Pattern Baldness

What is male pattern baldness? Male pattern baldness is a common form of hair loss for men. About 80% of men will experience some form of hair loss in their life. What causes it? Genetics and male sex hormones are the main culprits but there are other factors that can be in play such as stress and environment. However, most case studies show genetics plays a big part. Male pattern baldness has been around since the early dawn of man. The “pattern” starts from typically a recession of a hairline to the thinning of the crown.

What happens exactly is basically the strand of hair you do have eventually shrink overtime as the hair loses the strength to grow. How do you measure the severity of the hair loss? There is a scale most hair experts use to diagnose a case which is the Norwood Scale. Class 1 being least severe to Class 7 (being most excessive) are the measurements and depending on the positioning of the hairline and the crown, that is where the patient would be diagnosed. Typically, the hairline starts to recede first and you’ll start seeing a “M” shape on the front. Once the temples start to recede you can be on the scale between 2-3. The moment the crown starts to thin out we’re into scary territory of scale 4+ and some cases class 3.

The reason why its called male “pattern” baldness is because there are typical patterns on how the hair starts to recede back. There are many relevant cases of men losing their hair in similar fashion. However, there are some outliers where men lose the crown first, or only the crown and the hairline does not recede.

Other form of hair loss is male thinning where there is no recession of the hairline but the whole scalp things all out together consistently. Big factors are the quality of hair the man is born with (thin hair from genetics) to just straight genetics from the parents (if anyone has thinning problem to begin with). In some cases we have even seen women with same problem as well, where the hair just thins out altogether consistently where the scalp is visible.

Depending where you are on the hair loss pattern stage (or Norwood scale) there are options for you. From considering the hair loss medications to hair transplant to even just Scalp Micropigmentation. We know it sucks, and you’re looking for answers online but just know there are options out here today. Looking for a cure is out of the question as otherwise we wouldn’t be here. However there are treatments that can address the situation and combat your male pattern baldness.