Hair Thinning Rapidly Following Bad Breakup

vinn

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Hi, I'm a 26 year old male with no history of hair loss before this. A month and a half ago my girlfriend and I broke up and it's hit me pretty hard, I was quite stressed prior in the weeks leading up to it. Well I noticed in the mirror about two weeks ago that my scalp seemed more visible, but I thought it was just my imagination. Here I am today and it's gotten significantly worse, it seems to have thinned out significantly on top and it's noticeable because I keep my hair very short. I even have some very tiny bald spots forming which I DEFINITELY did not have a month ago. The thinning has effected the top the most but there are also a few spots on the side and back where small bald gaps have formed. On the other hand I have no recession whatsoever so I'm not sure if this is male pattern baldness. If I keep losing my hair at this rate however I'll surely be bald within a few months. This is definitely not aiding the stress I was already feeling as a result of the breakup.
 

vinn

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Thanks for the reply. I'm a bit obsessive compulsive so it's hard for me to stop focusing on my hair and examining it. I'm hoping it's just temporary, but is it possible for male pattern baldness to occur with no recession at all, just thinning all over?

My father is in his mid-50s with a full head of hair, and my maternal grandfather also had a full head of hair.
 

Pacey123

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Post pictures of your loss then one can easily spot male pattern baldness, which it is in 99.9% of the cases.
 

vinn

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I've had very thick hair my entire life up until a few weeks ago, also the top of my head has been itching a lot the past week. I believe the third pic shows it best, there's literally a few bare spots where the hair just disappeared which were filled in a month ago.

6xt4ky.jpg


vqpqa8.jpg


2vi1ovb.jpg
 

Anonymous1333

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Your hairline is almost as low as your eyebrows for f***'s sake! Get out of here and relax. If you are still worried get nizoral shampoo. And if it gets worse consider finasteride
 

Wanheda

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Hey Vinn I'd agree with CaptainLostArk in that a lot of stress can sometimes cause it. A lot of obsessive compulsive ppl in my mum's side of the family too and I know it's easier said then done to focus on other things but you should remind yourself everytime you stress about your hair that will only add to the issue. Did you by any chance have a haircut just before these pics were taken? I remember my hair used to be that short and when I buzzed it to that length a few thin looking areas would show up, even though by that age I was still many many years away from male pattern baldness.
 

vinn

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No I've been keeping it short for about a year now so I have a very good idea of what my hair looks like normally, and this hair loss has occurred within the past month.
 

resu

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If you're having a telogen effluvium and also have Androgenetic Alopecia then it's bad news because you will go bald at a faster rate because of the rapid cycles.
 

Dsport

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I wont give you any advice.

When you have a breakup that rocks your world, you try to survive any way you can.

Hair loss on top of it, ..........or CAUSING the breakup would be unimaginably worse.

I will say that having a PLAN in place is the best ammunition against the sh*t life throws.

There is NO WAY a person under stress, or under mental duress, can simply "chill out".

Be around friends, cut yourself some slack, have a plan. Sounds like you are attempting all 3.

Its the feeling of HELPLESSNESS that can cause a severe downfall,.......or possibly "hair shed" that you describing.

That seems unlikely here, but its certainly possible.
 

CopeForLife

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I have same hair

you are thinning on top

I had tiny bald spots now they are completely bald and wider...

ur hairline is fine tho
 

vinn

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Bad news.. I found a picture I took of my hairline a few months ago and I'm looking thin in the same areas, so perhaps it only recently got bad enough for me to notice the actual hair loss.

2vma4ns.jpg


Another pic from a few months ago, I was so focused on my hairline I didn't even notice the patches of scalp staring me in the face

14mufkw.jpg
 
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Wanheda

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Sometimes we dont notice things even if they do stare us in the face. Nevertheless 'Dsport' wrote some pretty sound advice and i would focus on incorporating what you can from that. Hope things improve you pal :)
 

vinn

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I wanted it to just be my imagination but this can't be normal, my hair seems to be getting worse on a weekly basis and it's so thin on top in some areas. I thought male pattern baldness was a process that occurred slowly over many years, not a matter of months or even weeks. Does anyone else have male pattern baldness with no recession, just losing hair everywhere on top simultaneously? I'm still stressed about the breakup but not sure if it's related. The top of my head is itchy. New pics:

cO7CZAo.jpg


Look at how visible my scalp is up front by the hairline, almost no density.

RMjcttH.jpg
 
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biddybomb

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losing hair without reccession is known as diffuse balding. Some consider it worse because you lose density uniformly, some consider it better because you keep the perfect hairline, all depends on how bad it gets I suppose. Given the time period and the stress you have been under it is most likely Telogen Effluvium and not male pattern baldness. Should it turn out to be male pattern baldness you have plenty of time to treat it so just sit back and monitor your hair for a few months.
 

vinn

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My hair is much worse now than the pictures I posted 3 weeks ago. In the middle of my hairline I've lost at least 70% density over the past two months, it sucks. My scalp is very visible and there's basically like a hole in the middle of my hairline now with a few hairs poking out.
 

holdthehairline2k17

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Damn dawg. My hair is the currently the same as your just grown out but tons of diffuse thinning/loss of density. It happened so quickly and I've always had nice thick hair. I can still grown hair long and fast, just not as thick as it use to be. I also don't have a receding hairline either. Did you notice any shedding? My hair also goes through phases of itch. My derm said it's most likely Telogen Effluvium, hopefully it will one day return to normal but it's been 5 months
 
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