting a mature hairline or actually balding. I’m 19 by the way.
P. S. Is there a DIY way to identify miniturized hairs?
Yes, you can also measure the distance from the tip of your chin to the tip of your nose (#1). Knowing that distance, you can look between your eyes at the top of the nose (in the hollow between your eyes) and go up to the forehead using the measurement you got in #1. That usually points to the location of the mid-line lowest point for the mature hairline. Note in the image at right, the white and red lines are the same length.
When I look to determine the mature hairline in my male patients, I usually do both measurements. The wrinkled brow is 100%, while the alternative measurement method discussed above usually runs an accuracy of about 90%.
As for mapping your own scalp for miniaturization, we wrote a 3 part series about that.
I am aware of the idea that creasing your forehead will show you exactly where your hairline was when you were younger, but I am sure this isn’t the case for me. I am 18 and have some recession which seems to be stable (maybe a mature hairline) and may have been there way before male pattern balding can even begin to manifest itself. When I crease my forehead, the highest crease falls two inches below my hairline, but looking pictures from my 11th birthday, my hairline, at least the centre, definitely was not noticeably lower than it is now. Is there any chance this theory is not entirely true for everybody?
The top most wrinkle crease we talk about is just a rule of thumb that generally holds true on most men. Without seeing your 11 year old hairline with a wrinkled brow, one can not be sure of anatomical points of reference. Of course, not everybody is the same. Some people naturally have a very high hairline or a very low hairline.
We are all special, each and every one of us!
Hi Doctor,
I’ve been stressing a bit lately about my hairline. I’ve read that the hairline “matures” anywhere from the age of 17 – 29. My hair began to recede to a nw2 – nw2.5 at around the age of 17. I am 21 now and I haven’t encountered any further loss. The reason why I’m stressing I believe is, I’ve read somewhere that males encounter hair loss from the age of 21 mainly. Since it began to recede (4 years ago), it hasn’t moved one bit. The history of hair loss in my family is very minimal. My maternal grandfather was a nw4, which wasn’t entirely bald.
My dad and paternal grandfather have no hair loss what so ever. However looking at my paternal grandfathers hairline and my dads, it looks like my hairline resembles theirs exactly! My paternal grandfather and dad are a nw2.5 – nw3, with very sharp hair, with a widows peak. I have the exact same recession, with sharp hair, around a nw2.5. Is it possible form your understanding that I may keep this hairline for good?
Thanks doc.
I couldn’t say for sure if you’ll keep the hairline you currently have, but if your family line shows strong hairlines, you might luck out. The hair loss genes can come from either the paternal or maternal side, so you’re not completely out of the woods. There’s really no way for me to know for sure if you’ll keep that hairline forever, though.
What Norwood level would you place Gavin Rossdale at?
Based on some photos I found (here and here), he’s maybe a Norwood 2. Considering Gavin Rossdale is 45 years old, I wouldn’t expect his strong hairline or pronounced widow’s peak to move.
But you don’t need me to necessarily judge a person’s hairline. What do you think?
Just would like to share with everyone a recent post by Wayne Rooney (professional soccer player with Manchester United) who recently admitted to a hair transplant procedure in the British Daily Mail
The FUE procedure shows a radical improvement in terms of density in the photos immediately after the procedure. I can only assume that the results with improve dramatically in the months to come. Based on the cost posted ($30,000 pounds), I would assume that 4000 grafts were transplanted. I thought that 2000 was a realistic number based on FUE. Wesley Sneijder (another professional soccer player with Inter Milan in Italy), also has the procedure done last year. For men in their twenties, FUE would appear to be the way to go if you can afford it. Especially if you like to keep your hair short as they do. Anyway, just thought that this would be an interesting story to share with your followers. Thanks for all your great and informative work!
I’ve seen quite a bit in the news about Wayne Rooney, and I must admit I had no idea who he was before learning he had a hair transplant. I don’t follow soccer. The hairline shown in the photo he posted looks like it was placed high and perfectly rounded with a few little zig-zags to break it up, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see once the results grow out.
Snippet from the article:
He’s long been accused of being follicularly challenged – and Jude Law’s hair line definitely appeared to be all at sea on a beach break in Cannes yesterday.
The 38-year-old Sherlock Holmes star is having some time off on a well-earned break after being a judge at the city’s legendary film festival – but it appears that his hair has done a bunk too.
It appears his locks have receded all the way back to his crown with just a small tufty island marooned on the front half of his scalp.
Read the rest — Jude Law reveals dramatic bald patch on the beach at Cannes
We’ve written before about Jude Law’s forelock, but I have no way to really know if his hair has continued to recede or someone just happened to take a photo of him when his hair wasn’t styled to hide the existing loss.
How common is it for men to have obvious asymmetrical hairloss at the start of balding?
My hairline was deadly straight, however now I have just one side that is minaturising about 2cm behind at the corner for about a year now, and getting gradually worse. The other side is still fine and the hair is still thick all the way to the edge. This is painfully obvious if I brush my hair back, so I have to brush forward and slightly to the side to cover it. How often do you see something like this?
I’m thinking about going on finasteride but wondering whether you usually wait for both sides to begin minaturisation, as at the moment this doesnt look likely any time soon.
