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Hair looks fine when normal, however when stood up with flash looks thin? Is this balding?

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Gil

Valued member
Hi all.
22 year old male.

As can be seen in the first picture, my hair looks fine when it is normal, even under a bright flash.
However, if I run my hands through my hair and stand my hairs up (my hair is a bit greasy, it gets greasy quite easily), and then take a picture with flash, my hair looks really bad, like I'm going bald.

Is this normal or am I going bald?
All of the photos are of the same location of my head, the top scalp.

Thanks


(can only attach one image to a post so I will reply with more images below)
 

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G

Gil

Valued member
Out of shower
 

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Gil

Valued member
All these below photos are with hair slightly greasy, no product/gel/wax etc
All I did was ran my hand through my hair to make it stand up.
Hair is greasy though, can see the grease on my hands. I'm not shedding hair though.
 

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Gil

Valued member
Another pic
 

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Gil

Valued member
Next few are the same hair standing up but without flash, just normal bedroom light
 

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Gil

Valued member
Last picture
Hair is the same, ran my hand through it to make it stand up, no flash used however a desk lamp is shining on my head directly.

 

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Vinci Hair Clinic

Valued member
Hi Gil,

Hair loss often becomes visible when light is allowed to bounce off the scalp, so basically when the hair becomes too thin your scalp becomes visible or when you style your hair the hair does not give coverage.

If your hair is allowed to lay over each other, either brushed back or forward the hair blocks light reflecting off your head as each hair covers the next, adding to the look of hair density.
Once you start parting your hair, even someone with a good head of hair can make it look worse than reality.
 
A

Aza

Valued member
Vinci Hair Clinic wrote:
Hi Gil,

Hair loss often becomes visible when light is allowed to bounce off the scalp, so basically when the hair becomes too thin your scalp becomes visible or when you style your hair the hair does not give coverage.

If your hair is allowed to lay over each other, either brushed back or forward the hair blocks light reflecting off your head as each hair covers the next, adding to the look of hair density.
Once you start parting your hair, even someone with a good head of hair can make it look worse than reality.
Interesting info
 
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G

Gil

Valued member
Vinci Hair Clinic wrote:
Hi Gil,

Hair loss often becomes visible when light is allowed to bounce off the scalp, so basically when the hair becomes too thin your scalp becomes visible or when you style your hair the hair does not give coverage.

If your hair is allowed to lay over each other, either brushed back or forward the hair blocks light reflecting off your head as each hair covers the next, adding to the look of hair density.
Once you start parting your hair, even someone with a good head of hair can make it look worse than reality.
Thank you for your reply.
Based on the above photos, am I balding or is it normal for the scalp to appear that way when parted/up-right?
 
V

Vinci Hair Clinic

Valued member
Gil wrote:
Vinci Hair Clinic wrote:
Hi Gil,

Hair loss often becomes visible when light is allowed to bounce off the scalp, so basically when the hair becomes too thin your scalp becomes visible or when you style your hair the hair does not give coverage.

If your hair is allowed to lay over each other, either brushed back or forward the hair blocks light reflecting off your head as each hair covers the next, adding to the look of hair density.
Once you start parting your hair, even someone with a good head of hair can make it look worse than reality.
Thank you for your reply.
Based on the above photos, am I balding or is it normal for the scalp to appear that way when parted/up-right?

Hi Gil,

It ´s impossible to say if you are losing hair just from your pictures but it is normal to see scalp when you part your hair. Around your age you will notice natural changes to your hair also, but what you see is perfectly normal.
 
G

Gil

Valued member
Vinci Hair Clinic wrote:
Gil wrote:
Vinci Hair Clinic wrote:
Hi Gil,

Hair loss often becomes visible when light is allowed to bounce off the scalp, so basically when the hair becomes too thin your scalp becomes visible or when you style your hair the hair does not give coverage.

If your hair is allowed to lay over each other, either brushed back or forward the hair blocks light reflecting off your head as each hair covers the next, adding to the look of hair density.
Once you start parting your hair, even someone with a good head of hair can make it look worse than reality.
Thank you for your reply.
Based on the above photos, am I balding or is it normal for the scalp to appear that way when parted/up-right?

Hi Gil,

It ´s impossible to say if you are losing hair just from your pictures but it is normal to see scalp when you part your hair. Around your age you will notice natural changes to your hair also, but what you see is perfectly normal.
Thank you again for your help.

Does anyone else here have any input? Would really be grateful.

 
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Gil

Valued member
Anyone? I've often seen some doctors on these forums, would really appreciate a reply, or any other experienced person.

Thanks
 
JoeTillman

JoeTillman

Valued member
Flash works differently depending on the angle.

"The angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection".

This is the physics behind how light reflects off of surfaces. If you use a flash to a 90 degree angle then the intense light will bounce off of the surface, in this case your scalp, and be reflected directly back into the lens. This makes your scalp look thinner and the hairs that are in the exact spot that the flash hits the scalp the most will become, essentially, invisible. This is called "wash out" in photography.

If you point the flash at a hairline, on the same level, it will make it look thicker because the light is not being bounced back directly into the lens and it passes through the hairline where each hair creates a shadow of itself. It then makes it look like the hairline is thicker.

Regarding your case, I think you may have some moderate diffused loss across the top but the loss is nowhere near what it looks like with your flash photos. Go see a good dermatologist or a hair transplant doctor and see what they think. If you're losing your hair, talk to them about finasteride and minoxidil.
 
janna

janna

Valuable Member
Gil wrote:
Hi all.
22 year old male.

As can be seen in the first picture, my hair looks fine when it is normal, even under a bright flash.
However, if I run my hands through my hair and stand my hairs up (my hair is a bit greasy, it gets greasy quite easily), and then take a picture with flash, my hair looks really bad, like I'm going bald.

Is this normal or am I going bald?
All of the photos are of the same location of my head, the top scalp.

Thanks


(can only attach one image to a post so I will reply with more images below)
Hi Gil,
At 22 yrs of age, you're considered too young to have surgical intervention by most reputable clinics. You look like you have a nice head of hair. It's difficult to say if you're thinning or not and I'd consider yourself lucky that your hair doesn't look thin under normal lighting conditions. Isn't it fair to say that you don't generally walk around with wet hair under flash lighting?
Be careful that if you decide to seek advice from a hair transplant clinic that you either seek a reputable clinic who are trustworthy because there are too many clinics out there that just want your money. It's embarrassing how many clinics there are who don't have your best interest at heart.
Best of luck!
 
G

Gil

Valued member
Hi everyone, thank you for all your replies.

I will take your advice and visit a dermatologist. It is quite hard to be seen by one.

What do I ask the dermatologist? Do I show him/her these pictures and ask them to look at my hair under a bright light, or are there special tools for looking at hair?
 
Sparky

Sparky

Valued member
They wouldn't need to see pictures as you would be right there in front of them, neither would they need to look at your hair under a bright light, there are special cameras for looking at your hair, don't know if they have those. I personally don't think you have a problem there, it's the bright light that is making it look like you do, use another mirror to look at the top of your head in the mirror and part your hair to see if there is anything missing.
 
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