My Hair Is Growing Slower — Is This a Sign of MPB?

Hey Doc,
I’m a 21 year old white male, my father is 42 and has a full head of hair. I know my mom’s father was balding but only met him in his 50’s and didn’t know when it began. I’ve noticed a decline in the thickness of my hair. There’s no balding at the crown but there is thinning and receding at the hairline. I’ve always had a naturally high hairline, but I do notice my hair used to grow quicker and be thicker all around. At my age is this a sure sign of MPB? Or can you experience these effects without having the gene? Thank you

Hair that is miniaturizing grows at a slower rate and the more miniaturized it is, the less it grows… until it eventually just stops growing. For those people who miniaturize all of the hairline, for example, their hair will not grow at all and sometimes it takes up to a year to fall out completely. Some men will change the thickness of their hair as they go from childhood into adulthood. The way you tell the difference between changes in hair thickness and miniaturization as an early sign of balding is to:

1. Use a micrometer to measure the thickness of your hair in the back of your head and at different areas in the front and top.
2. Have your hair mapped out for miniaturization to see if there are differences between the hairs in any one area which reflect miniaturization.

This way you will know what is happening.