Hair thinning at young age

[Bbb11]

Hi, I am a 17 year old female and I'm afraid I may be experiencing hair thinning. I'm noticing a receding hair line more so on the right side of my head than the left. My hair feels more full on the left side than right. I've noticed my bangs are not as thick as they used to be either. I've looked at my family and their hair patterns and noticed that my mother's side has more of the genetic hair loss. Although, her sister and my grandma still have a normal, full head of hair. My dad also has a full head of hair while my brothers are receeding. I don't do anything to my hair. It's naturally straight and I blowdry on cool. My hair is fine but I have a lot of it. Overall thickness as of right now would be inbetween a nickel and a quarter. My diet is good. I make sure I get all proper nutrients a day. I eat plenty of raw fruits and vegetables in a day and also different types of nuts like almonds. I have recently began taking a hair vitamin. And for washing I use baby shampoo. I also massage my head about twice a day to help the circulation. The only thing I can think of improving is my exercising. I'm not extrememly active. I don't understand why this is happening but I do feel like something is wrong.  

thank you for your time
BK  

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
For such kind of hair thinning, I would like to rule out alopecia aereata, male pattern baldness, hormonal imbalance or telogen effluvium. It is nonscarring alopecia characterized by diffuse hair shedding, often with an acute onset. There is a chronic form also which persists for a longer duration and starts with insidious onset. Chronic telogen effluvium is hair shedding lasting longer than 6 months. Treatment consists of medications like Minoxidil, surgical approach(hair transplantation) and improvement in diet.

My sincere advice is to consult a trichologist. It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[Bbb11]

Oh and this has been happening for about a year. I see little to no change after improving my diet and the way I wear my hair when I sleep. I'd say it is receding about 1 and a half inches. Can I reverse this? I have not seen a doctor yet.