I’m 25 Years Old and Wondering If My Hairline Matured? (with Photos)

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /,

Hello,

I’m 25 years old. Writing to determine if this appears to be MPB or a maturing hairline. Pictures with green walls are current.

I have also attached an image from April 2012, 2009 (black button down shirt) & 2005 (light blue shirt) in an attempt to show if there is or is not any progression since juvenile hair line.

My haircut is now more razor edged, not sure if this is contributing to my concerns. I believe I’m in pretty good shape hair line wise at 25, but will further pursue this if you feel MPB could be the case.

If you would like me to take clearer pictures for the use on the website let me know. I realize it is hard to tell without properly examining, any advice is appreciated.

Thank you

Click the photos to enlarge:

 

The photos are a little blurry, but it appears that your hairline is just maturing. I didn’t post the photos from 2005 or 2009, because they were way too small for the site… but from 2005 to 2009, there did appear to be some hairline maturation. And now in 2013, your hairline appears to have continued to mature. If it is just maturation, that is normal.

There’s no way for me to know just by the photos if your hair is miniaturizing elsewhere on your scalp, though. You would need to have an in-person examination to determine that. But overall, your hairline appears strong and based on the photos (see above), I don’t see a concern.

Tags: hairline, hairloss, hair loss

Worried About My Hairline, And I Don’t Have Local Access to a Hair Doctor (with Photos)

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /, ,

Hi,
I would greatly appreciate some feedback regarding my frontal hairline. It appears that my corners have thinned/ receded during the last couple years. I am 23 years old male. I’m concerned about my hair line at the moment and questioning what would be an appropriate approach to take. Would Propecia and Rogaine be a smart idea? I currently live in an area which does not have local access to a physician regarding hair loss, although this is something I’m looking into. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Click the photos to enlarge:

 

It does appear that you are experiencing early hair loss with a Norwood class 3 pattern showing at this time. There is erosion of the corner hairline with thinning present. At your age, the best treatment would be finasteride (Propecia or the generic form of it) as it would be likely to stop the process. Your family doctor can prescribe finasteride 5mg to you and then you would cut them into quarters and take 1/4 per day.

Tags: hairline, hair loss, hairloss

I’m 17 Years Old and Wondering If My Hairline Is Receding (With Photos)

/by William Rassman, M.D./2 /,

Dear Dr.Rassman,

I am 17 years old and I have started to worry about my hair line. The corners + the center of the hairline looks sharper than before. When I pull my hair back, the frontal hairs are actually smaller and thinner. I also have not seen any significant hair loss, so this is confusing me. According to forums like hairlosshelp.com, I am a Norwood 3 and my hairline is indeed receding.

What I would like is your opinion judging by some photos. I have no earlier ones to compare it to, which is unlucky.

Click the photos to enlarge:

 

We’ve been getting a lot of emails like this from teenagers asking about their hair loss. I’ll do my best to answer some of them here, but for everyone else, post your photos to BaldingForum.com, and you can get feedback from other members of the site. Keep in mind that there is only so much I can offer advice wise without an in-person examination.

Your pattern shows a Norwood Class 3 pattern. This is balding, as shown, when you pull your hair back. The corners have risen higher than a maturing hairline. You’re 17 years old, so you should get a parent involved and see a doctor if you’re concerned.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, hairline, teenager

My Dermatologist Said He Can’t Tell If I Have MPB (with Photos)

/by William Rassman, M.D./5 /,

Doc

I’m 19 year old and I’m afraid I’m losing hair, even though my father has a head full of hair, because of the irregularity of my hairline and recession at the temple.

I’ve consulted a dermatologist that said I have seborrhoeic dermatitis and that he can’t tell whether I’ve male pattern baldness, thinning or receding hairline before my dermatitis is cured but even using the foam, nizoral and pills he prescribed I still have dermatitis and I’m afraid I’m wasting time when I could be curing my hairloss.

I really want to know what do you think? Do I have a receding hairline and hairloss?

I took these pictures this morning, feel free to publish them. Thanks

Click the photos to enlarge:

 

I will post your photos for the readers that may like to comment, but if a doctor examined you in person and couldn’t diagnose genetic male pattern baldness, I don’t know how we could be expected to provide a diagnosis just based on photos. It does appear that you may have some hairline recession, but you’d need your hair bulk analyzed and scalp mapped for miniaturization in order for me to be able to know if you’re thinning in various areas of the scalp. The photos don’t show me that.

