Am I losing my hair?!

[Amahaitz]

I was taking pictures of my hair and was horrified when I saw these. My forehead has always been very high, and the hair at my hairline has never been very thick, but GOOD LORD. I think it's worse now. What do you think? What should I do about this? Should I maybe get bangs (maybe wispy ones) to try to camouflage it? I am really upset. :(

[jeanniet]

Honestly, I think it looks fine. I think most people have slightly less hair right at the hairline--I have a 5" pony, but the hairline would look similar to yours. From what I've seen, women who experience male-pattern type balding lose around the crown, not at the hairline. Unless you have another reason to think you're losing your hair, I wouldn't worry unduly.

[mamaherrera]

Mine looks like that or even less dense, especially the first hairs at the hairline, man are they all separated, like as though I were missing a hair in between every two hairs.

[Johannah]

Yes, exactly like jeanniet said. I don't think you need to worry, it looks fine.

[Edelweiss]

You really don't need to worry about the way it looks, it's just fine I wouldn't even notice anything special it you didn't say you were worried !

[nikolette]

Looks normal to me

[blace]

Mine looks like that or even less dense, especially the first hairs at the hairline, man are they all separated, like as though I were missing a hair in between every two hairs.

Mine is just the same. Thin-ish at the hairline and even more sparse and fine around my temples. It's just the nature of my hairline.


I would say that as long as you are not noticing any major change or hair loss in very concentrated areas then you are just fine. No need to worry. Your hair is beautiful!

[lapushka]

I'm not seeing anything abnormal. No, it looks fine! :)

[Madora]

Yes, your hair is thinning, in front, in the center. The hairs in the front, along the hairline are very delicate, much more so than the other hair on your head.

You might look into how you are wearing your hair. Are you pulling it back too tightly? If you can create more "pouf" at the front and sides, that will benefit your hair.

You also might to try very gentle hair massage in the affected area. Luckily for you, the area is not large..but definitely something should be done to keep what you have and not let the hair erode more. Stay clear of parts because you don't want to put any pressure on the hair while trying to restore the tiny bit of hair space you've lost.

Your hair looks beautiful, by the way. Good luck!

[mamaherrera]

I think it's the camera and the way you have your hair going in different directions. Take a look at mine, if you want. . . . Madora, would probably say I'm thinning too.

[jeanniet]

I took a picture of my hairline to see what it looks like, but unfortunately it's not uploading for some reason. Anyway, the picture actually looks worse than yours does--bad enough that you might think, "That poor delusional woman, of course she's going bald!" It doesn't look that bad IRL, so to some extent it's a combination of camera angle, lighting, and the way my hair lies, but I can assure you that my hair is in no way thinning. Immediately beyond the hairline it's too thick to see any scalp at all. My hairline has always been like this, maybe partly because I have a widow's peak. Unless you have something previous to compare it to, there's no way to say with assurance that it's thinning, but if you have no reason to think it is (increased shedding, for instance) there's no reason to panic.

[mamaherrera]

that's what I mean. Mine is thick hair strands, but more separated than you all with fine dense hair, mine isn't dense. So you can see between hairs easier. But there are certain pics that make things look terrible, we should all upload pics so we can see that it's more normal than what we think. Like mine, it's from having a high hairline, widow's peak, cowlick all together, and my hairline, the actual line, has a couple bald spots "tiny" like the cowlick blew threw and forget to add a few pores there. . . and the closer you get and then add light, eeeewwww, always a bad situation.

[lapushka]

If you look too much up close, there's always something. Better not to focus on things like that unless they are *truly* alarming!

[RingletedManiac]

It looks fine to me. You're probably seeing an illusion of that because you see your hair so often. Don't freak out.

[Beborani]

Your har looks thick and covers the scalp in several layers all over--I suspect that spot has always been that way and this weird angle at which none of us usually take pictures just accentuates it. In female pattern hair loss first layer of hairline remains intact and then the hair loss begins--it is diffuse all over--you have none of that. As for traction alopecia, hard to tell but doubtful.

[Gertrude]

My hair looks just the same at my " natural " parting. If I don't part my hair at all it will part there when it is dry because of my cowlick. The very fragile hairs at the front there don't ever grow long and wouldn't withstand pulling let alone hard. If I part my hair artificially the I don't see this thinning effect. In fact if I pull all my hair back when it is wet, straight back, it looks like I am a man balding at the front. The horror finding that out at 16. But it's completely stable and hasn't led to any thinning.

[jeanniet]

Finally got the pic to upload. As you can see, it looks thin in front and much thicker just beyond the hairline. I was wearing a soft headband before the picture was taken; normally my hair isn't pushed back quite so much. Anyway, it demonstrates that a) pictures can be deceiving (it looks much worse in the pic than IRL); b) that a thinner area in front doesn't automatically mean hair loss. Forgive the wrinkly forehead--I'm terrible at taking hair pics and getting the top of my head was a challenge!

ETA: Just wanted to add that I haven't really worn updos to speak of for over a year, and my hairline still looks the same.

http://i642.photobucket.com/albums/uu150/edmjt63/FullSizeRender.jpg

[mamaherrera]

thanks for sharing, gives us other hairlines to compare. Mine looks more separated but I also see some areas on yours that look more "separated the pores" like mine. Helps us know what others look like in pics, you are very right!

[spidermom]

Did I look at the right pictures? I don't see anything horrifying. Truly - I don't. Perhaps we all should post pictures of our foreheads/hair line.

[mamaherrera]

These are mine. . . . http://forums.longhaircommunity.com/album.php?albumid=11167
That's what I said. . . .we should all share pictures, so we don't feel so alone in our "thin" forehead lines!! I showed my friend who cuts hair, and she just looked at me crazy and said, well it looks like a hairline, but to me. . . omg

[Sarahlabyrinth]

Well, here's mine. I look like I have balding areas on the sides but it's just that the hairline is shaped with short thin hairs in those areas. With my hair greying, you can now see straight through to the skin. Doesn't look great but it seems to be a normal thing for me.

http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh582/Sarahlabyrinth/DSCF5952.jpg

http://i1253.photobucket.com/albums/hh582/Sarahlabyrinth/DSCF5961.jpg

[mamaherrera]

At least you have short thin hairs there, my little "C" on both sides, is completely without hair. But I can see from pictures, at least one when I was like 13, it has always been like that, if it's gone a bit back, who knows. that would be hard to tell, but the little hairs that fall from the top hairline, cover the "C"'s, but lift those baby hairs up (they are thick, but short) and there is nothing there, for about 1 cm, and then my hairline starts at my temple, but yeah. . . .it's about 1cm inwards at the temples, looks like men's thing.

[Phexlyn]

Do you have any comparison pictures from a time when your hairline looked thicker?
Did you find more hairs in your brush/comb than usual?

Because your hairline doesn't look like it's thinning. There are many hairlines which look this way naturally (or are thinning a bit with age). I have a little see-through spot at the side and very thin hair around the hairline. It runs in the family (thanks, grandma!). :)

[mamaherrera]

I do. . . .if you look in my album, "which I posted on the other page, page 2" IN that album, I have some of my temple and ten years ago. . . if you want to take a look. But I am glad you think it looks fine, that makes me feel better, always to hear because I have a big forehead, so it's a "long" way back to those corners, where my hairline starts, and it makes me very self-conscious, but thanks. It's good that we support each other this way to share. . .thanks again

[jeanniet]

My hubby has that C thing going on in front--has ever since I met him, which was in 1978. And he's balding now, too, but at the crown, not in front.

[Amahaitz]

Thanks, everybody. I feel better and more normal now :)