My Doctor Did a Pull Test and Said I Didn’t Have TE or MPB, But I Can See My Crown Shedding!

Hello,
I am wondering if I am beginning to undergo male pattern baldness. I am 29 years old and have never noticed any hair loss until recently. I have been shedding like crazy, and can see my scalp, mainly around the top of my head where the hair “swirls” around my part.

I saw a dermatologist and he said he didn’t think it was male pattern baldness (there is no significant recession around the front of my hairline…I have been looking at old pictures and feel like there has maybe been a minimal amount in the past year…hard to really say for sure). He did a pull test and said it was not telogen effluvium, unless it was the earliest stages. The increased shedding started a little over a week ago. I’m kind of depressed over this.

I have noticed that some of the hair that has come out is of the finer variety and I feel like my head as a whole has finer hair than it did say a year ago, but once again since I don’t have any hair samples from then to compare it to, I can’t say for sure. The hair around the swirl has taken on a more light colored tone than that on the rest of my head. I can send pictures if you would like.

A photo alone is not likely going to help me determine what your hair loss is, especially after a doctor you saw in person stated you likely do not have genetic balding. You are more than welcome to send us a photo for all the readers to comment, or visit our BaldingForum.com site and post photos there. You could also just get a second opinion from another local doctor.

Otherwise you can make an appointment to see me at my office in Los Angeles for an in-person, private consultation. At that consultation, I will look for miniaturization on your scalp hair and I will perform bulk analysis of your hair in various parts of your scalp.

When the thinning that precedes balding occurs, the bulk of the hair in the impacted area has hairs that are thinner than the hair from the back and sides of the head. The pattern of this thinning hair is measurable and that will point to the diagnosis of male pattern baldness. You need to have these tests, and have them done in the hands of an expert hair doctor.