I am not sure why you would not want to follow the recommendation from your doctor, who gave you a treatment plan. Did you use the medications he recommended for the length of time he prescribed? If you feel your doctor is wrong with the diagnosis, then you should seek another doctor for a second opinion. Treating seborrhoeic dermatitis wouldn’t be a waste of time, though.

And just to be clear, there isn’t a cure for hair loss.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, hairline, dermatitis

Is Finasteride Growing Black Vellus Hairs at My Hairline? (With Photos)

/by William Rassman, M.D./1 /, ,

Hi Doc,

I’m 22-years-old and have been on Finasteride for a little over a year. I had my hair properly examined 4 months ago, and the doctor confirmed that Finasteride has increased my hair density significantly.

I just noticed little black hairs on my hairline. I’m wondering what they are? I don’t believe I had these hairs when I started treatment. Could these be miniaturized hairs that may eventually turn into terminal hairs? They seem a little dark to be vellus?

Thanks

P.S. You’re welcome to use these pictures on your blog.

Click the photos to enlarge:

 

Finasteride 1mg doesn’t usually regrow the frontal hairline or vellus hairs. With that said, everyone has vellus hairs at the hairline, so perhaps you are just noticing them for the first time as you are paying more attention to it. The only real way to tell is if you have a BEFORE photo of the same are. If your doctor does bulk measurements on your hair, it would determine if there is a reduction of hair mass, usually caused by genetic balding.

Tags: hair growth, finasteride, propecia, hairline

I’m 22 Years Old With a Great Hairline, but Thinning At the Top! (with Photo)

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /,

Hi! I’m 22 years old and am about to turn 23 and am very concerned about some hair loss/balding. What is most frightening is how sudden this is. Is all hair loss a sign of balding or can hair loss happen suddenly due to external factors?

While doing research on balding, I saw the pattern charts. I don’t seem to be following any pattern, but the thinning of my hair is certainly noticeable to me. My friends don’t see it yet, but I can at least style it for now to hide any thinning.

I’m seeing thinning at the top of my head… My hairlines have NOT receded and I am not experiencing any loss of hair on the sides. Do you have a guess as to what pattern this could be? Do you think it’s balding or temporary? Is there anything I can do to slow or stop it?

22 seems like a really young age to lose hair :/ especially for someone who aspires to work in the entertainment industry..

Thanks for any help or advice

Click the photo to enlarge.

 

We generally think that men recede front to back and with the presentations of the Norwood classifications these seems to be the case; however, I do see people maintain strong frontal hairlines and lose hair behind it. This is why when we examine a patient we test for hair bulk behind the hairline and in the crown. Often, to my surprise, I see loss of bulk in the top and/or in the crown, even when it does not appear deficient with my naked eye.

If you take a person with medium weight dark brown or black hair that has a loss of 50% of the hairs in the top and crown, you likely will not be able to tell that there is hair loss. If the bulk analysis shows hair loss in the top and crown, that is a good reason for taking finasteride and it will often control it. By taking two measurements about a year apart, you will know for sure if the hair loss continues, is stabilized, or if it reverses.

At 22 years old, it isn’t abnormal to see hair loss if you have the genetics for it. But I don’t have any idea if this is genetic balding, disease, diet, stress, etc. You need to have an examination to hopefully determine what is going on with your loss and try to get it under control. Knowing what is going on allows you to be proactive in what happens to you.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, thinning

Great Hairline, Thin Top and Crown, Low on Donor Hair (with Photos)

/by William Rassman, M.D./9 /, , ,

This patient had 4608 grafts. As you can see from his photos below, the frontal area is great, but the top and crown are lightly covered. He lost much of the original hair in the top and crown from the balding process and as the transplant process was going on over a 10 year period in three sessions.

I am posting these photos to show that frontal hair can go a long way to making a balding man look fuller. We will still do one more surgery on him to fill in areas that need more density and then offer him Scalp Micropigmentation (SMP) to finish the creation of the fullness he wants.

Click the photos to enlarge:

 

Tags: hair transplant, thinning hair, donor area, hairloss, hair loss, photos

I’m 19 and Worried I’ve Got a Mature Hairline (with Photos)

/by William Rassman, M.D./1 /,

Hello.

