# Hairline question... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 10, 2015, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairline-question/724726 "2015-07-10T02:15:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairline-question/724726/1 "2015-07-10T02:15:24Z")
So I’ve had cowlicks in the back of my head for at the very least two decades now; the back part just lies down flat while the part that forms the top sticks up. Recently I realized that the cowlicks follow the exact line that would delineate male pattern baldness if I had it. (Partly from seeing photos of the back of my head where I can see scalp because of the cowlick line; otherwise, my hair doesn’t seem to be thinning or anything.) Is this normal, no matter what your genetic hair predilection? I mean, obviously, the two zones of hair must be different somehow for male pattern baldness to look like it does in the first place, but I never thought of the question to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairline-question/724726/2 "2015-07-10T02:37:36Z")
That’s happening to me right now. The spot where I had a cowlick is now hairless and expanding. My forehead has been getting taller for a while now. I’ve had short hair for about a year now but I’m thinking of growing it long again just to cover up that spot. OTOH, my brothers only had a ring of hair left by the time they hit 50 and I’m well past that and still have a lot more hair than they do. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairline-question/724726/3 "2015-07-10T02:50:58Z")
Not for me. The whorl still has hair. Everything in front (above? ahead?) of it has cleared out, though. Which means I have a cowlick that’s approximately four hairs thick. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairline-question/724726/4 "2015-07-10T02:56:06Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I’ve had short hair for about a year now but I’m thinking of growing it long again just to cover up that spot. Just to be clear, you can explain it however you want, but that’s a comb over and it never looks good. How short do you cut your hair? For years, up until very recently, I was buzzing my hair with a #1 on top and no guard on the sides, it was just this side of shaving it. It was short enough that I always said if I started balding (which doesn’t appear to be happening) and I didn’t like the way it looked, it was all coming off. If your hair is really short, maybe consider shaving it. I’d sooner do that than a comb over. Embrace the baldness, don’t try to hide it, you’re not fooling anyone. I once pointed out a really bad comb over to someone and asked why anyone would do that. The person said ‘well, it’s not like he was bald and grew out that tuft of hair to cover it. He was bald_ing_ and started out by hiding the small bald area and the comb over just kept getting longer as he got balder’. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairline-question/724726/5 "2015-07-10T03:04:29Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Just to be clear, you can explain it however you want, but that’s a comb over and it never looks good. How short do you cut your hair? For years, up until very recently, I was buzzing my hair with a #1 on top and no guard on the sides, it was just this side of shaving it. It was short enough that I always said if I started balding (which doesn’t appear to be happening) and I didn’t like the way it looked, it was all coming off. > If your hair is really short, maybe consider shaving it. I’d sooner do that than a comb over. Embrace the baldness, don’t try to hide it, you’re not fooling anyone. The spot’s not that big yet, sort of an inch and a half squiggle. I have some time left to cover it with just a little longer hair. I figure I can go a year or two, and then I’ll have to shave it. There’s no way I could maintain a big comb over anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2015, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hairline-question/724726/6 "2015-07-10T03:35:01Z")
So the answer is… Not everyone, obviously, but CAN it be something other than a sign of future hair loss? My maternal grandpa is balding, but he’s 93, and I don’t remember what his hairline was like before.