22 here... Am I balding?

[depressed24]

Recently, about a week ago, my hair started shedding a lot. I would run my hands through my hair and I'd get at least two strands out. It seems as if it's stopping now.. But I also have this slight discomfort on the front of my scalp. It's like, a slight pulling sensation or something.


I've always had a large forgead, and both my brother (36) and my father (59) still have hair.. There are two uncles on my mom's side of the family that have experienced hair loss, and none that I know of on my dad's side.

[Dfaru94]

For now, you look absolutely fine. Your hairline is a little on the high side, but it's not so high or obviously receding that people are really going to notice it.

What's going to happen next is tricky, because not everyone balds to the same degree. It's actually very normal (so normal it probably happens to most men) for your hairline to recede slightly/moderately and then stabilise, not balding any further.

The best thing to do is either see a professional hair loss specialist, who can examine your scalp and see if there's mass-miniaturisation taking place, or simply wait it out, take more photos in 6 months to a year in the same lighting, and see if there is any change.

I will say don't fall into the whole "you inherit baldness from the [X] side of your family" crap. People love saying "you get it from your mother's side!", and if that were true, then in my case I'd have follicles of steel and thick hair into my 70s... but no, at 22 I'm already going the same way my Dad did, quite rapidly in fact. You can and do inherit hair loss genes from both sides of your family. It can even be random sometimes, and skip you in a family of baldies or hit you in a family of lions' manes.