I am 19 years old and i send this message because i am very afraid that i am really fast balding. But i heard about a mature hairline, and it can be normal for man/boys around my age to get this kind of hairline. Can you please check out the pictures i send and also uploaded and posted in this message. Because i really want to know what you think… A mature hairline or just balding? If it is a mature hairline im reassured because i dont care if i go bald in 10/20 years but not just in my 20’s..

I hope you understood this message because my English is not that great. ( Im Dutch )

Here are the photos (click to enlarge):

 

Your English is just fine, but your photos are unfortunately pretty bad for me to be able to evaluate (the lighting is poor and the images aren’t sharp). From what I can gather from the pictures, your hairline appears to be fine and it is touching the upper crease of your furrowed brow. This would suggest that you have retained your juvenile hairline (better pictures would be needed to confirm this). Mature hairlines do occur at 19 years old, but that would be unusual. There’s no way for me to tell if it’ll go beyond the mature hairline or just stop right there, though.

Tags: hairline, mature hairline, photos

Do I Have a Mature Hairline? (with Photos)

/by William Rassman, M.D./5 /,

Would this classify as a Mature Hairline? I have always had a fairly high hairline and am worried about the fact that the hairline is rounded more. I’m curious because I don’t see many pictures with this U shaped hairline. I am a 21 male. My vertex has no signs of thinning and depending on how I put my hair it looks worse than others. You can use these pictures on your site.

Thanks for allowing us to post these. Click the photos to enlarge.

 

Based on the photos, it looks like your corner recession is deeper than just a mature hairline. At 21 years old it’s possible that this is early hair loss, but I have no way to track the progression of your loss just by looking at some grainy photos taken under poor lighting. It’s also entirely possible that this is where your hair loss ends, or it could progress further. That’s where getting a doctor involved would make sense, so that you can quantify what you’re seeing.

So if you’re concerned, see a doctor for an in-person examination and get some baseline numbers in the form of hair bulk analysis.

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, hairline, photos

Where Does the Hairline Belong?

/by William Rassman, M.D./2 /, ,

There is an art and a science for placing hairlines. The normal midpoint of a mature male hairline lies 1.5-2cm above the highest crease of the furrowed brow. If you go to a mirror and lift your brow, you will see two things:

  1. Where the hairline was when you were 8 years old (it hugs the crease)
  2. By moving up 1.5-2cm above the crease, you will see where the central point of your hairline belongs

Some people do not raise their hairline to the 2cm point with a transplant, as they may go upward only 1cm as their hairline matures. But placing the hairline in the proper position is critical when the transplant is done and it is critical in your understanding of what constitutes balding versus the changes associated with a maturing hairline (which is not balding).

Here’s a patient’s hairline at 17 years old (left), and the same man at age 30 (right). Click the photos to enlarge:

 

My challenge was to help him select the proper location for his new hairline. I used the 1.5-2cm rule, and he was happy with what we drew. The photo here is just used to point out the change in his hairline over 13 years (an almost juvenile hairline to a balding Norwood Class 3 pattern). The actual hairline he chose was between the two lines (juvenile hairline and the highest receding point of his leading frontal edge). I could not help but wonder if he had taken Propecia when his hair loss began, would he have lost this much hair?

Read more

Is My Hairline Normal for an 18 Year Old (With Photos)

/by William Rassman, M.D./6 /,

I am a 18 year old male. My dad is 50 with somewhere between a Norwood III and IV. My grandpa is probably a IV, but I doubt V because he has a fair amount of hair. I am wondering if my hairline is normal for my age? What about the corners? I’m sorry if the pictures aren’t decent enough.

You may publish my photos.

 

I guess we can let the readers comment. If you want to setup a consultation in our office, please call us at (800) NEW-HAIR. In a consultation (one-on-one with a physician), you can have your hair evaluated for  early signs of hair loss with miniaturization(examination with a trichoscope) ,and bulk measurements (with the HAIRCHECK instrument: https://baldingblog.com/haircheck-test-how-it-is-done-video/). The key is to find out if you are in the beginning of the balding process. From these photos, there is no way to tell and we need objective tests to find out. Doctors who specialize in this field have these instruments and can get these tests done on you.

