Is this male pattern baldness or "Mature Hairline"?

[thatguy22]

Hi everyone,

I'm 18 (19 in 4 months) and I'm worried about my hair. I'm going to give you a brief summary of my situation, then I'll include pictures of some relatives and a progression of my hairline throughout the years. I really appreciate you taking the time to read this, thank you.

From what I can remember, I've always had a kind of "M" shaped hairline, like a point at the center of my forehead. It's always been kind of hard to recognize, as it hasn't been that apparent, but when I was 15 I think it started to recede and become more noticeable. It became really noticeable two years ago when I was 16, but I'm not really sure if it's receded much since then. One thing about my recession is that its along my temples, and it kind of cuts toward the center of my head more than it cuts back along the temple toward the back of the head.

Now, my dad is almost 50, but he has all his hair. However, he kind of has the same hairline as me, except his recession cuts more toward the back of his head than towards the center, and my hairline is already slightly higher than his. All grand parents have full hair. Dad has no brothers, my mom has a brother who is 50 and has his front half of the top of his head bald. Her other brother who is in his 40s is full hair, and her younger brother in his 30s has like the same hairline as me.

Below are pictures of me (18.7 years old), my older brother (21 years old), and my father (49 years old)

Aug 2011 - Three Years Ago - 15.7 Years Old


Aug 2012 - Two Years Ago - 16.7 Years Old

First 45 seconds of this video is me, you get a very good idea of my hairline
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7cu12ovVqY


April 2013 - ~1 Year, 4 months ago - 17.4 Years Old

Aug 2014 - Now - 18.7 Years Old

Please note, I shave the front tip of hairline so it looks less pointed, also, there are some hair stubs on my left hairline but some (maybe all) of those are stubs because I cut them to analyze them lol


Dad and my older brother two years ago

Older Brother August 2013

Now an interesting thing is that my hairline on the right side is slightly more receded than it is on the left, however, there's still a random patch of hair that is below the right hairline - kinda weird? does that mean anything? You'll note that my older brother has the same thing, if you look at the picture of him and my dad two years ago you'll see that his right hairline is more receded with the exception of a patch of hair below it, but then in the picture of him last august you'll see that that patch of hair is almost gone.

So basically, my brother and I each have hairlines that are receding the same way! Now, I don't have a good picture of him now, but his hair seems to be thinning on the top (I might just be paranoid though, he has dark hair so it's easy to see his scalp) and his right hairline seems to have receded even more, but his left hairline seems to be constant.


Because we each have that similar phenomenon going on with our right hairline, does that mean we have a similar genetic structure with our hair (i.e. if he goes bald I will too)??

Obviously baldness isn't really apparent in my family, but if I have it I want to stop it if possible. Also, If I scratch my head kinda hard but not too hard, I lose a lot of dandruff and about 40 hairs, some thin some thick, is that a problem for concern? I haven't seen any thinning, and I can't tell if I have miniturization, but I did set up an appointment to see a dermatologist in December (long wait I guess lol).

If I do have male pattern baldness, I've decided I'm going to fight it with finasteride and Nizoral, maybe MIX, but obviously I'll find out if I really have it from the dermatologist, and if I do i'm sure he'll recommend a good treatment. Anyway, what do you guys think?

Thanks

 

[Vlatch]

Hard to say, your hairline has already receded to a norwood 2 but it looks really thick. Wait until you see your dermatologist but if you have dandruff, don't hesitate to try an anti-dandruff shampoo before that, nizoral if you want.

 

[thatguy22]

Hard to say, your hairline has already receded to a norwood 2 but it looks really thick. Wait until you see your dermatologist but if you have dandruff, don't hesitate to try an anti-dandruff shampoo before that, nizoral if you want.

Thanks man, my hair is pretty thick - no signs of thinning so I guess that's good. Can you pick nizoral up at a store?

 

[SayifDoit]

So reading your store and looking at your story, I can say one thing.
Wowzers you dad has an insane hair-line, like the forehead is just non-existent.

Your hair is pretty awesome and confusing, is it straight but just ludicrously thick? I have you ever tried growing it out?

I guess you could say that is a NW2, but I guess you just have a naturally low-hairline?

 

[thatguy22]

So reading your store and looking at your story, I can say one thing.
Wowzers you dad has an insane hair-line, like the forehead is just non-existent.

Your hair is pretty awesome and confusing, is it straight but just ludicrously thick? I have you ever tried growing it out?

I guess you could say that is a NW2, but I guess you just have a naturally low-hairline?

Lol I'm confused about what you said about my dad, can you clarify?

My hair is straight, no curls, and I guess you could say it's thick, I mean I got it cut to 5/8" of an inch all around about a week and a half ago and those pics are where it is now.

What do you mean I have a naturally low-hairline? i thought my hairline is high? lol I'm a noob

 

[thatguy22]

*bump* anyone else?

 

[JimmyJones]

From my experience if one temple is more receded than the other then this potentially is the start of male pattern baldness. People that don't go bald often have good symmetry on both sides. However it is very difficult to tell from those pictures. Use nizoral now as there's no reason not to and it will help with your dandruff. If things get worse give finasteride a go.

 

[MyLife]

you're not on the norwood scale this is called a widows peak.

 

[thatguy22]

From my experience if one temple is more receded than the other then this potentially is the start of male pattern baldness. People that don't go bald often have good symmetry on both sides. However it is very difficult to tell from those pictures. Use nizoral now as there's no reason not to and it will help with your dandruff. If things get worse give finasteride a go.

Is that all nizoral does? Also, is dandruff any kind of indicator of male pattern baldness?

Thanks

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I agree for now... There is some miniaturisation though but not a lot. Unfortunately hair loss in it's extremely early stages doesn't give a very good indication on where it might go in the future. Your best bet is to look at your dad & other men in your family. If he has hair then you will most likely have yours way in the future too. Seriously though widows peak hair lines very rarely reach past a NW3. They mainly recede a little and then just stop. Hair loss can get a little obsessive LOL, I tend to analyse every hair loss pattern I come across. 99.99% chance you will never go 'BALD' like Bruce willis.

Good luck.

Thanks Assassin, can you point out where you saw the miniaturization? thanks

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You don't have male pattern baldness, be sure dude, it's JE's advice !

what's your reasoning behind this? Thanks.

 

[peter079]

Looks normal. My dad has 7 brothers and most had high widows peaks from birth. They are all in their 60's now with all their hair, maybe with
a bit of recession but you have to accept some hairloss in your old age.

 

[thatguy22]

Looks normal. My dad has 7 brothers and most had high widows peaks from birth. They are all in their 60's now with all their hair, maybe with
a bit of recession but you have to accept some hairloss in your old age.

Were their widow peaks symmetrical? that's the problem, my right side is much more receded

 

[faskljdfoei]

Google Neil Flynn your hair looks like his. He has had a Norwood 2 for YEARS and does not seem to be balding otherwise. The key is whether its a 'mature line' or if there is acceleration of the recession or thinning/shedding in other areas. Keep attention to it, if you notice changes, see a derm if you can. Maybe start big 3. Right now, its too hard to say its its real balding.