Embracing A Receding Hairline
One morning you wake up and look in the mirror, shocked at the face looking back at you. Is that really you? What happened to your hair? One day you have a full head of hair, and the next day you notice more scalp on your head and more hair in your comb.
The nicknames go through your balding head that you will soon have to endure from your friends: chrome dome, cue ball, bullet head, and bald eagle! What’s causing the hair loss? How can it be stopped?
Causes of a Receding Hairline
A receding hairline is a symptom of genetic pattern baldness. The medical term is androgenic alopecia. It is common in most men. 25% of men experience a receding hairline by the age of 30. Two-thirds of all men have hair loss by the time they reach 60.
Why does this happen? A receding hairline is genetic. Men who suffer from a receding hairline, and ultimately the loss of hair on the top of their head, have a predisposed genetic trigger inherited from both parents (not just the mother!).
At a certain age, the genetic trigger causes hair follicles at the hairline to become delicate and subject to the effects of the testosterone hormone, Dihydrotestosterone or DHT. DHT causes those hairline follicles to shrink and ultimatly cease hair production. DHT affects the hairline on the forehead and at the vertex at the top of the head. The hairline gradually recedes, leaving a horseshoe shapped pattern.
In some men, the hairline receding pattern is asymetrical and can be psychologically unattractive. Many men with an odd-shapped hairline pattern may seek treatment to re-grow hair to make it more even, or just shave the head completely.
Receding Hairline Treatments
Can the effects of genetic hair loss be treated? Indeed, developments in reversing the effects of DHT have taken great strides in the last decade. Treatments may be topical, like a cream, or taken internally as a prescription drug.
The best candidates for receding hairline treatments are younger men who have recently begun losing hair. Men who have had a long term and prominent hair loss are less likely to see regrowth of hair.
The effective medications cause the hair follicle to ignore the effects of shrinkage caused by DHT. With a normal-sized follicle, hair can begin growing again at the root. As mentioned, men with early stages of hair loss may experience more success with medical treatment since the hair follicles are just smaller and can be expanded with the medication.
A receding hairline is not the end of the world for men, though it may be the end of the pompadour they’ve been wearing for years. But with the social acceptance of hair loss and baldness, men should embrace their new widow’s peak or donut cut without shame.
