Have you wondered what the signs and hints that lead to balding are? You may or may already be aware of some of them, but some signs of balding may come as a surprise and some yet will be so obvious that you hadn’t even thought of them as a sign of hair loss.

In fact, in the United States alone, 35 million men are suffering from hair loss. Are you one of them? Did you know that just under half of men aged 35 have visible signs of hair loss and balding?!

In this article, our friends at HairVerve, a blog dedicated to hair loss have produced an infographic on the signs of balding. But, how can this be useful to you? Finding out the early warning signals of baldness allows you to be more aware, which then give you an opportunity and time to uncover what is the cause of you losing hair and begin to take action.

Time Is Key With Baldness & Hair Loss

Balding & hair loss are time-sensitive. Therefore, it’s really important to keep an eye out for the signs of balding that we mention below. These early warning signs may just save your hair as you can take action earlier.

If you take action earlier, the easier it will be to deal with male pattern baldness and reversing any hair loss. But if you delay further, the change may be irreversible. It’s much harder to re-grow new hair to correct baldness vs. keeping the hair you’ve already got.

In this post, we will help you to identify 9 common signs of balding and hair loss. The identity of these signs of balding will then help you come to terms with finally asking for help to reverse your hair loss.

9 Signs Of Balding & Hair Loss In Men

1. More Comments

Sometimes, our friends and families can notice the gradual changes in our appearances better than us. You may find that friends and family you don’t see often notice thinning hair/hair loss the most, as the changes are more dramatic to them. So, when more people are commenting about you having thinning hair or you notice them constantly staring at your head/hair, be aware. Maybe ask around if people think your hair is thinning?

2. Balding Relatives & Family

Hair loss due to genetics is believed to be one of most common causes of hair loss and balding in men. It’s easy to tell if you’re going to suffer with hair loss and balding based on if your Father, Uncles and Grandfathers did. If they did go bald at an early age then this may be on the cards for you too.

Hair loss being genetic may be the most well known cause of hair loss and balding, however, it doesn’t tell you the whole truth. If may increase your chances of baldness but it doesn’t guarantee it meaning that you still have options, phew!

What’s more, don’t just study your dad. Consider relatives on both sides of the family tree to see if any of them suffered with baldness or hair loss at an early age. If they did, ask them about the ages their started to loose their hair so you know what age frame to start looking more closely for the signs.

It’s important to not let the anxiety of loosing your hair cause your stress. As stress can be a cause of hair loss & balding on it’s own. Therefore, the very thought of what you’re worried about could just be the cause of your hair loss.

3. Accumulation Of Hair

There is no problem seeing a few strands of hair here and there in the house, it’s actually pretty common for hair to fall out when brushing your hair or shower.

One of the most common signs of balding is noticing an overall increase in the hair accumulation in ‘hot areas’ like on your pillow or on shower drains. Again, this links to point 1 where if people start commenting on the amount of hair around your house you should take this as an early sign of balding and seek a solution.

If you do notice an increase in hairs on your pillow then it’s important not to stress about it. Becoming paranoid about each and every hair you loose can raise your stress levels which in turn increase the rate at which your hair can be lost

4. The M Shape

One of the most important things to notice is that common balding takes place in a pattern.

For males, a receding hairline or a thinning crown are the first few signs of balding to appear before things start to get bad. A receding hairline typically starts at the temples and forehead and recedes over time. This results in the hair at the front becoming thinner and more wispy-looking. Over time these wispy, thinner hairs will fall out leaving you hairless on the top of your head.

A thinning crown is where your skin tone becomes visible through your hair on the top of your head. This can be slightly easier to hide vs. a receding hairline as men tend to be taller than women, people can only typically see your hair loss or balding when above you.

Always be sure to check these two areas, if you feel you have started to develop a receding hairline then ask your barber for their view on it, is is a receding hairline? If so, check out our 7 Male Haircuts That Will Transform Your Receding Hairline to help to hide your receding hairline for longer.

5. Thinning Around The Scalp

This usually applies to females who are suffering from genetic hair loss. They don’t usually experience receding hairlines the same as males but more of thinning around the scalp. However, it’s important to look after the skin on your scalp in the same way you would the skin on your face.

If your scalp becomes itchy and flaky, this can be a sign off hair loss due to the build up of sebum on the scalp. This is often then followed by dandruff and hair loss. Whilst currently an itchy scalp isn’t a cause of hair loss, there is a relationship between having an itchy scalp and balding. Therefore, we like to consider an itchy scalp as a sign of balding in men.

6. Visible Scalp

A scalp which is more visible means that hair has started to thin drastically. It feels like you’re touching the scalp directly. This would be in the later stage of losing your hair/ going bald.

7. Hair Falls Out Easily

Can you remember when you were much younger and tugging your hair was not a problem? Now, it falls easily without trying. If so, avoid applying too much physical stress to your hair in the form of tugging/pulling.

Shorter hair styles can be great to ensure tugging & pulling of the hair is kept to a minimum. Shorter styles mean you’re less likely to play with your hair when you’re distracted or getting it caught accidentally.

Shorter hair style can also help ensure that the visible sigs of hair loss are less prominent as they make the hair appear thicker and fuller vs. limp and thin.

8. Past Pictures

Look at your past pictures. Are there any drastic changes in your hair? Specifically look at the temple and crown regions.

Has your hair become thinner and wispy over time? Hair follicles often get thinner before hair starts to fall out, resulting in balding.

With modern technology, we have thousands of old photos at our finger tips. Therefore, spend some time reviewing old social media pictures so see if you can notice any signs of balding or hair loss on yourself.

We referenced above about how genetics can alter the age at which we lose our hair. Look back at pictures of relatives to see if like you, then had a full head of hair back in their 20s but went bald in their 30s or 40s. This is a great way to detect the really early signs of balding & hair loss before there are any visible sign.

9. Styling Gets Harder

If your hair is getting harder to style, then you should consider the time it takes to style your hair as a sign of balding. Thinning at a certain area would make it much harder for you to style your hair the way you want it to be due to there being less hair to support certain styles & volumes.

Some individuals may have difficulty getting their hair to look full because of trying to hide the thinning areas but no matter how much you try, it doesn’t look right.

In addition to styling, a sign of balding & hair loss is the time it takes for your hair to grow. Often when getting our hair cut, we ask for our hair to be cut slightly shorter than we prefer it to be. This is to ensure that your hair will last longer at the length we want it, whilst also resulting in having to get your hair cut less. If you notice the time between cuts is growing (e.g. getting your hair cut every 6 weeks to now every 8 week) then consider this a sign of balding & hair loss. One of the reasons for this is due to hair follicles entering a resting phasing.

Need a summary of everything we just said? See the signs of balding briefly covered below:

Signs Of Balding Infographic

Do You Have Some Of These Signs Of Balding & Hair Loss?

If you’ve found yourself noticing some or several of these balding signs then the first thing you should do is to consult a doctor to find out the cause of the problem as hair loss and balding could be an indication of a hormone imbalance for example.

There are different alternatives you can take from getting a hair transplant, scalp micro pigmentation, going the cheaper route by taking supplements and a whole lot more.

Don’t worry, see identifying some of these signs as a positive things as then you can start to take measures to reverse your hair loss and balding with medical supervision (if required).