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Snippet from the article:

He’s not the king of England yet, but Prince William might want to start wearing a crown anyway – to cover up his bald spot.

The handsome royal’s ever-expanding bald spot was on display as he saluted sailors recently at a naval base in his naval uniform.

The 28-year-old prince’s bald spot was first visible seven years ago when he turned 21, and his hair has continued to thin, the Daily Mail reports.

Read the full story at NY Daily News

This young man has been in the public spotlight since birth, and it is no surprise that there are plenty of photos of his progressing hair loss. His brother Prince Harry has a strong head of hair, but who knows if that will last for him.

Afternoon, this is a real quick query. I am on propecia and i think at least it is maintaining my hair loss. However i seem to have a slight itch at my receding hairline. It isn’t constant, just seems to happen occasionally. Isthis a sign of further hairloss? Is an itchy scalp a symptom of MPB?

We have many readers and patients complain of itchy scalp and believe it is associated with their hair loss, but I do not see a definitive correlation between the two. Scalp itch is not a symptom of male pattern baldness (MPB), and many people have an itchy scalp without experiencing hair loss.

It is possible that as the hair thins, the protective effect of the ’shade’ may make the scalp more vulnerable to drying and as such, this may be the connection that you are looking for.

So by taking a birth control and side effects such as hair loss do occur, if I took a vitamin that increases hair growth and is known to work pretty well.. Would my hair loss stop and actually regrow or will the vitamins have no effect?

I have no idea what vitamins you’re taking, but if your birth control is causing hair loss, I’d doubt there’s a vitamin to counteract that. Not all women will experience hair loss from birth control, so if you’re speaking in hypotheticals it might not even be an issue. Talk to your doctor.

Theoretically, could Propecia revert a mature hairline back into a juvenile hairline in the non-balding male?

I do not believe so. I would say that the mature hairline develops as the hairs from the original juvenile hairline reach the end of their growth cycle (developing apoptosis). It’s like asking theoretically if you can turn back time.

Hello, I’m dealing with MPB and am currently at 3 or 4 on the Norwood scale. I’m considering a transplant sometime soon. I have no allusions of obtaining a pompadour, rather I would just like to cut my hair short after the procedure and have it look like a buzz cut.

My question is, worst case scenerio, if someone came in with a Norwood 7, how many grafts would it roughly take to completely fill in the bald area. I understand there are a lot of contributing factors (ie. available donor area, quality of donor hair, et cetera), but I would just like a rough estimate (3,000-5,000?) if possible. Thanks in advance!

There are many ways to answer this question, but it varies by the quality and the availability of the hair to tackle the job. Every person needs a Master Plan when undergoing any surgical hair restoration procedure. The available supply varies in individuals and some people will never have enough hair to fill in a Class 7 pattern. Everyone is different with their own preference for hair styles.

Generally speaking, hair transplant surgery is limited by the number of grafts (hairs) you can donate. A few thousand hairs will never look like tens of thousands of hairs. Thus, hair transplantation takes advantage of hair color, skin color, hair texture, hairstyle, and hair length. The longer you keep your hair, the more full it will look. In other words, keeping your hair short in a buzz cut will not be the best hair style choice if you are considering a hair transplant surgery. These are the some of the issues you need to discuss with a hair transplant surgeon before you consider the surgery.

Typically a Norwood 7 patient will require 7000+ grafts to cover the entire balding scalp, but I must reiterate that it will NEVER be enough to look full with a buzzed haircut (even if you transplant 8000 grafts). You must understand that a Norwood 7 patient likely lost about 70,000+ hairs from a 100,000 hair starting point.

Hi, I am a 19 year old female and ever since a crash diet almost 4 years ago, I have noticed hair loss. It hasn’t bothered me as much till I started losing and shedding like crazy a year and a half ago. It would be on my pillow, on my shirt and just touching my hair will cause hair to fall. The hair is falling from the root with white thick bulbs and some have long white sheaths. I also have dandruff but shampoos like nizoral are making my shedding worse. It is possible that I have have gotten the balding gene from my father who has mpb? or can I still hope that its just telogen effluvium?

Women do not necessarily bald, but they lose hair and they “thin” out. Have you ever seen a bald woman aside from those who had chemotherapy or have a distinct disease like alopecia totalis? The genetic factor may be there in your case, but it can just as well be passed on from your mother as it could your father.

