Accelerated vs Slow Hair Loss: Can You Tell the Difference?

This question, from a member of our hair loss social community and discussion forums, was answered by a staff physician from Coalition hair transplant clinic Shapiro Medical:

Accelerated [tag]hair loss[/tag] vs. visual “turning point”. I think it’s an important distinction to keep in mind. By “visual turning point” I mean a point in one’s hair loss progression after which the loss of a given number of hairs makes a noticeably greater aesthetic difference than it did before. Put differently, a significant increase in the slope of an aesthetic effect (y) vs. hairs lost (x) curve. So if you’re all of a sudden looking frightfully thin in the frontal region, it may just be that you’re passing a turning point, instead of experiencing accelerated loss.

I am 6 months into [tag]finasteride[/tag] and have been struggling to make sense of how much worse (to me at least) my hair has gotten over the past 2 months, considering the minimal shedding I have experienced over that time period. I believe this is the explanation and I’d be willing to bet finasteride users not grasping the distinction is a significant cause of “shed” anxiety.

I think that is an excellent observation on your part. This “turning point” as you call it is actually what happens. As many will tell you, one doesn’t start to notice their [tag]thinning hair[/tag] until around 50% of the hair in that area is lost. Still, when you are getting close to the 50% mark, you may notice that some days you look thinner than others. You may style your hair differently one day or be in a bright light another and may look thinner. You have less flexibility with your styling. Hair loss continues though, and you may find it harder to have days where your hair doesn’t look thin.

This “tipping point” is when, no matter what you do, you look thin. Many can think that at this point something dramatic must have happened and that they have lost a lot of hair all at once. As you correctly surmised though, they are just continuing to lose hair at a relatively constant rate.

So many times do I see patients with much hair loss ([tag]Norwood Scale[/tag] 4 or 5) that believe they just started to thin a year or two ago. The truth of the matter is that they didn’t realize that they had been losing hair for many years already.

Sometimes, patients that have started [tag]Rogaine[/tag] ([tag]minoxidil[/tag]) or [tag]Propecia[/tag] [tag]finasteride[/tag] that experience shedding don’t realize that sometimes a small amount of hair loss can make a big visual difference.

~Shapiro Medical
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David
Editorial Assistant and Forum Co-Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q & A Blog.

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