Does hair loss slow down?

[Rossybop]

I've discovered some stuff online that suggests hair loss slows down in one's 40's. Is there truth behind this statement? I also read that the most aggressive period, if you're unfortuneate enough to be an early loser, is 18 - 25, could this be true?

My own experience, I'm 30 now, is that the most profound and visible effects of hair loss happened me between my late teens and early 20s. Things seemed to move quite slow from there, with not a huge amount of change until another little morphing process during the mid - late 20s.

Now that I'm 30 and I've just started meds I'm wondering if I stick to the meds for 10 or 12 years will it halt the process down until I reach an age where it slows itself down naturally.

[Enhancer]

I have also been curious about this, it must be true to some extent since this fact is echoed a lot, even by some well known HT doctors.  As a man ages, testosterone and DHT lowers, and may be responsible for the slow down in hair loss.

[aaron1234]

It might slow down for some, or it might not for others.  Impossible to predict.  Even if you think you're a NW6-7 in your late 20's and think it won't get any worse it might.  Take a look at Jason Alexander (George Constanza on Seinfeld).  His sides receded and lateral humps continued to drop years after the show stopped.

[Rossybop]

Interesting, guys. I think if you're an NW6/NW7 in your 20's though it won't make a huge difference if you lose what little you have left lol. I am probably between an NW2/NW3 and the difference in my hair loss in the last 3 years is minimial compared to the hair loss that happened 11 years ago.

It would be cool if I don't lose much more from here on with the help of medication, that way if I get a HT now it will last a very long time, and that would be pretty awesome.

[Al - Moderator]

If you lose a lot of hair at a fast rate in your teens and 20s then it has to slow down later because you won't have enough hair to keep losing at the same rate. That doesn't mean that hair loss always slows down as you get older. If you start out slow it can certainly sped up later. I've seen a 40 year old with a full head of hair become a NW 6 by his mid 50s.

[TorontoMan]

No, no reason to believe it will stop.

[Rossybop]

Wow. Ok thanks guys. There's so much conflicting information out there. Hair loss and hair transplants are a minefield subject.

[ciaus]

Its that "other" Trinity: death, taxes, ....and hairloss.

Or maybe its not really loss, its just that all our scalp hairs move to our ears and noses to enjoy their retirement!

 

[Britanium]

19 minutes ago, ciaus said:

Its that "other" Trinity: death, taxes, ....and hairloss.

Or maybe its not really loss, its just that all our scalp hairs move to our ears and noses to enjoy their retirement!

 

At nearly 50 I’m having to shave my ears 👂 more often than I would like 😂🤣

[Rossybop]

38 minutes ago, ciaus said:

Its that "other" Trinity: death, taxes, ....and hairloss.

Or maybe its not really loss, its just that all our scalp hairs move to our ears and noses to enjoy their retirement!

 

The three certainties that none of us welcome 😂 I wish they'd retire on my head. They're better up there 🤷🏻‍♂️

[Rossybop]

19 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

At nearly 50 I’m having to shave my ears 👂 more often than I would like 😂🤣

Sure I'm doing that at 30, and my nose. Plucking the eyebrows too. I won't go into detail any further. I seem to have more than enough of it everywhere except for the top of my head 🙈

[Britanium]

2 minutes ago, Rossybop said:

Sure I'm doing that at 30, and my nose. Plucking the eyebrows too. I won't go into detail any further. I seem to have more than enough of it everywhere except for the top of my head 🙈

Oh yes it’s quite happy to grow in between my eyebrows..

 

[gillenator]

In that first decade or so of hair loss, there is a significant amount of hair lost...so in the mid to later years, it can seem that hair loss slows down when in fact there is not as much left to lose.

What we do know for sure is that MPB is a genetic disposition and stays with us for life; so genetic hair loss is indeed a life long journey...yes, there are periods when it is not as aggressive in its progression but it is something that never completely leaves us.

[Rossybop]

37 minutes ago, gillenator said:

In that first decade or so of hair loss, there is a significant amount of hair lost...so in the mid to later years, it can seem that hair loss slows down when in fact there is not as much left to lose.

What we do know for sure is that MPB is a genetic disposition and stays with us for life; so genetic hair loss is indeed a life long journey...yes, there are periods when it is not as aggressive in its progression but it is something that never completely leaves us.

I see. So when is it most aggressive and when will it be least aggressive? 😯

[Enhancer]

It might also be a mind trick?  The effects on one's appearance going from NW1 - NW2 - NW3 may be greater than say, going from NW4-NW5, which may make us believe it is slowing down.

But I don't know, I dug up a bunch of old pictures of my grandfather in the process of researching my own balding.  The guy was a pretty receeded NW3 by the age of 25 and I swear he just stayed that way until his 50s.  And no, there was no finasteride or transplants for him.  So I don't know what to believe either.

[Rossybop]

I hear ya.

Yeah haha, its f****g mind-boggling isn't it 🤷🏻‍♂️ Basically I just want science to reach out and tell me "you're hair loss will stop now. Finasteride will regain all the thickness and if you get a hair transplant now you will have a totally savage head of hair for at least another 30 years and it will make hot chicks want to shag you every day." 😂

[gillenator]

On 11/17/2020 at 7:43 PM, Rossybop said:

I see. So when is it most aggressive and when will it be least aggressive? 😯

Most men produce their highest levels of testosterone in their 20s through 30s, and since DHT is a metabolite of testosterone, their is a corresponding higher level of DHT being produced...so potentially the scalp has higher levels and more hair can be lost during these periods.

[Rossybop]

15 minutes ago, gillenator said:

Most men produce their highest levels of testosterone in their 20s through 30s, and since DHT is a metabolite of testosterone, their is a corresponding higher level of DHT being produced...so potentially the scalp has higher levels and more hair can be lost during these periods.

I see. That's interesting thanks. I'm 30 now and I started using finasteride 4 months ago. Maybe I should have started using it 10+ years ago 😭 Hopefully it will work well for me from hereon

[gillenator]

I certainly wish you the best on your journey...here's another important clinical insight:  most of us lose approximately 50% of our hair density before we start to visually see our scalp through the thinning hair and that's when many of us clearly see that we have a hair loss problem...this is where a microscopic examination of our scalp can be of great benefit to note signs of diffusion....so if the young men who have MPB in their family histories would be more pro-active in their early years, they can potentially get started on low dose finasteride to save more hair from being lost...this is especially true for the young men who's father, grandfather, uncles, etc., have experienced aggressive hair loss patterns.

[Rossybop]

Cool. That's interesting. I'm hoping to have a hair transplant soon and I think they will examine my hair with a microscope when I go for the procedure.

I wonder will they be able to predict how bald I might go on my crown, or mid scalp, if they examine it with a microscope. Perhaps they will be able to see where it is thinning most and where it is thinning the least, and maybe they will be able to predict how much mileage I will get from finasteride and Regaine?