Is My Crown Thinning Or Am I Paranoid?

[ColeH]

IMO the only picture of concern is the last. From that photo it COULD be diffuse thinning, it is really hard to tell because harsh light mixed with the limitations of cellphone cameras can make it look worse, it's also hard to get across depth in photos and it appears that it might be sticking up a bit.

I've said this before on here and I'll say it again, nobody here can diagnose you with male pattern baldness over the internet, all they can do is give you their own opinions. Don't jump on finasteride because somebody on here tells you, but also don't ignore what you don't want to hear. You're lucky you're being proactive. Personally I recommend you go to a hair loss expert or a derm before you do ANYTHING. I live in Canada and I need to go to one in order to get a prescription for finasteride, I have an appointment in March and we will see then if he thinks I have anything to worry about. But maybe to ease your worries, I've posted videos / photos on here before and I've got a lot of differing opinons, 60% of people will say I have nothing to worry about, others will say I have very early signs of male pattern baldness. Last week I went to a hair loss expert and he told me I was fine - this, however, doesn't always alleviate the worries.

It's important to remember that context is key - in my case I've always had fine, dark hair and a weird cowlick crown. Without context it may appear that my crown is thinner, but with context there isn't really any noticeable change.

Long winded
the TLDR of it is that schedule an appointment with a derm. Don't take everyone on here TOO seriously, but don't disregard their opinions when they give you it either.

 

[CopeForLife]

you are balding and your hair are decaying

period

 

[Guy_Bangalter]

you are balding and your hair are decaying

period

Dude, you suck.

 

[CopeForLife]

Dude, you suck.

why

 

[Guy_Bangalter]

why

Such a harsh reply. "YOU ARE BALDING AND YOUR HAIR IS DECAYING"

First off; You aren't a doctor, so the ignorant certainty in your statement is obnoxious.

Second; I'm a guy who went through incredible amounts of trauma the past few months of my life, and you have absolutely no consideration for this in the way you replied.

No one that has said "DEF BALDING" has taken into consideration Effluvium or how strange it is for this thinning to appear less than a month after a haircut where I asked for thinning.

 

[CopeForLife]

Such a harsh reply. "YOU ARE BALDING AND YOUR HAIR IS DECAYING"

First off; You aren't a doctor, so the ignorant certainty in your statement is obnoxious.

Second; I'm a guy who went through incredible amounts of trauma the past few months of my life, and you have absolutely no consideration for this in the way you replied.

No one that has said "DEF BALDING" has taken into consideration Effluvium or how strange it is for this thinning to appear less than a month after a haircut where I asked for thinning.

nothing strange here mate

your vertex is receding and you have diffused scalp as well from photos

nobody here is enemy of yours

you're in denial stage, it will pass

 

[Guy_Bangalter]

Such a harsh reply. "YOU ARE BALDING AND YOUR HAIR IS DECAYING"

First off; You aren't a doctor, so the ignorant certainty in your statement is obnoxious.

Second; I'm a guy who went through incredible amounts of trauma the past few months of my life, and you have absolutely no consideration for this in the way you replied.

No one that has said "DEF BALDING" has taken into consideration Effluvium or how strange it is for this thinning to appear less than a month after a haircut where I asked for thinning.

May seem like denial, but I refuse to believe that I'm balding at the age of 20 when this is completely unheard of in my family at this age.

This thinning appeared after a MAJOR TRAUMATIC PERIOD in my life which included a mental breakdown, multiple life stressors and a MAJOR SURGERY (all TEXTBOOK symptoms of T Effluvium), after getting a haircut where I remember vividly for the past year asking hair dressers to thin my hair because it was way to god damn thick. Are these not legitimate contradictions to the sole culprit of my thinning hair being male pattern baldness?

You guys suck because only 2-3 people on this board tried reassuring me of the possible external factors causing my sudden (yes, completely sudden, as in the last month, blatantly obvious and out of nowhere) thinning of my scalp, factors that are possibly separate from male pattern baldness.

Its almost like some of you guys WANT me to be balding in the way you post insensitively.

 

[CopeForLife]

May seem like denial, but I refuse to believe that I'm balding at the age of 20 when this is completely unheard of in my family at this age.

This thinning appeared after a MAJOR TRAUMATIC PERIOD in my life which included a mental breakdown, multiple life stressors and a MAJOR SURGERY (all TEXTBOOK symptoms of T Effluvium), after getting a haircut where I remember vividly for the past year asking hair dressers to thin my hair because it was way to god damn thick. Are these not legitimate contradictions to the sole culprit of my thinning hair being male pattern baldness?

