Where do blokes actually get their hair genes from? You always hear people say, “If your mum’s dad is bald, you will be too,” but then you see lads whose grandad had a full head of hair and they’re still going bald, or the other way round. So where does it really come from in most cases?
Both sides of the family play a part, maternal and paternal.
Genetics are often used as a rough guide. It’s not something to take as gospel, just a well-informed estimate of what kind of hair loss pattern you might expect.
If your relatives tend to lose their hair early, like in their teens, 20s or 30s, there’s a good chance you could follow a similar path.
Medication versus generational hair loss hasn’t really been looked at properly in long-term clinical studies. Even though treatments like Fin have been around for over 20 years, there don’t seem to be any active studies comparing outcomes between guys who’ve used it and their male relatives who haven’t. That said, there are probably people on this forum who’ve been on it for 15 years or more and can share how they’ve done compared to their dad, uncles and so on.
Hair loss isn’t just about genetics either. It’s a multi-factor issue. Things like hormone imbalances, vitamin deficiencies, and immune-related conditions can all play a role.
Generally speaking, clinical data and long-term advice say that for most men with androgenetic alopecia, reducing scalp DHT is the most effective defence.
Hopefully others here can share their experience as well.
Cheers for that. Yeah, it’s really interesting isn’t it? One of my closest mates is the same. Full head of thick hair, no recession at all, never touched Fin or Min or anything like that. His dad’s still got decent hair too, but both his grandads were properly bald.
Then on the flip side, I know people with no visible history of baldness in the family, and yet they started losing hair in their early 20s.
That’s the thing with genetics. It’s not a simple one-to-one handover. There are so many variables at play. Recessive genes, environmental triggers, even random chance. You can inherit the protective factors without the balding ones, or the other way round. Makes you realise how unpredictable it all is.
No one really knows the exact genetic mix that causes a bloke to end up with male pattern baldness. People always say it comes from your mum’s side, but in my case there’s a strong argument it came from my dad’s side instead.
Truth is, it’s probably a combination of both sides and a whole bunch of different genes working together. It’s not as straightforward as just looking at your grandad and calling it a day.
They say to look at your mum’s brothers and her dad to tell how your hair might turn out. But it doesn’t always work that way. You can get it from your dad’s side too.
My mum’s brothers are twenty years older than me and they’re both around NW2. Her dad’s in his 90s and also a NW2 with a bit of diffuse thinning. I’m sitting at NW5-6. So yeah, it can definitely come from either side.
The idea that it only comes from your mum’s side has pretty much been debunked now. It’s clearly a mix of both. At the end of the day, we’re made up of genes from both sides of the family.
Probably true to a degree. I was just going off personal experience and a little test with five people, and it seemed to line up. But yeah, looking at the bigger picture, assuming it comes from both sides is probably the safer bet.
My dad’s one of three brothers. He lost his hair gradually and was a NW5 by 40. One of his brothers was slick bald and a NW6 in his early 20s. The other kept most of his hair until around 50 and never went past a NW3. All three had the same mum and dad.
So yeah, it’s genetic, but you can’t really look at your parents or grandparents and expect to get a clear answer. It’s not that simple.
There’s a genetic link from both sides of the family. You can’t just look at your mum’s dad and assume you’ll follow the same pattern. If there’s any strong history of androgenetic alopecia on either side, then you’ve got a chance of losing a fair bit of hair unless you’re on treatment.
My dad and my mum’s dad were both NW6. My older brother’s still a NW1, while my younger brothers are heading towards NW5 or NW6 in their mid 30s. I was a NW3 at 38 before getting any hair work done, and I’ve been on finasteride for over 20 years now. Thanks to blocking 5AR, I’ve had no crown or mid-scalp loss at all.
So yeah, it’s really tough to predict how you’ll end up, even if you know your family history inside out.
Yeah, genes are a tricky one, especially when it comes to hair loss. There are loads involved and it’s not as simple as people make it out to be.
