Do temples naturally have less hair

[PaulS94]

Is it ever normal for temples to have less hair than the rest of your head? Mine seem to be a lot "thinner" than anywhere else, but I think I remember them being like this even when I was a kid. The thinness goes really deep into my temples though, almost halfway into my head but there doesn't seem to be any miniaturization. (At least not any that I can see with my naked eye) it just looks like there is less hair there. Around 50% less... I've even plucked out countless hairs from both sides and they look the same as hairs from the sides, middle, and back of my head in terms of thickness and length.

I know it's hard to tell about without any pictures, but with my hair type it's near impossible to see what I'm talking about. Could this possibly be related to stress and diet? I'm only 19 and I've been stressing like crazy about my hair since I was 16 and I'm also severely underweight...(going to see a doctor about this today.)

My mom's side of the family has a really bad history of male pattern baldness...almost every male is completely bald, and they won't tell me when they started losing their hair because they think I'm just being paranoid. >_> My dad doesn't have any hair loss though and my hair is almost exactly like his, which is the complete opposite of my mom's.

[redy]

Is it ever normal for temples to have less hair than the rest of your head? Mine seem to be a lot "thinner" than anywhere else, but I think I remember them being like this even when I was a kid. The thinness goes really deep into my temples though, almost halfway into my head but there doesn't seem to be any miniaturization. (At least not any that I can see with my naked eye) it just looks like there is less hair there. Around 50% less... I've even plucked out countless hairs from both sides and they look the same as hairs from the sides, middle, and back of my head in terms of thickness and length.

I know it's hard to tell about without any pictures, but with my hair type it's near impossible to see what I'm talking about. Could this possibly be related to stress and diet? I'm only 19 and I've been stressing like crazy about my hair since I was 16 and I'm also severely underweight...(going to see a doctor about this today.)

My mom's side of the family has a really bad history of male pattern baldness...almost every male is completely bald, and they won't tell me when they started losing their hair because they think I'm just being paranoid. >_> My dad doesn't have any hair loss though and my hair is almost exactly like his, which is the complete opposite of my mom's.

I'm almost 22 now,

I told myself this up until about 6 months ago, when they got thinner and thinner, and now it's noticeable that I have hairloss. I started treatment like 6 weeks ago, but I wish I had started sooner to keep my hairline where it was.

I always thought it was cool that my temples/bangs kind of got sun-bleached blonde in the summer, but now I'm pretty sure it was because they were slowly thinning out so the area just appeared lighter regardless..

You should see a dermatologist instead of telling yourself everything will be ok, but also keep in mind that without seeing anything in pictures you may just be working towards a "mature hairline"

[TwoInchCircle]

It's hard to tell without pics, but you may just have a hairline like that. My hairline's always been "mature", as in, it's always had a slight bend to it. Temple recession isn't even something in my family. My father's side all have thick heads of hair (even well into their 50s) and on my mother's side, some (not all) have thinning crowns. (Which is what I have, hence my name.)

Looking back at childhood pictures of myself, my hairline has always looked like Jon Hamm's. You may just have been born like that. My hairline has never been straight across my forehead. (That being said, I still keep a close eye on my temples, despite their looking the same for years.) So don't panic too much because there's a chance you just have a mature hairline.

I'd suggest doing the same finding pictures of yourself from childhood and see if you ever had a hairline that was straight across. If not, then see someone about. Or, better yet, do both.

[macster]

Be careful with writing things off to "just a maturing hairline" or believing that your hair will recede and then stop at a certain point. That is what I thought, and it kept me from treating my hairloss until it got to a dangerously progressed point (NW3+...headed right into an NW4). Thankfully, I have responded very well to rogaine and propecia and after three years of consistent treatment, my hair looks just about better than ever, about NW 2, like when I was 16.

It is possible that you may have a maturing hairline but this concept gives guys a lot of room for denial and delay of treatment, potentially up until the point when it is too late. I would say don't go crazy or anything, but just keep an eye on it. The best thing to do would be to go to an IAHRS approved doctor and get your hair mapped for miniaturization. They could tell you with a high degree of certainty if you are balding and if you should be on rogaine / propecia.

Good luck man. Please note that there are options. Rogaine and propecia work very well for most men if you get to the problem early and are disciplined and consistent in treatment.

-Macster

[redy]

Be careful with writing things off to "just a maturing hairline" or believing that your hair will recede and then stop at a certain point. That is what I thought, and it kept me from treating my hairloss until it got to a dangerously progressed point (NW3+...headed right into an NW4). Thankfully, I have responded very well to rogaine and propecia and after three years of consistent treatment, my hair looks just about better than ever, about NW 2, like when I was 16.

It is possible that you may have a maturing hairline but this concept gives guys a lot of room for denial and delay of treatment, potentially up until the point when it is too late. I would say don't go crazy or anything, but just keep an eye on it. The best thing to do would be to go to an IAHRS approved doctor and get your hair mapped for miniaturization. They could tell you with a high degree of certainty if you are balding and if you should be on rogaine / propecia.

