Miniaturization Study and What Is It Supposed To Look Like? Am I Balding?

You said before it’s normal for non-balding men to have around 10% miniaturization on any part of their scalp.

Could take a look at these photos to help those of us who perform our own miniaturization mapping what that looks like.

Is it normal for hairs to be different thickness like this? Are the lighter colored hair in an earlier stage of growth compared to the darker thicker hairs? Could the lighter hair actually be greying in process (I already have a few grey hairs in odd places)?

Photo 1: Left permanent side above ear.

Photo 2: Right permanent side above ear.

Photo 3: Top of head (middle).

I am 25 years old, with Norwood 2 trying to figure out if my hairline is maturing or I am going bald.

In general it is normal to have what appears to be 20% of miniaturized hairs on a normal person’s scalp. Some of these finer hair are actually vellus hairs but from a microscopic view they are shorter than regular normal hairs but also appear miniaturized. There can be variations and ambiguous interpretation when the hairs are naturally fine in texture or there are different colored hairs in the mix (grey, blond, brown). The photos show similar hair thickness on the left and right and it may be that your naturally fine can be differentiated from normal hair thickness in you. Hairs on top look normal as well. I didn’t see much miniaturization on any of the photos.

One other way to diagnose very early balding that can not be seen when hair loss is less than 30%, is to have your doctor perform a bulk measurement with an instrument called HAIRCHECK. This instrument will tell you if your hair bulk has been reduced and 99% of the time any reduction is due to genetic balding in the male.

Finally, we don’t diagnose hair line patterns here on BaldingBlog. If you are worried about hair loss please see a doctor.