Some research has looked into this and suggested that a lot of the genes might come from the X chromosome. That’s where the idea comes from about it being your mum’s side. It might hold a bit of truth, but no one really knows for certain. It’s impossible to predict. You get a random mix of genes from both parents. You could inherit MPB genes from both, just one, or none at all. Any of those are possible. Even if the maternal side does play a bigger role on average, it doesn’t really matter. Most people get a combination from both.
Take me, for example. My older brothers have much better hair. One of them is nearly ten years older and still has a proper NW1 hairline in his mid 30s. Same parents, but very different outcomes. My dad has a decent head of hair, NW2 in his 60s, but all five of his brothers are bald and so was his dad. My mum’s dad had decent hair until he passed. Still, I’ve ended up around NW3 in my late 20s. No idea what mix of genes caused that, but here we are.
Family history is all most of us have to go on, but it’s far from reliable. You get a unique mix of genes and you won’t always follow anyone else’s path.
In my view, the best indicators are when it starts, how quickly it progresses, and what areas go first. Age of onset alone doesn’t tell you much, but when you combine it with the speed of loss, it can paint a clearer picture. If you start balding at 20 and hit NW5 or worse by your late 20s, chances are you’ll keep going. But if you’re still only NW2 or NW3 by that same age, and most of the loss happened in the first few years, then the rest of your hair might be more resistant. If it wasn’t, it would have fallen at the same pace since all the hair is exposed to the same hormones.
Bit of a side note there, but the main point is this: it’s more useful to look at your own pattern by around 30 than it is to compare with relatives. A lot of signs will be obvious by then, especially if you check closely.
This is exactly why I’ve been saying for a while now that relying on family history to assess hair loss isn’t really that useful anymore, especially if someone is actively blocking DHT with Finasteride or Dutasteride at daily doses like 1mg or 0.5mg.
Even blokes who are more sensitive to DHT can still delay the usual rate of loss by ten years or more if they’re on the right medication. Personally, I think men tend to live more life from their 30s to 60s, but it’s usually the 20s to 40s when most try to enjoy themselves before things slow down. And with a lot of lads settling down later these days because of money and lifestyle, I’d definitely include the 40s in that.
I really wish there were proper generational studies comparing DHT blockers between older generations who never used them and younger ones who have been on it since it got FDA approval. That kind of long-term data would be helpful.
This is why I think it’s important for doctors to take a more personal approach when looking at someone’s hair loss. They need to consider the individual’s current condition, their use of medication, and not just go off textbook patterns.
To be fair, I think more doctors are doing that now. There’s been a shift over the past ten years. But I also think a lot of the pressure younger lads feel is down to those cheap hair clinics in places like the US and Turkey. Some of them are pushing for these super sharp, low hairlines that don’t suit the person’s pattern at all. Like trying to give someone in their mid 20s with a Norwood 5 the same hairline as Zayn Malik, even if they’re not on any meds. It’s no wonder some of them end up disappointed.
The main balding gene is found on the X chromosome, so you’ve basically got a 50/50 chance of getting it from either your mum’s dad or your mum’s mum’s dad.
You can do a 23andMe test and upload the raw data to other gene analysis sites with larger databases focused on hair loss to get a clearer picture.
But even with that, you could still end up losing hair earlier than expected due to loads of other reasons. You might have additional genes on the Y chromosome that contribute too. The bottom line is that balding is polygenic, which makes it very difficult to predict with complete accuracy.
You can inherit it from either side, or even both. If everyone on your dad’s side is a NW7 and you’re losing hair in your 30s, but your mum’s side has perfect hair, that might have an effect and give you a bit of hope that you won’t go full NW7.
That’s a myth. You get your genes from both your mum’s and dad’s side.
The truth is, we don’t get to choose which side we get our genes from. It could come from either one, or a mix of both. Sometimes it just ends up being completely random.
The truth is, we don’t get to choose which side we get our genes from. It could come from either one, or a mix of both. Sometimes it just ends up being completely random.