Category: Hairlines

I have always had a high forehead, but I’ve had two comments in the last month saying I’m growing bald. My hairline has always definitely been higher by my temples, but I’m now unsure if it’s getting worse. When I lift my hair to show my hairline though, I don’t see any thinning. Shouldn’t this be a gradual process where I could actually see the hair receding or doesn’t it work that way? Also, my dad and all of his brothers are completely bald, but they all showed signs by the time they were 20. No one on my mom’s side is bald. Would that mean if I was balding, it would be in the same pattern as my dad and his family? I’m almost 26, should I be balding at the same age as then and same rate?

You need to determine if you are developing a maturing hairline. You should also get your hair mapped out for miniaturization to determine if you are really balding. Recession is different that maturing a hairline and you need to understand the difference. If you do not show miniaturization, the it would be safe to assume that you are not now presently balding.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

In this answer you stated; “it is normal to have some miniaturization or thinning in the very front edge of your hairline“.

and in this answer you stated: “The maturing hairline is as thick as the juvenile hairline, as long as there is no genetic hair loss in the actual hairline (no miniaturization). Sometimes, the mature hairline is thinner (at least it seems that way to me as I look at my mature hairline), but that is just a feeling.”

These two answers confuse me since it seems that you in your first answer suggests that it is normal with some thinning in the very front, but in the second answer, it is NOT normal with some thinning in the very front. If this is not a contradiction I suppose the juvenile hairline also have some normal thinning at the very front?

I would be really greatful if you could clear these things up…

Best Regards

Miniaturized hair means that the hair shaft is smaller than a normal (terminal hair) shaft. If you look at a follicular unit, you will see some vellus hairs (shorter and finer) and occasional thinner hair shafts, which when they are not present in substantial quantity, may be normal. As these smaller hair shafts are found all over the head, one must draw the line as to what may constitute a ‘medical condition’ that reflects genetic balding or other forms of alopecia. I have arbitrarily determined that any miniaturized count out of a population of normal hair shaft ‘terminal’ hairs, should be under 20%. When the thin (miniaturized) hair counts exceed 20%, I assume that this is a medical condition. In the frontal line, many people have thinner hairs, sometime exceeding 20% (in the first 1/2cm). If there is no miniaturization above 20% behind this first 1/2cm, then I would call this the soft look that God gave us to produce a transition from bare forehead to thick hair.

All hair shafts are not equal. In people with coarse hair, thicker hair shafts must be offset by finer frontal hair shafts and we actually see finer hair at the edge of a frontal hairline (first 1/2cm or so). The same is true for everyone, but the phenomenon I am talking about is most evident in the coarse hair person.

I hope this helps.

Hello doc, I’m a 24 year old white male.

I’ve read a lot of people refer to MPB as starting out with a “widow’s peak” but here’s a question for you sir: all of the females in my family have a natural widow’s peak shaped hairline, they aren’t flat but have that M shaped curve to them. The trait is dominant and I got one as a kid as well. I rarely see any older men out there that have low widow’s peak shaped hairlines, all of the men that have low hairlines as they age seem to have flat hairlines with just some hair loss at the temples.

My question is this: when a boy gets the widow’s peak hairline as opposed to flat, does that more commonly or always lead to a higher mature hairline as an adult? I am currently 24 and my hairline has some definate hair loss at the temples, but it still hasn’t gone back at all in the middle and very slightly on the sides. Does the fact that I have a widow’s peak shape mean I am destined for a high hairline on the front/sides?

Good question. I believe that the frontal juvenile hairline has different genetics than the hair behind it (the mature hairline) and that includes the widow’s peak. I have seen men who maintained the juvenile hairline and lost all of the hair behind it (just 1/2 inch of hair present that is normal for that man). Also, the central forelock has a distinct genetic pattern in some family lines (that forelock will last into old age even if all of the hair around it is lost). Nighttime talk show host David Letterman has a persistent forelock which on close examination looks like a round patch of hair isolated from the hair on the sides and behind it. Sometimes the forelock is connected to a widow’s peak and sometimes it is connected to the surrounding hair.

Paid advertisements (not an endorsement):

Hi Doc!

Does male body hair, like chest hair and/or back hair, have anything in common with MPB? In other words, have you ever seen a bald/balding person without this kind of male body hair? (assuming he is not shaved)

I also wonder if a maturing hairline should be as thick as a juvenile hairline, or if it is common that it is a little bit thinner at the very front of the hairline.

I would really appreciate your expertise on these matters.

It seems at times that the bald men have bodies covered in hair, somewhat like a gorilla, but it is simply not the case. There is no connection between body hair and the loss of head hair, except to state that those with lots of body hair probably have good testosterone production.

The maturing hairline is as thick as the juvenile hairline, as long as there is no genetic hair loss in the actual hairline (no miniaturization). Sometimes, the mature hairline is thinner (at least it seems that way to me as I look at my mature hairline), but that is just a feeling. No facts on that subject to back up my ‘feelings’.