Good luck man. Please note that there are options. Rogaine and propecia work very well for most men if you get to the problem early and are disciplined and consistent in treatment.

-Macster

out of curiosity, did it take you years to see improvement, or constant improvement up to your current point?

[Tracy C]

Is it ever normal for temples to have less hair than the rest of your head?

Yes. For some races it is more prominent than in other races. In caucasians specifically it can be very prominent.

[burtandernie]

No. Hair is hair if its going bye bye that is what I generally would call hair loss meaning you lost that hair period end of the story. You can excuse it or explain it away anyway you want or pretend it just never happened or normal ect.

[Notcoolanymore]

It is important not to panic when you first notice your hair loss. See your doctor and educate yourself on what treatments are available. Like macster said though, don't just dismiss initial signs of hair loss as a mature hairline. You could end up delaying treatment and losing a lot of hair.

[PaulS94]

Thanks for all the replies. ;o but my hairline isn't rising, it's just that my entire temple area has less hair than anywhere else on my head. The right side also seems a little bit worse than the left. That's the thing I don't understand...why only my temples? Is it normal to have thinner temples for people who aren't Caucasian? (I'm not, so I don't know if the mature hairline thing still applies...?) I've been combing my hair down for 3 years now and just cutting it short. All I know is that I remember that I always hard a hard time getting my temples hairs to stand up when I used to style my hair. (around age 8-15)

I'll see if I can find some pics of me when I was younger and I'll try some good pictures of both my temples.

And I saw a dermatologist today, two of them actually, and both of them said it's hard to tell...they said if it's been like this since I was a kid, then it may just be how my hair grows but if they get thinner, then it's most likely MPB. I first started freaking out about my temples when I just turned 16 cause someone told me that baldness comes from your mom's side, but my temples still look pretty much the same..

[mpb47]

Thanks for all the replies. ;o but my hairline isn't rising, it's just that my entire temple area has less hair than anywhere else on my head. The right side also seems a little bit worse than the left. That's the thing I don't understand...why only my temples? Is it normal to have thinner temples for people who aren't Caucasian? (I'm not, so I don't know if the mature hairline thing still applies...?) I've been combing my hair down for 3 years now and just cutting it short. All I know is that I remember that I always hard a hard time getting my temples hairs to stand up when I used to style my hair. (around age 8-15)

I'll see if I can find some pics of me when I was younger and I'll try some good pictures of both my temples.

And I saw a dermatologist today, two of them actually, and both of them said it's hard to tell...they said if it's been like this since I was a kid, then it may just be how my hair grows but if they get thinner, then it's most likely MPB. I first started freaking out about my temples when I just turned 16 cause someone told me that baldness comes from your mom's side, but my temples still look pretty much the same..

Just take some pics every 4 months or so and keep an eye on it.

The left side vs right is probably not common but that is how my hairline started receding. First the left then years later the right side. For me it turned out to be very slow mpb. Many years later, my crown did the same thing only from right to left.

[PaulS94]

Wow....just buzzed off my hair for the sake of this thread and it actually doesn't look bad at all. I think I'd actually look good with a shaved head haha.

Anyway, I think long hair makes my temples look worse than they really are , cause when I cut my hair short it's not really noticeable at all. I'm going to wait for it to grow long again and then buy a USB microscope so I can see for sure if there is any miniaturization. And my phone camera's light is broken atm so I'm waiting on my replacement and then I'll post some pics. Thanks again for the help

[redy]

Wow....just buzzed off my hair for the sake of this thread and it actually doesn't look bad at all. I think I'd actually look good with a shaved head haha.

Anyway, I think long hair makes my temples look worse than they really are , cause when I cut my hair short it's not really noticeable at all. I'm going to wait for it to grow long again and then buy a USB microscope so I can see for sure if there is any miniaturization. And my phone camera's light is broken atm so I'm waiting on my replacement and then I'll post some pics. Thanks again for the help

good work,

don't freak out to much about it, you'll notice it if it starts happening way before other people will on the hairline at least, if you keep up your appearance that is. Also keep in mind that if you are looking really hard for an issue, you will find it whether or not it is there.

keeping an eye on it would probably be best. I wish that people told me this rather than telling me to "stop being ridiculous you're 20"

[Woodyy]

I do think it's normal for some people, I remember watching the TV a few days back and I saw a little kid on some show or something with his fringe just combed forward, you could clearly see there was like twice as much hair covering the middle of his fore head vs the sides where the temple hair would've been covering. There is no way an 8 year old kid was suffering from MPB.

[burtandernie]

Yeah it does depend on the person but say for me I did have no recession at all and at like 28 got mistaken for being 16 so hair is a pretty big factor in how old you look mainly because most men do bald. I am losing it but its very slowly so I might wait for something safer.

[mmmcoffee]

Didn't feel like reading rest of thread, so sorry if I'm repeating, but you could be diffuse thinning on your temples, and while your hairline lnecessary hasn't moved back it could be thinning out.

That's what's happening to me..still at nw1.5-2 in shape but likely a 3-4 in terms of where I'm thinning