Hi everyone. Just want some opinions as to whether I (24 yo) have diffuse thinning, or some other kind of hair loss. I go through periods where I think I'm actually fine, and it's all in my head and that I'm making it worse (read below for details), to realizing that I am balding and it's progressing every day. Initially I thought that I was only thinning from my crown, but I've also noticed that the entire top of my head has been feeling and looking less dense than 2 or 3 years ago.
Pics from 14 months ago (no earlier pics like these):
And from the last 2 months:
(Hair is wet-ish in all of these)
I also have some pics from from around 3-3.5 years ago (when I first started documenting this), to compare to my crown area now. Tried picking similar poses.
Then:
Now:
So backstory:
I've been semi-obsessing over my possible hair loss for the last 3.5 years. I first noticed my that my crown was a little thinner than I'd like. That started a period of plucking out hairs (due to moderate anxiety, probably some form of relieve as I also bite my nails) from that area for about 10 months; probably pulled out over 200. Slowly, a bald spot formed, and finally I realized I needed to stop. But I still didn't stop worrying about my hair, and would constantly tug, sometimes hard, at tufts of hairs in that area (but almost never pluck), to see if any came out. Of course, that was a self-fulfilling prophecy.... Over this summer though there were a few bad periods where I plucked out hairs, enough where another bald spot has formed, although not as bad.
According to my mom, no history of balding anywhere in our family (which I'll take with a grain of salt). My dad (62 yo), has had a full head of hair his whole life, and is now just starting to thin a bit. My mom's hair has been thinning the last few years (also 62), but that may be due to separate health issues.
I have naturally thick individual hairs, but it's my density I'm most worried about, as you can see from the pics above. I lose anywhere from 30-50 hairs a day I'd guess (and usually not thin ones). I started taking Nizoral about 10 months ago to help out, which has helped maybe a tiny bit by making some of them thicker.
I'd be super worried if my hair from 3 years ago also didn't seem suspect. I feel like I'm getting away with looking visibly thinning, which tend to get wavy and gives a semblance of good density. When I was 18 my hair just did not feel the same and to me looked way better when I grew it out. It was almost curly when long too, while now it's kind of wavy. So something's changed. Some people have told me that I'm crazy and that there's nothing wrong with it at all, and others have told me that it is thinner up there/ I have a small bald spot.
I can't afford to go to a dermatologist right now to make sure, but my fam. doctor (who is new) told me about 6 months ago that my hair is perfectly fine, but I should just stop pulling at my hair b/c it's making it thinner. And as far as I know I'm in perfect physical health (diet could be better but I'm still probably eating as healthy as ever).
My other questions are: If it's not genetic, could I be losing hair due to stress, as I've been pretty stressed out the last year or 2 while in grad school? (Never any panic attacks or anything, but still I usually worry every day, sometimes for hours; this hair loss crap doesn't help either lol).
Could my constant pulling/plucking at my hair over the years have damaged the roots, causing them to shed more easily? Sometimes they just come off with no resistance. I would like to believe this, except for the fact that I never plucked hairs from the top of my head, which just shows too much scalp right now for me to be comfortable.
Could it be a combination of all these things + very slow hair loss?
I know it's long, so thanks for taking your time to read this, and for any answers!
Pics from 14 months ago (no earlier pics like these):
And from the last 2 months:
(Hair is wet-ish in all of these)
I also have some pics from from around 3-3.5 years ago (when I first started documenting this), to compare to my crown area now. Tried picking similar poses.
Then:
Now:
So backstory:
I've been semi-obsessing over my possible hair loss for the last 3.5 years. I first noticed my that my crown was a little thinner than I'd like. That started a period of plucking out hairs (due to moderate anxiety, probably some form of relieve as I also bite my nails) from that area for about 10 months; probably pulled out over 200. Slowly, a bald spot formed, and finally I realized I needed to stop. But I still didn't stop worrying about my hair, and would constantly tug, sometimes hard, at tufts of hairs in that area (but almost never pluck), to see if any came out. Of course, that was a self-fulfilling prophecy.... Over this summer though there were a few bad periods where I plucked out hairs, enough where another bald spot has formed, although not as bad.
According to my mom, no history of balding anywhere in our family (which I'll take with a grain of salt). My dad (62 yo), has had a full head of hair his whole life, and is now just starting to thin a bit. My mom's hair has been thinning the last few years (also 62), but that may be due to separate health issues.
I have naturally thick individual hairs, but it's my density I'm most worried about, as you can see from the pics above. I lose anywhere from 30-50 hairs a day I'd guess (and usually not thin ones). I started taking Nizoral about 10 months ago to help out, which has helped maybe a tiny bit by making some of them thicker.
I'd be super worried if my hair from 3 years ago also didn't seem suspect. I feel like I'm getting away with looking visibly thinning, which tend to get wavy and gives a semblance of good density. When I was 18 my hair just did not feel the same and to me looked way better when I grew it out. It was almost curly when long too, while now it's kind of wavy. So something's changed. Some people have told me that I'm crazy and that there's nothing wrong with it at all, and others have told me that it is thinner up there/ I have a small bald spot.
I can't afford to go to a dermatologist right now to make sure, but my fam. doctor (who is new) told me about 6 months ago that my hair is perfectly fine, but I should just stop pulling at my hair b/c it's making it thinner. And as far as I know I'm in perfect physical health (diet could be better but I'm still probably eating as healthy as ever).
My other questions are: If it's not genetic, could I be losing hair due to stress, as I've been pretty stressed out the last year or 2 while in grad school? (Never any panic attacks or anything, but still I usually worry every day, sometimes for hours; this hair loss crap doesn't help either lol).
Could my constant pulling/plucking at my hair over the years have damaged the roots, causing them to shed more easily? Sometimes they just come off with no resistance. I would like to believe this, except for the fact that I never plucked hairs from the top of my head, which just shows too much scalp right now for me to be comfortable.
Could it be a combination of all these things + very slow hair loss?
I know it's long, so thanks for taking your time to read this, and for any answers!
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