# Does hair loss happen all over the human body equally? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 4, 2019, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-loss-happen-all-over-the-human-body-equally/842990 "2019-11-04T13:44:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-loss-happen-all-over-the-human-body-equally/842990/21 "2019-11-05T05:10:34Z")
My pubic hair is about 90% gone compared to two years ago, when I got my breast cancer diagnosis and started taking hormone blockers. However, my underarm hair doesn’t seem to be thinning, and I have acquired a few coarse hairs on my chin (which I tweeze) and interestingly, my leg hair seems to be getting thicker. 😕 ETA: It’s not so much gone, as that the hair on my mons veneris (the front part) is thinner and straighter. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-loss-happen-all-over-the-human-body-equally/842990/22 "2019-11-05T18:23:25Z")
As noted upthread, even hair on the head isn’t lost uniformly. The basis for hair transplant surgery is some hair, such as those on the back of the head, are genetically predisposed toward not falling out, making them ideal for being inserted where hair is desired. [Cite.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_transplantation) ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-loss-happen-all-over-the-human-body-equally/842990/23 "2019-11-05T22:47:21Z")
The reason you lose hair on the top of your head with male pattern baldness is because of dihydrotestosterone, which is a sex hormone. Some hair follicles have more DHT receptors than others, so the ones with the most receptors are the most sensitive to being damaged by DHT. The hair follicles on the sides of your head aren’t as sensitive to DHT, so when you have male pattern baldness you lose hair on the top but not on the sides of your head as often. Drugs designed to treat baldness generally work by inhibiting DHT synthesis or blocking DHT receptors (I believe). ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-loss-happen-all-over-the-human-body-equally/842990/24 "2019-11-05T23:01:35Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > My mother’s two youngest sisters had male pattern baldness. It was quite unsettling to see them in their 70s and 80s with their hairlines receding from their foreheads to somewhere around their ears. This is probably the result of a woman getting the male pattern baldness gene on both of their X chromosomes. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2019, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-loss-happen-all-over-the-human-body-equally/842990/25 "2019-11-05T23:35:49Z")
@ **thorny locust** and **Broomstick** - you aren’t alone. The hair on my arms pretty much vanished after menopause. I still get leg and armpit hair, but much less and it grows in more slowly. Less shaving for me, so no complaints. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-loss-happen-all-over-the-human-body-equally/842990/26 "2019-11-06T00:05:23Z")
I’ve still got a thick mop atop my head in my early fifties. My dad is eighty and his hair is only slightly thinning, so I guess I’m lucky that way. On the other hand, the slow migration south is well underway. WTF are these tree trunks growing in my eyebrows all about? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Maple\_Leaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a8b319/32.png) [@The\_Maple\_Leaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Maple_Leaf)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-loss-happen-all-over-the-human-body-equally/842990/27 "2019-11-06T12:56:12Z")
From what I recall from my readings on the subject many moons ago, the testosterone that is responsible form male pattern baldness interestingly enough also causes hair to _grow_ on other parts of the body. When I was a teenager, I wanted a hairy chest. After reading the above, I changed my mind on this matter. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Maple\_Leaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a8b319/32.png) [@The\_Maple\_Leaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Maple_Leaf)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-loss-happen-all-over-the-human-body-equally/842990/28 "2019-11-06T12:57:39Z")
I also recall a report of a female cancer patient who complained that while she lost the hair on her head while undergoing chemotherapy, she didn’t lose the hair on her legs, armpits, whatever, that she would normally remove. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-loss-happen-all-over-the-human-body-equally/842990/29 "2019-11-06T16:41:16Z")
> [@The\_Maple\_Leaf](#): > > From what I recall from my readings on the subject many moons ago, the testosterone that is responsible form male pattern baldness interestingly enough also causes hair to _grow_ on other parts of the body. When I was a teenager, I wanted a hairy chest. After reading the above, I changed my mind on this matter. While this is often assumed, and while male pattern baldness and body hair are both influenced by testosterone, there isn’t a real correlation. Male pattern baldness isn’t caused by high testosterone, but rather the genetic susceptibility of head hair to testosterone. Male pattern baldness can affect men with average and low levels of testosterone as well. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-loss-happen-all-over-the-human-body-equally/842990/30 "2019-11-08T12:30:49Z")
> [@Geek\_Mecha](#): > > As noted upthread, even hair on the head isn’t lost uniformly. The basis for hair transplant surgery is some hair, such as those on the back of the head, are genetically predisposed toward not falling out, making them ideal for being inserted where hair is desired. [Cite.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_transplantation) This raises a question: does transplanted hair fall out too ? ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-loss-happen-all-over-the-human-body-equally/842990/31 "2019-11-08T18:25:43Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > This raises a question: does transplanted hair fall out too ? From the Wikipedia cite, it seems that although some hair loss post transplant does happen, it due to the transplant not taking hold rather than whatever caused the hair loss in the first place. It’s the hair follicles that are resistant to hair loss, so if they are transplanted carefully, with no damage to the follicles, they should stick well in their new location. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2019, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-loss-happen-all-over-the-human-body-equally/842990/32 "2019-11-08T20:53:51Z")
Nm. Already answered ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2020, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-hair-loss-happen-all-over-the-human-body-equally/842990/34 "2020-05-03T17:20:50Z")
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