Category: Age

Please help. I am 26 years old and I have had long hair for about 10 years. I have been keeping my hair in a tight bun or braids all of the time. I also used to texturize and dye my hair frequently. I recently cut my hair off for a job and so now I have it kept short. For the first few months I thought my hair looked fine. Maybe I hadn’t paid much attention to it but I think I had. Now, four months since cutting my hair. I have noticed that my hair is extremely thin in the back of my head near my hairline. Its to the point where it looks bald. Will I ever be able to grow hair back there again? If I got a transplant would it leave nasty scars on my head if I wanted to shave my hair down low? Are there any treatments for me or have I damaged my hair for too long. Can I get a transplant over scar tissue? Should I be able to look at my balding spot and tell if I damaged my hair permanenly? Im not to sure how long it has been thin like this for. I have always had long hair to cover it up I guess. Do I have any hope. Thank you in advance

Your story is not unusual as denial is a common reaction to aging in the young man who believes that he is forever immune to signs of aging or balding or ill health. I generally think that young people have a concept that their bodies are their castle with high walls which protect them from every malady know to man. Now, your keen eye shows the crack in the armor. I suspect that the insidious nature of the balding process has crept up on you and when you stood back and looked, there it was. Look at the various sections in this blog (particularly the Age category) to see what you can do. Get your hair mapped out for miniaturization to make a diagnosis and then see if you may benefit from Propecia or hair transplant options. Make a Master Plan before going headlong into a panic, be methodical in doing your research, get a copy of our book to review the various options and explore our website at newhair.com.

Dear Doc,
At 18, i used minoxidil solution for about 6 months.I had some help and then suddenly it stopped growing and started falling again.I stopped after six months and shifted to homeopathy. By then I had already lost a lot of hair.For the past 2 yrs i have been trying homeopathy but to no avail.I keep losing to male pattern baldness. No family history except for some thinning on moms hair.Pls help.

It sounds like you are going through rapid genetic hair loss. If the minoxidil was working initially and then after 6 months you stopped it, you probably experienced shedding of hair from the minoxidil withdrawal of the dependent hairs that you built up on the drug. You need to have your scalp and hair mapped out for miniaturization and if the results of that mapping show male patterned genetic hair loss, then you should go on Propecia. You need to block DHT with a therapeutic dose of the correct medication. Homeopathy does not offer powerful DHT blockers that are proven as safe and effective as a good prescription of Propecia. For your own good, do not waste your time, for time amounts to irreversible hair loss in those with rapid hair loss. You are using a water pistol to put out a fire that is consuming your valuable hair resources. Take command of your problem.

Hello
I am 23 years of age and I am losing hair (mainly because of dandruff). I would like to know until what age does hair regrow naturally.

We generally say that the hair wreath around the sides and top of the head, a 2 1/2 inch high area that runs from ear to ear, is permanent. We see this in the men who are very bald; they really never become fully bald as this wreath of ‘donor’ hair stays for life. The rest of the hair on the head of a very bald man may or may not last the lifetime of the man, depending upon their genetics. In women with no genetic hair loss, the same applies and the hair loss remains for the life of the patient. The small wreath of hair that we say is permanent in men, may not be permanent in women. Therein lies one of the differences in women’s genetic hair loss as compared to men’s genetic hair loss. On many women and men, the overall population of the hair may be decreased with age (unfortunate medical term is senile alopecia), but that rarely impacts more than 30% of the hair in impacted areas. So, worse case, an answer to your question is that fully 70% of hair on the head will last a lifetime, if genetic factors do not force it into an early death.

My grandmother lived to 114 years of age, and her hair was long (2-3 feet) and still growing when she died. She had a full head of hair. My grandfather died at 102 years of age with a full “Ronald Reagan” type head of hair with a hair line like he had when he was 10. He had a hair cut about every 3 weeks, and died at work behind his desk, a few days after his last hair cut (something he enjoyed doing very much because he got out and about). It’s all in the genetics of what our parents and grand parents gave to us (life span for ourselves and for our hair).

My 4 year old has developed an almost circular spot on the back portion of his head. It seems almost bald. What is it?

There are many causes of such balding, including genetic factors such as alopecia areata (or variations of this), fungal infections, etc. You need to take your 4 year old to see a dermatologist specializing in children and/or hair loss.

Hi doctor, I have been recently been encountering certain problems with my hair over the past 5 months, I am 16 years old (male) and currently starting my first year of college. First signs of change were with the texture and build of the hair, as it started to become much drier and thinner. Then the amount of hair that started to fall out naturally started to drastically increase, although I have naturally thick hair the changes that I am experiencing seem too unnatural, one example is the fact that I never really used to be able to see my scalp, now I am really feeling concious about it. I have great foundations of friendship in the school that I go to and the worry of acceptance isn’t preying on my mind too much. I have asked my best friend about it and she seems to see no difference in the appearance of my hair, but I still believe there is something wrong.

My grandfather had troubles with baldness as a teenager and was completely bald on the top of his head at age 20. Confident self image is something that I always like to pursue, I style my hair using straightening irons and using gel based products, which I have been widely recognised at school for, for the past two years. A balding head it something that is not really seen around my social groups, and I’m not quite sure how my friends would react. I haven’t consulted my doctor about it and I would really like some impartial, friendly advice on what to do next, whether I should consult my family or keep it quiet and hope it will go away. I would really appreciate your help in this matter as I have only spoken to one person about this and I haven’t been able to research it myself much. Thank you

Go get your head mapped out for miniaturization, which will show if you are in the early phases of genetic balding. Especially at your age, it is too important to guess or work the answer blindly through the internet.

Hi,
I’m only 16 years old and i’ve noticed I’m losing alot of hair, more then the 100 hairs a day that is “normal”, probably about 400+ a day. My hair has been going gray since I was 14 years old and I’ve died it a few times using the same product each time so I don’t think thats the problem. Since it started (or maybe a day before?) it was VERY itchy, and has been since. Is there anyone you can recommend going to see? or anything I can do myself? As its obviously far from normal losing hair/graying at 14-16yrs old.

You have an interesting problem which is not common and so your first step (based on your symptoms) should be to go to a dermatologist. You should expect that they will want to get some blood tests and possibly do a scalp biopsy. The dermatologist will likely advise you to stop using the hair dye at least until a diagnosis is established since dye in itself can cause itching and hair loss in some cases.

Before you go, there is one thing you can do – perform a hair count. Here is how you do it:

1. Clean your brush and shower drain of all hair and change your pillowcase.
2. For one week, collect all the hair that falls out and place it into an individual baggy marked with the day of the week.
3. At the end of the week, sit down and count EACH hair in EACH baggy — keep a tally.

If your hair loss is less than 100 hairs per day (and some experts say 150 hairs), this is considered a normal amount of loss. When you go to a doctor for this problem, this will also be useful information for them so you might consider making a copy of the tally or bringing the hairs in so that they can be examined under a microscope. Whatever you collect, the actual hair loss will be higher because hair falls out everyplace you go, so if you count 100 hairs/day, it is possible the actual loss might be double that number. You will want your scalp mapped out for miniaturization to determine if you have premature genetic balding.

Hope all goes well!