I’m 18 and My Crown is Thinning, but My Hairline is Totally Fine

First of all I would like to thank all the contributors to this site which has been really informative and has helped me to understand baldness better. However, I am still unsure about my own balding. Firstly I am an 18 year old male and I have noticed that my hair has been thinning from the crown since I turned 17 or so. What perplexes me is that my hair line is quite consistent, the thinning is occurring in the crown area only.

So I have two questions. What Norwood pattern would this qualify as since the hair line is still consistent? And is it possible that perhaps this is unnatural balding? My barber suggested that my hair loss might be from excessive dandruff that has been present for quite a while but haven’t been able to quite cure despite my best efforts. I should also note that my father and paternal grand-father are both bald especially my father who at the age of 41 has very little hair left.

If you see a doctor, you can get a definitive diagnosis concerning if you are balding or not. Balding men will have miniaturization of hair and reduced bulk measurements, so the diagnosis is scientific as well as clinical. Crown balding with a strong hairline isn’t “unnatural”, and dandruff does not cause hair loss like your barber suggested.

The good news is that the drug Propecia (finasteride) works well in crown balding in young men, so if the diagnosis is made you will most likely reverse the hair loss process in the crown.