Mature hairline or MPB/Alopecia?!

Question

Thinning

Hello



I am a 17 year old black male who for about a month and a half now...has noticed a change in my hair. My hair line became rounded at the left temple, which has resulted in a short V like indent. Fortunately my hair is long enough for me to mask it so I thought nothing of it. Then I noticed that the area around my left side burn was thinning a little bit. Later on, that side of my head began to appear more rounded than the other side of my head near my side burn and whenever I combed it outwards (towards the center of my forehead), my left side burn area would appear to look a lot less "sharp" in terms of the way the hair looked. There was also a point where I felt a slight tingling in that area, but this occurred only once. I also pulled out a clump of hair while combing but this has also only happened once (usually when I comb or brush, 2 or 4 hairs (approx) come out with the comb but that always happens and I would assume that the hairs that are regularly shed are the ones being pulled out.



I have been trying to do research to find out what is happening but I am incredibly ambivalent about this issue and whether or not I should brush it off(no pun intended) or just make a doctors appointment. Within the past 3 weeks I have noticed that there has been even more thinning in the aforementioned area and the thinning seems to slowly be moving backwards towards the back of my head, almost like more and more hairs are being affected!



Please help me, Im SO CONFUSED! I cant afford to lose my hair now, especially since for the past 3 years my mother has allowed me to grow my hair for extended periods of time (up to sometimes up to 3 or 4 months after getting a cut), plus its one of the only things I have in terms of appealing/interesting outward appearance.

Answer
Omar,

You should make an appointment to see a Dermatologist because the conditions that can cause this kind of loss are quite different in their treatment. You can not treat it properly if you do not know the cause. This may be a form of Alopecia Areata which normally leaves shiny bald spots where it attacks the scalp but it can be diffuse. There are other conditions which can give a similar pattern of loss and those that are due to infections with fungus or bacteria usually present with small red bumps at the base of the hair but these are frequently missed by the patient. There are other conditions which can cause this and they are too many to list here. You need a specialist in skin and hair - a dermatologist- in order to get the right answer in the first visit or at least a lot sooner than going to a non dermatologist.



Here are a few sites to look at:







http://dermnetnz.org/fungal/tinea-capitis.html



http://dermnetnz.org/hair-nails-sweat/alopecia-areata.html



http://www.aocd.org/skin/dermatologic_diseases/alopecia_areata.html



www.AlopeciaAreata.com



http://dermnetnz.org/scaly/lichen-planus.html