What causes a receding hairline?

Gradual temple recession with finer hairs on the front and crown can fit androgenetic alopecia, also called Male Pattern Hair Loss. Tight braids, extensions, weaves, helmets, or repeated pulling can cause Traction Alopecia, often with tenderness or broken hairs along stressed areas. Frontal Fibrosing Alopecia is an inflammatory form that may produce a band of recession, scalp symptoms, and loss of eyebrow hair; it can affect people of different genders.

A hairline change is easier to understand when compared with older photographs and examined for follicle openings, scale, redness, and scarring. A symptom does not identify its cause by itself.

Loosen styles that pull at the hairline, rotate hairstyles, and avoid placing heat or chemical treatments on an irritated scalp. Photograph the hairline in consistent lighting so change is easier to track. A dermatologist can assess the scalp and discuss Finasteride Treatment when suitable, including medication precautions, or Hair Transplant options when loss is stable and donor hair is adequate.

Arrange assessment soon if recession is rapid, patchy, itchy, painful, scaly, or associated with redness, pustules, eyebrow loss, or a smooth shiny area. Early review matters when inflammation or scarring is possible because the treatment goal may be to protect remaining follicles. Sudden widespread shedding, illness symptoms, or medication changes also deserve a clinical review.

Ask which pattern your examination shows, whether the follicles look scarred, and whether blood tests or a scalp biopsy would clarify the cause. Discuss treatment benefits, side effects, pregnancy-related precautions, and how progress will be monitored.