My Hair Loss Started at 16, but Has Progressed Extremely Slow

Extending on a point you made answering a recent question, about a man who believed his hairloss would progress to a norwood 6/7 because he began showing signs at the age of 19, how accurate would this be as a way of estimating? For example, if I am actually experiencing male pattern baldness, then I have had this same hairline since I was at least 16 (no accurate pictures before) which includes no more than a little lobsided recession.

My progression has been extremely slow, even at a young age when people believe hair loss is much more aggressive. Is it possible that, even past the mature hairline point, a sufferer of hairloss can just stop at any point, say a norwood 3, or just a little overall thinning, and keep what they have left for the rest of their lives?

Hair loss can be aggressive and then stop forever if that is your genetically determined pattern. You need to see a doctor to get that diagnosis done. The doctor can check your miniaturization (if it is present) and your hair bulk, and between the two of those you can get an idea if you are balding. At 16 years old, I do not believe that you can predict a Norwood class 6/7 pattern, nor have I seen that pattern in a 16 year old.

I think a lot of times people write wanting comfort in knowing that simple math will tell them how much time they have to enjoy their hair. Unfortunately, there’s no chart to refer to and I can’t even give an estimate of that time table without an examination of some sort. There’s no way to predict your final hair loss pattern just based on when you started losing hair.