Is There A Way To Tell The Difference Between Telogen Effluvium And Diffuse Pattern Baldness?

saimee10

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Hello all,

I had gone to a few different dermatologists to get a diagnosis on severe hair shedding and an itchy scalp. I have been told by all 3 that I have telogen effluvium, as well as dermatitis, and not male pattern baldness, as I don’t have hairloss specific to my temples and the crown of my head

However I know that there is such thing as diffuse male pattern baldness, where hair is lost all over the top of the scalp, without the classic bald spot on the vertex or receding hairline.

How can you tell the difference between diffuse mob and telogen effluvium? Dermatologists believe that male pattern baldness is only temple recession/thinning at the crown and classify any type of overall/diffuse thinning as telogen effluvium. Granted telogen effluvium lasts only a couple months while it has been close to a year of severe shedding for me.

I am not sure if I trust their diagnosis as they base this off a positive hair pull test, which is not always accurate. Add the fact that telogen effluvium is usually experienced by women, rather than men, and that hair stops shedding after a few months (nearly a year for me). Things aren’t adding up.

Honestly I prefer if someone would just diagnose me with male pattern baldness so that I can confidently begin taking finasteride and minoxidil, as at this point I’m still confused about this random shedding that I’m going through.
 

Aaron McLaughlin

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Have you got pictures ?? I’ve been suffering from diffuse thinning, finasteride just made me shed more, lost like 60% of my hair in just over a year,
 

Aaron McLaughlin

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Your not bad at all, keep an eye on it just, I wouldn’t jump into using finasteride just yet, it made me shed a lot of hair that I haven’t recovered from
 

Incinerate

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You don't have hairloss. Certainly not male pattern baldness.

There is no hair miniaturisation in Telogen effluvium and diffuse pattern baldness does have the same pattern as classic male pattern baldness , it's just not as noticeable.
 

saimee10

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You don't have hairloss. Certainly not male pattern baldness.

There is no hair miniaturisation in Telogen effluvium and diffuse pattern baldness does have the same pattern classic male pattern baldness , it's just not as noticeable.
Is there a specific way to tell which one of the two I have? The dermatologist I’ve seen just take a look at my scalp, ask if theres baldness in my family, and conclude I have telogen effluvium.
 

Incinerate

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Yes there are several tests they can do. Try someone specialized in hair, dermatologists usually do not know sh1t
 

saimee10

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Yes there are several tests they can do. Try someone specialized in hair, dermatologists usually do not know sh1t
Who specializes in hair? If I go to a doctor, they just refer me to a dermatologist, who might refer me to a different dermatologist. Thats about it.
 

OldnBald

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Yes there are several tests they can do. Try someone specialized in hair, dermatologists usually do not know sh1t
Yeah mine is an idiot. Tells me i need certain brand minoxidil, multivitamins, and that he's been prescribing finasteride for 30 years! Haha. Most of these bozos know sh*t, and forget about gp's.

Anyway, looks like female pattern- you got that opposite arch in your hairline where you look like you've receded in the middle and you're saying diffusion through the center. You could always do one of those online hims/keeps things, they'll give you finasteride in a heartbeat. Give that six months and see if it stops the bleeding.
 

saimee10

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Yeah mine is an idiot. Tells me i need certain brand minoxidil, multivitamins, and that he's been prescribing finasteride for 30 years! Haha. Most of these bozos know sh*t, and forget about gp's.

Anyway, looks like female pattern- you got that opposite arch in your hairline where you look like you've receded in the middle and you're saying diffusion through the center. You could always do one of those online hims/keeps things, they'll give you finasteride in a heartbeat. Give that six months and see if it stops the bleeding.

did you mean stop the shedding by ‘stop the bleeding’? I usually don’t bleed on my scalp, unless my dandruff is really severe and I scratch it.

As for finasteride, I can already get a prescription for it, the thing is that I haven’t been diagnosed with male pattern baldness by anyone so I don’t want to take it, in case it just makes my telogen effluvium shed worse.
 

OldnBald

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did you mean stop the shedding by ‘stop the bleeding’? I usually don’t bleed on my scalp, unless my dandruff is really severe and I scratch it.

As for finasteride, I can already get a prescription for it, the thing is that I haven’t been diagnosed with male pattern baldness by anyone so I don’t want to take it, in case it just makes my telogen effluvium shed worse.
yeah that's what i meant. Look at your old pictures, compare them to new, and go from there. I am 36 years old- and I had to push to get finasteride- and I was bald as f***. So if you think and see you're losing hair- now is the time.
 

saimee10

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yeah that's what i meant. Look at your old pictures, compare them to new, and go from there. I am 36 years old- and I had to push to get finasteride- and I was bald as f***. So if you think and see you're losing hair- now is the time.
Youre right but I don’t know whether I should trust doctors/dermatologists who claim I have telogen effluvium or if I have early male pattern baldness. Finasteride doesnt work on people with telogen effluvium, and can actually make shedding worse for them. Thats why I wanted to know for sure if it was telogen effluvium I had, or early male pattern baldness.
 

OldnBald

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Youre right but I don’t know whether I should trust doctors/dermatologists who claim I have telogen effluvium or if I have early male pattern baldness. Finasteride doesnt work on people with telogen effluvium, and can actually make shedding worse for them. Thats why I wanted to know for sure if it was telogen effluvium I had, or early male pattern baldness.
well you're in the wrong place. showing a few pictures of dubious quality and no before pictures and no family history and not even your current etc, is going to make that impossible to get educated opinions.
 

Northface32

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You definitely lost your juvenile hairline, that was clearly going to go by how thing it was. But if I were you I would go to a good barber and get a short uniformed haircut that way you can see what yout hair looks like and if there's any pattern/ thinning going on. That's your best bet to start then you can consider what you need to do. Your still very young and more than likely as you age the problems could arise
 

saimee10

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You definitely lost your juvenile hairline, that was clearly going to go by how thing it was. But if I were you I would go to a good barber and get a short uniformed haircut that way you can see what yout hair looks like and if there's any pattern/ thinning going on. That's your best bet to start then you can consider what you need to do. Your still very young and more than likely as you age the problems could arise

If I lost my juevenile hairline, does that mean I am experiencing male pattern baldness to some extent? I have thinning near the temples and a widow’s peak as well. It might not look bad now, but I can expect to possibly lose more and more hair in the upcoming years.
 

Northface32

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I don't think that's really an answer I can give you. It could stop here and stay that way forever or a year. I'd say just keep an eye on it and maybe go see a derm and have that do some tests to see if in fact you have male pattern baldness or not. Hopefully you don't you can have peace of mind. Good luck
 
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