When Will I Go Bald? – Hair Loss Information – Balding Blog

i am 20 yrs old,and my dad is bald,although he started losing his hair only when he was 37 yrs old,i just have the fear that i may also get bald like my dad,so far now,my hair is ok,just that i have some dandruff .is there any specific age that i wil start balding,or how can i keep my hair healthy and ever long lasting.is it mandatory that i may also lose hair as well as i grow old

Balding almost never hits men under 18, so I have set up a model for the balding process to give some insights into men on the balding process. If you imagine that we are born with different types of baby hair that changes as we get into our first year. Then it changes again through childhood and then again around puberty (11-13). I suspect that these changes are influenced heavily by the hormone DHT. The hair undergoes another change between 18-29 years old.

The changes are two fold. The first part of the process is the advancement of the frontal hairline into the mature position. The typical juvenile hairline of the 12 year old boy is no different than the hairline of the 12 year old girl, but as men (typically 95% of Caucasians) move into a mature pattern with the central area rising about ½ – 3/4th inch above the central crease and the sides move up about 1-1½ inches, giving a slightly receded corner. A small percentage of men (Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan) keep their 12 year old hairlines through life. Many young men mistake the mature changes in the Caucasian hairline for balding. Such changes are normal, but for the soap actors who must retain their baby face, such changes are devastating, so on rare occasions I have restored this juvenile hairline on famous actors.

Secondly, the balding process may start anytime after this change starts (about 18 years old). Since real balding starts at about 18 years old (caused by the impact of DHT on the susceptible genes associated with genetic hair loss) the faster the fall out occurs, the worse the prognosis. There is some protection against DHT that holds until 18, but when that protection is gone, the faster the fall out, the more is the indication that balding will be severe. On a visit to my office, I will put the hair of the patient on a TV, so that they can look at the hair shaft diameter variability. Normal (non-balding) hair has equal diameter while genetically impacted hair starts to become finer and finer, reducing the diameter to smaller and smaller sizes (miniaturization is the term that doctors use) until it becomes threadlike and just disappears. The drug Propecia blocks the impact of DHT on these impacted hairs, often slowing, stopping or reversing the process over time. The best way to change the course of this hair loss is to take Propecia which means that you must stay on the drug for life. Short of that medication, there is no effective proven medication or treatment. There is no doubt that the hair loss will still pick up again (even on the drug) but it will be a slower process.