How to know if (and when) you’re going to go bald

Losing hair is an issue many men worry about. That is understandable, because by the age of 70, between 96 and 100 per cent of men will have experienced noticeable hair loss. Around one in five start balding in their 20s, one in three in their 30s. 

For those who look around at family gatherings and see the sun glinting off relations’ heads, that worry is doubled. But does a follicularly-challenged family automatically define your destiny? 

“You can inherit the genetics for hair loss and that’s very often the case of both male and female pattern baldness,” says Eva Proudman, a fellow of The Institute of Trichologists, and a leading UK hair specialist. “It isn’t true that the gene for pattern baldness comes from your mum’s family. The gene can come through either side, mum or dad.”

There is a ray of hope for men intent on maintaining their locks in spite of bald family members. “The gene can skip generations and just because it runs in your family doesn’t mean you have inherited that gene,” explains Proudman. “If you inherit a dominant gene you will lose your hair. If you inherit the recessive gene, then you won’t. That’s why sometimes in a set of brothers, one will go bald and the other won’t.” 

In fact, research has found 12 genes associated with baldness. “An important one is found within the X chromosome passed on down the female line, so if your mother’s father or brothers are bald, it is likely you’ll inherit that gene,” says Dr Marco Nicoloso, the medical director at hair loss clinic Ouronyx. “However, the other 11 are on non-sexual chromosomes and can come from either the father or the mother. So even if you inherit a genetic predisposition for male pattern baldness from your mother, all of your father’s genes could go in the opposite direction.” 

How fast is male pattern baldness?

Of course, if they have many family members who’ve gone bald, leading them to believe they’ve inherited a “baldness gene”, some men will feel anxious about exactly when they might start to lose their hair. Unfortunately, there’s no easy answer.

“Half of men with androgenic alopecia [male pattern baldness] have experienced some hair loss by 35, but it’s very difficult to predict or estimate exactly when it’ll happen,” says Dr Nicoloso. 

If a man has relatives who’ve lost their hair, they can provide a clue as to roughly when he might expect to start losing his. 

“If your dad or granddad lost all their hair by 40, that’s likely to be when it happens for you too,” says Proudman. “However, it can happen later, because it depends on the other side of the family.” 

Men will also inherit the pattern of their baldness, i.e. if your father started balding from the crown, you would too.

When is it typical to see first signs? 

Given that it is based on a huge range of factors, hair loss can take place at different ages in different people. “I have men coming into my clinic at 14, but I also get men coming in at 70 who are experiencing hair loss for the first time, so it can happen at any age,” says Proudman. “As we age, all of us, men and women, experience hair thinning. It’s not the same as male or female pattern hair loss, but naturally the diameter and quantity of your hair thins a bit. It’s the same as getting wrinkles: a natural sign of the ageing process.”