[20M] Mature hairline or going bald? Crown thinning? Wide Part?

[LongHaired]

I've been growing my hair out for a while. It's coming along nicely, and it helps me hide my recessed temples. I'm probably about a NW2 right now. I know that sometimes a NW2 is a mature hairline but other times, it can be the first stage of male pattern baldness. I've read that the typical indicator of mature NW2 hairline is recession of the temples but with no crown thinning what-so-ever. However, if there is crown thinning, it's male pattern baldness.

I've always had a high hairline, and a widow's peak ever since I was little. Maybe it's just me noticing it now and getting freaked out, but I think the "wedge" has grown to a sharper angle than it was before. Also, I'm not sure if the part in my hair is indicative of thinning or if my crown is thinning. I've never grown my hair out before, so I was wondering if my part is normal or wide. I'm probably just over analyzing every little thing right now because I'm so stressed out and scared of having male pattern baldness.

Here are some pictures:

My part: http://imgur.com/rjAYOur

My crown: http://imgur.com/xw67CbN

My temples: http://imgur.com/qBEUmOK http://imgur.com/79m9Svt

Hairline: http://imgur.com/fgaB8L3

 

[davesmith420]

Your crown looks like a normal cowlick to me. Part is completely normal. Hair is overall very thick but I would worry about your hairline the most. It may stay like that for awhile or may continue to get "worse." I recommend going to a derm and get an opinion. At the most I think all you would need is Finasteride and Nizoral. Best of luck.

 

[wilson2]

Yeah density looks good. No signs of thinning to me yet. That hairline is definitely what I would be most concerned with as well. You mention that you always had a high hairline and widows peak. However as you can see your hairline forms a definite "M" shaped (so does mine welcome to the club :salut: ) where as a widows peak tends to form more of an elongated "V". I would book an appointment with a dermatologist. Do some research into finasteride and it's potential adverse effects. You could hop on a ketoconozole shampoo like tomorrow and not have to worry about any side effects and it has been clinically proven to help with hair loss and hair regrowth.

 

[TD500]

widows peak

Top/crown/Part looks normal, temples look recessed.

 

[mandatswack]

I'm kind of in the same boat as you are, if you want to check out my thread. It's really hard to tell if crown is thinning for people with longer hair. I've also always had a big forehead/high hairline but my hairline is starting to form a deep jagged M. I've already jumped on Nizoral 1% and probably going to get professional opinion soon then likely jump on Finasteride if male pattern baldness is confirmed.

 

[shookwun]

A mature hairline doesnt form U shape recession that's typical with male pattern baldness

id say you're in the beggining stages. Monitor closely.


Mature hairline

- - - Updated - - -

norwood 2
male pattern baldness

 

[davesmith420]

So you would say that a "mature hairline" is more of a V shape?

 

[shookwun]

Yes. male pattern baldness has those receding u shaped temples

 

[GoldenMane]

I'd say your part is a little wide, indicative of fine hair and or some thinning. Your parting is about the same as mine is now, and my hair (though somewhat recovered via finasteride and minoxidil) is still thinner than the back and sides. Compare your hair density on the top to that on the sides. Grab a square inc h of hair on the top and back and see which seems thicker. (you should be able to feel if the hair on top is thinner. Also try parting your hair on the back and sides and compare the parting to the top, that should give you a good gauge of the difference. Your temple points look to be thinning, your hairline is showing some forelock formation, still NW2 territory so not so bad but I'm almost certain you.

It's not really all that bad yet, but early intervention is key.

 

[Bigsby]

If you get on finasteride now, you'll be good (or have a much higher chance of being so). Don't worry about the sexual side effects, the chances of you getting them are about 2% at the highest. And if you do, once you stop you'll go back to normal. I bet most people here would have wished they started Finasteride a year or two earlier and probably didn't due to the hype and hysteria around its side effects. Just start taking it now and don't worry about your hair.

 

[Funkymonk1]

I'm not seeing much in the way of thinning but perhaps ther's some recession at the temples.

 

[LongHaired]

Alright, time for an update on this whole situation! In terms of hair loss, nothing has changed except for that I had to cut all my hair off for a job interview. My hair line is still the same, and I haven't been losing hair at all. No diffuse thinning or further frontal recession. However, I expressed the male pattern baldness situation with my parents, and we set up an appointment with my general practitioner since our insurance doesn't normally cover stuff like this unless we get a referral from the GP. I went to the appointment a few days ago, and the doctor said that it could be related to my Vitamin D deficiency or my thyroid has started acting up again since I had problems with that before. She was reluctant to give me a referral at first and wants me to get blood work done to confirm that everything is in working order. If the test results come back with everything in the norm, she'll give me the referral. Personally, I feel like it's male pattern baldness. It's just a gut feeling, but I understand that she's just trying to cover all the bases.

I went searching for my family's old photo albums to see what the history of male pattern baldness is like in my family. I was born with recessed temples, believe it or not. In my baby pictures and elementary school pictures, I had recessed temples. In middle school, I grew out a fringe, and I can't find a single picture of me without it. I assume that if my hair was recessed at 10, though, then it was probably the same throughout middle school and high school. I feel like I've recessed a bit more, but not by much. Again, though, it's just a feeling since I don't have any pictures with my hair pulled back to see what the hair line looked like in high school. After measuring my temples and hair line from the top most furrow in my brow, I've concluded that the middle of my hairline has only recessed 1/2". The temple recession is about 3/4" back from the middle of the hair line. The vertexes of my temples line up perfectly with my side burns and don't reach my ears.

Everyone on my father's side has black, straight hair. My dad is about a NW4 at 54. His brother (my uncle) is a NW4A (recessed hair line with no vertex thinning) at 55. His dad (my paternal grandfather) was a full blown NW6 at 66. His dad (my paternal great grandfather) was a NW4 when he died.

I inherited pretty much every single hair trait from my mother's side. Everyone on that side of the family has wavy, dark blonde hair like me. My mom has recessed temples like me, too! Didn't even realize that since she always wore her hair down all the time. Her father (my maternal grandfather) is a NW2.5 and he's 55. He receded back to where I was at about 21/22 and stayed there forever. I can't see any scalp through his hair, either. His father (my maternal great grandfather) is the same deal - NW2.5 when he died.

So yeah, I have some male pattern baldness in my family on my father's side, and I know that I can inherit that trait from either my mother or my father. I'm hoping that since I've gotten pretty much my entire hair genetics from my mother's side, that I also maybe won't go bald completely and will stay this way forever. But only time will tell.

 

[RD03]

I'll give you my go on it. My dermatologist tried to explain the whole thing about mature hairline vs. male pattern baldness last time I was there, so I'll tell you what he told me:

A mature hairline is something dermatologists use to describe caucasian people with minimal frontal hair loss, usually around a Norwood 2. It's VERY common for caucasians to develop a Norwood 2 and not bald any further and that is why they use this term, to avoid putting people on finasteride who might not bald further.

Signs of mature hairline is when a person is only balding on the frontal area, and has no miniaturization behind the hairline, but only at the very edges of the hairline.

That's what he told me, if it's true or not I don't know.

 

[kjdiz]

Very similar to mine, I'll take some advice from the comments.