You guys suck because only 2-3 people on this board tried reassuring me of the possible external factors causing my sudden (yes, completely sudden, as in the last month, blatantly obvious and out of nowhere) thinning of my scalp, factors that are possibly separate from male pattern baldness.

Its almost like some of you guys WANT me to be balding in the way you post insensitively.

That's you in a few years regardless believe you in your balding or no.

Chance you got anything except Androgenetic Alopecia with this pattern is 0.0001%.

You won't believe but vast majority of people underwent same or even more intense stresses than you and they still have a full head of hair.

 

[Guy_Bangalter]

That's you in a few years regardless believe you in your balding or no.

Chance you got anything except Androgenetic Alopecia with this pattern is 0.0001%.

You won't believe but vast majority of people underwent same or even more intense stresses than you and they still have a full head of hair.

Okay, lets say I am.

How do I keep my hair till my 40's?

 

[CopeForLife]

Okay, lets say I am.

How do I keep my hair till my 40's?

finasteride 1mg each day

 

[Dench57]

And even in the 1% chance you are magically suffering male pattern baldness

nice stats there

 

[biddybomb]

Hey man, I can see ur stressed out about this all, we have all been there. What ColeH said is spot on, in cases like yours where there is no recession and hair all over the head, it really is impossible to get a definitive answer on the internet given the variables.

If you want to just know, and quell all doubts, or conversely confirm them, you should shave your head. When I first noticed my receding hairline I got paranoid about my crown, I would constantly be looking in the mirror seeing stuff that wasn't there. I eventually got sick and tired of worrying so I shaved my head and it became immediately obvious I was not balding at the crown. Fast forward 7 or so years and this is still the case. With my head shaved down I could see the uniformity of all the follicles on the top of my head, especially around the crown, no miniaturisation whatsoever.

Shave your head down to a 2 or a 3. Examine your hair closely as it grows, if you are diffuse thinning it should be obvious at that length.

 

[worm]

He did a thing with his scissors sideways for a good amount of time all over my scalp when I asked him to "thin thin thin thin".

You know the truth here. I have seen thinning scissors ruin my hair style. You insisted the barber thin it out excessively, the picture you posted is the result - most here are ignoring that fact. It's like cutting half the branches off your bush in your garden, your bush will look more sparse, just like your hair does now. If you ask people what they think of your bush and your equally thinned out hair cut, people will say it looks thin. So you showing us a picture of you head after you commanded your barber to "thin" out your hair, people will say it looks like you are going bald. Of course they are, it's kind of your fault because that is the picture they are evaluating.

If I shaved a perfectly round bald spot on my crown and took a picture of it and asked people "do I have a bald spot? am I going bald?", of course their going to tell me im going bald.

Honestly, ask your barber if the result you see is the result of his thinning scissors.

You arent losing any hair in the shower, you have no recession, your barber thinned out your hair to the extreme. You are not balding.

Don't jump on finasteride because somebody on here tells you, but also don't ignore what you don't want to hear. You're lucky you're being proactive.

This is some good advice. There are many people who take extreme positions here, unfortunately their opinions are unapologetic and the ones you'll notice the most.

I would give your hair a least a month to regrow. Book an appointment with a derm after this month, give him all the facts, and ask his opinion. His opinion, as a professional, is the one you should ultimately trust.

hat ColeH said is spot on, in cases like yours where there is no recession and hair all over the head, it really is impossible to get a definitive answer on the internet given the variables.

There are many here who are giving you sound advice, some arent. You are not a Norwood 22 like prince William, although that picture is pretty funny!

 

[Guy_Bangalter]

Well It's my birthday today, and It's been hijacked by increasing paranoia, depression and anxiety over losing my hair spontaneously at my early 20's, when I was always known as the kid with the most hair throughout high school. Thick, long, almost gross, bushy hair.

I'm shaving my head tonight to a 2 and will be posting photos.

Godspeed.

 

[davesmith420]

>Post thread asking if balding
>Gets mad and defensive when gets told he is going bald

Stage 1: Denial

EDIT: If the "thinning" was caused by your barber thinning your hair it would be a lot more even all over your scalp.

 

[worm]

Well It's my birthday today, and It's been hijacked by increasing paranoia, depression and anxiety over losing my hair spontaneously at my early 20's, when I was always known as the kid with the most hair throughout high school. Thick, long, almost gross, bushy hair.

