Man struggling with male pattern baldness

How Does Male Pattern Baldness Start?

Hair loss is incredibly common for men all over the world. But how does male pattern baldness start, and how can you spot the early signs of male pattern baldness; giving you a head start in the fight against hair loss.

In this article, we will go over the most common causes of male pattern baldness, as well as the general pattern that it follows and how you can begin to fight to prevent further hair loss. We will also touch upon the treatments that you can receive in order to bring confidence back to your hair. If you are struggling to handle male pattern baldness, consider checking out the following, great article on how to cope with your condition.

Man with a receding hairline

How does male pattern baldness start? The causes…

There can be many reasons as to why you may start to lose your head hair, some more common and others less well known.

The most common reason for hair loss in men is actually unpreventable. Hereditary hair loss means that the thinning or receding of hair runs in the family. There may be a gene in your makeup that has been passed down to you from a family member which means that at some point in your life you will begin to experience some sort of hair loss; it can feel inescapable. Male pattern baldness from hereditary hair loss is hard to prevent, but once you have spotted the early warning signals of hair loss, you will at least know that you should begin to look for treatments. To find out whether or not hair loss is hereditary, take a look through your family. Is your father thinning or bald? Grandfather? Even ask whether their parents were affected or not, it is better to know than not.

But how does male pattern baldness start if your issue is not hereditary? One attribute that could factor in is stress levels. If you are very stressed, be it from home life or work life, you may begin to notice thinning hair. One of the first times a young boy will notice their hairline begin to change is actually during puberty, and more specifically during their exams. The stress of sitting GCSE or A-Level exams can be enough to begin the slow retraction of a young man’s hairline. Thankfully, stress-based hair loss can be temporary. You should seek out ways to relieve your stress, and this in turn should see a positive result on hair retention.

Some other, less common means as to why you may be experiencing hair loss include:

Hormone changes due to age
Medications or cancer treatments
Excessive use of steroids
Nutritional deficiencies

Any number of these factors could be a reason as to why male pattern baldness starts for a man. Ageing, medications, steroid abuse and a lack of certain nutrients in your diet can also be catalysts to a number of different problems.

Where does male pattern baldness start?

Male pattern baldness often follows a set pattern. So, where does male pattern baldness start? And can you prevent it if you know where to look? Male pattern baldness will begin with a general recession of the hairline from the temples, back up away from the forehead and scalp. You will begin to notice that rather than having a straight line of hair across your scalp, you will instead have two dips towards the top of your head. As time goes on and your male pattern baldness worsens your hairline will push further and further back.

As this happens, you will also begin to realise that the hair on your crown will begin to thin. Once the thinning progresses you will get what is commonly known as a bald spot. If your hair continues to recede and you have a bald spot, they may join together to completely remove the hair from the top of your head, leaving only the hair left on the side of your head.

Male with hair pushed back

How to prevent the early signs of male pattern baldness

You now have an answer to “how does male pattern baldness start” and “where does male pattern baldness start”. But how can you prevent hair loss now you know the early signs of male pattern baldness? Making some small lifestyle changes can go a long way towards the prevention of male pattern baldness. Some things that you can do to make a change include: stopping smoking, avoiding hot showers and over-washing of hair, having a professional scalp massage, changing hair products and trying stress-relieving techniques such as meditation or exercise

Whilst these are not proven to be sure-fire fixes for male hair loss, they will all have some benefits. Smoking can lead to a rapid increase in male pattern baldness, whilst factors such as hot showers and hair products can have more of an impact than your first think. Perhaps the best method on this list is through the implementation of relaxation techniques. If you can lower your stress levels you will lead a happy and healthier life, often leading to a happier and healthier head of hair.

Male pattern baldness treatments

But what if you are needing something a little more proven to help with your hair loss? This is where we come in. At Enhance Hair Restoration we are the nations leading experts in both surgical and non-surgical means of hair rejuvenation. We have a wide variety of treatments that are designed to give our clients the results they need.

We are experts in popular surgical treatments such as follicular unit transplantation (FUT) and follicular unit extraction (FUE). We also specialise in ground breaking techniques such as robotic hair restoration, smart graft transplants and scalp micropigmentation. Or, if you are looking for a treatment without going under the knife, why not check out our other non-surgical treatments that are proven to give you great hair restoration results. How does male pattern baldness start? It doesn’t matter.

How does male pattern baldness end? With your trip to Enhance Hair Restoration. If you would like to receive any of our high-quality hair treatments, book your free consultation with us today

We are registered with, members of, or recommended by the following:

  • ISHRS
  • World FUE Institute Member