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Age: 23, Sex: M, Health: Good
Hello everyone! I was born lucky and have had very thick hair for much of my life. So thick that both friends and family members would list it as a defining characteristic. Anyway, a bit more than a year ago, I went through a very stressful period that led to my development of anxiety. As a result of this anxiety, I began to seek comfort by pulling individual strands of hair out. Over the course of the past year, I have pulled what I consider to be a lot of hair out of my head. This has combined with fears of balding/thinning, and I cannot tell whether I am thinning as a result of this hair pulling or natural genetics.
I have absolutely no recession- my hairline is where it always has been. But, my hair is noticeably (well, at least in my perspective) thinner in front. My hair has also thinned in streaks- these streaks seem to be similar to those which I pull out strands of hair in. When wet, my hair looks terrible, and you can see my scalp. When dry, even in intense lighting, my hair still looks very thick because I started with, well, ridiculous thickness.
I can still wear my hair up/in pretty much any style because it was so thick to start, but, in seeing and thinking about my head every day, I have definitely noticed that it is not as thick as it was a year ago. So, I have the following questions:
1. Is there any way to tell whether this thinning is caused primarily by pulling or genetics? It could be a combo of both, but I'd like to know.
2. If it is pulling, will the hair grow back if I stop? The base of the hair that I pull out is always non-colored or white (and never red), so I don't think that I am pulling out roots. Also, sometimes the hair I pull out is comparably very short, so there are new pieces of hair growing.
I just get worried because my hair has always been an important part of my identity and I don't want it to go away! Like I said, it is still far thicker than an average guy's hair, but it used to be model thick. All of the men in my family have good hair, and nobody is balding. Any advice would be appreciated.
Hello everyone! I was born lucky and have had very thick hair for much of my life. So thick that both friends and family members would list it as a defining characteristic. Anyway, a bit more than a year ago, I went through a very stressful period that led to my development of anxiety. As a result of this anxiety, I began to seek comfort by pulling individual strands of hair out. Over the course of the past year, I have pulled what I consider to be a lot of hair out of my head. This has combined with fears of balding/thinning, and I cannot tell whether I am thinning as a result of this hair pulling or natural genetics.
I have absolutely no recession- my hairline is where it always has been. But, my hair is noticeably (well, at least in my perspective) thinner in front. My hair has also thinned in streaks- these streaks seem to be similar to those which I pull out strands of hair in. When wet, my hair looks terrible, and you can see my scalp. When dry, even in intense lighting, my hair still looks very thick because I started with, well, ridiculous thickness.
I can still wear my hair up/in pretty much any style because it was so thick to start, but, in seeing and thinking about my head every day, I have definitely noticed that it is not as thick as it was a year ago. So, I have the following questions:
1. Is there any way to tell whether this thinning is caused primarily by pulling or genetics? It could be a combo of both, but I'd like to know.
2. If it is pulling, will the hair grow back if I stop? The base of the hair that I pull out is always non-colored or white (and never red), so I don't think that I am pulling out roots. Also, sometimes the hair I pull out is comparably very short, so there are new pieces of hair growing.
I just get worried because my hair has always been an important part of my identity and I don't want it to go away! Like I said, it is still far thicker than an average guy's hair, but it used to be model thick. All of the men in my family have good hair, and nobody is balding. Any advice would be appreciated.
