Androgenic Alopecia in females is weird.

[AnxiousAndy]

As we understand it Androgenic Alopecia has the same underlying causes for both men and women. However, women typically do not experience the pattern but rather diffusion and thinning of the middle part.. That is until you add testosterone into the mix, then suddenly the woman or transgender man begins to experience the infamous M shaped recession and crown thinning. Why would that be? I've always found that very odd, given the mechanism regardless of testosterone exposure is the same. Any ideas?

 

[Ĺawton]

As we understand it Androgenic Alopecia has the same underlying causes for both men and women. However, women typically do not experience the pattern but rather diffusion and thinning of the middle part.. That is until you add testosterone into the mix, then suddenly the woman or transgender man begins to experience the infamous M shaped recession and crown thinning. Why would that be? I've always found that very odd, given the mechanism regardless of testosterone exposure is the same. Any ideas?

Yep that is kind of strange. I think women do tend to have more rounded shapes where the forehead meets the scalp than many men do but even if they get pattern baldness later in life they dont get the M shape deal like you say. Mechanical forces definitely point to the standard male pattern baldness pattern but that doesnt seem to apply to the pattern in females. That is a good question as is the question on why do some guys have diffuse thinning. Why would DHT park itself big time at some follicles but not mess with follicles nearly as much right beside those ones. The environments of the follicles should be about the same. I had real minor diffuse thinning in the front that corrected itself when I cleaned all the crap out of the balding vertex area. I was convinced that vertex area being in that condition was fouling the growth signaling up or something in the frontal area but its still strange it could do it in a diffuse pattern.

 

[Jpw1999]

I've got more of a female pattern of hair loss. I'm not receding, I've got diffuse thinning across the entire scalp including the back and sides of the head. dutasteride and min have filled the crown in but didn't do anything for the back and sides. It doesn't bother me too much having thinning there, it's not that bad and I care the most about keeping the top.

 

[Ĺawton]

I've got more of a female pattern of hair loss. I'm not receding, I've got diffuse thinning across the entire scalp including the back and sides of the head. dutasteride and min have filled the crown in but didn't do anything for the back and sides. It doesn't bother me too much having thinning there, it's not that bad and I care the most about keeping the top.

Your scalp area is as thick as the back and sides now? Dont see that situation too often dealing with this.

 

[Jpw1999]

Your scalp area is as thick as the back and sides now? Dont see that situation too often dealing with this.

The hair on top is the thickest, can't see any scalp if I take a photo of the top of my head with flash on. Retrograde Alopecia is most likely what I have but I don't have much thinning at the nape, mainly hair loss above the ears and on the sides of the head. My temporal points are thinning a bit.

 

[Elithair]

Yeah, I’ve thought about this too. It does seem weird at first.

I think it’s less about the mechanism being different, and more about how different areas of the scalp react to hormones. In a lot of women, the frontal hairline just doesn’t respond the same way, so you don’t see that classic recession pattern. It shows up more as overall thinning instead.

When testosterone gets added, it’s kind of like those “protected” areas lose that protection. Then they start behaving more like what you’d expect in a typical male pattern, so you get the temples and crown showing it more clearly.

So the process isn’t really changing, it’s more like the threshold shifts and the pattern becomes visible in a different way.

Not super clean or predictable though, which is probably why it feels confusing.

 

[thomasheyer]

It’s mainly because androgenic alopecia depends on genetic sensitivity of specific scalp follicles to DHT, not just testosterone levels. Those sensitivities differ by region of the scalp and between individuals. When testosterone is increased, more is converted to DHT, which can expose a male-pattern susceptibility (temples and crown) in people who are genetically predisposed, even if they previously showed only diffuse thinning.

 

[Armando Jose]

What about hair lenght?

 

[Ĺawton]

It’s mainly because androgenic alopecia depends on genetic sensitivity of specific scalp follicles to DHT, not just testosterone levels. Those sensitivities differ by region of the scalp and between individuals. When testosterone is increased, more is converted to DHT, which can expose a male-pattern susceptibility (temples and crown) in people who are genetically predisposed, even if they previously showed only diffuse thinning.

My theory is the sensitivity is just some guys bodies send more DHT to the inflammation more than a difference in peoples follicles reaction to DHT.

 

[Ĺawton]

What about hair lenght?

I doubt it plays much of a factor seeing how it doesnt seem to affect male patterns.