On average, when does hairloss really pick up speed? And when does slow down

Hair Transplant
1

Hi guys, I wanted ask everyone on their experience with hairloss. I understand that it’s different for everyone but we have many members here from all walks of life and age range so I wanted get your experience on when you believe you’re loss really picked up steam and eventually slowed down. I just wanted try to get and understanding of an average number of aggressive loss to when it eventually slows down.

I myself am currently 34 yrs. old, I think I started in my mid 20s and slowly progressed till now (nw 2-3, temple receeding). I have yet to experience massive hairloss and that’s what I’m afraid of. When is it likely to occur? In my 30’s or 40’s?

2

» Hi guys, I wanted ask everyone on their experience with hairloss. I
» understand that it’s different for everyone but we have many members here
» from all walks of life and age range so I wanted get your experience on
» when you believe you’re loss really picked up steam and eventually slowed
» down. I just wanted try to get and understanding of an average number of
» aggressive loss to when it eventually slows down.
»
» I myself am currently 34 yrs. old, I think I started in my mid 20s and
» slowly progressed till now (nw 2-3, temple receeding). I have yet to
» experience massive hairloss and that’s what I’m afraid of. When is it
» likely to occur? In my 30’s or 40’s?

well im 23.6 yrs old and mine just started to speed up. it’s been thinning very slowly the last 2-3 years, at a rate not even visible to anyone but me. only in the last couple months has it started getting to a point where i think it’s soon going to become at least noticeable to others. i’m still far from bald, but my hair front-to-back is definitely thinner than it was just 2 years ago, and like i said it seems like in the past couple months its started to pick up even more.

3

» Hi guys, I wanted ask everyone on their experience with hairloss. I
» understand that it’s different for everyone but we have many members here
» from all walks of life and age range so I wanted get your experience on
» when you believe you’re loss really picked up steam and eventually slowed
» down. I just wanted try to get and understanding of an average number of
» aggressive loss to when it eventually slows down.
»
» I myself am currently 34 yrs. old, I think I started in my mid 20s and
» slowly progressed till now (nw 2-3, temple receeding). I have yet to
» experience massive hairloss and that’s what I’m afraid of. When is it
» likely to occur? In my 30’s or 40’s?

I am into bodybuilding, for me it picked up real fast when I started using testosterone booster a few years ago. I am 26 now, I have stopped using the supplements but the hair loss is still going at very rapid pace. At this speed, I will be bald before I reach 30.

4

» Hi guys, I wanted ask everyone on their experience with hairloss. I
» understand that it’s different for everyone but we have many members here
» from all walks of life and age range so I wanted get your experience on
» when you believe you’re loss really picked up steam and eventually slowed
» down. I just wanted try to get and understanding of an average number of
» aggressive loss to when it eventually slows down.
»
» I myself am currently 34 yrs. old, I think I started in my mid 20s and
» slowly progressed till now (nw 2-3, temple receeding). I have yet to
» experience massive hairloss and that’s what I’m afraid of. When is it
» likely to occur? In my 30’s or 40’s?

There is no way to tell for sure - hair loss progression is really unpredictable. It can speed up and slow down at any age. Some people hit a plateau of no loss for a while, only to fall off the cliff with exponential loss. You can get an estimate - pretty much an educated guess - during a consultation, or look at your family’s history for clues. Medications like Propecia, Avodart, Rogaine, etc. can help slow the progression, but it cannot stop it completely.

Its a good topic to discuss for those considering hair loss medications and/or transplant. Think about all the possibilities and plan for the future.

5

There’s a relevant point that gets missed in some of these discussions:

The time of greatest MPB damage occurring is not the same thing as the time of the greatest visible evidence of MPB increasing.

Greatest MPB damage occurring is probably in the teens & 20s for most men. I think I read one time that the highest hormone levels relevant to MPB are during 20-35yo, with 25-30yo usually being the peak. But at those young ages, a man’s baseline hair condition was usually still very good to begin with. The visible evidence of the loss might get much more rapid in later decades but that’s a different issue.

In real-world example:

Let’s say a guy loses 40% of all his density in the decade of his 20s, and then he only loses 20% more density during his 30s. So his twenties were clearly THE bad decade for hair loss.

But what’s the visible effects of this?

Suppose he got to 20yo with 90% of all his original density. He goes from 90% all the way to 50% in that decade, but he turns 30 still LOOKING like he’s not having much hair loss at all with still having 50% density.

Now, over the course of his 30s, he only loses half as fast as he did during his 20s. But the difference between 50% and 30% is very obvious when he looks in the mirror.

