ever since i can remember, barbers have been telling me about how many cowlicks i have. in particular i have a few that connect to form almost a zigzag on the crown of my head, i understand that cowlicks usually give the appearance of a bald spot but i was wondering if you could look at my photo and tell me what you think, whether it looks like its just a crazy cowlick or if there is some possible hairloss. i dont know of any family history of mpb and i havent noticed any extra hair shedding. thanks here is a link to the photo, if that doesnt work i also attached one

It's a cowlick, my friend. no worries.

thanks

stop looking at it; guys on here would go into debt 10 years for that much hair....

Dear Robert Madison,
I had an 18 year old young man in my office yesterday with that exact same complaint. The best way to be certain it is not an early sign of male pattern baldness is simply to have your nearby hair specialist (medical or surgical) examine the area under high magnification for any signs of miniaturization. If there is none (or less than 2-3%, which is pretty much normal), then there is no sign that you are going to lose hair in that area probably for the next 10-15 years.
In a person with a single tone of dark hair and a fairly light scalp, any place where there is a change of direction of the hairs pattern, it will appear in good light that it might be thinning. This happens often with women who have a change of hair direction up the center of their front scalp and think they are losing hair, when it is only the divergence of hair revealing the skin a small amount. When we look at hair and it looks "full", part of the reason it does so is because of the overlap of hairs over one another. In performing hair transplantation, where we never come close to restoring the original density of hair someone had at age 15, we depend upon this overlapping of hair to help us create the illusion of full density.
Mike Beehner, M.D.

thanks doctor i appreciate it

i was also hit in the head with a hockey puck a few months ago in the crown area, it bled significantly, im guessing because the scalp is so vascular so there might be a scar there too where hair isnt growing

As Dr. Beehner pointed out, examining your crown from a picture or even by looking at it in a mirror (as I'm sure you've done) isn't going to help you determine with certainty whether or not it's hair loss or a cowlick. Having your scalp examined by a local dermatologist or hair loss doctor will help you know for sure.

Falc

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i havent looked at my cowlicks with long hair for a while so i dont really remember what they looked like before but my mom claims its always been like that...but maybe during my next trip to the dermo ill ask him