While a receding hairline is a sign of male pattern baldness, it's natural for your hairline to change as you age. It doesn't always mean baldness, and many treatment options are available to stop the hairline from receding further.
Having a receding hairline doesn't always mean that a person will be entirely bald later on. However, it can be an early sign of a condition called male pattern baldness (also called androgenetic alopecia or AGA).
Unfortunately, you can't stop a receding hairline completely. For most people, a receding hairline isn't related to a health condition that needs to be cured. But, there are treatments that could slow a receding hairline down or even encourage some hair to grow back.
According to Mayo Clinic, the majority of baldness is caused by genetics, usually known as male-pattern baldness and female-pattern baldness, and cannot be prevented.
It is possible to have a receding hairline but no signs of general thinning on top, or vice versa, for example. As you are only starting to notice hair loss now, it is also possible that you may develop further thinning in other areas over the years as the condition progresses if left unchecked.
Having a receding hairline doesn't always mean complete baldness later on in life as your hairline moving back could be a sign of a mature hairline. Mature hairlines can occur gradually with the hairline receding evenly and stopping before receding onto your scalp.
Hair loss starts between 18-25 in most men. As a man passes 35-40, it usually slows down and by the time they are 50-60 it is often, but not always stable. Hair transplants at your age do very well.
About 70% of men will lose hair as they get older. And 25% of bald men see first signs of hair loss before age 21. “Recent advances offer a lot of hope in both treating and preventing different types of baldness,” says dermatologist Amy Kassouf, MD.
On average it takes 15-25 years for men to go completely bald. This process can begin at any age. About two thirds of men are either bald or have a balding pattern by the age of 60. In a nutshell, there is no particular age when you can expect to see hair loss.
Many Americans are familiar with hair loss: About 30% to 50% of men will experience male pattern baldness by the age of 50. The condition is characterized by thinning, loosening, and loss of hair, typically on the head.
A receding hairline is most often linked to aging and hereditary factors. Other factors can contribute to a receding hairline and aggravate hair loss. These factors include: over-styling hair (especially with heat)
While there is a link between some androgens (male sex hormones) and hair loss, the theory that bald guys have more testosterone and thus lose more hair is false.
One-fifth of men will experience significant hair loss by age of 20(!), and that percentage grows proportional to age. Bauman says that significant loss increases steadily with age: 30 percent will experience it in their 30s, 40 percent in 40s, and so on. “This math proves true for men into their 90s,” he says.
As you age, your hairline will naturally recede. This happens to nearly all men – and some women – and usually starts in the late teens or early twenties.
Hair Loss
Even though many men experience male pattern baldness naturally, a decrease in the amount of testosterone may also be a significant contributing factor to balding. Hair loss in patients with low testosterone isn't limited to the scalp, thinning body hair may also be a signal of a testosterone deficiency.
A mature hairline will recede by approximately 2 to 3 cm above the juvenile hairline. It will not recede any further beyond this point. However, a hairline that is undergoing male pattern baldness will retreat much further beyond this point.
Approximately 25 percent of men who have hereditary male pattern baldness start losing their hair before the age of 21. By the age of 35, approximately 66 percent of men will have experienced some degree of hair loss. By the age of 50, approximately 85 percent of men will have significantly thinner hair.
Going back to the hormones theory, you may be wondering why all men don't experience hair loss if they all produce testosterone and therefore, create the same testosterone by-product. This is thought to be down to the fact that some men create more than others, and some have more receptors than others.
But baldness can be deceiving: Two-thirds of men face hair loss by age 35, and a bad genetic hand is often to blame. Male-pattern baldness is an inherited sensitivity to dihydrotestosterone (DHT, a by-product of testosterone), which leads to finer hair, a receding hairline, and finally a deserted scalp.
While the numbers are different according to different surveys, it appears that either Greece, Macedonia, or the Czech Republic has the highest rate of baldness in the world. These nations each have over 40% of men with acute hair loss.
Certain races have higher rates of hair loss compared to others. Caucasians have the highest rates out of all the ethnic groups. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Native American Indians, Inuits, and Chinese have the lowest rates.
According to a study called Pathophysiology Psychological Effect, and Management of Androgenetic Alopecia in Men, White men are most likely to be affected by baldness as 30 percent of white men are affected by age 30, by the age of 50 percent men are affected and 80% are affected by age 70.
You'll notice the signs of a receding hairline if your hair begins to thin at the temples, creating a more prominent widow's peak and a hairline that resembles the letter M or a horseshoe. Or your hairline might seem to recede or thin all the way across (Murphrey, 2021).
Hair Loss in Your 30s and Beyond
By age 50, 50% of men have at least some noticeable hair loss. By age 60, about two-thirds are either bald or have a balding pattern. While hair loss is more common as you get older, it doesn't necessarily make it any easier to accept. It's never too late to address your hair loss.
A mature hairline typically moves back evenly and is only about an inch above the top crease in the forehead. If the entire hairline recedes further back on the scalp, with a more defined hairline, like a M-shape or a widow's peak, those are signs of a receding hairline.