What Is Common Male Balding?

One of the most common types of thinning hair for men is scientifically called male androgenetic alopecia (AGA), which is also known as male pattern baldness. Male AGA unfortunately affects up to half of Caucasian males by middle age, and almost men (regardless of race or ethnicity) by old age. It can even occur in some young men, at any time after puberty.⁽³⁾

Typically male AGA displays certain distinctive patterns of hair loss over one or more scalp regions:^(3, 22)

Some men begin with hair loss on the scalp vertex, followed by temporal scalp hair loss, while others start at losing hair in the temporal region first. In either case, balding may progress to include the frontal region (and the hairline there) and the mid-scalp, leaving just the hair encircling the bottom half of the scalp (the occipital region). Studies indicate that about 17% of men reach this level of balding in their lifetime.⁽²²⁾

There are multiple risk factors that can trigger or worsen male balding. Some of these also increase the risk of going completely bald or losing hair from other parts of the body.⁽²²⁾