What does my hair look like?

[pick]

I'm a 20 year old guy.
I have baldness running in my family. There is a good history of baldness in the paternal side (and my father has it too).

People say, signs of balding is usually accompanied with finding hair on pillow/bed after waking up in the morning. But I don't see any such hair.

My hair is thin, and when I run my fingers around it, lots of whitish flakes(they stick to cloth) fall down. But I don't know if it is dandruff, just some excess sebum or a dry scalp.

Unfortunately I haven't kept studying my hair from time to time, as I have been unconcerned with this, till until recently.

I've uploaded some pictures of my head.
They don't look like that (the voids) unless I slightly lift my hair up a little bit (in those regions).
In all those pics, the lower portion continues into my forehead. The voids shown are in the center, close to my forehead.

Are those voids, signs of hair fall? What do you think?

Please help me out.
Thank you.

[sp8rky]

cant see anything to worry about in those blurry pics

[Artista]

Yes the photos are way too blurry to make any assessment ,,i see a LOT of hair though

[pick]

Yeah, I am nowhere close to bald now. I have lots of hair. I'm just afraid if my hair is thinning and density is reducing.

Is the picture resolution, not good enough, or do they appear shaky?


What are some very very early signs of balding that I should look out for?
I have it running in my genes, I hope it will start much later (like 30s), but would like to know immediately when it starts.

Thank you

[win200]

You need clearer pics that are a little farther back from your head. I just have no idea what I'm looking at in those pictures. There's some scalp showing through, but again, I just don't know what I'm seeing.

[baldybald]

i can see thinning.
in my opinion you start thinning in one spot right now.
please go and see a doctor ASAP

[mattj]

It looks to me like you're parting the hair just behind the hairline.

You may have lost some density, but with the pictures being unclear and not knowing how dense your hair originally was, it's hard to know for sure.

[pick]

Thank you everyone.

@mattj, yes I have indeed parted my hair, to show how dense the hair is, at the scalp.
I'll try to monitor my hair for sometime.
How long would it take for density to change noticeably (minimally noticable, if at all it is happening)?

@baldybald, what doctor should I see now??
A dermatologist?
Should I just tell him my concerns and let him take a look at my hair?
This is in hope that it is an infection or something, but not "genetic". Correct?
I mean, what can a doctor do if it is genetic?

[mattj]

There's no way of knowing how long it will take to notice changes as hair loss varies in speed. For some it is very slow and for others it can be very fast.

Like you say, monitor it over time, but don't be obsessive. That's not healthy.

[baldybald]

dermatologist,tell him your concern
if it is genetic he will put you in some medication

[Assemblage23]

when in doubt start a hippy regimen, ie watch your diet a lot, plenty of greens cut down animal products no refined sugar limited starch, take fish oil vitamin d and brewer's yeast.

[pick]

Thank you all.
I'm sorry if I'm pushing this too far, but I'm shaken by this whole thing.
I used to be scared of it happening later in life, but at nearing 20?!!!

I did go to a dermatologist (yesterday) and he almost advised me to accept it if it were to come. He advised me regarding my dandruff, general hair care. Seriously, hardly anyone outside the internet is aware of research like ARI's that is going on.
I gotta find a better doctor.

Here are 2 more pics showing my above-temple areas.
Is it possible that someone has thin very lowly dense hair in the above-temple region since childhood. I don't remember how dense it was, I remember my hairline there was quite behind.

Now, I see really thin "tufts" of hair there. They are so light and thin. I convince myself that it has always been like this. But could hair have been less dense just there (since the beginning)?
It might be understandable if I never had any hair there, but a thin tuft worries me.

Yes I'll go to another doctor again, but your opinions count a lot to me, given how I don't have much of past snapshots which I can share with a doctor.

[drybone]

I cannot honestly see how you have lost any hair at all. Perhaps you can put up some more photos.

Get a friend of family member to take the photo as you pull your hair back. Or , go take photos of yourself when your hair is soaking wet and brushed back so I can see your hairline better.

[BigThinker]

Thank you all.
I'm sorry if I'm pushing this too far, but I'm shaken by this whole thing.
I used to be scared of it happening later in life, but at nearing 20?!!!

I did go to a dermatologist (yesterday) and he almost advised me to accept it if it were to come. He advised me regarding my dandruff, general hair care. Seriously, hardly anyone outside the internet is aware of research like ARI's that is going on.
I gotta find a better doctor.

Here are 2 more pics showing my above-temple areas.
Is it possible that someone has thin very lowly dense hair in the above-temple region since childhood. I don't remember how dense it was, I remember my hairline there was quite behind.

Now, I see really thin "tufts" of hair there. They are so light and thin. I convince myself that it has always been like this. But could hair have been less dense just there (since the beginning)?
It might be understandable if I never had any hair there, but a thin tuft worries me.

Yes I'll go to another doctor again, but your opinions count a lot to me, given how I don't have much of past snapshots which I can share with a doctor.

The first physician I saw was a GP and was some combination of incompetent and unconcerned, when it came to hair loss. Saw a derm at a research University that was the opposite of both those things. It's worth seeing another professional. I think it is also important to be transparent/explicit with your concerns. It can be difficult to have to tell someone in-person you're concerned with your hairloss, with the way it's stigmatized. But, these are medical professionals; tell them how you feel.

Also, I couldn't agree more with what you said regarding hairloss education and the internet. Thankfully, the internet exists to offer forums for people to vocalize experiences and knowledge in a world that just doesn't seem to give a f**k. Otherwise, I would know Rogaine due to advertisements and nothing else.

S**t is frustrating - no doubt. I really just want my density back from the shedding I've been inflicted with for the last 6+ months. Definitely lost more than I've re-gained since this bullsh*t started.

[NOT ME]

I find it amazing that I am actually going through the exact same thing as you. Overall, my hairline receded just a bit and has stopped a long time ago but I do not know whether the hair on top of my head is thin because of diffuse thinning or because it always been like that.

I did start taking Nizoral 2% as a precaution and, like Assemblage23 says, hopped on a hippy regiment.