The term mature hairline sounds like a cop out to me made up by doctors. Explain if I am wrong here. A mature hairline is considered some slight recession that most men get at a certain age regardless of if they are balding or not. Wouldnt then it follow a NW 7 would simply be a hairline that is more mature then the normal hairline and hence balding would not even exist as a term right?
I do not believe you are understanding the difference between the mature hairline and male pattern baldness (MPB).
Most Caucasians (95%) will have a mature hairline as they “mature” from their teens to twenties, but about half of the men will have genetic balding, otherwise known as androgenic alopecia (AGA) or male pattern baldness (MPB) by the time they reach the age of 50. The term “mature hairline” is not some hype or concocted term, as it does describe what happens as the juvenile (your 12 year old hairline) changes into an adult hairline. Use your eyes at shopping centers and observe men over 30 and you will see just what I am talking about.
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thats because 95% of caucasians have slight recession. that is balding.
if you go to asia, a lot of people do not have the “mature hairline”
i agree with tom… i was born with a giant forehead / v shaped balding looking hairline .. i had it as a kid.. and now that i’m an adult it’s the EXACT same giant forehead , but i’m not going bald at all.. the term “mature hairline” is just something made up to make people that have slight thinning or receding hairlines that are in denial to feel better .. you either keep your hairline, or it thins/recedes to some degree.. the end.
johnny depp is another perfect example… he’s had the same giant forehead / receded temples looking hairline since he was born, and he’s obviously not going bald a single bit.
I So agree with Tom’s and Steve’s comments about this ‘mature hairline’. I have never seen any male (that i’ve known for a long period of time or celebrity from who lots of pictures are avaible) that ‘went’ to a mature hairline in his teens/twenties and then sunddely stopt not balding further than that. I did see cases where people balded to a degree and more or less stood still there for years, but this can be seen any in any stage of the norwood balding examples. In most cases I would assume guys loose their hair more rapidly at younger ages because their testosterone and DHT levels are higher in those years. By the time they get 30 their DHT and testosteron levels have dropped quite a while, their hairloss will not stop, but go less rapidly. (so it’s balding, and it’s not stopping, but slowing down)
(look it up, it’s pretty intesting to see those stratistics about amounts of testostrone in men and their age – It REALLY goes down alot from 20 to 30)
And about the look of the ‘mature hairline’:
I’ve seen alot of pictures what ‘ would be’ the mature hairline, mostly by pictures after transplantations, and it seems a very unnatural sort of hairline to me. ‘Mature hairlines’ seem to be hairlines which are slightly recessed, but still remain to have such a strong and thick frontline, which looks very unnatural. Most guys that receide, get thinner in their remaining frontal area’s of hair too, which make the transplanted ‘mature hairline’ look very strange and outstanding. Those are the kind of hairlines that your eyes seem to focus to when you look at their heads because the line of the hair is just too sharp. Even natural hairlines are not that sharp (goes for most transplants though). I think it looks far more natural to either transplant someone back to a norwood 1 with a slightly strong hairline, or to make the hairline less strong to create the illusion of a norwood 2 or 3 if norwood 1 can not be achieved because lack of donor hair.
The fact that if you look around you see that farout most (white) men are balding to a degree when they are 30 and over, sounds like a very poor ‘proove’ for the whole excistance of this ‘mature hairline’. Most guys that are 30 and over are just receiding to some degree. I read alot of times 50% of the (white) men are ‘balding to a degree’ when they are 50 years, which also sounds very doubtful to me sinds is so rare to see 50 year olds with a norwood 1 hairline. Rare does not mean 50%. I even doubt 20% of the guys do not suffer from any form of balding when they are 50. I would guess about 5 to 10%. Don’t forget most men manage to cover up little amounts of hairlines by wearing clever hairstyles or comb their hair over receiding or thinner frontal zones
In alot of hairblogs there are whole discussions about people who are clearly balding, while half of the comments from people are like:’ Oh his hairline looks good to me, so he’s not balding at all’ , while it’s very clear this person is actually balding. Take johnny depp for example by the previous person’s comment. He say’s Johnny depp is not balding. I mean, come on. This guys hairline is CHANGING and get’s THINNER.
I do agree with steve that some people are born with hairlines that are higher than others, but this is also EXACTLY the case with women, who do not get male pattern baldness either. Some people just HAVE higher forheads than others. Some have round ones, some square and some have them higher, so it looks like they are receiding. But if someone’s hairline ‘CHANGES’, it’s quite obvious this person is receiding.
Another unlogical thing I notice now about Dr. William Rassman’s theory is that in the first part of his explanation he says the mature hairline is something that occurs in between 10 and 20…and later on his ‘proove’ of the excistance of the mature hairline would be looking at guys of 30 and over.
I do agree that the impression of a forehead shape, and thereby the shape hairline can change in the (early) teens, but this is mostly because the whole face get’s (or should get) more manly as a result of puberty. Guys get a more masculine build, more hair hair, bigger jaws, a longer chin and often a longer shaped face too (which logically makes the forehead ‘higher’ too)