I'm shaving my head tonight to a 2 and will be posting photos.

Godspeed.

Same here, I was known as the best head and thickest of hair in high school, girls would compliment me and say I wish I had your hair. My barber would cringe at the sight of me as it took her 45 mins to cut my hair for $15. Sadly it went downhill when I was 19, I noticed I had developed an itch and my hairline was not as solid as I it used to be. A few months later I was shedding like crazy. It took at least a year before i started treating it, I regrew all of it. I am almost 40, and while I stopped finasteride when I was 27, I treat it with more natural remedies and still have a lots of hair.

I think shaving to a 2 is a good move.

Do yourself a favor and wait a month before you post any more pics

 

[Guy_Bangalter]

>Post thread asking if balding
>Gets mad and defensive when gets told he is going bald

Stage 1: Denial

EDIT: If the "thinning" was caused by your barber thinning your hair it would be a lot more even all over your scalp.

I pray that you are all wrong.

I'll be back in a few months. Didn't end up shaving my head.

Inspected the crowns of my friends, and they all look similar to mine in the light.

 

[Guy_Bangalter]

Saw my surgeon today as a follow up for my ankle, and I asked her if hair thinning was a side effect.

She laughed and said she's heard this many many times from her patients 3 months after a surgery and told me hair loss and thinning is normal because I had a major surgery.

Still going to see a Derm in a few weeks to get a definite answer from an actual expert in the field, but my situation is starting to make more sense.

Talked to my uncle and it turns out he actually started only noticing hair loss at 36, and went full shave at 41ish, so if I'm actually thinning and receding from now it is completely a genetic fluke.

 

[Pacey123]

Well you can easily answer this yourself. Are the sides or the back of your head affected by thinning?
Do you have miniaturised hair between the other hair strands? To check that, make close up pictures of good quality.
Are you losing more hair than usual? Hairs in hands when styling?

The problem is, 99 out of 100 times it is indeed male pattern baldness and not related to something else. But i was in denial for a month as well. At least you caught it with an intact hairline. Good luck!

 

[Guy_Bangalter]

Well you can easily answer this yourself. Are the sides or the back of your head affected by thinning?
Do you have miniaturised hair between the other hair strands? To check that, make close up pictures of good quality.
Are you losing more hair than usual? Hairs in hands when styling?

The problem is, 99 out of 100 times it is indeed male pattern baldness and not related to something else. But i was in denial for a month as well. At least you caught it with an intact hairline. Good luck!

I took some close ups with a DSLR Canon camera with flash of my scalp and could not find a single miniaturized hair (one that looks like a 3-4 day beard hair).

The sides and the back of my head are not thinning whatsoever. Only my scalp feels thinner and looks more see through (something that is completely new to me)

As for when I take a shower and run my hands through my hair, yesterday there wasn't a single strand of hair I could find on my hands or in the drain. But this morning I ran my hands through my hair aggressively and only 3-4 strands of hair come out every minute or so of rubbing, and that's after abusing my scalp.


I understand that it may seem like denial, but I feel as if I have good reasons to remain skeptical as opposed to accepting this without second thought and jumping on drugs. If my hair doesn't get better by spring time and if the Dermatologist diagnoses me with male pattern baldness, I'm going to accept it for what it is and begin starting treatments/drugs. But as it stands, I am remaining skeptical because;

1) I had a major surgery 3 months ago, and I fit the description of someone suffering Telogen Effluvium. (Hair loss only on scalp/ no receding hairline/ big white bulbs on roots of hair) and my Surgeon even told me it's not unheard of and that shes had guys my age come in and complain of hair loss/thinning 3-4 months after a foot surgery.

2) Genetically, my family history does not suggest anywhere I should be going bald at the start of my 20's.

3) I know you guys hate this one, but 1 month ago (before I noticed my thinning scalp) I was literally complaining to my hair dresser that my hair felt like gross pubic hair my whole life and that it is too thick and that I wanted him to thin the hell out of it.

Not saying that my hair appears this way because of the hair cut, just saying that a few days before Christmas my hair was thick as a bush and that this sudden thinning scalp appearance occurred in the last month, in keeping with someone whose developed Telogen Effluvium 3 months after a major surgery.

There's a difference between denial and skepticism. Is Telogen Effluvium a medical conspiracy/myth or something? Can someone develop male pattern baldness in the span of a month when remembering vividly that he complained to his hairdresser of having TOO MUCH hair a mere month ago?