Male Hair Loss: should I start worrying?

[daredevil14]

I have wavy/curly hair that is at BSL when dry and almost waist when wet, my shedding is normal but I started to notice that, when I take all my hair to the back, I notice an M shape at my hairline, I looked at an old picture (2 years ago), it was like this but I looked at pictures from my teens when I had short hair, there was hair in those areas or maybe I am just confused. I am 24 years old by the way.

Should I start worrying?

[Aurum]

M shape at your front or back hairline? Or do you mean your hemline, where the hair actually ends?
24 is young to start genetic hair loss if you have it, but it's not unheard of. Could it be damage related, that the hair is being worn by something you're doing to it?

[daredevil14]

No, it is at the front, above my forehead. I will attach a picture from 2012, the indicated area is where I mean by my post. (My hair is longer now)

The rest of hair is normal, I sometimes wonder whether these areas (my case) can be by default like this.

http://oi60.tinypic.com/24yyfk4.jpg

[lilin]

Looks fine to me. :) Really, 24 isn't that young -- male hair loss is usually gradual. A lot of guys have very small amounts of loss early, but it doesn't start picking up until they're older. Most guys I know your age have a similar hair line. Is it a tiny bit of loss, or is it just their natural post-puberty hair line? Hard to tell, but it looks typical to me. Everything changes a bit post-puberty. Even my own hairline is different (a lot of people of either sex have wispy baby hairs at their hairline that go away with time). It could also be that you just notice it more now that you can pull your hair back.

Some guys only lose a little, no matter how old they get. A few guys lose it really fast. I knew a guy who lost most of his hair by the time he was 20, actually.

But whatever your case will wind up being, I think it looks good. :)

[daredevil14]

Thank you lilin for the answer. :)

Just a side note, this picture was 2 years ago, now the circulated area is less and less.

[queenovnight]

I'm no specialist, but looks fine to me. My boyfriend has a similar hair line and he also thought he was balding. It was actually just his hairline lol.*

If I were you, I'd just take a look at family members. Could just be genetic.

[torrilin]

24 is young to start genetic hair loss if you have it, but it's not unheard of.

I think you mean late. On my dad's side of the family, male pattern baldness genes will start expressing in the teens, and the guys who carry it will be bald before they're thirty. Some families have a male pattern baldness gene that doesn't result in all the guys over 25 being bald as an egg, but there usually will be hair loss in the 20s. Their genes don't cause as high a rate of hair loss, but it'll start at the same time. And well, male pattern baldness is a long ways from being the only way humans go bald. All sorts of things can cause hair loss, like infections, nutrition problems, stress, hormone imbalances... most of the time hair loss is not genetic.

Greying genes are similar. Very few people who have greying genes will stay 100% free of grey hairs past puberty. In some families, the people with the greying genes will be silver by 30. In others, it might take longer, but both groups will have grey hairs start to show up in their teens. I haven't seen any research on whether the greying genes are sex linked the way male pattern baldness is.


The rest of hair is normal, I sometimes wonder whether these areas (my case) can be by default like this.

Ok, what you're seeing is normal. Your hairline shape is often called a "widow's peak". It's genetic. You've always had it. Typical male short haircuts tend to make it hard to see the hairline, so you probably didn't notice it before your hair was long. It is possible that it was less prominent when you were younger... but I'd tend to place my bets on hair cut hiding it. I have the same kind of hairline. If I'm remembering right, it's a dominant gene, tho in my case it wouldn't matter since both my parents have a widow's peak.

You might ask how I know both parents have it? Dad still has all his hair at age 66. His mom was a carrier for the male pattern baldness gene, but she wasn't bald herself. She was the only daughter in a good Catholic family with about 8? brothers. The family pictures were impressive displays of bald heads! But she didn't become bald and her husband didn't become bald, so my dad and his sister both had a chance to keep their hair. And they did. Dad did get the family greying genes, so he has lots of grey hair even in my baby pictures.

[Anje]

I think most fully mature men (read: mid 20s or older, as opposed to teens and early 20s) tend to have thin spots there. Many women do too. I know I do, and what hair does grow there typically stays fairly short for me.

In my opinion, if it doesn't go much further you'll be just fine. Your pic looks totally normal. But keep an eye on it: if it keeps going back, if your hairline in the front starts retreating, or if you start getting some thinning at the vertex (the bald spot zone), then you should probably start looking at treatments that will keep your hair thick.

[browneyedsusan]

FWIW: I love long-haired men.
(I also love short-haired men, men with beards, and bald men.)
DH is bald, and very nice. Men in general are very nice. :)

Genetics are what they are. Try not to stress over it. Women have been drooling over Mr. Clean for generations, and Proctor & Gamble know it. Believe me, you've got more going for you than a head of hair. Way more. ;)