Category: Hair Loss Causes

Well I’m going through what we call male pattern baldness, which i don’t mind at all, I think I look fine. But, honestly I get tired of shaving all of the time, and I was wondering if I could wax my head instead so I dont have to shave all the time, I understand it will hurt and may rip the skin, but I also have thin hair so can the waxing be done slower and still be affective.

Waxing can be very painful and doing it often might indicate that you love pain. In all seriousness, long term waxing of the scalp may cause traction alopecia which will make you bald, but I think that it might be patchy rather than uniform.

In mid-feb, my husband was wrestling with a friend in our living room. His friend picked him up and accidently slammed him on the concete floor. My husband’s head hit the floor and he had a huge bump on his head. The swealling went down but he still has a bald spot there. Will his hair ever grow back?

I would expect that the hair will grow back within 6 months (or less) from time of the injury.

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A few years back I lost hair in a small area on the front of my scalp. My hair has not thinned anymore or anywhere else. Just this one spot on the front on my scalp, almost like a receding hairline but only one one side? What could it be?

You need to get a good doctor to look at it. There are many things that can cause a single spot of hair loss and a good dermatologist should be able to make that diagnosis for you.

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Hello there,

I’m a 34 male. I’m a non-smoker, very moderate drinker, healthy in every respect. I have lost almost all hair on both of my calf muscles. I’m not excessively hairy, but I do have a full head of hair. This hair loss is the cause of some embarrassment. Now, interestingly my father (62) has the same condition, though a lot more advanced. His legs are totally almost bald! My younger brother (32) has no signs of such loss. But like my father he has experience a good deal of head hair loss. I’m puzzled. And help that you might be able to offer me, would be enormously appreciated.

Many Thanks.

It seems like you have inherited the same gene from your father. The process of apoptosis (cell death) is genetically programmed in hair follicles. See Wikipedia for more on this.

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About a year ago I noticed I had some pain in my vertex. No itching. I went to my dermatologist who said it was seborrheic dermatitis – as my vertex was red and inflamed. It is uncomfortable to the touch, and touching the hairs there hurts. Since then it has come and gone, but I have started to thin quickly on the vertex, and see scalp now even when dry. I have no hairloss in my father or older brother, and I am 33. I know you’ll say get mapped for miniaturization, but my derm said the loss wasn’t bad, saw no MPB and would not prescribe propecia yet. He said MPB is not associated with pain. Still it is thinning quickly, and only in the spot it hurts – the vertex. So, 2 questions. Is it normal just to have pain on the vertex and be thinning there from just from SD? And in your practice, have you ever seen pain associated with MPB? I just want my hair back and the pain to go away so I can touch my scalp.

Thanks!

Your dermatologist is correct in stating male pattern baldness (MPB) is not associated with pain. It seems you have some sort of inflammation on your scalp and I would follow up with your dermatologist to treat the underlying problem. You may have some hair loss and have seborrheic dermatitis (SD) at the same time, though if you do, the SD may not be the cause of the thinning hair. If it is not related to the MPB, your hair should grow back. The mapping of your scalp tells the health of the hair in the crown, something that you should want to know.

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Hi,

I just wanted to know if there were any solid statistics on what percentage of men are norwood II, III etc. in middle age?

Thanks

There are two studies that I know of that were published on the subject. Drs. O’Tar Norwood and James Hamilton both did studies and each came up with different numbers.

Although there’s no general agreement on the statistics for the frequency of balding, it’s believed that advanced balding (defined as a Norwood Class 5, 6, or 7 pattern) occurs in about 35% of balding men. Balding itself is present in approximately half of all men over the age of 45. For those that fall into the 35% of Class 5, 6, or 7 pattern balding, this doesn’t mean that there’s a complete absence of hair in the balding area, as some hair may remain. Norwood Class 2 and 3 patterns appear in about 42% of middle aged men, however, I do not look at Class 2 patterns as much more than men with a mature male hairline.

Update: I removed the statistical breakdown from Dr. Hamilton’s study that I initially posted, because they’re unclear and they are widely different than other published statistics.

Hello,

I had a brief question about the miniaturization or actual process of hair loss:

When one has a hair fall out (sheds), is that the last hair that particular follicle will produce? Or, does another hair replace the shedded hair, but in a slightly minaturized form, starting the process over again as the hair gradually gets thinner (diameter)until it’s no longer cosmetically viable?

Thanks in advance.

Genetic hair loss causes progressive miniaturization of the hair shaft. Eventually, when the hair goes into telogen (sleep phase) it just will not grow back, because it has died (apoptosis is the term for a cell that has reached the end of its lifetime).

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So it isnt true that hair is more susceptible to fall out when its longer? I ask you this because i am from a pretty bald family, and i grew my hair out pretty long when i was 17, and three years later my hair has never been the same density wise as it was before i had long hair. I was only wondering if growing ones hair out longer could kick start the genetic balding trait, if youve ever heard of that happening.
thanks!

That is a myth. The length of your hair has nothing to do with genetic balding, unless of course you are pulling on your long hair or getting it caught in things and having it ripped out… but that is another story.

Remember that as you age, if you do have male pattern baldness (genetic hair loss), your hair will thin until your final pattern is achieved. Get yourself checked out for miniaturization if you think that you may have genetic hair loss.

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I’m a Korean male 34 yrs old and began noticing 2 years ago that my hair was beginning to thin out. By thin out I mean that it was falling out and many of the hairs were now thinner. I’ve always had a very thick head of hair and never thought that baldness would ever be something I’d have to worry about. Concerned I went to a dermatologist who seemed to think I was a bit crazy with this concern but suggested that I begin using propecia and rogaine as they have a synergistic effect. At first there seemed to be a slow down of loss but recently it seems to have accelerated. The hairs that fell out in the past seemed to all be rather thin or thinner at the root end now the hairs falling out seem to be thicker otherwise healthy looking. My routine and diet have not changed except for an increase in alcohol intake. I wonder why I’m seeing an increase in loss all of a sudden and why thicker hairs are now coming out in greater volume. It seems that medications are doing little to maintain my hair and certainly are not resulting in any new growth. Is it possible that I’m seeing an increase in loss due to a natural shedding rhythm? I’d estimate that in the last 2 years I’ve lost 25-35% of my hair. My hairline is still in tact and to someone not looking for the loss it would not appear that I have anything to worry about, but I notice. It’s especiallly noticable when wet. My scalp is expossed all over whereas it used to be even with a wet head you would not be able to see much scalp. Furthermore I’m adopted so I have no genetic history available. One last thing regarding the increase in alcohol; could this contribute to the loss or lack of result from the medication?

Thanks for your time.

I very much doubt that alcohol is related to your hair loss… unless your diet is compromised, which could then make it an offending cause of hair loss. Even alcoholics can have full heads of hair, though.

I am a bit confused what you are saying about the dermatologist who thought you were “crazy” and prescribed you Propecia. Is there a definite diagnosis of male pattern baldness or are you just taking these medications without a diagnosis? What are you really treating? It sounds like you need a good miniaturization study to find what pattern of hair loss you have and how you are losing hair. It may be just a cycle, but I really cannot say. Unless you have male patten baldness (MPB), Propecia will not help.