I don't know anymore, am I losing my hair or not

This seems the most sensible of all hairloss forums so i'll ask here.

I am 20 years old and at the beginning of this year I started to fear that I was going to be looking more like my father (NW7 by mid 30s). I started pulling at my hair testing it, I found that I saw more hair in between my fingers than I bargained for. I took a look at my hairline, a little dented sure, but i've always had a high hairline. A thick NW 1.5. What worried me were the points of my temples looking a little thin, and whenever I run my hand through my hair to test, more come out in the temples and crown than other areas. Worrying indeed.

So I started researching, and I did alot, everything to do with hairlines and so forth. The answer of the fate of my hair was still inconclusive as ever. I heard the advice to go look for a hair transplant doctor and let him examine with a microscope. I did so.

What he told me surprised me, he said there is very minor thinning in the crown and top regions, and a bit more in the temple areas. I assumed this meant I was doomed to early hairloss (thinning at this age). I told him my concerns and he laughed and replied that I have very slow MPB. I asked him what that meant, if i'd still have hair on the crown at 25. He laughed again and said i'm probably looking at having an NW3 vertex at about 50 or 60 years old (which would mean it would mirror my maternal grandfathers). I was floored, I never even dreamed of having hair beyond my 40s, I thought my dad sicked me with his bald head from birth. I lapped it all up, it was a great thing to hear. Before I left I asked him how many hairs I should be losing in one day, he shrugged and said 130 or 140.

But the more time went on the more the pessimistic thoughts crept back, (what if he's wrong etc). My hairline appears not to have moved (if you want an idea, it looks much like the dad from modern family), I lose roughly 60-110 hairs a day, depending on the day, and I notice easier shedding in the crown area and front temples.

Should I even worry my self with this hairloss stuff, am I in the clear, or was the doctor wrong?

Hard to say, I had your hairline for the longest time even in high school and I never suspected hair loss would be a problem for me since I thought I'd get my grandpas(maternal side) godly hair genetics. Well, I'll never forget this time in my life. It was the start of September of 2013 and I began noticing when I spike my bangs up, there were frail damaged looking hairs in front that were smaller than the others... and my temples were even worse. I was confused, and ignored it, I couldn't even fathom I was experiencing mpb, especially at age 22, soon to be 23. Well turns out I got my dads hair genetics who is a NW7 and lost nearly all of it at the end of high school. I went from a NW1.5 to a NW3 in about half a year. The point of this short story is don't spend as much time in denial as I did. Casually research hair loss, keep up with this forum, but don't obsess over it and most importantly, when you do see miniaturization at the hairline, do not dismiss it away, take it serious.

You're already ahead of the curve in the fact you do realize you could be losing hair, or maybe even are, at a slow pace. I literally lost my entire social circle to endless research in my bedroom, only leaving the house for work, and to workout at the gym in a beanie. If you're knowledgable from the start, and up to date on natural theories(blood flow, detox, topicals, etc.) if the day does come that mpb kicks in, you'll be ready to meet it head on, and find out what works for you as fast as you can and maybe you can skip the dreaded full on panic period that many men face when they realize their hair is going away. To answer your question, I'd trust the doc for now but like I said keep an eye on it just don't obsess.

Quit worrying. Now. You're fine losing that many a day. The worrying you are doing is going to do worse for your hair than anything. Of course the doctor could never give you a 100% for-sure answer. Your stress levels, diet, etc. will influence this all. So get ahead of things now and just start being more conscious of your lifestyle.

Take a look around the forum and pick up some of the advice on exercise, diet, and supplementation. Its all a very good pro-health strategy and should give you a leg up as you get older anyway.

AS54 wrote:Quit worrying. Now.

^^^ What he said.