My Dermatologist Said He Can’t Tell If I Have MPB (with Photos)
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.
Looks like a maturing hairline to me but I guess you’d need an examination to know for sure. A lot of dermatologists aren’t really experts in MPB and I know plenty of guys with a normal maturing hairline who go on propecia who probably didn’t need it.
At 19 though you’re likely to have a maturing hairline regardless of whether you’re balding or not – although the photos aren’t great they seem to show a lot of what Dr Rassman has qualified as a non balding mature hairline on others. But I’d see a proper hair surgeon for a real assessment. That’s no reason to ignore treatment for another condition though. It’s not like you have to
Treat only one.
Just what Paul said…but from the naked eye you seem to have great hair just a steep mature hairline like Johnny Depp. Mature hairlines vary among men….some keep straight lines others a little corner recession and some like you and me have pronounced mature hairlines. Although unfortunately for me I have early frontal hair loss too :(
Thanks for the comments
I have followed the doctor treatment but the dermatitis seems to come and go. The dermatologist didn’t perform any analysis or miniaturization test, just noticed I had dermatitis and told me to cure that before examining my hair further.
I think the doctor beliefs that dermatitis might cause some hairloss. I know there’s no cure for hairloss but if indeed I’m losing hair, the sooner I’m on some kind of medication to retain it, the better
I don’t think dermatitis is connected to male pattern baldness. It may cause some sort of temporary loss (the doctor may be able to answer that specifically) but male pattern loss is hormonal and genetically determined.
But as we’ve said in our replies your hairline currently looks like a maturing hairline rather than male pattern hairloss. Have a read on the excellent post about a mature hairline on this site – if it is simply a normal mature hairline you won’t need medication. Just from your pictures it doesn’t appear you have any eroding of the hairline other than the normal M curve of a matured hairline.
That said I still stick by my original comment – many derms aren’t really trained or interested in specific male pattern hairloss. If you want a proper decision on whether it’s just a mature hairline or something more that might benefit from propecia etc – find your best rated local hair surgeon. Most will waive the first visit fee or at least charge a minimal amount for what is at least a professional opinion.
Thats what my hair line looks like. Shame because i have awesome Hair armpit length. Did your hairline recede more after this? I just turned 20 and my hairline has definitely done some “maturing and thinning”