cc89

If it's too early to tell what this is, then what are the chances that this might just be maturation? I don't know the difference between a juvenile and mature hairline.

Yes, there's a chance that it could be hairline maturation, but why is it only affecting the left side? The right side seems perfectly fine to me. The difference I've been referring to is more noticeable in the photos I took today.

Ever since that haircut I had two months ago, I noticed that the temporal area on my left side seemed to have a parting that was difficult to cover up. I hate having partings that area, so I always had to spend a few minutes trying to cover it up by combing it forward. I went for another haircut a few days ago, and what used to be a parting before is now starting to look like recession/thinning and is impossible to cover up. The right side on the other hand seems fine for now. Taken today: http://i53.tinypic.com/23lmnt4.jpg Taken six months ago: http://i53.tinypic.com/255if13.jpg Again, I'm only concerned about the left side. If you compare both sides when they're combed over, you'll see exactly what I'm annoyed about. If this actually is recession, why is only one side affected? I'm 22-years-old at this time.

No, the hair dye shouldn't interfere with the Minoxidil in any way. Source: (Link removed by moderator. Please see our Terms of Service)

It's the ammonia in the hair dye that does that. It opens up the cuticles on the hairs so that the dye can penetrate to their cortex.

I know it's possible, but how and why does it happen? I'm sure I've mentioned my father's case once or twice on these forums. He began showing signs in his mid thirties, and is now in his late fifties and stable at NW3-Vertex. Pretty common, but the weird thing is that he's the only balding person in our family right up to both my maternal and paternal great grandfathers. Anyone else heard of similar cases before?

That makes sense, though I'm also wondering if there's any miniturization there. Here's a closer magnification of the same area: http://i54.tinypic.com/r2q4vl.png If I pluck some hairs from my donor area, I get the same type of variation in hair strand thickness where a few of the strands are thin and the rest are thick. However these individual thin hairs are rare and seem to be present all over the scalp amongst the thicker hairs. As such, I don't see or feel any thinning at this point in time. So my question is this: is it normal to have hairs of varying thickness on the scalp in this manner or am I seeing the early signs of miniturization? I'm 21-years-old, and my father didn't see any signs of baldness until he was in his mid thirties. I have a photo of him with thick long 70's style hair which was taken when he was around 30-years-old. He's now 58-years-old and is stable at NW3. He and his younger brother are the only two balding men in either side of the family. No one on my mother's side of the family is balding, but given my usual bad luck, I doubt that'll help me at all.

The structure of the follicles does undergo plenty of change as the baldness progresses. Since the sebaceous glands are part of this structure, perhaps they too are somehow affected by the changing shape of the follicle?

I posted some photos of my crown/vertex area here on November 15th and was told that there was no balding in that area at the time. One of the responders, mattj, recommended that I take another photo of the same area in a few months time to see if any change has occurred. It's now March 1st, and here's what I got after three and a half months... new1: http://i51.tinypic.com/eq4bhe.jpg new2: http://i54.tinypic.com/d9sn7.jpg For comparison purposes, here are the old photos I posted in November. old1: http://i54.tinypic.com/ev3lao.jpg old2: http://i51.tinypic.com/bg4vpu.jpg I've tried to take the photos at the same angles, but I don't know if I did a good job of that. Does anyone see any change or balding patterns emerging?

I've been taking iron supplements and haven't noticed any short hairs being shed lately. I'm also shedding less hairs than before. I don't think there's any history of MPB in either side of my family. My father had thick and long hair well into his thirties and didn't experience any hair loss or recession until he was in his late-forties, by which time he was a Norwood 3. He tells me that this is around the same time he was prescribed corticosteroids for his inflammatory bowel disorder (Prednisone). He's now almost 60, is still taking the corticosteroids amongst various other medications to manage his IBD. He's still at Norwood 3 but now has a bald patch on his vertex which developed during his fifties. I've also been to the dermatologist, and while he hasn't done a miniturisation test yet, he tells me that shedding some fine, long hairs is normal. Apparently, these individual thin hairs I was referring to in my original post are coming from all over my scalp including the "donor zone", not just the top.

All I know is that I've been told that I'm iron deficient (possibly anaemic) since I was 15. My father and older brother are also anaemic. The doctor that prescribed iron supplements was actually my gastroenterologist whom I have regular appointments with to checkup on my inflammatory bowel disease (my colon bleeds occasionally). RCWest: I don't see or feel any hair loss at the moment, and my hairline isn't receding either. It's just that a few of the hairs I shed on a daily basis are thinner than normal. Maybe 8-10 out of 150, if I were to guess.

I am seeing miniturizing hairs, but whether or not they're being caused by male pattern baldness, I'm not sure yet. My doctor has told me that my anaemia or iron deficiency usually does cause this, so I'll take his advice on treating it and see if there's any change. Hopefully I'll find out within a week or two.

I will. Thanks again Spanker.

You're actually not the first person to tell me this. I know that you're also right, but then again, I'm guessing the doctor must have had a reason to prescribe the iron supplements to me. Either way, scratch what I said in my original post about thinning hairs. That's just me being paranoid.

I understand. I'd like to get past this entire balding thing I've been worrying about, but I'm not finding this an easy thing to do. The prospect of losing my hair scares the daylight out of me. Here's one last photo of my hairline with me looking downward for a better view: http://i51.tinypic.com/2vttdlt.jpg Hopefully this will confirm that it's nothing more than a maturing hairline. This is also the first ever photo I've taken with my hair pulled back, so I haven't got a reference point either.