A normal part of the aging process includes a receding or maturing hairline. You will start noticing some differences in your hair pattern around your forehead. It can be tricky though to tell the difference between a normal mature hairline and a bald one, especially at first, when the two of them are very similar.

Let’s discuss both receding and mature hairline patterns and learn more about the things that differentiate them, the concept of premature balding, and ways in which you can delay further hair loss or even lower your hairline.

Bald vs. Mature Hairline – What Are They?

Bald and mature hairlines are not the same thing, but both of them can cause people to worry. Once a person transitions from being a teenager to being an adult, the hairline will slightly go higher than it initially was in the juvenile hairline. For men, this process starts at around 17 years old and ends before they turn 30.

However, this phase won’t happen exactly the same for all men. Some might notice hairline-related changes after their teenage years or and some might before then. Hairline maturation isn’t something you can escape. It is a normal life experience that all people go through one way or the other.

Bald Hairline

Bald hairlines are also known as receding hairlines. A bald hairline, especially a premature one, has a lot to do with genetic predisposition, but it can also be influenced by other factors as well. An early sign of a bald hairline is a receding frontal hairline that might initially be uneven.

After that, it becomes a bald hairline only after loss of hair, and then complete bald spots begin to appear. Another sign could be an M-shaped receding hairline, but make sure you look at the shape carefully as this can easily be confused with a widow’s peak or V-shape hairline.

Mature Hairline

As we’ve already established, a mature hairline is when the hairline moves up just a little bit, moving away from the highest wrinkle on your forehead. It may or may not be that noticeable, and men will experience this in their own unique way, as each person has his or her own hairline pattern. One thing’s for sure: it’s not a reason to panic.

After puberty, we continue to develop and mature both inside and out. It is important to inform and educate ourselves so we know useful details about each of the natural phases of adulthood, and the changes in hair growth that come with them.

The Reasons to Why a Mature Hairline Appears

You have thousands of individual hair follicles on your scalp’s surface, and each one of them grows its own hair. During your lifetime, many, many of those strands of hair fall out, and new ones will replace them. When hair follicles become damaged, they can die, and the result will be hair loss followed by a receding hairline.

Here are some of the most common factors that can lead to this problem.

1. Hormonal Changes

Hormonal imbalance could be a trigger for hair loss, and both men and women can suffer from it. The problem of male pattern baldness might have something to do with the dihydrotestosterone (DHT) hormone. This body compound shrinks follicles until they aren’t able to grow new hair.

2. Family History

Genetics, hence family history, plays an important role when it comes to receding hairlines. If many men in your family have had these kinds of problems in the past, you’re more likely to experience similar issues. The hair loss could even create hairline patterns that resemble the ones of previous generations.

3. Treatments and Meds

Certain treatments and medications can also lead to thinning hair or hair loss. One of the harshest examples is chemotherapy. Other drugs can also cause hair loss, which is why you should always discuss potential side effects with the doctor that prescribes them.

4. Poor Lifestyle Choices

Particular lifestyle habits are sometimes linked to hair loss and hair thinning. For example, smokers deal with receding hairlines quicker than non-smokers. This happens because smoking weakens your immune system. A proper and balanced diet is also essential if you want your hair to remain healthy and strong. Make sure you consume enough lean protein and eat meals that are rich in minerals and vitamins.

5. Too Much Stress or Other Illnesses

Sudden hair loss could appear when a person suffers from certain health conditions or when an individual goes through intense stress over a longer period of time. This type of hair loss is also known as telogen effluvium.

Normally, people lose around 100 hair strands per day when brushing, sleeping on the pillow, or washing their hair. But those hairs will grow back. During a telogen effluvium episode, our follicles feel the stress as a strong shock, which is why it makes the follicles go abruptly into a resting mode.

Are Mature Hairlines Normal?

Mature hairlines are normal, and they are a part of any individual’s physical development. At the same time, it doesn’t have to be a major concern that makes you live in fear of male pattern hair loss. Most people, especially men, stress about any minor sign of a raising hairline, as they typically interpret it as one of the signs of hair loss even though it probably is not.

