Last Updated on October 10, 2017 by Robert Price
Since when is Norwood 1 considered balding?
I don’t know that it ever was. But undoubtedly, some doctors view every class on the Norwood scale as a form of male pattern baldness. Is Norwood 1 balding? I don’t think so…
Many children don’t have perfectly straight, Ross from Friends hairlines. I think perhaps calling a Norwood 1 an adolescent hairline may be appropriate, as the typical “mature hairline” is a bit more receded than the NW 1 hairline.
I’m back in the hairline weeds!
My Hairline Spat on YouTube
Recently, I posted a lengthy retort to one doctor, who suggested finasteride as an option to his Norwood 1 “patients.” He has a popular YouTube channel. And, this doctor happens to have a hairline like a chimpanzee. Is that relevant? Yes, I’d say it is, because balding is relative and when a doctor has zero hair loss whatsoever and a better hairline than most women and many primates, it may play a role in their diagnoses/outlook on hair loss. Moreover, I didn’t mean it as a dig!
They deleted (actually hid, then I went ahead and deleted it) my comment, so I’ll post it here. I’m not going to post a link to the video because I don’t feel like stirring up controversy, but you can probably find the video if you try. Again, he seemed to advocate Propecia as an option for Norwood 1’s. This was my comment:
I’ve never heard of a doctor recommending finasteride to NW 1 “patients.” That would mean basically every man should go on finasteride, because David Schwimmer, Sean Hannity and yourself are about the only 3 legit, adult NW 0s that I’m aware of, on the planet. I’m being hyperbolic, but my point is: basically every Caucasian man over 25 is going to have a NW 1, probably closer to a NW 2. I take it you don’t believe in the “mature hairline” concept. My dad was about a NW 2 into his late 50s, never had any thinning or significant recession until then. Many man follow that progression, with no significant hair loss until later in life, and it seems like going on Propecia for 25+ years would be overkill for those men, to me. I enjoy the videos though!
There you have it. It wasn’t too nasty, and I ended the comment with a compliment! But some people don’t like to have their expertise questioned, which is understandable. Also, it should be noted that some men may well be experiencing balding as Norwood 1s, given that hair loss often isn’t noticeable until 50% of hair in any particular region has been lost. In such cases, finasteride may be appropriate.
But, by and large, Norwood 1’s shouldn’t be taking finasteride. Norwood 2 is a different story, but Propecia isn’t something all 2’s should immediately hop on either, in my opinion, as I state in this article. That’s my take, what’s yours?
Robert Price is a writer, consumer advocate, and hair loss researcher with thousands of hours of experience in the field. His goal is to keep you out of the hair loss rabbit hole, underworld, or whatever you want to call it. He founded Hair Loss Daily, the unbiased hair loss blog, in 2016. You can learn more about Robert in the my story section of this website.