As a patient ages, some hairs randomly begin to miniaturize (shrink in length and width) in each follicular unit.in most people, the donor zone retains enough permanent hair that hair transplantation is a viable procedure even for a patient well into his 70's.

Assessing Hair Loss

The scientific way to assess your degree of baldness is to compare your pattern with the standard patterns described by Dr. O'Tar Norwood.

There are seven grades of hair loss in the main series and five grades of a variation called the "A" series. Comparing your own front and back with these diagrams can tell you where you stand now. Discussion with a knowledgeable physician can give you some idea of what is likely to be in your future.

Type I
• No recession
• "Adolescent" or "Juvenile" hairline

Type II
• Temporal recession < 1"
• Mild recession along frontal hairline
• "Mature" hairline

Type III
• Further frontal recession
• Deeper recession at corners
• Earliest stage of balding

Type IIIvertex
• Hairloss predominantly in vertex (crown)
• Frontal hairline recession may be present

Type IV
• Further frontal hair loss and temporal recession
• Enlargement of vertex (crown)
• Solid band of hair across top separating front from vertex

Type V
• Frontal and temporal areas enlage further
• Band separating the two areas becomes narrower and sparser

Type VI
• Frontal and vertex balding areas merge into one and increase in size
 
Type VII
• Narrow horseshoe band of hair
• Low hairline in the back
• Hair in permanent zone may be sparse