Male-pattern hair loss, explained

By their fifties, the majority of men carry at least mild inherited thinning — and catching it early leaves far more worth protecting.

Male-pattern hair loss — androgenetic alopecia — is the most common form of loss in men, and it is genetic. It is driven by the hormone DHT acting on susceptible follicles, gradually shrinking them in a process called miniaturisation: each cycle, the follicle produces a finer, shorter, weaker hair, until eventually it produces none at all.

It follows a recognisable pattern, usually starting at the temples and the crown rather than the back and sides, which is why those areas thin first while the donor zone stays put. How fast and how far it goes varies hugely from person to person, which is exactly why a scan that measures your own follicles matters more than comparing yourself to anyone else.

The encouraging part is that early, accurately-diagnosed pattern loss responds well to treatment. Protecting follicles you still have beats trying to recover ones that are long gone, so getting it assessed sooner rather than later is the highest-value move you can make — and we stay honest about what is realistic for your stage.