• 08-15-2011 01:55 PM
    worried2568
    Recently turned 15 and worried about balding
    Alright, first things first, I style my hair into a fauxhawk, and what I'm about to describe has been going on for 3 months now.

    When my hair is down, and not styled or spiked, I see ZERO scalp. Even when it
    is wet, I see next to no scalp. I have ZERO thinning at the crown, and no hair line receding.

    Sounds good right? Wrong. For 3 months, I've been experiencing hair loss. It started out terrible. It was so bad that, when I'd be eating, hair would normally fall out into and around my food. After I decided to cut my hair to about 1 inch fauxhawk, I haven't been noticing any "random" hair loss, but I still wake up with around 15 hairs on my bed.

    Now, I recently moved to a new home, and now, I spike my hair in a bathroom with overhead lighting. Whenever I spike my hair in there, I notice that I can see my scalp only at the front, and only when there is overhead lighting. If there isn't overhead lighting, then it looks like I have a extremely thick hair at the front.

    Does this mean I'm balding? I looked in previous pictures of myself where overhead lighting was present, and I can see SOME scalp in those pictures. They aren't high quality pictures, so I can't tell if scalp is showing in other places in the front of my hair. I can't tell you if the overhead lighting has been showing my scalp for a really long time, since I recently started styling in that new bathroom...

    Here's some information about genetics:
    Dad: Very small thinning in the crown, he is 46
    Mom: Full Head of Hair
    Dad Sides Grandpa: 75 and started thinning at 70
    Mom's sides grandpa: 80 and nearly full head of hair

    Also, I have a 7 year old brother. He too suffers from scalp being shown in overhead lighted areas (I tried styling his hair like mine. Same results)
    My 18 year old brother has ALOT of hair fall, but he shows no signs of hair loss. Every morning, he takes he's bed sheets and shakes them over a tub to let all the hairs fall out from them, and normally 50+ hairs fall out in total!

    What do you guys think? Maybe it's seasonal shedding?
  • 08-16-2011 07:46 AM
    DontKnowWhatToDo
    I personally doubt you are suffering from male pattern baldness at this point. Given your age, recent family history, and the fact that your brother is also experiencing similar shedding leads me to believe that the cause can be found elsewhere. Yes it could be seasonal shedding. It could also be a diet deficiency.

    Your ethnic background could be a clue to when your seasonal shedding takes place. I have been told that people of Italian ancestry tend to shed the most in the Spring and the Fall. I myself am of Irish ancestry, and I have been shedding more in the summer months.
  • 08-16-2011 12:15 PM
    mattj
    Seeing scalp under overhead lighting when your hair is spiked up is totally normal as straight hair styled upwards will allow a lot of light to reach down to the scalp.

    All in all I think you probably have nothing to worry about, considering everything you told us about your brother, family history, etc. It's tough to be sure because that does sound like a lot of shedding. If your hair is very dense then that can lead to more hair fall as there are more follicles going through the normal hair cycle at any one time. It could be as DontKnowWhatToDo says, a seasonal shed. It could be 'your normal'.

    I would just keep an eye out for any reduction in density, hairline recession or the formation of a bald spot at your crown. Take some photos under those overhead lights and then keep updates every couple of months or so.
  • 08-16-2011 02:38 PM
    worried2568
    Thanks alot for the reassurance doctor!:)

    Ill definitely be taking pictures to monitor my status and see if anything changes. Best of luck to anyone suffering from hair loss on this forum!:)
  • 08-16-2011 03:13 PM
    mattj
    I'm not a doctor, but you're welcome. That is, if my opinion still matters. :)

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