As you age, your hairs will turn grey, but your hairline will also rise. This is a natural process, and you can still have a full head of hair even with a maturing hairline. The majority of men will display a mature hairline, most of them in the second half of their lives.

How Can You Tell the Difference between Bald and Mature Hairline?

Many male patients go to hair restoration clinics because they suffer from male pattern baldness. Some of those cases occur prematurely when men are still in their 30s. You can tell the difference between a normal mature hairline and a bald pattern based on the hairline’s shape.

A natural mature hairline that appears as you age will have a convex shape, while balding will form an M-like silhouette on your scalp. As you age, your hairline will go up a centimeter or so. It can do that evenly or unevenly. Certain parts like the sides of your forehead could move back further than the other areas.

The first step that a receding hairline goes through is called a mature hairline. Still, unlike a bald pattern, a mature hairline tends to stabilize itself at a certain point, and it doesn’t have to lead to hair loss.

Compared to a mature hairline, a receding one moves your hair edges back and higher on the scalp, but it typically does that only in certain areas. Most men deal with bald patches that are either round or oval, and that can occur on both sides of the scalp, right above the forehead, and in the middle of the scalp, on the head’s crown.

One of the most noticeable hair recessions happens around a person’s temples.

Ways to Manage a Receding Hairline

Many people try to solve or slow things on their own by trying homemade or over-the-counter remedies. Here are some of the methods you could try at home, but if those don’t work and you experience further hair loss or excessive hair shedding, you should definitely make an appointment with a specialist and see whether or not you’re a viable candidate for a hair transplant.

1. Trying Different Hairstyles

Certain haircuts or types of styling could help you hide the signs of a prematurely receding hairline, but if things evolve quickly and your hair starts to fall out even more, this will become an ineffective solution in the long run. You could try wearing a slicked back undercut by cutting the side hairs shorter than the ones on the top of your head.

Another way to go is with a close buzz cut, a clean shave, or even a medium crew cut. If you’re not satisfied with how these temporary solutions work, you should consider a hair transplant, which is an effective long-term solution.

2. Changing Your Lifestyle Choices

It is said that, in some cases, hair loss could have something to do with both stress and anxiety, which is why you should find effective ways to lower stress and relax more. Activities such as meditating, working out on a regular basis, eating healthy whole foods, and engaging in healthy hobbies are all amazing methods to possibly slow down a receding hairline.

All these activities should be an important part of your daily life anyway, even if you choose to have a hair transplant. This medical procedure and those lifestyle habits aren’t mutually exclusive. On the contrary, they go hand in hand.

3. Taking Better Care of Your Hair

Everyone should find ways to take care of their hair, especially those who have delicate and thin hair strands. Haircare doesn’t have to mean buying expensive hair masks or conditioners. For instance, you could use more natural hair products. Another thing that could help is avoiding brushing your hair too vigorously or pulling it too much.

4. Having a Hair Transplant

Nowadays, hair restoration surgery is safe, effective, and it will help you achieve long-lasting results. If you follow everything that the doctor says, you will go through an easy and painless experience, and in the end, you will enjoy hair regrowth. After this procedure, you’ll be happy with your new hairline, your hair will look fuller altogether, and your confidence will also be restored.

Telling the Difference between Bald and Mature Hairline – Final Thoughts

A receding hairline can and will lead to bald spots around your scalp. A mature hairline is when the hair pattern goes back just a little a couple inches away from the top wrinkle of your forehead, and it usually stays that way without leading to hair loss. Neither of these two types of hairlines poses any risks to your health, but they can be quite upsetting and may negatively impact your self-esteem.

There are plenty of treatments available out there, but the one that’s safe and lasts a lifetime is hair transplantation. Take a look around our website–there are plenty of resources available to help you decide if one of our several procedures is a right fit for you. 

 

Sources:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320537

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022202X16310247

https://menhairstylesworld.com/mature-hairline/

https://www.hairguard.com/mature-hairline-vs-receding-hairline/

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/68082

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12673073/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/a_to_z/telogen-effluvium-a-to-z