So if you ask this guy, “when did you lose your hair?” He’s probably gonna tell you that he was doing just fine during his 20s but then it all went really fast during his 30s. But that’s not what really happened at all.

6

» There’s a relevant point that gets missed in some of these discussions:
»
» The time of greatest MPB damage occurring is not the same thing as the
» time of the greatest visible evidence of MPB increasing.
»
»
»
» Greatest MPB damage occurring is probably in the teens & 20s for most men.
» I think I read one time that the highest hormone levels relevant to MPB
» are during 20-35yo, with 25-30yo usually being the peak. But at those
» young ages, a man’s baseline hair condition was usually still very good to
» begin with. The visible evidence of the loss might get much more rapid in
» later decades but that’s a different issue.
»
»
»
»
» In real-world example:
»
» Let’s say a guy loses 40% of all his density in the decade of his 20s, and
» then he only loses 20% more density during his 30s. So his twenties were
» clearly THE bad decade for hair loss.
»
» But what’s the visible effects of this?
»
» Suppose he got to 20yo with 90% of all his original density. He goes from
» 90% all the way to 50% in that decade, but he turns 30 still LOOKING like
» he’s not having much hair loss at all with still having 50% density.
»
» Now, over the course of his 30s, he only loses half as fast as he did
» during his 20s. But the difference between 50% and 30% is very obvious
» when he looks in the mirror.
»
» So if you ask this guy, “when did you lose your hair?” He’s probably
» gonna tell you that he was doing just fine during his 20s but then it all
» went really fast during his 30s. But that’s not what really happened at
» all.

Great post. So, is it truely a fact that during the ages of 20-35 MPB is at its peak? If that is the case most patients should only consider HT after 35, correct? Would really like to see some clinic Reps chime in on this.

7

» Hi guys, I wanted ask everyone on their experience with hairloss. I
» understand that it’s different for everyone but we have many members here
» from all walks of life and age range so I wanted get your experience on
» when you believe you’re loss really picked up steam and eventually slowed
» down. I just wanted try to get and understanding of an average number of
» aggressive loss to when it eventually slows down.
»
» I myself am currently 34 yrs. old, I think I started in my mid 20s and
» slowly progressed till now (nw 2-3, temple receeding). I have yet to
» experience massive hairloss and that’s what I’m afraid of. When is it
» likely to occur? In my 30’s or 40’s?
Its different in everyone. I keep reading of aggressive hairloss but in my case it has been a slow and steady loss over past 15 years.

8

Yeah, there’s just no way to know.

I don’t think there is much safety with getting a HT under 25yo no matter what the family history. Some 22yo guys’ risk is worse than others but I think it’s still almost a total roulette game at that age no matter what. Young guys are either losing or unknown, but there’s no “safe.”

Take it from me – every male relative of mine has kept a full head of hair into his 70s for two generations back on both sides of the family. And yet I was way receeded at 16yo and thinning by 19-20yo. (And yes, I’m legitimately-fathered. I look & act just like the other men in my family in every other way. Even my hair color & curl characteristics are a spot-on match for my maternal grandfather who died in his 70s without any hair loss.)

30yo+ seems to be much safer than early/mid 20s in general. But only in the sense that early miniaturization (not visible loss) can usually be spotted by then. If you compare hair shaft diameters from all over your head under a magnifying glass of some sort, you can look for a contrast between the MPB-ing areas versus the “safe zone.” Thinner hair shaft diameters are a sign of MPB damage.

There are not many “always” things, jut a whole lot of “usually” things.

9

» Hi guys, I wanted ask everyone on their experience with hairloss. I
» understand that it’s different for everyone but we have many members here
» from all walks of life and age range so I wanted get your experience on
» when you believe you’re loss really picked up steam and eventually slowed
» down. I just wanted try to get and understanding of an average number of
» aggressive loss to when it eventually slows down.
»
» I myself am currently 34 yrs. old, I think I started in my mid 20s and
» slowly progressed till now (nw 2-3, temple receeding). I have yet to
» experience massive hairloss and that’s what I’m afraid of. When is it
» likely to occur? In my 30’s or 40’s?

I asked Dr. Mwamba. He says that while it is unpredictable, most of the accelerated hair loss is seen in your 20’s and maybe early 30’s. Once a man is in his 30’s or later, it is much more rare to experience a great loss over a short period of time unless there is some outside factor like stress or illness. Once you hit 30, it is normally a slower, more progressive loss. This is one of the reasons to wait until a patient is in his 30’s to begin hair transplant, but every case is different.