Tags: hairline, hairloss, hair loss, photos

Eyebrow Transplant of 189 Grafts (with Photos)

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /,

Hi doctors,
Are eyebrow transplants something that men have done? My eyebrows are not that thin but I am very particular about them, border line obsessive. Can I have maybe a couple hundred grafts done just to fill them in around the edges? Is this something that looks good when all is said and done?

Yes, we’ve transplanted the eyebrows of many men. I have a patient that sounds like what you’re describing, with great looking results that strengthened the overall brow by filling in the edges (and thankfully he’s given me permission to share his photos below).

This man had a eyebrow transplant procedure of 189 grafts about two years ago.

Before (with lines drawn in):

 

After (189 grafts in 1 procedure):

 

Tags: hair transplant, hairloss, hair loss, photos

Should I Have a Transplant Into My Deep Corner Recession? (with Photo)

/by William Rassman, M.D./2 /,

Hi doctor, I’m 27 and been using propecia for 4 months.. My hair is strong and feeling thicker..

I’m wondering however, would getting a HT on the front edges to match the front middle be a good idea in your opinion?

Thank you for your patience and understanding

Click the photo to enlarge.

 

Your photo shows more balding than just mild corner hair loss, the type of loss that we often transplant. But do you want a hair transplant? I can’t tell you if you’re a surgical candidate just by looking at one photo and I can’t say if it’s a good idea for you to have surgery, since it’s a decision you’re going to have to make. It’s a cosmetic procedure, and I can only advise patients on their realistic expectations with guidelines. Nobody needs a hair transplant surgery.

I do not provide medical or surgical recommendations on BaldingBlog, and it’s best if you set up a private consultation with us (over the phone will work). You can call my office at (310) 553-9113 if you’re interested.

Tags: hair transplant, hairline, hairloss, hair loss

Do I Have Cobblestoning In the Recipient Area 10 Weeks After FUE Surgery? (with Photos)

/by William Rassman, M.D./0 /, ,

Hi Dr,

I had an FUE surgery performed around 10 weeks ago in Europe. However, my hair transplant Dr has not been very helpful in post-patient care. Because of my concerns, I have since become quite depressed and worried about the future success of the transplant.

So I now I hope you can assist me, being on the other side of the world, there are few people here available that could help (I am from Australia). Specifically, do you think I have cobblestoning in my recipient area? Or a nasty case of follicultis? I have sensitive skin and it has stayed pink since surgery, so I was hoping you could address some of my concerns through the attached images.

If so, what recommendations could you make to removing the redness and/or follicultus/red dots?

Also, are the little pits around the hairs normal that are trying to break out? Do these go away with time? There are some dark hairs breaking through and lots of light blonde ones too.

Thank you very much for your help. Feel free to use my pictures.

Thanks

 

If you have issues after a hair transplant surgery (or any surgery) you need to follow up with your doctor/surgeon. In your case, you traveled to another continent for your surgery, but you should be able to email some photos to your doctor and speak with him/her over the phone. It’s unfortunate that your doctor hasn’t been helpful to you after your procedure.

In general, redness and folliculitis can develop with any hair transplant surgery and sometimes it just needs a good physician follow-up. This may involve something as simple as warm compresses, to something like a course of antibiotics. The reddened areas can persist for a few months on rare occasions.

I suspect you may be overreacting, but to find out exactly what is going on, an examination by a doctor is your best bet. You can always get a second opinion (visit the physician search at ISHRS.org for other doctors in Australia).

Tags: hairloss, hair loss, hair transplant, aftercare, redness, photos

Patient Results – Restored Crown After 1870 Grafts (with Photos)

/by William Rassman, M.D./4 /,

This patient stopped by to show me the results from his crown transplant a couple years ago. He is completely thrilled with the results, which are from the 1870 grafts he received in one session.

He liked the results so much that he started considering having surgery in an early mature hairline (he is 32 years old). I suggested that he hold off on any surgery to his hairline for a while, since it’s not bothering him much yet. Chasing a maturing hairline with transplants is never a good idea because in my opinion, this is a normal hairline for a man who is not balding.

But in any case, his crown looks much fuller now and he couldn’t be more pleased! Click the photos to enlarge.

Before (on left)  //  After (on right)

 

Update: A reader pointed out that we previously posted this patient last year (oops) — here. I corrected some info about the patient’s age and graft count. The after photo is more current on this post though.

Tags: hair transplant, hairloss, hair loss, photos