Thank you
It is very common to have asymmetry of the hairline, which often gets more pronounced as the balding increases. But don’t be too concerned about things being uneven… the other side usually catches up!
You’ll need to talk to your doctor about whether you should be on finasteride. Generally for hair transplant surgery, we don’t necessarily need to wait until both side are equal.
Hi there.
If someone was born with receded corners does it mean his hairline will not mature?
The hairline you have at birth isn’t an indicator of where your hairline will go as you age.
We are all born looking different — rounded corners (Bill Clinton), low hairlines (Sean Penn), etc. These can be changed with a good hair transplant doctor if you do not like it. Receded hairlines generally refer to maturing hairlines in many men or early frontal balding in others, but I generally do not like changing these in very young men (under 26 years old) as you may continue to lose hair as you get older.
Hello, Dr. Rassman. Why don’t you consider the small recession into the “mature hairline” to be hair loss? DHT causes this change, just like it causes the balding process. And intriguingly, the Dominican Republic pseudo-hermaphrodites did not show any amount of hairline recession into what you consider a “mature hairline.”
I would think if you are losing hair it could be considered “hair loss”, but the key is the cause of the hair loss, such as:
I don’t think labeling something is that important. The important thing is looking at the big picture and understanding what is going on. The label “mature hairline” is qualified for a physiologic hair loss that is present in a substantial number of men who do not show any patterned balding.
do asians get a mature hairline? If yes. How does it then look like?
Everybody goes through some form of maturation of their hairline. It is not limited to race or ethnicity. It looks like any maturing hairline. In general, the hairline may recede about one fingerbreadth back, but the Asian hairline is flatter than the Caucasian hairline.
The patient photos shown here are of an Asian man in his 30s.
I know the subject of celebrity hairlines is somewhat like beating a dead horse, but I have a new one.
Would you say that actor Christopher Pine has a normal mature hairline? (The actor who played Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek Movie). My hairline looks a lot like his and so I am curious.
Based on the photos I’ve seen (the image to the right and a couple from Google Image Search — here and here), I’d say that Chris Pine is not balding, nor does he have a mature hairline. I suspect this is probably the same hairline he had when he was 12 years old.
Hi Doc, I have a question about the hairline maturation process. I’ve heard mixed things and I’m a little bit confused. Does the (non-balding) maturation process occur with or without miniaturization? Or can it be either/or? You have suggested that the hairs just fall out, but I’ve also read from you that they miniaturize. Can you please shed some light on this for me?
When you age from the teenage years to your twenties, your hair can recede a bit. This does not mean you are balding and you probably do not go through the miniaturization process. How this happens is not an exact science.
I would say your very front hairs will thin out over time as it miniaturizes and falls out if you have the balding process. In many of the young men who have come to see me and who appear to be developing a mature hairline let’s say half way up to the mature position, I rarely see miniaturization… while those men who eventually develop male pattern baldness will show miniaturization in the leading edge of the hairline.
The location of the mature hairline can be seen here.
I wonder how persistent the forelock is. My father – 55 now, has a receded hairline (V) shaped. It has thinned in the frontal region in recent years, but no real crown thinning.
My question: I’m 24, and already have a deep V shaped hairline, but I wonder how permanent it will remain? Or, whether the forelock can be expected to disappear as well.
Also, what extend does baldness proceed? Who makes it to a norwood 7 pattern?
You need a good diagnosis, including miniaturization mapping and a solid measurement of the hair bulk in the top and crown of your head. The same can be done for the forelock to let you know if you are actually losing hair in the forelock now. As a generality, if the forelock remains strong by the time you are 30 years old, then you may keep it into the years to come. As for percentages of men that make it to the advanced balding stages, see here.
At 24 years old, you need good metrics that should be repeated every year, and with what you report (your deep V hairline) you should consider finasteride. Talk to your doctor, as it is a prescription medication.
A prominent HT doctor recommends using transplanted nape hair at the hair line to soften the look of the hair transplant and make it look more natural. This seems to make sense as often hair transplants look like the hair strands are too thick where transplanted and not natural. You mentioned that nape hair is not permament. Does this mean it might fall out over time and even if it does is it still worth it for the cosmetic effect in creating a more natural hairline?
I recently saw a patient in my office who asked me this same question and asked about the doctor. In case you are the same person, my answer was as you correctly state — nape of the neck hairs are not permanent. Some patients actually come to have hair transplants to the nape of the neck, as they are completely bald from below the ear level.
Thus, your nape of the neck hairs that are transplanted elsewhere may fall out over time and it is not worth the surgery. More importantly, even with the FUE technique there will be scarring that may show at the neck with white pale dots if the nape hair falls out over time. If you are considering this type of surgery I would ask that doctor if you can meet with a patient who has had it done to see what it looks like. When the donor area is from the nape of the neck with strip surgery, most of the time the scars are prominent and wide. Scars like these are not amenable to repairs and even with FUEs placed into them, they can not really look normal.
If you want a softer hairline, regular donor hair should be sufficient if done right with single follicles that are finer and grow naturally that way. If the staff and the doctor are good, they will pick out the smaller caliber single follicles for the very front.