user83248324

Hi, My hair has been following out/shedding a bit lately. I am not sure if this is balding or something else. The hair that is falling out appears to be extremely thin/fine(and almost looks white/clear..my hair is not white as I am 20 years old) and will sometimes be curly and bent even though my hair is straight. Is this a sign of MPB or something else...Thanks for anyhelp you can provide..

Hey guys,. I am a twenty year old male who began working out and dieting about three months ago. Recently, when looking in the mirror after getting out of the shower I noticed that my hair appeared thin/patchy. (ie if I were to part my hair down the middle the line/part would be wider. Or if I were to spike my hair straight up, it would be easier to view my scalp then before ) This hair loss has been pretty sudden, and has not seemed to follow the normal male baldness pattern (at least what I consider it be) as I do not have a large bald spot developing on the top/back part of my head or anything, instead it just seems to be a consistent level or thinning/loss all over the top of my head ( I am not sure if my sides would look the same if they were the same length, but currently they are buzzed shorter.) During this three month diet, I have lost about 25 pounds of fat and probably gained 5-10 pounds of muscle (I was 6'4 255 to begin with). For my diet, I found that leaving out carbs was a simple way to achieve these results, as bread didn't seem as filling to me as a protein shake, chicken, or friend egg whites. I was working out extremely hard by both lifting everyday for about 45 minutes(different body part everyday), and doing cardio for about two hours. I figured out that for my weight, I was probably taking in about 20% of the suggested amount of carbs, when this is mixed with the above workout I'm sure I was below 0.) I am not sure if this hair loss is a result of telogen effluvium.. I read about this from another post on this forum(and posted that info below), or could this be just normal hair loss? I have a fairly average level of baldness in my family I think, and I do not believe baldness started extremely early with any of my male family members (extremely early being 20). I did mature early, as I was about 6 feet tall at the age of 12/13 so I am not sure if this could have anything to do with this. Also, my dad had told me that when he was maybe 30 he lost weight by eating a lot of peanut butter and green beans and not much else, but stopped because it lead to hair loss? I haven't asked him if this hair grew back or asked him anymore about it as I am a little embarrassed by this whole situation at this point. I realize this post is kinda all over the place but thanks for any help anyone can provide. Info on telogen effluvium from another post where someone went on a crash diet- 'What you are describing is classic for symptoms of telogen effluvium- which refers to the temporary shedding of hair related to some type of "stressor"- in your case, calorie restriction or "crash diet". The natural hair cycle as it relates to this, and as observed when we transplant hair follicles, is that, after the "stressor", the follicles go into a resting phase that lasts three months. Also, this "three month window" is also a pertinent time line one sees for the onset of the shedding period as well. Hence, what we do (or is done) to our system to "stress" it begins to show up in three months. Conversely, when we "correct" or remove the stressor (in your case resume normal eating patterns, sleep, etc..) it will take another three months to begin to see the results of that change; and, as hair grows slowly (about cm/month) it takes additional months to really appreciate a change for the better. Hope that helps. Sincerely, Dr. Timothy Carman La Jolla Hair Restoration Medical Center