Receding hair or thinning around the temples is the most common initial sign of male pattern baldness or androgenetic alopecia – and this is usually the first phase. But what are the seven stages of baldness?
In most men, baldness begins in the area across the front of the hairline, gradually moving further backward before impacting the crown.
Understanding the stages of hair loss can be useful since we often reiterate that the ideal point to schedule a hair transplant depends very much on the availability of donor hair.
However, it is also unwise to proceed with a transplant too early, when further hair loss is extremely likely and could necessitate further procedures in the future.
In this article, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide for the stages of baldness, explaining the typical patterns you may see and what these might mean in terms of the hair restoration strategies, therapies, and approaches the KSL Clinic team may recommend.
Stages of Hair Loss: Key Facts
- Across the hair restoration sector, clinicians use a grading process called the Norwood Scale to identify the particular stages of baldness. This is generalised but enables our specialist surgeons to recommend bespoke strategies suited to each client and their scalp and hair health.
- Receding hairlines are incredibly common and more likely with age – while hair loss is far from rare, there are nearly always treatments available to replenish a thinning hairline, correct areas of baldness, or stop pattern hair loss from proceeding as quickly or as far as it otherwise might.
- More tailored information about the best ways to assess your current baldness, determine the right treatment solutions, or decide on a hair restoration strategy is available by booking an obligation-free complimentary consultation with any of the accomplished KSL Clinic teams nationwide.
The Seven Stages of Male Pattern Baldness
As we’ve indicated, practitioners use the Norwood scale to measure the extent of hair loss while noting that this applies only to men.
That is because women, while also experiencing pattern hair loss, usually see initial thinning to the top of the head and scalp. We use an alternative process called the Ludwig scale to appraise their current balding stage and prescribe the most appropriate treatments.
1. Hair Loss Phase One: Control
Stage one can be tricky to identify since some men naturally have a higher hairline or may have always had an M-shaped or W-shaped hairline, which can be genetic and isn’t necessarily indicative of active hair loss or balding.
In general terms, stage one hair loss is minimal without any completely bald areas, which means either a higher-than-average hairline or slight initial changes to the hairline that become marginally higher on the forehead.
2. Hair Loss Phase Two: Frontal Balding
During phase two, men will usually see more visible and noticeable changes to their hair density and growth to the front of the hairline, most often to the sides of the temple, which is why receding hair is frequently associated with that characteristic M shape.
Clinicians will determine that a client has phase two-level hair loss when a receding hairline moves between one and two cm back from the original hairline, meaning there are small areas with visible skin underneath.
At this point, a hair transplant may not be advisable since there is the potential for progressive hair loss, which would either mean the initial procedure would be unsuccessful or that the client would require additional treatments to correct hair loss in the areas higher on the scalp.
However, medications and topical treatments, alongside non-surgical interventions like platelet-rich plasma therapy and laser therapies, can reactivate dormant follicles to prevent pattern hair loss from continuing untreated.
3. Hair Loss Phase Three: More Significant Balding to the Top of the Scalp
Hair loss that continues to stage three is linked to more visible balding towards the centre of the head or when the receding hairline shifts further backwards and connects with thinning areas of growth to the top of the scalp.
This is also the most common point at which people seek professional hair restoration treatments, including those mentioned above—although, in some scenarios, a partial hair transplant may be appropriate, depending on the likelihood of further hair loss and how well current balding is controlled.
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4. Hair Loss Phase Four: Progressive Temple and Crown Hair Loss
The further stage of hair loss means that the amount of balding is more significant, which can mean that patches of initial hair loss around the top of the scalp are more pronounced, and few hairs remain in the area.
Men often have a band of hair that connects the top of the now-receded hairline above their temples with a patch of baldness at the top of the head. In phase four, hair loss is also a very common time to seek intervention, whether to replenish lost hair or prevent hair loss from proceeding any further to protect healthy donor hairs that may be needed in a hair transplant procedure.
5. Hair Loss Phase Five: Advanced Baldness With Some Residual Hair
Once hair loss hits stage five, it becomes more often described as baldness, although there are usually areas with sustained hair growth that have yet to be affected. The most typical indication is that the badness is clear to the top of the head and temples, but there are hairs to the side and back of the scalp.
Completing a successful hair transplant at this stage can be more complex. Still, much may depend on how many healthy follicles remain, whether there is the potential to reactivate some dormant follicles, and the extent of the balding.
6. Hair Loss Phase Six: Total Baldness to the Top of the Head
Baldness at stage six is sometimes called ‘monk’s baldness’ because it replicates the appearance of a person who has shaved the entire top of the head while leaving small bands of hair growing around the sides and back of the scalp in a denser strip of growth.
If the remaining hair is thick, healthy, and full, there may still be opportunities for a hair transplant. This is a skilled and exacting procedure, with great care taken to ensure that the removal of donor follicles will not impact the appearance of any residual growth areas.
7. Hair Loss Phase Seven: Complete Baldness
Stage seven hair loss means that the individual has no hair left at all, although in some cases, a minimal amount of hair remains at the back and side of the head. In most clients, this hair is thin and variable in density and is not usually suitable for a corrective hair transplant.