If your hair loss is telogen effluvium (usually stress-induced loss) it can take around a year or so to fully recover. You should also consider getting a complete physical exam by your doctor so that any medical cause of hair loss can be ruled out. The examination should include a complete analysis of your hormones and endocrine glands like the thyroid. For more information on other possible causes of female hair loss, see here.

I first noticed I was going bald about 2 years ago (at 22)and I immediately began researching and decided on Minoxidil, starting using it and got a fairly heavy shed. It all grew back plus some and the amount of hair I lost per day dramatically reduced (5 hairs compared to 40). I was sent abroad for a few months and spilled a bottle and could not order any more while there so went 2 months without it.

I changed to a purer brand and got some very impressive results after a couple of weeks with a shed about the same as the first. Now 3 months on I have quit smoking (3 weeks at this stage) and in the last week my hair loss has been huge! Im losing 5X more in the shower, 5x more on the pillow every morning! I know the blood circulation will be improved sending more nutrients etc to the hair so im not surprised the thin hairs are falling out BUT 40% of the hair is thick black hairs! Could this just be a shift to the growing phase or should I get the razors ready?

There’s really no reason for your hair loss to continue because of your quitting smoking. To suggest that smoking cigarettes kept your hair loss at bay doesn’t make any sense. If you’re experiencing accelerated loss, I’d expect it to be likely just a coincidence to when you stopped smoking.

Were the older minoxidil and new “purer” minoxidil both the same strength? I can’t tell you what’s going on, as I haven’t any way to determine that via the web… but visit your doctor to get down to a proper analysis of your problem.

Hi. Yesterday i was diagnosed with Hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia. I was wondering if you know anything about having this disease and hair transplants. Since I was born with this can insurance cover it? I have spots and places where my hair will not grow. It requires me to wear hair extentions , and im thinking about a wig. Anyway , i was wondering if you knew anything about this.

Thank you

Yes, I do know about ectodermal dysplasia. It is a genetic trait which can affect hair (among other things). I do not know how insurance coverage plays a factor in this, but I doubt that hair transplantation will be an option. With ectodermal dysplasia there are defects in the hair and skin that may make hair transplants not possible.

Hello,

Thank you for taking the time to write this blog. I have two questions. First, how much truth is there in the genetics for hair loss comes from your mother’s father? If not completely, what role do your father’s genetics play?

Secondly, not to be too literal in what you’ve stated regarding measuring the mature hairline, but when you say it should rise about 1.5 to 2 times higher, does that mean from a center point used in measuring the midpoint of the hairline? I’ve included pics (feel free to publish), including one where I’m holding a ruler to show how I’ve been measuring my corners. My hairline is about 5/8″ from the midpoint and about 1 1/8″. What is that, about a Norwood 2?

Thank you for all the work you do.

Thanks for allowing us to post your photos. Click them to enlarge.

Hair loss genes may be passed on from mother, father, or both. I realize many people believe it follows more from the mother’s side, but that is not an absolute fact. I’d say if anything, it favors the maternal side only 52% of the time, compared to the paternal side in 48% of cases. Statistically it is insignificant.

Your frontal pattern shows early erosion and a movement in the direction of a mature hairline, as the leading edge is thinning and the corners are a good one inch from the frontalis muscle in the corners. I would assume that you are under 29 years old. Everyone’s hairline is different and there is no absolute math or measurement to say precisely where your hairline should be, but for a mature hairline the picture here shows its location well.

And yeah, Norwood class 2 sounds about right. Unless you’re seeing loss on other areas of the scalp, I wouldn’t be concerned about your hair loss at this point.

hi Dr Rassman, I’ve been taking Finasteride since Apr 09 and would have to say, I haven’t seen any improvement. If anything, its gotten thinner, along with a case of scalp itch (no dandruff) in and around my hairline. Is that a known side affect of the drug? I’ve seen people suggest it could be new hair growing? That would be nice, but i’d rather see it than feel it. I don’t even like being in pictures any more. I’m seeing a dermatologist in a couple of weeks, but would really appreciate your thoughts.

Itchy scalp isn’t a side effect of Propecia (finasteride) as far as I’m aware. Perhaps you’ve got something unrelated going on that your dermatologist should be able to diagnose.

I’m not sure what area of your scalp that you’re looking at or where you’re losing hair, but Propecia does not generally regrow hair in the frontal areas (it can happen, but it’s rare). It might be slowing the loss down, but not stopping it completely. You’ve been taking the medication for over a year and a half, so hopefully your prescribing physician will have some better insight into whether there has been any success for you while taking Propecia.