Why is my hair so thin right behind and above my ears?

[lezek]

Any ideas on what could be causing this?
I'm only 18 years old but all of my brothers and my dad started thinning badly starting at the age of 20. I also have been drinking not even close to enough water recently and was told that it might cause thinning around my whole head but this doesn't make sense because of how concentrated the thinning is.

 

[Jpw1999]

Looks like retrograde alopecia, I've got it but it hasn't got much worse since I first noticed it 4 years ago. Finasteride will help prevent further loss.

 

[user394587]

It looks like retrograde alopecia. The hair around your ears, and sometimes in a thin arc towards your nape or in the nape itself will thin out quite a bit relative to the rest of your hair. I have the same thing.

The good news is that you won't go bald in that area, it'll just get progressively thinner. Conversely, the bad news is that you can't use that region for donor hair if you ever need a hair transplant. Doesn't mean you can't get one, it just means that your lifetime grafts available will be a little bit lower.

Treatments such as finasteride will halt or slow down your overall balding progression, but anecdotally they don't do much when it comes to retrograde alopecia, you're sort of just stuck with it from what I've seen. If you look up Hairliciously, he has retrograde alopecia as well and had a successful hair transplant.

 

[justinbieberscombover]

Retrograde alopecia is thinning above the ears AND on those temple triangles at the sides of your frontal hairline. I've had that to a certain level for many years and it didn't keep progressing/get worse (without treatment). Didn't stop me from getting 3 transplants

 

[lezek]

It looks like retrograde alopecia. The hair around your ears, and sometimes in a thin arc towards your nape or in the nape itself will thin out quite a bit relative to the rest of your hair. I have the same thing.

The good news is that you won't go bald in that area, it'll just get progressively thinner. Conversely, the bad news is that you can't use that region for donor hair if you ever need a hair transplant. Doesn't mean you can't get one, it just means that your lifetime grafts available will be a little bit lower.

Treatments such as finasteride will halt or slow down your overall balding progression, but anecdotally they don't do much when it comes to retrograde alopecia, you're sort of just stuck with it from what I've seen. If you look up Hairliciously, he has retrograde alopecia as well and had a successful hair transplant.

Do you think something like scalp micropigmentation would be an effective way to cover the thinning? Or is that something only useful if you are fully bald?

 

[user394587]

Do you think something like scalp micropigmentation would be an effective way to cover the thinning? Or is that something only useful if you are fully bald?

I would just keep it at a 2 or 3 guard and have your barber blend it in with the rest of your hair, probably 99%+ of the population wouldn't even notice most cases of retrograde alopecia.

Personally I'm not a fan of SMP in general unless you're using to camouflage FUE/FUT transplant scars.

 

[lezek]

I would just keep it at a 2 or 3 guard and have your barber blend it in with the rest of your hair, probably 99%+ of the population wouldn't even notice most cases of retrograde alopecia.

Personally I'm not a fan of SMP in general unless you're using to camouflage FUE/FUT transplant scars.

Alright thanks for the advice

 

[Jakejr]

Got to focus on those areas with some regime. I believe you can thicken those areas.

 

[lezek]

Got to focus on those areas with some regime. I believe you can thicken those areas.

What specifically would you recommend?

 

[GRme11]

Look here at my situation 18 years old. Donor, sides, temples, everything. Retrograde+Dupa+everything worse you could imagine…I can say that finasteride can help with these zones and make the hair thicker. I experienced it myself. So, finasteride could do the trick.

 

[cyclonus]

Many guys have this. I think its androgen related but not progressive. The hair on the sides is different, lower density, more like beard/body hair. I have this for more than 15 years.